Poet Immortal, Poet Sage, Duke of the State!

After the meal, Princess Zhaoyue looked at the somewhat empty courtyard and turned to Chen Chang'an, saying, "I heard from Qing Shuang that you, young master, are planning to hire a few maids?"

Chen Chang'an nodded and said, "I'm usually busy with business. I have to take care of the shop and the workshop, so I really don't have time to manage the housework. I need to hire a few maids to look after and clean the house."

They come, the security.

Now that we've arrived in this feudal era, we should enjoy the comfortable life of having maids to serve us at home...

Princess Zhaoyue's eyes flickered, and then she said, "I have several sensible maids in my household, all of impeccable character and whose backgrounds I know well. Why don't you give them to the young master? It would save you from having to go to the maid brokers again, where the maids are of questionable character and might cause trouble in the future..."

Chen Chang'an was slightly taken aback, then said, "This isn't right. I've already taken advantage of Miss Gong Yue quite a bit..."

Princess Zhaoyue smiled slightly and said, "It's alright, I have plenty of maids in my household."

Mingyue Palace has nothing else but a lot of palace maids.

She hoped that the person she would spend every day with her future husband would be one of her own, so as to prevent any seductive women from taking advantage of the situation.

Chen Chang'an didn't think much of it and nodded, saying, "Then I'll have to trouble Miss Gong Yue."

He wasn't a pretentious person, and he knew that neither was Miss Gongyue.

She was Chen Chang'an's closest business partner and one of his only two friends; to refuse would seem like a distant relationship.

Princess Zhaoyue smiled slightly and said, "No trouble at all, I'll have them come over today."

The first batch of perfumes will be officially on the shelves tomorrow, and Chen Chang'an discussed some details with them again.

Chen Chang'an compared the perfumes from Ruyilou with the perfumes from Ruyilou. Whether it was the concentration of the fragrance or the duration of the scent, their perfumes were superior.

If the first sale goes well tomorrow, replicating the sales miracle of Clear Lotion shouldn't be difficult.

At the same time.

At the residence of Wu Guojiu.

Wu Guojiu looked at Manager Sun and asked calmly, "Have you found out the details?"

Manager Sun nodded repeatedly and said, "Reporting to my uncle, I've found out that Qing Shuang Fang is reportedly launching a new scented dew tomorrow, and many regular customers have already received the news..."

"They sell perfumes too?"

Upon hearing this, Wu Guojiu frowned.

In the capital, those who can afford and are qualified to use perfumes are none other than the ladies and young ladies of high-ranking officials and nobles. Now that Ruyilou is closed down, Qingshuangfang has launched its perfumes without hesitation. When Ruyilou reopens, won't their business be snatched away by Qingshuangfang?

A moment later, he slowly stood up and sneered, "Trying to take advantage of the chaos? Not so easy..."

He looked at the steward beside him and said in a deep voice, "Prepare the carriage, I'm going to the palace!"

……

The next day, Chen Chang'an got up early as soon as it was light.

Yesterday afternoon, as promised, Miss Gongyue delivered four maids to him.

These four maids were about the same age as Pearl and Emerald, all sixteen or seventeen-year-old girls, and their names were Baoqin, Siqi, Linshu, and Shihua.

Two of the four maids were cleaning the courtyard, one was helping Chen Chang'an wash up, and the other had already cooked porridge.

Chen Chang'an sat in the courtyard, finished a bowl of millet porridge, and then left home to walk towards the shop.

Inside Qing Shuang Fang, rows of porcelain vases of various shapes and colors are neatly arranged on the shelves.

This is the "Twelve Flower Goddesses" series of perfumes launched by Qing Shuang Fang after Qing Shuang Lu. It was announced a few days ago and officially went on sale today.

Qing Shuang sat at the counter, her chin resting on her hands, gazing longingly at the doorway.

Pearl and Jade were also eager to get started, ready to be busy to the point of exhaustion.

After a while, Qing Shuang grew a little impatient and looked at Chen Chang'an, asking somewhat uncertainly, "Why hasn't anyone come yet?"

Chen Chang'an leaned against the counter and said calmly, "What's the rush? What time is it? Our target customers are the wives and daughters of high-ranking officials and nobles. They're still having breakfast at home at this hour. Let's talk about it at noon..."

Hearing him say that, Qing Shuang felt a little more at ease, but she still kept running to the door to look around.

An hour has passed.

Although there were many pedestrians coming and going on the street, very few of them went into the shops. Even if there were customers, they would immediately shake their heads and leave after asking about the price.

The price of the fragrant dew was also ten taels of silver, which only the families of high-ranking officials and nobles could afford.

Another hour passed in the blink of an eye.

It was already noon, and the sun was high in the sky, but the shop was still deserted.

The entire morning, only one bottle of perfume was sold. It was bought by a talented man who asked Qing Shuang to inscribe a message on his folding fan.

Qing Shuang slumped in a chair behind the counter, her face contorted in despair. "It's over," she said, "our perfumes aren't going to sell..."

For this batch of fragrant dew, she invested all the money she had earned from the previous batch of Qing Shuang Lu.

If the perfume doesn't sell, then we'll really lose everything.

Chen Chang'an frowned slightly as he looked at the empty shop.

Not right.

Something's nine out of ten wrong.

The reputation of Qing Shuang Lu among the noble ladies and young women in Beijing had already spread far and wide. With the launch of the new product, there should be a few regular customers who would come to support it.

Moreover, there were only a few shops selling perfumes in the capital to begin with, and with Ruyilou closed, Qingshuangfang shouldn't be this deserted.

Just then, a familiar carriage stopped in front of Qingshuangfang.

The carriage curtain was lifted, and a figure in moon-white stepped out.

When Qing Shuang saw Princess Zhao Yue, her eyes lit up, and she immediately ran out, taking her arm and exclaiming, "Cousin, you've come!"

Princess Zhaoyue entered the shop, looked at Chen Chang'an, and said, "I have some bad news."

Chen Chang'an remained silent, and Princess Zhaoyue continued, "Today, Her Majesty the Empress held a fragrance appreciation party in the Imperial Garden, inviting the wives and daughters of many officials from the capital. All the ladies and daughters of the families who received invitations were required to attend. At the party, Her Majesty the Empress publicly bestowed upon each person a bottle of Ruyilou's Hundred Flower Dew..."

Qing Shuang was stunned and asked, "What does this have to do with us?"

Princess Zhaoyue explained, "The fragrant dew from Ruyi Tower is extremely rare, and the customers who buy it are only the ladies and young women of high-ranking officials and noble families. It must be that the Imperial Uncle Wu said something to Her Majesty the Empress that she invited them all to the inner palace today..."

She paused, then continued, "At the incense appreciation gathering, Her Majesty said that some disreputable merchants in the capital are using novel names to gain fame and fortune, warning all the ladies and young women to be wary. It's obvious they're targeting Qing Shuang Fang. I'm afraid even if they come out of the palace, they won't come to Qing Shuang Fang to buy anything..."

"This is outrageous!"

Upon hearing this, Qing Shuang slammed her hand on the table, but quickly deflated.

Ruyi Tower didn't use any despicable means this time; they just asked the Empress to stand up for them. They couldn't very well go looking for trouble with the Empress, could they?

Chen Chang'an looked out the door and sighed softly.

He never expected that a normal competition between two shops would actually involve the queen of a country...

He just wanted to start a small business, why is it so difficult?