Poet Immortal, Poet Sage, Duke of the State!

Qing Shuang Fang.

Qing Shuang sat at the counter with a worried expression, while Princess Zhao Yue sat beside her, her pretty face also bearing a trace of sorrow.

Chen Chang'an took two bottles of perfume from the shelf, walked to the counter, and said to them, "You two watch the store for now, I'm going out for a walk."

Instead of sitting here waiting for business, we should go out and see if we can find a new breakthrough.

Watching Chen Chang'an walk out of the shop, Qing Shuang looked at Princess Zhaoyue and said, "Your Highness, if Her Majesty the Empress can hold a fragrance appreciation party, we can hold one too! We can invite those ladies and young women and give them a bottle of our fragrant dew..."

Princess Zhaoyue shook her head and said, "If I could do that, I would have done it long ago."

The Empress is the head of the harem, the mother of the nation, and is her elder.

In the royal family, there is a strict hierarchy. As a princess, if she openly opposes the Empress, it would be a breach of etiquette.

Qing Shuang sighed, clearly having thought of this as well.

Now, we can only wait and see if Chen Chang'an has any ideas.

Streets of Beijing.

Chen Chang'an walked down the street with his hands behind his back, quickly analyzing the situation.

Fragrant dew is not only a luxury item here, but also a luxury item that represents status.

Because of their scarcity, only the wives and daughters of high-ranking officials and nobles were qualified to use them.

The Empress's move was a political tactic to restrict the customers of Qing Shuang Fang Fragrant Dew.

Chen Chang'an's background is far inferior to that of Ruyi Tower. Even Qing Shuang could not possibly go against the Empress of a country.

To ensure his investment in the perfume wouldn't go to waste, he had to find new customers.

They must be wealthy women with a latent need for perfume and a willingness to spend money to buy it...

As Chen Chang'an was pondering, several young men dressed as scholars passed by him.

"Hurry, hurry!"

"If we can win first place at this poetry gathering at Qunyu Tower, we'll not only receive one hundred taels of silver, but we'll also get to hear Miss Qingcheng play a tune on the zither!"

"Miss Qingcheng is the most beautiful woman in the capital. If only I could catch a glimpse of her beauty!"

"Dream on. If you want to see this stunning beauty, you'd need to win first place at the poetry competition. Do you have that ability?"

……

Chen Chang'an instinctively grabbed one of the men's arms and asked, "Brother, who is this 'Alluring Beauty' you're talking about?"

The man glanced at him, a smirk playing on his lips, and said, "Kid, you're from out of town, aren't you? You've never even heard of Miss Qingcheng? She's the most sought-after courtesan in the capital. The line of men wanting to marry her could stretch from the east gate to the west gate..."

After saying that, he shook off Chen Chang'an's hand and strode after his friends ahead.

"A courtesan?"

Chen Chang'an stood there, when a sudden flash of inspiration struck him.

How could he not have thought of that? Courtesans are the main consumers of perfume!

In terms of numbers, they outnumber the noble ladies by tenfold.

In terms of financial resources...

Some courtesans were indeed just as wealthy as the ladies of high society.

Moreover, for them, perfume is an absolute necessity to enhance their charm and attractiveness.

In his past life, due to his work, he frequented brothels. Those high-class prostitutes and bar girls each had at least several bottles of perfume. This so-called "Number One Pure Prostitute" was the perfect spokesperson for Qing Shuang Fang perfume...

Without hesitation, Chen Chang'an immediately turned around and chased after the scholars in blue robes.

He followed the scholars through two streets and stopped in front of a three-story pavilion.

Above the pavilion hangs a plaque with the three large characters "Qunyu Tower".

A large crowd had already gathered at the entrance of Qunyu Tower. Most of them were dressed as scholars in blue robes, while a few young men in brocade robes were also gathered in twos and threes at the entrance, whispering among themselves.

Two servants in blue robes stood at the front, blocking the guests from entering. They said, "To enter the building, you need to either solve a riddle or pay ten taels of silver. Please choose one..."

Someone shouted indignantly, "Ten taels of silver! Why don't we just rob it?"

A servant smiled and said calmly, "Miss Qingcheng is the most beautiful courtesan in the capital. Who wouldn't want to catch a glimpse of her beauty? If we didn't set conditions, the Qunyu Pavilion would probably be packed with customers. This is for everyone's benefit..."

Another servant pointed to the two rows of lanterns and said, "Silver isn't necessary. If you can solve these riddles, you can enter without paying. But if you're going to solve the riddles, you'd better hurry, or there won't be any way to get in..."

The man immediately felt embarrassed and said nothing more.

Chen Chang'an saw through Qunyu Tower's scheme at a glance; today's event, ostensibly a poetry gathering, was actually a money-making scheme.

The prize money for the champion of the poetry gathering is only one hundred taels, while the entrance fee is ten taels. It only takes ten people to break even.

As for the so-called riddle-solving, it's nothing more than self-serving pretense.

These two rows of lanterns, at most twenty in total, are enough to guess until they're all gone. But at least Qunyu Tower has a reason: their poetry gathering isn't solely for the money...

Chen Chang'an was reluctant to spend money, so he walked to the side, glanced around, and immediately locked onto a lantern.

An eighteen-year-old beauty was welcomed into the room.

This is the riddle on the lantern. Chen Chang'an took the lantern down, walked to the door, and said to a servant in blue: "A beautiful woman of eighteen welcomes you in. This is the character '娴' (xián). 'Beautiful woman' is the radical for 'woman,' and 'eighteen' is the radical for 'wood.' Adding the radical for 'woman' to the radical for 'door' and the character 'wood' inside makes up the character '娴'."

Upon hearing this, the surrounding scholars suddenly realized what was happening.

"Yes, yes, it's the character '娴' (xián)! How come I didn't think of that!"

"Oh dear, I almost thought of that, but he beat me to it!"

A servant in blue took the lantern from Chen Chang'an, while another bowed to Chen Chang'an, stepped aside to make way for the doorway, and respectfully said, "Please come in, young master."

There are plenty of people in the capital who can afford to pay ten taels of silver to get in, but very few can get in by guessing the riddles correctly.

They have genuine respect for people with real talent and ability.

Amidst envious glances from the crowd, Chen Chang'an entered the Qunyu Tower.

The first-floor hall was spacious and bright, with a long table in the center, on which were placed writing brushes, ink, paper and inkstones. Dozens of chairs were arranged on both sides, and seven or eight out of ten people were already sitting there.

The railing on the second floor was also crowded with people at this moment.

At the end of the stairs on the third floor is a carved wooden platform with a guqin (a traditional Chinese stringed instrument) on it. Next to the guqin stands a screen painted with landscapes, and a figure can be vaguely seen sitting behind the screen.

Everyone's eyes kept glancing towards the third floor.

Chen Chang'an waited for a while, and then the madam of Qunyu Tower came in from the backyard, tapped the gong in her hand, and shouted in a shrill voice: "Gentlemen, today's poetry topic has been announced. Please compose a poem on the theme of 'Beauty'. If your poem is chosen by my young lady and you win first place, you will not only receive a reward of one hundred taels of silver, but you will also be able to go upstairs to hear my beautiful young lady play a tune on the zither..."