Poet Immortal, Poet Sage, Duke of the State!

Qunyulou holds a poetry gathering every month. In fact, not only Qunyulou, but also many other brothels and entertainment venues in the capital often hold poetry and song gatherings to create hype and attract customers.

The prizes for the poetry gathering ranged from one hundred to several hundred taels of silver.

However, the entrance fee for the poetry gathering could easily add up to several thousand taels of silver.

The poems and lyrics that emerge from these poetry gatherings and literary events are rarely excellent; they only circulate in a small circle and do not cause much of a stir.

At this Qunyulou Poetry Gathering, the line "Clouds remind me of her clothes, flowers of her face" spread throughout the capital in less than a day.

Poetry and literary societies across the country are discussing this poem.

The literary figures in Beijing quickly reached a consensus: throughout history, no one has surpassed this poem in depicting beautiful women. Even those talented poets and literary luminaries, upon reading it, felt as if they were seeing the blue sky through the eyes of a mayfly…

At the same time, Shen An's name quickly became known to people.

"First it was Miss Qing Shuang, and now it's Shen An. Who says the literary scene of our Great Ning has declined?"

"If not seen in the Jade Pavilion, then met under the moon on the Jade Terrace; such lines could not be written by anyone but a great talent."

"This poem will likely be remembered for eternity, and the beauty of this captivating young woman will probably be passed down through the ages as well..."

"Alas, why isn't there a talented scholar to write such poems for me?"

"Why don't you take a piss and look at yourself in the mirror? You think you're worthy? They dared to write it, but do you dare to admit it?"

……

The Chen residence.

Side hall.

The atmosphere at the Chen residence has been very oppressive these past few days.

Chen Chang'an caused trouble outside, and the Chen family paid five thousand taels of silver in compensation. Chen Wenyuan swallowed his pride and went to Qingshuangfang to apologize, but was ridiculed by Chen Chang'an to his face. After returning home, he hasn't smiled for several days.

Today's lunch was still a depressing experience.

Unable to bear the atmosphere, Madam Zhao took the initiative to start a conversation, saying, "Master, have you heard? A few days ago, another talented scholar emerged in the capital, writing a poem that caused a sensation throughout the entire city..."

Hearing a topic that interested him, Chen Changxuan immediately looked up and chimed in, "Yes, yes, yes, I heard that a guy named Shen An wrote a poem praising a beautiful girl and won her favor. She even played a piece for him. How enviable..."

Chen Wenyuan put down his chopsticks, turned his gaze to Chen Changxuan, and said with a stern face, "You've studied for so many years, hired countless famous teachers for you, and have had free access to the books in the mansion, yet have you ever written a single decent poem? Some unknown people can become famous throughout the capital in just a few days, and what about you?"

Unexpectedly, the topic turned to himself again. Chen Changxuan lowered his head, bit his lip, and dared not say a word.

Chen Wenyuan leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes, and let out a long sigh.

The thought that he had poured so many resources into Changxuan, and that after all these years of studying, he had accomplished nothing, filled him with an unbearable resentment...

A single poem can make him famous throughout the capital; how could such a person not be his son?

At this moment, Chen Wenyuan was not the only one feeling frustrated.

The madams of several top brothels in the capital noticed that something was wrong.

For several days in a row, business in their building got worse and worse. Even though nothing had happened, the number of customers in the building today was more than half of what it used to be.

In the east of the city, at Xiaoxiang Pavilion.

Several madams gathered together, all looking gloomy.

"I don't know what's wrong with business these past few days, it's getting worse every day."

"We did too. I was wondering if our girls had offended a customer, but when I asked them, they all said no..."

"Stop guessing, it's because of Qunyu Tower."

One of the madams looked at the madam of Xiaoxiang Pavilion with disbelief and said, "Gu Qingcheng of Qunyu Tower is beautiful, and she won a good poem a few days ago, so it's normal for her business to be a bit better. But does that mean she should be stealing all our business?"

The madam of Xiaoxiang Pavilion shook her head and said, "You don't know, I heard that the girls at Qunyu Tower have been using some kind of perfume lately. The fragrance lingers on their bodies all day long, and customers don't want to leave once they smell it..."

"What kind of perfume has such an effect?"

"It's said they bought it from Qing Shuang Fang, and the perfumes from that shop are of even better quality than those from Yi Lou..."

"Such a good thing exists?"

……

Qing Shuang Fang.

Since a group of girls from Qunyulou bought dozens of bottles of perfume a few days ago, they have been selling more than a dozen bottles of perfume every day for the past few days.

Although business couldn't compare to when Qing Shuang Lu was selling like hotcakes, it still made a profit of nearly a hundred taels of silver every day.

It was almost noon, and Pearl and Jade had just opened their shop and hadn't even had time to arrange the shelves properly when several heavily made-up middle-aged women appeared at the shop entrance.

Their voices came in before they even entered.

"Young lady, do you have any more fragrant dew? Our Xiaoxiang Pavilion needs a hundred bottles!"

"We at Drunken Flower Pavilion also want a hundred bottles!"

"Save some for us too, our Qunfang Pavilion needs a hundred bottles!"

……

Snapped!

Snapped!

Snapped!

As soon as they finished speaking, they each slammed a thick stack of silver notes onto the table.

Pearls and jade have never seen such a scene before. Even when Qing Shuang Lu was selling like hotcakes, no one ever bought a hundred bottles at once.

Seeing this, Pearl told Jade to calm them down first, and then immediately went to the backyard to find Chen Chang'an.

Before long, Chen Chang'an came out from the backyard. Looking at the room full of middle-aged women dressed in flamboyant clothes, he already understood what was going on.

This was also within his initial expectations.

These brothels in the capital are all competitors. They compete fiercely for customers by offering good looks, talents, and services...

Once Qunyu Tower had its fragrant dew, and other brothels found out, how could they possibly do nothing?

Chen Chang'an walked to the counter and said calmly, "Please don't rush, everyone. Take your time. We have plenty of fragrant dew in stock, so everyone will be able to buy some..."

Pearl and Jade were immediately busy, and Chen Chang'an also helped by taking bottles of fragrant dew from the shelf and placing them in the brocade boxes that had been prepared in advance.

These madams originally only planned to buy one hundred bottles.

According to Chen Chang'an's introduction, their fragrance dew comes in a series of twelve bottles, which fills a set perfectly.

They each bought ten sets. Chen Chang'an packed all the sets together, handed them to the pimps outside, and watched the brothel madams leave satisfied...

The Empress's endorsement of Ruyi Tower has blocked a major source of customers for Qingshuangfang.

Chen Chang'an then took a different approach and opened up a new sales channel.

Scented balm is a consumable product, and courtesans, due to their profession, consume it even faster, making them exceptionally high-quality customers. Therefore, any future production of scented balm will have no trouble selling…

Looking at the empty shipping containers and the full cash boxes, Chen Chang'an felt a great sense of accomplishment.

Following the success of Qing Shuang Lu, Xiang Lu also achieved great success, taking another big step closer to his dream of having beautiful wives and concubines in a grand mansion...