Poet Immortal, Poet Sage, Duke of the State!

These days, the capital city is quite lively.

Two dramas, "The Battle of the Golden Palace" and "The Case of Chen Shimei," have become incredibly popular in recent years, with two productions released in just one month.

Even more coincidentally, both plays feature the same "protagonist".

Chen Chang'an was the eldest son of Chen Wenyuan, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel.

Although his role in "The Battle of the Golden Palace" was small, he was the most important unsung hero behind the scenes.

And "The Case of Chen Shimei" was written by him personally.

Now, these two plays have gradually spread from the capital to the outskirts of the capital, and are spreading to more distant prefectures and counties at an extremely fast pace. It is only a matter of time before they become popular throughout Daning.

The reason why "The Battle of the Golden Palace" spread so quickly is because this play touched the most pleasurable spot in the hearts of the people.

In recent years, Da Ning has prioritized military prowess over academic pursuits. Although they have never lost on the battlefield, they have always felt resentful because they have been outdone in literary matters.

Now, the play "The Battle of the Golden Palace" has depicted the entire process of the Yan envoy losing face in the Golden Palace and committing suicide by hitting his head against a pillar. Every citizen of Daning who watched it felt relieved and satisfied.

Those couplets were so well-known that even three-year-old children in the capital could recite them.

There is an important reason why "The Case of Chen Shimei" was able to spread in such a short time.

That is, the playwright of "The Case of Chen Shimei" not only did not take advantage of the play's popularity to make a fortune, but instead spent his own money to print hundreds of copies of the script and distribute them free of charge to major theaters near the capital, further contributing to the play's immense popularity...

Listing Chen Chang'an's accomplishments over the past few months: defeating the Yan envoy in the imperial court duel; writing "Though the Tortoise Lives Long," which revitalized a group of veteran generals; earning the title of the most talented woman in the capital from two poems; and making "The Case of Chen Shimei" a sensation throughout the capital...

This was only his achievement in literature; he also achieved tremendous success in business. His refreshing and itch-relieving Qing Shuang Lu (a type of herbal remedy) became a sensation throughout the city, and their fragrant dew was the favorite of all the noble ladies and courtesans in the city. It directly caused Ruyi Lou, which originally monopolized the fragrant dew business, to abandon the fragrant dew business and turn into a brothel...

His Majesty made a promise during the court that as long as he passed the imperial examination and became a Jinshi, he could directly enter the Hanlin Academy, which made countless students envious.

Every single one of these issues has become a hot topic of discussion.

The biggest topic surrounding him is actually his identity. As the eldest son of the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, he was driven out of the house by his own father. The Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel refused the Emperor's offer to promote him to the Hanlin Academy. He wrote "The Case of Chen Shimei," which was almost an open accusation that the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel was not a father...

Gossip about high-ranking officials like this is far more captivating than any theatrical performance.

Since the new Minister of Personnel was appointed, Chen Wenyuan, the Left Vice Minister of Personnel, has been on sick leave and recuperating at home.

During this period, some rumors about Chen Chang'an began to circulate in the capital.

For example, when he was in the Chen family, he often molested and molested the maids in the mansion. The Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel kicked him out of the house not only because he molested his cousin, but also because he molested the maids in the mansion. Lord Chen could no longer tolerate it and thus expelled him from the house...

These rumors were quite detailed and even included testimony from maids in the Chen household.

The common people naturally scoffed at these rumors.

Everyone knows that Young Master Chen and Miss Qingcheng have a very close relationship.

Who is this stunningly beautiful girl? She's the most beautiful woman in the capital. He ignored her and went to molest a maid from the Chen family. How terrible is his taste...?

Not to mention, with his talent, he could easily have countless girls in the capital throwing themselves at him with just a flick of his finger. Why would he need to molest a maid?

"The dirty water spilled on the ground is so obvious!"

"I bet this was all orchestrated by that stepmother of the Chen family. Women are the most vicious; she kicked him out, but she still won't let him go..."

"This rumor is too coincidental. Why did it have to come now, right after Chen Wenyuan lost his position as Minister?"

"It must be because the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel's reputation was ruined by the 'Case of Chen Shimei,' so his family wants to ruin Young Master Chen's reputation as well..."

"Hehe, with a father like that and a stepmother like that, that play really wasn't written in vain..."

……

The rumors deliberately spread by Zhao not only failed to guide public opinion in the capital, but also backfired on her.

In the past few days, many people have been spitting out a mouthful of saliva as they pass by the Chen residence.

Inside Qing Shuang Fang.

The business at Qing Shuang Fang has stabilized these days, selling about a few dozen bottles of perfume each day, though it doesn't seem as booming as before.

But in reality, retail business only accounts for a small fraction of Qing Shuang Fang's revenue.

Most of Qing Shuang Fang's orders come from private channels.

The perfumes produced in the workshops didn't need to be sent to shops to be placed on shelves; instead, they were delivered by special people to the homes of noble ladies and young women in the capital.

In the backyard of Qingshuangfang, Chen Chang'an was testing Qingshuangfang's new products.

Soap.

Although he was a liberal arts student, thanks to his love of reading online novels in his previous life, he was extremely familiar with things like alcohol purification, refined salt preparation, glassmaking, and gunpowder formulation.

Making soap is much cheaper than making lotions and perfumes.

The raw materials used are nothing more than wood ash and animal fat, with at most some flower petals added for fragrance.

Wood ash is free, oil is cheap, but flower petals are the most expensive, especially in winter when they are almost impossible to buy.

However, Chen Chang'an has already rented dozens of acres of land outside the city specifically for growing flowers, and will keep the cost of petals to a minimum in the future.

The target customers for the soap were wealthy women in Beijing.

Therefore, Chen Chang'an specially used a petal-shaped mold, and the soap that came out of the mold was also petal-shaped with beautiful patterns on it, making it not only practical but also beautiful.

Chen Chang'an only made ten bars of soap for the first batch.

He packed several bars of soap into brocade boxes that he had prepared beforehand; these were for Qing Shuang and Gong Yue.

As the two major shareholders of Qing Shuang Fang and his angel investors, they naturally want to be the first to enjoy any good things he has.

Just as Chen Chang'an was thinking of them, Qing Shuang and Gong Yue walked into the backyard side by side.

Qing Shuang walked up to Chen Chang'an, curled her lip, and said, "Your cheap father and stepmother still won't let you go, spreading rumors everywhere that you molested one of the maids in the manor..."

Chen Chang'an didn't care at all, shaking his head and saying, "The innocent are innocent, and the guilty are guilty. Let them say whatever they want. They just want to ruin my reputation and get His Majesty to cancel my engagement with Princess Zhaoyue. I'd be more than happy to do that. I don't want to be a prince consort..."

Before he could finish speaking, Qing Shuang gently kicked him.

Chen Chang'an looked at her, puzzled, and asked, "Why did you kick me?"