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An hour had passed in the blink of an eye.
Today marked the grand opening of the prince's perfumery in the Prince's Mansion.
Thanks to the promotion by the girls at the Hundred Flowers Tower over the past fortnight, the entire Yan County had come to know that the perfumes produced by the mansion were of exceptional quality.
In the morning, as soon as the perfumery opened its doors, ladies and misses from the wealthy households of North City flooded in.
In less than an hour, all the perfumes produced by the mansion over the past half-month sold out.
Lu Chen hadn't gone to the perfumery; instead, he was at home studying the map of this world.
As he had already decided to compete for that position, he could no longer afford to lie idle and ignore the books as he did before.
At that moment, Mu Zixuan and Zhou Xiaoxiao returned, and seeing them back so soon, Lu Chen set down his map and asked, "My love, how did the perfumes sell?"
Mu Zixuan didn't answer directly but commented, "Prince, I think the perfumes are priced too low."
Upon hearing this, Lu Chen paused, then asked, "Why do you think so?"
Mu Zixuan responded, "The mansion produced less than two thousand bottles of perfume in half a month, yet they were all sold out in less than an hour."
Lu Chen expressed his astonishment, "That quickly?"
Lu Chen was no fool; he had originally set the price at a couple of silver per bottle based on the economy of North City.
After all, North City was impoverished, and there weren't many affluent families that could afford to buy perfume. And now Mu Zixuan was telling him that all the perfumes were snatched up in less than an hour?
Then Zhou Xiaoxiao spoke up, "Prince, among those who came to buy perfumes were many people from other regions, especially the merchant caravans. They showed great interest in the perfumes, often buying by the dozen."
Instantly, Lu Chen understood the reason; it seemed that the merchants had their eyes on the mansion's perfumes, which was why they sold so rapidly.
It was highly probable that these merchants weren't buying perfumes for personal use, but rather to take to more affluent places and sell, like the Capital city.
Upon reflection, Lu Chen realized he couldn't limit his vision so narrowly.
In the future, he would need a substantial amount of silver to support an army, and his trade activities certainly couldn't be confined to North City alone.
With the pockets of North City's residents mostly empty, squeezing enough revenue out of them to maintain an army was practically an impractical idea.
With this in mind, Lu Chen looked at Mu Zixuan and the other women before asking, "My love, if you were still in the Capital city, still Miss Mu, unmarried, and you heard someone in the Capital city selling this type of perfume, how much silver would you be willing to spend on a bottle?"
After pondering for a moment, Mu Zixuan answered, "Prince, if it were me, I would be willing to pay up to twenty silver for a bottle of perfume."
Mu Zixuan's status represented the daughters and wives of the wealthy families in the Capital city. If Mu Zixuan was willing to spend twenty silver on a bottle of perfume, so too would the other ladies and wives.
Then Lu Chen said, "I've decided to open another perfumery in the Capital city and in Sufeng City. From now on, the price of the perfume will be set at twenty silver."
"Once perfume production increases, we can adjust the price according to the exquisiteness of the small ceramic bottles."
Lu Chen thought to himself, although he couldn't return to the Capital city, selling items from his shops there should pose no problem.
After hearing what Lu Chen said, Mu Zixuan promptly mentioned, "Prince, I need to speak with my father about this matter."
Lu Chen couldn't return to the Capital city, and since the perfumes would surely become highly profitable commodities, others might covet them. Thus, to open a shop in the Capital city, it was necessary to have someone there to look after it.
Lu Chen naturally understood this and said with a smile, "Then I'll be troubling my love."
At that point, Mu Zixuan continued, "Prince, if you want to open a perfumery in Sufeng City, you might need to speak with Madam Chu and ask her to inform the Chu Family."
Sufeng City was located in the South, a hub for the numerous aristocratic families of the area and the most commercially developed place in the Great Xia Dynasty.
Of course, that place could also be said to be the stomping ground of the Southern aristocratic families.
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To open a perfumery in Sufeng City, one needs someone reliable to oversee it, and it must be somebody from an aristocratic family, as only they could hold the fort. Without an aristocratic family watching over, the shop might get robbed within days.
Lu Chen said, "I will speak with Madam Chu about this in a moment."
At this time, Chu Yuqin was patrolling the outer courtyard and was not present, so Lu Chen was not in a hurry.
These things take time; setting up a business is not something that can be done immediately.
At this moment, Zhou Youyou quietly tiptoed up behind Mu Zixuan and gently nudged her as if hinting at something.
Mu Zixuan instantly understood and asked with a smile, "Prince, the perfume's current fame owes much to the publicity by Hundred Flowers Tower. Should we invite Miss Wang to the Prince's Mansion to personally thank her?"
Recently, for the past half month, Lu Chen had been spending nearly every night in Zhou Youyou's room, and Zhou Youyou could no longer hold up.
Mu Zixuan and the other two ladies also noticed that it seemed necessary for Lu Chen to cultivate his relationships with them daily.
Mu Zixuan and Zhou Xiaoxiao would occasionally attend to Lu Chen, but since they had children, Lu Chen wouldn't let them overexert themselves.
For him, the children were more important.
Zhou Youyou wanted Wang Qingci from Hundred Flowers Tower to come and share her burden, but such words were certainly not for a concubine like her to say, so she had Mu Zixuan speak with Lu Chen.
Fortuitously, they could use thanking Wang Qingci as an excuse to invite her to the Prince's Mansion as guests today.
After hearing Mu Zixuan's suggestion, Lu Chen said, "Hmm, that is possible, but you must invite her in your name."
Half a month had passed, and the thought of Wang Qingci's soft and boneless tender body made Lu Chen's heart stir with heat.
He had no choice; he had not yet made a breakthrough to the Ninth Grade and could not suppress his desires.
Mu Zixuan smiled coyly, "Your concubine understands."
Then, Mu Zixuan turned to the maid Xiao Rou and said, "Xiao Rou, go invite Miss Wang to the Prince's Mansion. Tell her that I wish to personally thank her."
"Yes, Your Highness."
Subsequently, Xiao Rou left for Hundred Flowers Tower.
It wasn't long before Wang Qingci met Xiao Rou.
Upon hearing that the princess wanted to personally thank her, Wang Qingci's eyebrows slightly furrowed.
She had suffered a loss last time at the Prince's Mansion and was now wary of it.
She still didn't understand how she was drugged, as she had been recalling the details of that day for the past half month and still could find no trace of how the drug was administered.
Mu Zixuan's invitation to the Prince's Mansion this time might be another provocation from that lecher.
At the thought of Lu Chen, Wang Qingci's delicate body involuntarily shivered.
The demon from last time didn't leave her alone for several hours, treating her as nothing more than an object of amusement.
Wang Qingci hesitated for a moment. Should she visit the Prince's Mansion today, or wait a few more days, until reinforcements from Blood Moon Tower arrived?
After contemplating for a while, Wang Qingci decided to go to the Prince's Mansion for a look.
Firstly, it was a summons from the Prince's Mansion, and as a nominal Oiran, she found it difficult to refuse.
Secondly, she was on her guard this time and confident she wouldn't be duped again. She planned to carry Soft Muscle Powder with her; if she found herself alone with Lu Chen again, she would use it against him.
This time, she didn't believe she would be played with again.