Let the Beagle Pull the Cart

Zhou Yao hit upon an excellent idea. It would let the kilns at Nine Kilns keep pace with demand, and it would turn her perfume into an indispensable daily necessity for her patrons.

Even if the Elder Princess proved unreliable, so long as she spread the word, she refused to believe perfume couldn't rival scented powder in popularity.

She summoned the woman in charge of purchasing at Golden Curtain Terrace, ground fresh ink in the study, and handed her a list she'd drawn up.

The list detailed all manner of fresh flowers, fruits, and woody spices.

"Carefully select each of these ingredients, choose the finest quality, and negotiate partnerships with them. From here on, they'll handle the supply of raw materials, and Golden Curtain Terrace will settle payments monthly."

"Your Highness... today's affair stirred up quite a commotion. The word outside is that Golden Curtain Terrace's business is about to be shut down. If we try to open accounts at this time, I doubt anyone will be willing."

There was sense in what she said. Zhou Yao frowned, momentarily at a loss, then said, "What do you think of that Miss Feng who delivered grapes to Golden Curtain Terrace before?"

The female merchants she'd encountered in the black market had, for the most part, done business with Golden Curtain Terrace's procurement staff.

"Miss Feng is a straightforward sort. I'll see to it right away."

There were still leftover spices at Fragrant Orchid Pavilion. Zhou Yao sent someone to retrieve them, then washed them all and dried the water droplets that clung to them.

She placed rose petals in porcelain jars, sealed them with alcohol, and stored them away. The remaining spices went through the same procedure; she only needed to wait seven more days.

She'd barely finished preparing the perfume when Qing'er and Su'er came bounding up to her, faces bright with delight. Zhou Yao looked up and found herself infected by their joy. "What's happened to make you two so happy?" she asked with a smile.

Qing'er gave Su'er a nudge, indicating she should speak. "At the Elder Princess's birthday banquet today, she praised our perfume and colored glaze in front of all the nobles. You could tell she adored them—she used them on the spot and rewarded us handsomely!"

"It's all thanks to Your Highness's perfume. Without it, we never would have received such gifts."

Zhou Yao smiled. "I'm glad the Elder Princess likes them. After Fragrant Orchid Pavilion does a bit more promotion, this perfume will likely sell out before long."

"True enough. The method is a bit troublesome, but there are plenty of hands at Fragrant Orchid Pavilion now, so it should be manageable."

"We've been going on like this for ages—why haven't you told Her Highness yet?" Qing'er prompted Su'er with a mysterious air.

"I wanted to let her guess!" Su'er shot back.

Qing'er laughed. "When the banquet ended, the Elder Princess's maid stopped us. She said the Elder Princess wishes to purchase perfume on a regular basis—thirty bottles delivered to the Princess Mansion at the start of every month."

"Thirty bottles?" Zhou Yao looked at them, both surprised and doubtful.

"Yes! The Elder Princess even had her maid give us a deposit. It should reach Fragrant Orchid Pavilion shortly."

"Did the Elder Princess specify a fragrance?"

They shook their heads. "She only said whatever's in season will do. Oh, and she also asked if we had any colored glaze jewelry—she'd like a set."

Colored glaze jewelry...

"You've worked hard today. The afternoon is yours—I'm giving you the rest of the day off."

——————

While she waited for the perfume to steep, she continued going through the motions with the Chief Physician, never forgetting to open the porcelain jars each day to add fresh spices and stir.

When she opened them again, the scent of roses filled the air.

She strained out the wilted petals with gauze and decanted the perfume into colored glaze bottles. This batch alone yielded around ten bottles of pure rose fragrance; the other spices went through the same process.

The finished perfume was placed in Fragrant Orchid Pavilion's storeroom, and the newly purchased spices soon joined the next round of production. After Zhou Yao taught Su'er and the others several methods for making perfume, she stepped back and let them handle the rest in the backyard of Fragrant Orchid Pavilion.

"Your Highness, we have plenty of perfume prepared this time. Even selling a thousand bottles in a single day wouldn't exhaust our supply."

"Let's price it at four thousand six hundred gold per bottle to test the market. If that price works, we'll gradually roll out new products. If it doesn't, we'll tell the customers that, for the new store's opening, we're launching a bottle-recycling program."

"After customers use up their first bottle purchased at full price, they can bring the empty colored glaze bottle back to Fragrant Orchid Pavilion and receive a colored glaze voucher." Zhou Yao produced a thin square of colored glass prepared in advance, stamped with Golden Curtain Terrace's mark.

"With this, they'll get a thirty-one percent discount on their next perfume purchase." Zhou Yao thought for a moment. "Also, in the coming days, give every customer who buys scented powder a free sample to try."

"For perfumes that require complex distillation, charge ten thousand gold per bottle. Later, once these base scents have steeped, we can mix in a bit of other fragrance and sell them at that rate."

"Understood." Su'er acknowledged, then asked, "But how long should customers be allowed to sample the perfume?"

"Besides, these fragrances linger on the skin for about a day... If someone tries multiple scents, they tend to blend together."

Zhou Yao considered this. "Place a small square of silk scented with each perfume in front of its corresponding bottle, so customers can pick out the fragrance they like. If they're sure, dab a drop on their skin to test. As for the sampling period—keep it ongoing."

"What we need to do is see to each customer's comfort. Divide up the duties, and be sure to keep precise records of every perfume ratio we blend."

As the days passed, Qi Yanhan's injuries improved considerably. The emperor's decree had already reached Qi Manor; that was the only reason Elder Qi had remained so quiet all this time.

On the day after her father issued the edict, Zhou Yao overheard some unprecedented gossip from the customers drinking tea at Golden Curtain Terrace.

Elder Qi and Elder Zhao had appeared to be at odds on the surface, but behind the scenes, the two had colluded to embezzle relief funds for the nation's disaster-stricken areas—a total of thirty million taels of gold.

Both men were stripped of their posts, with public executions scheduled for the third of the month. In light of Qi Yanhan being the Ninth Princess's husband, he was permitted to manage the Qi family's remaining holdings, spared the death penalty, but confined to the manor for three months. As for the Zhao family, all their assets were seized by the treasury, and the entire household was exiled to Lingnan.

Zhou Yao saw this as a thorough reshuffling of the court. If she wanted to contend for power with the Crown Prince, this was her only chance—and, what's more, her best one.

Turning her head, she noticed the beagle lounging in the courtyard, a plump little thing enjoying its leisure. Its two large ears had at some point been tied up with red string and now stood straight atop its head.

"Werrr werrr werrr!" The moment it spotted her, it trotted in circles, hopping and spinning before rolling over to flash its soft belly.

While she was absorbed in petting the little beagle, five miniature beagles scurried out of nowhere into the yard. She asked every servant at Golden Curtain Terrace, but none could say where they'd come from.

If exasperation could take physical form, Zhou Yao would have a host of question-mark ghosts hovering over her head right now.

Beagles in their prime were adorable—she'd admit that much.

But...

But why were there so many of them?!

That wicked little ball of cute stupidity soon revealed its true nature.

Her freshly repaired lawn was gouged into a deep pit by its paws. The little feet that had smelled of milky sweetness were now caked in dirt.

Beagles really had too much energy, Zhou Yao mused. In keeping with Golden Curtain Terrace's rule of keeping no idle hands, she thought it over, rose, and headed straight for the study.

Since Golden Curtain Terrace and Fragrant Orchid Pavilion both lacked delivery people for their colored glaze vessels and perfume, why not abolish the old paid-delivery arrangement altogether? Spend a little, accomplish a lot—train the beagles to make deliveries.

That would save manpower and money, and let the beagles burn off their restless energy. Most importantly... it would save her money!

What a money-saving plan!

She picked up a brush and sketched a design on a piece of silk, scaled down in the likeness of a horse-drawn carriage. In place of the carriage body, she designed a compartment just large enough to hold a wooden box of colored glaze vessels; where the horse would be harnessed, she modified it to fit a beagle.

The result was flawless: the trained beagle would run out front while towing the cargo behind, greatly easing the strain on her staff.

As for training the beagles, that naturally fell to Duyun. Zhou Yao acted on impulse—once the ink dried, she had her maid deliver the silk design to the carpenter to be built.

She reasoned that Duyun had been at her mansion tending to Qi Yanhan lately; instead of sitting idle, he might as well help her train the beagles.

She sent word to deliver the beagle to the Princess Mansion and gave Duyun the heads-up. With that, the matter was settled.

Once the perfume went on official sale, she worried the colored glaze output wouldn't keep up. That afternoon, she submitted a request to open several additional kilns on the large vacant lot beside Nine Kilns.

Kiln applications were supposed to be approved quickly. Zhou Yao had expected it to take about three days.

But Zhou Yao waited a full fifteen days—Qi Yanhan, the invalid, had woken up before her application was even approved.

She'd greased every palm that needed greasing. Which step had gone wrong? Zhou Yao couldn't figure it out. The next morning, after court adjourned, she waited at the palace gates.

"Lord Zhu, if you please." She lounged inside the carriage. Ling'er lifted the curtain, and Zhou Yao turned her head toward Lord Zhu.

The man, dressed in a fourth-rank official's robes, bowed nervously. "This humble official pays respects to the Ninth Princess."

"No need for such formality, my lord. I've only come to ask why my application to build new kilns for Golden Curtain Terrace hasn't been approved after all this time."

"Well..." He hesitated, glancing around at his surroundings, and lowered his head in discomfort.

Seeing this, Zhou Yao understood. She took the initiative to help him save face. "If my lord doesn't mind, perhaps we could discuss this elsewhere?"

He bowed slightly, accepting her suggestion.

"Then let's go sit at Golden Curtain Terrace." Zhou Yao had Ling'er lower the curtain. "Let's go."

In the private room at Golden Curtain Terrace, Ling'er set the brewed tea on the table. Colored glaze containers and cups sparkled in the light.

"Since the store opened, I don't think you've ever paid a visit to Golden Curtain Terrace, Lord Zhu." Zhou Yao offered a polite smile. "This is this year's fresh West Lake Longjing. Do try it."

With that, she naturally raised her teacup and took a sip.

Then she set the colored glaze cup down firmly, producing a crisp clink.

"Is there something about me that displeases you, Lord Zhu? Why go out of your way to make things difficult for Golden Curtain Terrace?"