Chapter 209: First Astonishment
The night rain fell in drizzles.
Two little eunuchs braved the rain and arrived at the Empress’s Palace. They were eunuchs from the Imperial Household Department, sent by the Emperor to deliver newly tribute-**offered** golden peaches from Hongzhou to the Empress.
“Your Ladyship, these were delivered to the palace this afternoon. His Majesty ordered them to be brought to you quickly upon hearing about them, knowing you love the scent of melons and fruits the most,” the little eunuch said, bowing deeply, his words as sweet as honey. “Although His Majesty is busy with state affairs, he thinks of Your Ladyship every moment.”
“The peaches from Hongzhou are the earliest to arrive; those from other places usually don’t come until August,” Head Palace Maid Chun Ying said with a smile, stepping forward to receive them. “This is the very first batch, which shows how much His Majesty cherishes Your Ladyship.”
“Indeed. His Majesty specifically instructed that these peaches are only for Your Ladyship’s palace; no one else is to receive them,” the little eunuch said with a grin, knowing he would receive a generous reward for this errand.
“You little rascals, you all have such glib tongues,” the Empress couldn’t help but smile. “Is His Majesty still busy with memorials this late? Did he eat the dinner I sent over earlier?”
“His Majesty has eaten, and his appetite was quite good today,” the little eunuch replied. “He was just concerned about whether Your Ladyship’s head wind has improved. He wanted to send us to ask several times but was afraid of disturbing Your Ladyship’s rest.”
“Please tell His Majesty that I feel much better and he need not worry,” the Empress said. “It’s raining, so you should also return soon! Receive your reward as usual.”
The two little eunuchs thanked them for their kindness and slowly retreated.
The palace servants around the Empress couldn’t stop praising the peaches sent by the Emperor.
Although the Empress felt a heaviness in her head, her mood was ultimately quite good. She instructed her servants, “Help me remove my makeup and change my clothes. The rain outside is falling perfectly; I can fall asleep to the sound of it.”
Removing the Empress’s makeup was a very intricate process. It involved taking off her hair ornaments and outer clothes, and carefully unbraiding her hair. A comb made of exquisite Kunshan jade was used to brush her hair from root to tip three hundred times, followed by cleansing and evening her face.
Furthermore, all the acupoints on her head and face needed to be massaged.
Perhaps due to the dampness of the rain that day, when the palace maid opened the face cream box, her hand slipped unexpectedly.
The box of imperial face cream fell to the ground. Although it didn’t break, the Empress could not possibly use it again.
The palace maid, terrified, quickly knelt on the ground to beg for forgiveness.
Chun Ying said, “How could you be so careless?! Go quickly and fetch a new box.”
“There’s only one box left. There were originally two, but Your Ladyship gave one to Princess Consort Chu a few days ago,” the little palace maid said hurriedly. “Unless we go to the Imperial Household Department to get more.”
“Never mind,” the Empress said at this moment. “With such heavy rain, don’t go through the trouble. Don’t we still have the face cream sent by Princess Consort Zhao? We can use that for now.”
“Thank you, Your Ladyship, for your consideration,” the little palace maid said, kneeling and kowtowing. “I will be more careful and attentive from now on and will go to the Imperial Household Department to get face cream first thing tomorrow morning.”
Chun Ying then brought over the box of face cream made by Wen Mingqian. Applying it to the Empress’s face had always been her sole responsibility, and she could not entrust it to anyone else.
She knew the Empress disliked overly strong fragrances. Although this box of face cream from Wen Mingqian only had a faint floral scent, she still didn’t dare to use too much.
However, during the application, she also felt that this face cream was extraordinary. It was refreshing and non-greasy, quickly absorbed by the skin, yet sufficiently moisturizing.
The rain did not stop all night, and the Empress slept better that night than she had in nearly a month.
In the morning, when Chun Ying went to draw the bed curtains, she saw that the Empress’s complexion was exceptionally good, especially the skin on her face, which was very radiant.
The Empress herself noticed it. She raised her hand to touch her cheeks and smiled, “After just one night’s sleep, why does my face feel so firm?”
“Your Ladyship looks truly radiant and spirited today,” Chun Ying said with a smile, picking up a handheld lotus-shaped mirror. “If Your Ladyship doesn’t believe me, please look for yourself.”
The Empress looked at herself in the mirror with great satisfaction and couldn’t help but say, “No wonder my sister said that anyone who has used things made by her cannot do without them. It seems her words are not mere exaggeration.”
“If Your Ladyship likes it, why not summon her to the palace and have her make face cream exclusively for Your Ladyship? There are plenty of fine ingredients in the palace; she can choose whatever she needs.”
“No rush, we can discuss it in a few days,” the Empress said, rising. “His Majesty must have finished his morning court by now. I’ll go and see him.”
“Yes, I will help Your Ladyship with your makeup now,” Chun Ying replied. She and several other attending palace maids began to help the Empress with her makeup.
On this day, Wen Mingqian was invited to the Zhong family’s residence. Madam Zhong was not at home; it was Madam Fang and Zhong Meier who invited her.
“You’re here! We originally planned to spend the whole day at the manor today. But it rained all night, and the ditches are full, making it difficult to go out of the city,” Madam Fang said, greeting her with a smile. “We have freshly picked water caltrops and lotus seeds today. Let’s go sit in the pavilion and peel them to eat.”
“I remember First Madam loves these freshwater delicacies the most,” Wen Mingqian said. “I saw them being sold on the street yesterday and felt tempted, but I didn’t buy any.”
“Why else would they say you have a good palate?” Madam Fang said affectionately, linking arms with Wen Mingqian. “Didn’t they come to mind just when you were thinking of them?”
After Wen Mingqian and Madam Fang, sisters-in-law, chatted about trivial matters, Madam Fang finally got to the main point. “I know you’re busy and don’t like to be disturbed easily. However, next month is Princess Consort Chu’s birthday, and after much thought, I don’t know what birthday gift to give, so I have to ask for your help.”
Wen Mingqian knew that Zhong Meier’s elder brother worked under Prince Chu, so she paid special attention to the birthday gift for Princess Consort Chu.
“How can I help?” Wen Mingqian asked with a smile. “No matter how busy I am, I can always make time for you.”
“It’s like this: Princess Consort Chu absolutely adores the Lingxi Incense tribute from the Great Qin Kingdom, but this incense has been almost extinct for the past ten years,” Madam Fang said. “Since Great Qin changed its ruler, they have not sent us tribute and have ceased trade. I managed to find a little, which I bought at a great cost. Can you make some based on this?”
“Let First Madam show it to me,” Wen Mingqian said. “If the raw materials can be found, it’s not impossible to replicate. Although it might not be exactly the same, it can still be made to be seven or eight parts similar.”
Madam Fang was very pleased to hear this and quickly took out a small box from her sachet.
Wen Mingqian opened it, smelled it, and shook her head. “This is somewhat similar to Lingxi Incense, but it is not. If I’m not mistaken, this should be Persian Lingmao Incense.”
“Ah? What… what should we do?” Madam Fang became a little anxious. “It’s fortunate you have a discerning eye; otherwise, if we had sent the wrong thing, it might not have pleased her and instead caused displeasure.”
“I smelled Lingxi Incense years ago, but I don’t know it very well. How about this: I’ll try to find some for you. If I can still find some, I should be able to replicate it quite closely.” Wen Mingqian knew that someone might have such a thing, but she couldn’t tell Madam Fang and the others directly.
“It would be wonderful if you could find it. We will pay for whatever raw materials are needed,” Madam Fang said quickly.
Once they decided to do something, they would not hesitate to spend money.
