Marrying the Crown Prince

Zhou Zhou felt extremely uncomfortable and pulled Li Zixi off him. "What are you doing? Stop fooling around."

Li Zixi was very certain and sure, "What kind of sachet are you using? It smells so good."

Zhou Zhou tilted her head and spread her hands out, "I didn't use a sachet."

Li Zixi glanced at her waist and saw a lucky jade pendant hanging from her slender waist. Below the pendant were some thin and long tassels. The tassels were soft and would sway gently with each step of the owner, creating a graceful movement.

Great back!

Li Zixi touched Zhou Zhou's waist.

Zhou Zhou: "..."

"Ahem!" Li Zixi realized her lustful thoughts had been exposed, and cleared her throat slightly guiltily. "There really isn't a sachet. Could it be that you used someone's incense?"

“No, you know I don’t like using fragrance.” Zhou Zhou shook her head, then suddenly realized, “Oh, I see.”

"What do you know?" Li Zixi asked, puzzled.

What happened? How did you find out?

Zhou Zhou quickly provided the answer.

She rummaged through her sleeve pocket and pulled out a small, narrow porcelain bottle. The bottle was painted with a kumquat tree laden with golden fruit. The emerald green leaves and golden fruit complemented each other beautifully, showcasing a scene of abundant harvest.

"I feel like I've seen this somewhere before," Li Zixi muttered to herself.

“In storybooks, porcelain vases like these,” Zhou Zhou ruthlessly exposed her, “are used to hold colorless and odorless poison.”

Li Zixi: "..."

Can't we still have fun?

At this moment, Wang Qingwu also ran over to join in the fun, saying, "What are you talking about? You two didn't even know I was here."

When Zhou Zhou saw another person arrive, the corners of her mouth unconsciously turned up, and her voice became much lighter, "They're discussing the scent on me."

Hearing her say that, Wang Qingwu also noticed, "Yes, your aromatherapy today is very special."

The fragrance is faint, like a spring breeze, light and gentle, but it's not just the scent of flower petals; there's also a crisp orange scent. You can't smell it unless you sniff carefully, but once you do, you'll find the aroma rich and captivating.

“It’s not aromatherapy,” Zhou Zhou corrected again. “It’s fragrant oil from the Western Regions.”

It's not from the Western Regions; it's produced in our own workshop.

Ironically, while researching and experimenting with various scents of face cream, Zhou Zhou accidentally discovered a method for extracting essential oils.

This bottle contains sesame oil specially made by Zhou Zhou using kumquat peel.

While face cream may only be popular in winter, this sesame oil can be used all year round.

The people of Chen Kingdom, in particular, are romantic by nature and love to use flowers as metaphors for people. Men, women, and children from wealthy families all like to wear sachets or use fragrance to scent their clothes.

Zhou Zhou is no exception; when she's in a good mood, she'll also wear a sachet.

"Oh?" Li Zixi became even more curious and urged Zhou Zhou to take a look at it for her quickly.

Zhou Zhou removed the stopper, and a strong fragrance wafted out. The scent was distant and mysterious, a unique aroma that wafted to the tip of his nose, dangerous yet alluring.

“Good sister,” Li Zixi’s eyes lit up, and she put her arm around Zhou Zhou’s shoulder, “Tell me, where did this come from?”

Wang Qingwu asked a good question, "This scent is different from the one you're wearing?"

Zhou Zhou hurriedly pressed Li Zixi's hand down, but in the midst of his busy work, he still managed to reply to Wang Qingwu, "The difference between strong and weak."

Finally, Zhou Zhou broke free from Li Zixi's clutches, then smiled gently at her, her eyes filled with tenderness, as sweet as honey.

However, Li Zixi felt that there was poison in this honey. After realizing this, she sat up obediently, blinked her big eyes pitifully, and looked at Zhou Zhou.

Zhou Zhou snorted and explained, "A new cosmetics shop called Yu Yan Fang opened on East Street. I got these from there."

Hearing Zhou Zhou's words, Wang Qingwu followed up with a question, "Is it the store that sells face cream?"

"What ointment?" Li Zixi was confused. She had only been away from the palace for half a month, so how could so many things have happened that she didn't know about?

Because of this peach blossom banquet, Li Zixi has been detained in the palace by Consort Mei for half a month.

"It's a skin-moisturizing and beautifying product that's very similar to plum blossom ointment." Wang Qingwu's voice was gentle. "Besides this, the lady of this shop also knows many novel makeup techniques. Look, there's He Xiao, the daughter of Grand Master He."

Li Zixi looked in the direction Wang Qingwu pointed and saw a graceful woman wearing a long silk dress with hibiscus flowers and misty clouds. The peach blossoms blooming beside her eyes complemented her dress.

The peach blossom was placed perfectly, adding a touch of charm to her originally youthful face.

Li Zixi was very envious. "I want to go there as soon as I leave the palace."

"Sure," Zhou Zhou nodded. "I've never been before either. Will you come find me then?"

Upon hearing this, Wang Qingwu glanced at Zhou Zhou thoughtfully.

Li Zixi raised a question, "Since you've never been there, where did you get this bottle of sesame oil?"

“No problem, no problem,” Zhou Zhou smiled mysteriously. “I have a little connection with the owner of this shop.”

“I was wondering why I hadn’t seen this sesame oil when I went there yesterday,” Wang Qingwu chimed in.

“It will be available tomorrow,” Zhou Zhou said.

Li Zixi suddenly realized and asked in a low voice, "Could this be Madam Du's shop?"

“No.” Zhou Zhou said calmly, “This is my shop.”

Li Zixi: ? !!! !

We agreed to be good-for-nothings together, how could you just abandon me and leave?

Wang Qingwu smiled – just as he expected.

“So,” Zhou Zhou took out a small porcelain bottle from his person and gave it to Li Zixi, Wang Qingwu and the others, “this is specially brought for you.”

One bottle per person.

Seeing that Zhou Zhou cared about her, Li Zixi was deeply moved and patted her chest to assure him, "Don't worry, I will definitely patronize your shop."

Wang Qingwu was much calmer. "This thing must be the signature item of Yu Yan Fang?"

"Ten taels per bottle," Zhou Zhou said with a friendly smile.

Li Zixi almost choked on her own saliva. You should know that as the emperor's daughter, her monthly allowance was only thirty taels.

Of course, she earned more than thirty taels a month, so ten taels was nothing more than a broken vase or an earring that she accidentally lost.

“It’s from the Western Regions, and we only have thirty bottles so far,” Zhou Zhou continued to explain, “but we’ll have other sesame oils later, like peach blossom and lotus…”

Because it is rare, it is expensive.

Just then, the eunuch announced loudly, "Her Majesty the Empress has arrived!"

Then came a woman wearing a phoenix crown, with a beautiful face but sharp eyes. This was Empress Chu Yu, the legitimate wife of Emperor Chenze.