"Living-Alone Pavilion." Xiao Huayong gazed at it for a while before murmuring the name again. "Quite an audacious title."Your Highness, how shall we celebrate the princess's grand opening?"" Tianyuan inquired.
Send the vine fruit fragrance cup...Xiao Huayong pondered briefly, a smile spilling from the corner of his eyes and tracing along his beauty mark. "...one cup."
Tianyuan: "?The vine fruit fragrance cups were tributes from the Western Regions—cups exuding a cardamom-like fragrance. Not only were they aromatic, but they also counteracted the effects of strong liquor when used as drinking vessels. These rare treasures numbered only two, both of which had ended up in the Eastern Palace.
Gift-giving traditionally involved pairs—who would ever present just one?
"By sending only one, she won't bring it out for guests." Xiao Huayong gently scratched the tiny mole at the corner of his eye with his pinky. "Perfect—she and I shall each have one."
Tianyuan: ...
He decided not to question further. After acknowledging the order, he turned to leave but was stopped by Xiao Huayong.
"Go personally. Check if Living-Alone Pavilion carries anti-cold incense. If so, purchase all of it." How could he allow others to possess what she had gifted him? "Leave word with the manager that henceforth, all incense for dispelling cold is to be delivered exclusively to the Eastern Palace.""
"Acknowledged."After responding, Tianyuan hesitated before adding, 'Your Highness, should we only buy the cold-repelling incense?" Wouldn't purchasing other items as well..."
...serve as a better way to curry favor with the princess?
Xiao Huayong cast him a cool glance. "Have you forgotten? She explicitly stated she lacks no gold."
Whether she opened this incense shop to pass time or for other purposes, she had no need for him to please her through such methods.
If he truly did so, it wouldn't earn her favor but rather her disdain.
When Living-Alone Pavilion opened, its fragrance wafted for miles. Shen Xihe had only intended to establish its reputation and signal that this was an incense shop. She never anticipated her entire stock would sell out in just three days.
"Bring me the account books." Upon hearing the news, Shen Xihe immediately called for the ledgers.
Living-Alone Pavilion's incense was priced slightly higher than other shops. However, her store didn't just sell incense—it carried all incense-related items. Before opening, Shen Xihe had reviewed the inventory quantities, estimating it would last two months.
Biyu took the ledgers from the shopkeeper outside and handed them to Shen Xihe.
Three thick volumes of accounts lay before her. Shen Xihe meticulously flipped through each, having required every customer to leave a name to identify regular and high-volume clients. For these patrons, they would reserve premium goods and offer seasonal gifts.
The gifts were merely a pretext—Shen Xihe's true aim was to ensure every sold incense product was traceable. Those unwilling to provide names and addresses would not be served, and anyone caught impersonating others would be blacklisted from Living-Alone Pavilion.
While she strove to eliminate opportunities for malicious schemes, complete prevention was impossible. If trouble arose, she could only make an example of the offenders.
Living-Alone Pavilion was part of Tao Shi's dowry—a fact easily verifiable in the capital's archives. Shen Xihe made no attempt to conceal this, intending to deter petty troublemakers from entertaining foolish ideas.
Should anyone still cause trouble, they wouldn't be ordinary people but undoubtedly targeting her personally.
Page after page, Shen Xihe's gaze paused at "Eastern Palace's Cao Tianyuan."Looking down, she saw the item listed—the quantity indicated he had purchased her entire stock."
The production of cold-repelling incense was difficult. The current batches Hongyu made didn't meet quality standards—only the five boxes Shen Xihe personally crafted were worthy."Your Highness, Guard Cao also left a message that the Eastern Palace will require Cold-Repelling Incense in the future." Biyu reported promptly when she noticed Shen Xihe reading to this part.
Pre-ordering worked this way - affluent customers could reserve upcoming incense products in advance.
"Only Cold-Repelling Incense?" Shen Xihe flipped through two more pages but found no other purchases from the Eastern Palace.
"Yes." Biyu nodded.
Shen Xihe gave a slight nod. It seemed Xiao Huayong genuinely preferred Cold-Repelling Incense. He hadn't made extensive purchases of other incense products just to show off or curry favor, which would have disrupted her business and its purpose. Her impression of him improved slightly.
After spending two hours reviewing the account books, Shen Xihe found everything normal aside from merchants heading south - no one was making large-scale purchases.
Closing the account books, Shen Xihe said, "You've all worked hard. Reward the shop manager with ten taels each, and the accountants, servers, and cleaners should also receive bonuses."
"Thank you for your generosity, Your Highness." The shop manager was delighted - this amounted to half a year's wages! He became even more dedicated. "Your Highness, the shop has no inventory to supply..."
"There's an emergency batch at the workshop you can use for now. Additionally, I have some new items here." Shen Xihe signaled to Hongyu with her eyes. "Take these back and display them as well."
Hongyu quickly brought people carrying several boxes. Even before opening them, fragrances drifted through the air.
When opened, various scents spread, making people unconsciously take deep breaths.
One box contained bowls and utensils made from fragrant wood, while two other boxes held fans - one box contained fans made from fragrant wood, another held fans made from silk soaked in fragrant spices, along with plain fans coated with spices. These were suitable for both men and women, who could purchase them to inscribe poems or paintings themselves.
During the incense-making process, some material was inevitably wasted. Shen Xihe had devised methods to use these leftover spices - steeping silk in scented baths, grinding them into scented powder to coat paper rolls, or commissioning craftsmen to make utensils from wood unsuitable for incense production.
Originally intended to avoid waste, these items were meant for future shop display. She hadn't expected to need them so soon. The shop manager left satisfied with the goods.
"Money in the capital is so easy to earn." Biyu calculated the accounts and discovered that Living-Alone Pavilion had earned over a hundred gold in just two days!
"These are just the first two days." Shen Xihe smiled faintly.
Though her products were slightly expensive, they were durable. However, there were plenty of wealthy people who wanted to try everything, or those who seeing Living-Alone Pavilion's momentum, wanted to stock up. Business wouldn't be poor in the future - monthly profits of a hundred gold shouldn't be problematic.
Biyu also knew this. After careful calculation, she estimated annual profits should reach ten thousand taels of silver barring unexpected circumstances.
Just thinking about this amount made Biyu's eyes shine. As someone fascinated by wealth who managed the princess's finances, this excited her.
Shen Xihe smiled helplessly. Biyu suppressed her excitement and handed a booklet to Shen Xihe: "Your Highness, these are all the congratulatory gifts sent by various households. I've already registered them in the ledger."
Living-Alone Pavilion had opened quietly without Shen Xihe inviting anyone. She neither actively publicized this as her business nor tried to conceal it. Those who investigated sent congratulatory gifts, which were difficult to refuse, so she accepted them and recorded them for future reciprocity.
Casually flipping through the booklet, Shen Xihe noticed Xiao Huayong had gifted her a vine fruit cup: "Bring me the cup."
Gifts from the Eastern Palace were naturally stored separately. Biyu quickly brought it over.Opening the brocade box, Shen Xihe took out the rattan fruit cup and froze—the cup was actually carved with her likeness!
OpenNovel