Chapter 112

The great king walked over, turned his head to look at Zhu Ti's arm blocking the doorway, then rubbed his own little head; after coming over, he wasn't very happy, thanks.

Outside the door, Wei Shen admitted that the tree demon being the world's number one beauty was the only reason she was let in; upon entering, he grabbed the King oddly and said: 'She heard me speaking, yet she didn't mind my calling her a tree demon, only caring about whether she's old or not… Wait, how did she know "tree demon" referred to her? I deliberately didn't mention her full name.'

His younger cousin was very thoughtful: 'I told her that!'

Wei Shen clenched his teeth: 'Wei! Tai! Ping!'

Wei Tai Ping was dazed: 'What the hell?'

Wei Shen also didn't know whether that guy was faking it; as soon as it came to serious business his mind cleared, but normally he's just as clumsy as he should be—in fact, nobody can be more clumsy than him.

Wei Tai Ping, how could you tell the person involved the secret I whispered to you? And what's up with your accent? Do you people in Chang'an talk like that?

Sigh, just mentioning the King makes him feel guilty; he's been hanging out with Bai Yang and Qiao Yi so much that sometimes he slips into tones and words that no one from the Great Jin would say.

"We Youzhou people talk like this! Cousin, don't just stand there—this rouge is the best in the world; aren't you ashamed not to bring some for your aunt and cousin?" The King pulled Wei Shen up to the second floor, where there were several makeup artists just trained in Zhu Ti, their hands still raw but their explanations already very practiced.

Wei Shen took a close look; although the few girls standing here couldn't compare to that outside beauty, their makeup already far surpassed that of Great Jin women.

The makeup artist in charge of sales certainly wouldn't wear heavy makeup; this is a proper rouge shop, offering only the natural, comfortable light makeup.

Wei Shen also felt that applying lipstick made his complexion look good; anyway it made his face look very white, and the few of them weren't all the same shade.

The King called over a nearby makeup artist: 'My cousin wants to buy this; come over and introduce it.'

The makeup artist immediately came over to ask Wei Shen: 'Sir, are you looking for lipstick? For what age range of lady? Yellowish or fair skin?'

Wei Shen: '…One forty-two, one sixteen, dark skin.'

The King couldn't help but interject: 'Could it be any darker than you?'

Wei Shen: 'Get lost, you milky‑white fatty, do you even know how big the sun is in the southwest?!'

Attendant: 'Cough cough cough!'

The King objected: 'How don't I understand? You should first buy foundation, whiten your face, then apply lipstick—it'll look even better! Look at that painting by the door—miss, you agree, right?'

Makeup artist: '…Yes.' She didn't dare say no; although she didn't know the King's identity, the sword‑bearing figure behind him was terrifying.

Another makeup artist beside her picked up several glass bottles with wooden lids of foundation from the rack: 'These shades work for dark skin; customers can try them on—they're samples.'

Wei Shen and the King eagerly applied the foundations to Wei Shen's hand, trying each in turn, then began seriously comparing and choosing: 'Let alone, this is the first time I've seen powder mixed into a paste; my sister always uses dry powder, and if you mess up it just flakes off hahaha… Which shade looks good?'

The King pondered: 'Shouldn't the shade match the neck too? Otherwise it'd look weird.' Anyway, he noticed that in Zhu Ti the face and neck are the same color, and these products are used that way.

Wei Shen felt he'd figured it out: 'Let's just take these two darker shades! Does applying this let me then put on that lipstick?'

The makeup artist boldly rebutted: 'Actually no; as you said, the darkening is from the sun, not innate, so the best is to first apply sunscreen and keep it up for half a year—then the face will turn white again.'

Wei Shen, not understanding, just decided: 'Fine, then bring two bottles of sunscreen too.'

Will this do the trick now?

"Actually there's more. Sir, under the foundation and sunscreen you need to apply a moisturizing base, or it'll cake. That means using a hydrating serum, lotion, etc., basic skincare; sticking with it for a while will make the skin smooth and fine lines fade." That's what they said in training.

Wei Shen went numb.

"You're taking it all at once!"

Then the country‑bumpkin brothers stared at the tableful of items, dumbfounded…

Although these items were purchased by the King, the list was Zhu Ti's, Bai Yang placed the order, and he just handled the payment and transport.

Goodness, this set of six or seven bottles and boxes even separates the forty‑two and sixteen shades for different uses, plus there are a few small brushes like paintbrushes—everything is exquisite.

Wei Shen already had a bad feeling, but he steeled himself and asked: 'How much silver in total?'

The junior accountant on the second floor came running with an abacus, and after a moment said: 'This set costs 1,540 taels, the cheaper set 1,180 taels. Any fractions have been waived for you.'

The King reached out to steady his poor cousin's chin, but Wei Shen shoved his hand away: 'How much? Wei Tai Ping, why don't you go rob someone?!'

He grabbed the King's neck and started shaking him: 'You black‑hearted little fatty!'

The makeup artist beside them panicked: 'Yes, yes, you said you wanted better quality, we have several grades, and there's even an affordable set for just three hundred taels…' She herself thought it outrageous—listen, even the cheap one costs three hundred taels! She's never touched thirty taels in her life.

The King: 'Let go, I can give you a discount~'

Wei Shen didn't let go: 'How much of a discount? Fifteen taels for a set, eleven taels for a set?' He simply moved the decimal two places forward.

Upon hearing that, the King decided he'd rather have money than his life: 'Just choke me to death!'

Ling Yin: ……

In the end Zhao Bao persuaded Wei Shen: after all, the Second Young Master's assets are –2,000 taels, so why worry about adding another two thousand? Better to just owe it?

Someone experienced wrote an IOU, sent it over for Wei Shen to thumb‑print, and the King took it, looking pleased: 'Cousin, I'm now your biggest creditor—be polite to me from now on, or I'll add interest if you keep calling me little fatty!'

After extorting Wei Shen, he asked the person: 'When will you arrange someone to take this back to Changzhou? I'll also send a set to my aunt.' He still had a limited‑edition luxury set for gouging customers, which could be used to treat his aunt.

Wei Shen replied: 'Then I won't buy it, to ease the debt…' The King wouldn't let him: 'Don't, another of my specialties is filing lawsuits.'

Wei Shen: ……

Man, the King is really dark!

The finance steward downstairs had a similar experience to Wei Shen, except his standards were higher.

Zhu Ti, along with several wealthy merchants' wives, officials' ladies, and southern traders from Chang'an, had pretty much arrived, and he gave them a major makeover.

They randomly picked a maid brought by a lady, had her wash her face on the spot, then layered these products on her, and in an instant the merely pretty maid turned into a great beauty.

The atmosphere was unprecedentedly heated; whoever saw it felt their heart stir.

Those ladies then looked at Zhu Ti and thought, 'Even this peerless beauty isn't that special; if I doll myself up I'll surely be no worse.'

The products Zhu Ti had used instantly became hot sellers; everyone scrambled to buy them, urging the shop assistants nonstop to fetch the same items, fearing they'd run out. Even the male customers mixed in got an eye‑opening experience—such frenzy shows this business is highly viable!

Zhu Ti's demonstration used the mid‑range line; she has three skincare sets at different price points, cosmetics not included—if you've got money, spend it. With a collecting habit, the ten lipstick shades—every one is wanted.

Downstairs, the cashiers were getting tired from counting money; when Zhu Ti had a free moment they deliberately went to ask the finance steward whether they should place an order to ship back to Chang'an.

"Of course we should order. We're ordering a lot—I don't know if Manager Zhu can give us a cut."

"Flat‑rate 10% off, but I don't have that much of this scarce stock—shipping it through wind and rain isn't easy either, so at most I can sell you goods worth 100,000 taels."

The finance steward calculated the price—100,000 taels wouldn't buy much at all.

Shopkeeper Zhu, are you trying to play the hoarding game with Mr. Jin? It's not easy for us to make a trip to Youzhou.

No no no, it's really hard to get supplies, the raw materials are also precious. If it weren't for Youzhou being poor and few people able to afford it, I wouldn't be selling it to you at a discount. This isn't the low-quality face powder you find in the Great Jin market; it really whitens and nourishes the skin.