Chapter 142: Identifying a Woman by Her Scent

"Your Highness, the flower petals have arrived."

In the middle courtyard of the Prince's Mansion, Zhao Xu and Luan'er were standing in front of a Distiller.

Feng'er swayed her waist as she walked over, followed by two servants carrying a basket of flower petals.

This was something he had asked Feng'er to collect long ago, and now it was finally going to be put to use.

Over the past few months, the bulk of the Prince's Mansion's income had come from Wine; beyond that, there was the military supply income brought in by Allicin, as well as the income gained from ice production.

However, as summer passed, the ice business had gradually ceased.

The personnel who had gone south to produce ice were also merged into the trading firm to assist Dong An in selling Wine.

As for the Armor trade with the Ma Family, after deducting costs, he actually could not earn much Silver—at most one-third of the total transaction volume, merely a little over one hundred thousand taels.

Therefore, after the father and son of the Ma Family left, he began planning to add new goods to the trading firm.

After all, there was now an additional Shanggu Commandery, and there were many places where Silver was needed.

Most importantly, he wanted large Sailing Warships to build his own navy and establish his own shipping routes.

This way, he would no longer fear having his land-based trade routes cut off in the future.

At the same time, he could also sell goods to even more distant places.

Moreover, transportation costs on land had always been high; the most cost-effective method was still sea transport, as it had been from ancient times to the present.

However, the cost of such Warships was very high; according to records, a 1,500-ton displacement Sailing Warship in the seventeenth century cost two to three hundred thousand taels to build.

Ten ships would cost several million taels, which was simply terrifying.

Therefore, he had to use commercial goods to continue harvesting the wealth of the upper-class nobility of Great Song.

"Pour the petals in." Zhao Xu pointed at the Distiller.

This time he was not brewing Wine, but preparing to extract essential oil.

Watching all the jasmine petals being poured in, he had the craftsman add water in a one-to-four ratio, and then began heating.

This was the most basic distillation method for extracting essential oil.

Feng'er and Luan'er were both stunned, and Luan'er asked, "Your Highness, can flower petals also be used to brew Wine?"

"Silly, it's definitely not for brewing Wine; steamed flower petals taste quite good." Feng'er smiled, her eyes turning into crescent moons; she was thinking about eating.

"You are both wrong; this Prince is extracting essential oil," Zhao Xu laughed.

Then he suddenly sniffed Luan'er, and then sniffed Feng'er.

The two thought Zhao Xu was playing with them and both giggled.

"What is Your Highness smelling?" Feng'er's eyes were brimming with emotion.

"Smelling the incense you are wearing," Zhao Xu said, "It's already gone."

Before the scent appeared, women in ancient boudoirs relied on incense to make themselves fragrant.

But after Perfume appeared, incense would fade away.

For one, the scent of incense was very faint and dissipated easily.

Secondly, incense was cumbersome and not as convenient as Perfume.

He was extracting essential oil now precisely to manufacture Perfume.

The ingredients of Perfume were mainly Alcohol, water, and essential oil.

Because essential oil dissolves in Alcohol, and Alcohol has the property of volatility.

Therefore, when sprayed on the body, the scent would volatilize for six or seven hours, maintaining a long-lasting fragrance.

"If Your Highness likes fragrance,

this servant will go and apply more incense." Feng'er turned to leave, but was grabbed by the hand by Zhao Xu.

"I like it, but this Prince likes this even more." Zhao Xu pointed to the Distiller.

Luan'er suddenly realized and said softly, "Could it be that Your Highness is making spices?"

"Something like that, but it's even more special than spices; you'll know in a while," Zhao Xu said.

Hearing this, both of them showed curious expressions and waited with Zhao Xu.

The three chatted while waiting; after about half an hour, the steam in the Distiller became less and less.

At this time, Zhao Xu had the craftsman take down the jar next to the Distiller.

Lifting the lid of the jar, Zhao Xu looked at the bottom of the jar, where there was a yellowish oily substance.

A rich fragrance wafted out, making one feel refreshed.

"What a rich jasmine scent." Luan'er held her chest; she liked it too much.

Feng'er also sniffed gently, her face full of satisfaction.

Zhao Xu felt a wave of relief; the essential oil had been successfully produced, so there would be no problem with the Perfume.

His mind was full of Perfume formulas—low-note, middle-note, and strong-scented types—all at his fingertips.

Thus, he immediately had the craftsman bring a palm-sized Porcelain Bottle, filled it with Alcohol, and added ten drops of the essential oil from the jar.

"Shake it." Zhao Xu handed the bottle to Feng'er.

He and Luan'er sat on stone chairs and watched.

Feng'er pouted and said, "Your Highness is biased; you never let Luan'er do these rough jobs, but you always use this servant."

"Who told you to be this Prince's capable assistant?" Zhao Xu chuckled.

Hearing this, Feng'er felt very gratified; she proudly raised her head, gripped the neck of the bottle with one hand, and supported the bottom with the other to shake it.

After shaking for a quarter of an hour, Feng'er gradually became a bit tired, her whole body drenched in fragrant sweat.

Luan'er had always been a caring person, so she stood up and took over the shaking.

"Your Highness, how long does this need to be shaken?" Feng'er sat down beside Zhao Xu, wiping the fine beads of sweat on her forehead.

"Another quarter of an hour will do," Zhao Xu said.

The essence must be fully mixed with the alcohol for the fragrance to have the best effect.

Another quarter of an hour passed, and Luan'er was also tired; Zhao Xu then took the bottle, dipped a goose feather into the Perfume inside, and flicked it onto the two of them.

Instantly, a fragrant scent assailed their nostrils.

"Ah, it's truly fragrant," Feng'er exclaimed in surprise.

This kind of fragrance comes rushing at you, unlike incense which one has to deliberately go and smell.

Luan'er also nodded slightly; she had now guessed Yan Wang's purpose.

"It seems the merchant firm will have one more commodity that the world will scramble for," Luan'er said.

"Luan'er is indeed clever," Zhao Xu said, then he frowned, "It is just that this is different from Wine; one can make people know its magic by drinking it openly in the street, but it must circulate within the boudoirs to sell well."

Upon hearing this, Feng'er chuckled softly: "Actually, this is also simple; Your Highness only needs to go to the place in this Yancheng where there are the most women."

Zhao Xu was stunned for a moment and said: "Are you talking about Tianxiang Lou?"

Feng'er nodded, "The women there most love to compete in beauty and splendor, and they care most about what clothes are beautiful and what incense is best; if they like it, it will soon flow into the boudoirs."

Zhao Xu understood; the men who can frequent Tianxiang Lou are either rich or noble.

They make merry in Tianxiang Lou, and have delicate wives and beautiful concubines at home.

They all want to win the favor of the men from those places.

If the fragrance can become popular in Tianxiang Lou, it will inevitably spread to the common people; after all, they at home do not want to admit defeat.

"Wonderful, extremely wonderful," Zhao Xu said; he remembered Xu E saying that Tianxiang Lou is spread throughout the Great Song.

If he could utilize Tianxiang Lou, the reputation of the Perfume would spread even faster.

After all, this thing is a brand-new item, unlike Wine which is a traditional commodity.

Thinking of this, he got up, left the Prince's Mansion, and headed toward Tianxiang Lou.

On the way, he also thought of another method, which was the palace.

Chen Hu said his mother, Noble Lady Mi, has now become Imperial Concubine Mi, and her status in the palace is different from before; perhaps he could let her help as well.

"It is rare for Your Highness to think of this humble servant," in the boudoir of Xu E at Tianxiang Lou.

Xu E leaned lazily against the chair, a pair of pretty eyes staring straight at Zhao Xu, with joy, resentment, and a bit of feigned anger in them.