Chapter 69: The Advent of Soap

A cold Dagger pressed against his neck; Jiang Xuan was terrified, not daring to move in the slightest.

Though there was no light, there was moonlight. Under the moonlight, Deng Laomao and that courtesan had their clothes completely undisturbed, as if they had been waiting for a long time. It looked like they had walked right into someone else's trap!

"All of you, kneel!"

Deng Laomao and the courtesan were highly skilled; the few young thieves were no match for them and were quickly captured, tied up with rope, and forced to kneel on the ground.

"Kid, tell the truth, who sent you here?"

Only then did Deng Laomao light an oil lamp. Under the lamp, that withered face was incredibly ghastly; one look was enough to know he was no good sort. When he opened his mouth, a mouthful of yellow teeth was nauseating to the extreme.

Although Jiang Xuan was afraid in his heart, he gritted his teeth and did not say a word.

"Tsk tsk tsk, the kid has quite a backbone!"

Deng Laomao laughed out loud.

That courtesan, with the scent of face powder assaulting the nose, laughed coquettishly and looked over: "Little brother, I advise you to be sensible. People who fall into the hands of this old cat usually don't have a good end. Speak early, and you'll avoid physical suffering, won't you? Yo, what a tender little kid..."

Those scarlet fingernails brushed across Jiang Xuan's face.

Jiang Xuan was trembling all over with fear, his eyes tightly shut, stubbornly refusing to say a single word.

"Fine, fine, fine. If you won't talk, then I'll ask your brothers!"

Deng Laomao grabbed a beggar at random and threw him onto the ground with a thud. The little thief was so scared he wailed, and Deng Laomao stomped fiercely on his palm. A cracking sound and a scream rang out, making one's hair stand on end in the night.

"Speak, who sent you here!"

Who would have thought that this little beggar, having taken Jiang Xuan's money, also kept his mouth very tight. These children were carefully selected by Jiang Xuan; they were not bad by nature and were kids with quite a bit of underworld spirit. They were clever and knew that whether they spoke or not today, it was death, so even in the face of death, they didn't want to lose their integrity.

"Oh my, not bad at all!"

Deng Laomao's eyes flickered slightly as he watched, and he smiled thoughtfully: "This master is in a good mood, so I've changed my mind. What's the point of following this brat? If you tell me the truth, I'll take you to eat and drink well from now on!"

This wasn't entirely a lie; he really did have this thought. The seven or eight little thieves before him were indeed good seedlings who were agile and quick.

"We'd rather follow you, you old thief!"

Jiang Xuan shouted angrily.

Deng Laomao was furious and swung his Dagger. Jiang Xuan let out a mournful cry in his heart, knowing he couldn't escape today. What was this called? Dying before achieving one's goal? He thought to himself, hoping the young master would find out so he could avenge him.

But just as the Dagger fell toward Jiang Xuan's neck.

Whoosh!

A short sword flew in from nowhere, just barely knocking the Dagger away.

"Who is it?"

Deng Laomao and the courtesan were both startled.

"You move my little brother, and you don't even know to let me know?"

Qin Zhangfeng's voice rang out in the dark night.

"Qin Dage!"

Jiang Xuan called out in surprise.

Qin Zhangfeng's background was no small matter; he practiced moves that were grand and open. Since appearing here, he had his own confidence. First, he lunged at Deng Laomao, disarming the oil lamp from his hand in two moves. The next moment, he was already behind Deng Laomao, throwing a punch that made the latter vomit a mouthful of fresh blood. At this time, the courtesan let out a sharp cry and attacked. Qin Zhangfeng snorted coldly, parrying with a backhand. The two exchanged a palm strike, and the courtesan flew back three steps. But this also eased the pressure on Deng Laomao's side.

Seeing that he could not win by force, he roared: "Go!"

They couldn't win, but they could at least escape. The two joined hands, broke through the window, and had already fled.

"Qin Dage, why didn't you chase them!"

Jiang Xuan said anxiously.

Qin Zhangfeng sneered: "People from the Baiya Army, are they really that easy to chase? You kid have guts. If the young master hadn't told me to look after you, I'm afraid you'd be dead here today!"

Jiang Xuan dared not retort, but his heart felt very warm. Usually, he and Qin Zhangfeng did not get along, all because he regarded this Qin Zhangfeng as his imaginary rival. He thought that one day, he would eventually be in charge of the Yinzhou Army and would definitely have to outcompete this Qin Zhangfeng. Yet, if Qin Zhangfeng hadn't arrived in time today, he might have truly perished here. For a moment, he didn't know what to say to Qin Zhangfeng, his mood complex.

Qin Zhangfeng untied the rope for him, knowing exactly what he was thinking, and laughed dismissively: "Did the young master not tell you? A great man should have the capacity to tolerate others! At such a young age, to be so intolerant, how can you achieve anything?"

Jiang Xuan felt both ashamed and remorseful, offering a sincere apology.

Qin Zhangfeng looked at these few little thieves; although they came from the grassroots, they had quite a bit of underworld loyalty, and they were young and still moldable, so he said: "From today on, you will follow Jiang Xuan and serve him wholeheartedly. But walking the underworld, how can you be without the strength to truss a chicken? Later, you will all practice martial arts with me along with Jiang Xuan!"

The boys were overjoyed.

As beggars in troubled times, even filling their stomachs was a problem. If not for the pressures of life, who would be willing to be a petty thief? If they had a place to settle down, they would be willing to die for someone who understood them!

At night.

Liu Zheng heard Qin Zhangfeng's report and couldn't help but smile: "This Jiang Xuan, has he really yielded?"

Qin Zhangfeng laughed heartily: "He went to sleep early, saying that tomorrow morning, he will follow me to practice martial arts!"

Liu Zheng nodded upon hearing this. Raising a little boy was indeed a complicated matter...

"Young Master, what about that Deng Laomao?"

A flash of light appeared in Qin Zhangfeng's eyes.

Liu Zheng shook his head: "Let's just leave this matter here. For now, it is not appropriate for us to be enemies with the Baiya Army."

Investigating to the node of Deng Laomao, the facts were actually already obvious. Although Liu Zheng had been busy to death these past few days, his mind was still pondering this matter. The Empress had returned to visit her family and wanted to control the military power of Liangzhou, but the Prefect Chen Ping was a man of the Crown Prince... Naturally, she did not want Liangzhou, her own "rear area," to be constrained by others. Therefore, the Empress wanted to unite with the Baiya Army to completely take down Chen Ping.

But what about Chen Ping?

He was a classmate of the current Crown Prince, so naturally, he was unwilling to let military power slip away.

This year's family visit was going to be interesting...

The key for Liu Zheng was that whichever of these two forces won, it was not a good thing. He wanted to develop and had plans in Liangzhou, so Liangzhou could not be a solid block! It wouldn't work if the Zheng Family and the Baiya Army controlled Liangzhou, and it wouldn't work if the Prefect had no constraints from the Baiya Army!

In that case, whoever won would turn around and deal with his Yinzhou Chamber of Commerce!

If the Yinzhou Chamber of Commerce had continued to develop in a low-key manner, that would be fine; it wouldn't attract attention. But Liu Zheng's Top Courtesan Competition this time was bound to spread the fame of the Yinzhou Chamber of Commerce. Without fame, he couldn't make money!

A headache!

Liu Zheng had had all kinds of headaches these past few days. The intrigue, the complex situation, and the conflicts and contradictions within it—he had to handle them steadily.

In short, he had to manage to play both sides in Liangzhou this time! He had to obtain the title of State Marquis through the Empress's side, but he also couldn't particularly offend Chen Ping. He absolutely could not lean toward either side, so that he could continue to return to his Yinzhou to develop stealthily and plot for the future.

Forget it!

If you die, you die; if you don't, you live for ten thousand years!

Liu Zheng felt that his own brain was not quite enough to keep up.

Getting up the next day, Liu Zheng arrived at Fengming Tower, where Zheng Yue Ru had already appeared early on.

Seeing Liu Zheng arrive, Zheng Yue Ru looked delighted: "Brother Liu, our publicity this time... truly, quite a lot of people have come from all around Liangzhou. This year's Top Courtesan Competition is likely the liveliest year yet!"

Thanks to Liu Zheng's flyer offensive and the free-flowing "Drunk Yinzhou," people from all thirty prefectures and counties of Liangzhou, as long as they had the time, had almost all poured out. With three days left until the Top Courtesan Competition, the major inns and restaurants in Liangzhou were already packed with people.

"Is that so?"

Liu Zheng chuckled.

No wonder there had been more and more people on the streets of Liangzhou these past few days.

Zheng Yue Ru smiled and said: "Following Brother Liu's instructions, as we sent 'Drunk Yinzhou' to various inns and restaurants, their beds, tables, and chairs all had our brand on them! And, it didn't cost a single cent of silver!"

As she spoke, she began to laugh happily.

Liu Zheng was left between laughter and tears.

Before, when Zheng Yue Ru did not understand the concept of this "advertising," she would have been heartbroken to spend even one extra tael of silver. Now that she had witnessed the charm of this advertising, she was willing to spend any amount of silver. In just these few days, the Yinzhou Chamber of Commerce's Drunk Yinzhou, Immortal Brew, White Jade Capital, as well as the Lip Balm and Snow Cream—not to mention those supplied for the Top Courtesan Competition—were almost being snatched up by passersby! Then, combined with Liu Zheng's tiered packaging strategy, whether they were wealthy tycoons, young masters, or common folk, everyone became restless.

The Yinzhou workshop was working overtime to rush production, and the horse teams responsible for transport,

This was the effect of advertising, this was the charm of advertising!

At this moment, the entire Liangzhou City was covered in the brand of the Yinzhou Chamber of Commerce; people were practically being brainwashed.

"Hurry, hurry, are the sisters ready?"

"The first full-dress rehearsal tonight is about to begin! Get me looking beautiful!"

Just then, the procuress of Fengming Tower ran in.

A rehearsal is a dress rehearsal. A full-dress rehearsal is a rehearsal in costume.

For this Top Courtesan Competition, the Empress herself would attend in person, so there was no need to mention the scale, and there could not be any flaws in the performance.

"Is it starting?"

Zheng Yue Ru was exceptionally excited, then instructed the servants to distribute the Soap that had been prepared long ago. She knew that according to Liu Zheng's plan, with the start of the full-dress rehearsal, the promotion of the Soap and Perfume would officially begin...

Whether or not the one hundred thousand taels of silver invested could be earned back depended on the results of these few performances.

According to the two's plan, the one hundred thousand taels of silver invested earlier were all just a giveaway... the real big move was all held back for the Soap and Perfume.

"Eldest Miss, what is this?"

"Wow, it smells so fragrant!"

The pieces of Soap were distributed to the top courtesans of Fengming Tower. Although not crystal clear, they looked quite lovely, and the few top courtesans holding them in their hands were already unable to put them down. There were over a dozen top courtesans from Fengming Tower participating in the Top Courtesan Competition; of course, only Shen Manqing had the highest support to win the title.

"It's for bathing, an upgraded version of Pig Pancreas Soap!"

Zheng Yue Ru explained with a smile: "Sisters, go bathe first, then put on your costumes. Today, you are responsible for walking all the way to the rehearsal site while leaving a trail of fragrance for me!"

"Yes! Eldest Miss!"

The group took their orders and left one after another.

Zheng Yue Ru and Liu Zheng looked at each other, both very much looking forward to the first appearance of this Soap.