Flowery Hair: A Maidservant

Chapter 86 Reputation and Honor

This matter was nothing more than a trivial matter to the powerful and wealthy families. No one cared whether the children from poor families had books to read. But it was precisely this small matter that made the Second Miss and the Tang family gain much prestige in the eyes of the scholars in Lin'an.

Judging from the bustling scene at the bookstore, it was clear that the Tang family's carriage was still a hundred feet away from the bookstore when they heard the commotion outside. Meng Shu and Mingyue reacted quickly; one immediately ordered the coachman to stop, while the other vigilantly stood guard beside the second young lady in the carriage.

Meng Shu lifted a corner of the carriage curtain and saw countless young people dressed in coarse cloth robes leading their relatives and friends to the bookstore. Among those who came out of the bookstore, an old man was holding several books and couldn't help but shed tears. "The Tang family is so kind. I can actually buy the 'Collected Annotations on the Four Books' and it doesn't cost much money. It's truly a great kindness."

The "Collected Annotations on the Four Books" is a set of classic commentaries on the Four Books. The Second Miss has it in her study, a full four thick volumes. If she were to copy it... it would probably take several months.

"According to Manager Zheng of the bookstore, it was all thanks to the eldest and second young masters of the Tang family and the headmaster of Lushan Academy in the capital that they were able to travel thousands of miles from the capital to obtain official approval and transport the master copy to Lin'an. Otherwise, this book would cost nearly eighty taels of silver in the capital."

Hearing it from afar, Meng Shu raised an eyebrow. The voice sounded familiar; she seemed to have heard it before when she was working at Langya Courtyard.

Then it dawned on me that this was probably something Tang Xian did intentionally...

Meng Shu truly admired the head of the family for his profound thoughts. He was able to quickly follow the second young lady's suggestion and secretly plan to this effect. With the bookstore's publicity, it would be of countless benefits to both the eldest young master's reputation in next year's imperial examination and the second young lady's good name.

If the poor scholars in Lin'an Prefecture and even the surrounding counties were to be appointed to official positions in the future, who knows if they would not be grateful for the kindness shown to them today?

"Second Miss, with so many people and so many things to do, we'll be leaving the bookstore today..." Meng Shu said with a sigh.

The second young lady hadn't expected such a grand opening after only a few days. She guessed that the news had just spread, so she said, "In that case, let's go straight to the incense shop."

The carriage turned around, and after passing several streets, it arrived near Xinxi Bridge, where cosmetic shops were concentrated.

The Tang family's incense shop was Tang Xian's first business when he arrived. Originally located on an inconspicuous street corner, it has now been expanded several times and occupies the most important position at the bridgehead.

The master and his servants got off the carriage at the corner gate of the back courtyard of the incense shop, where Manager Tang personally led a group of people to wait at the gate.

Donggua followed at the back. After walking a few dozen steps into the backyard, she couldn't help but sneeze. The second young lady chuckled and said, "Manager Tang, please send someone to take Donggua to the storeroom to identify the spices. Meng Shu will go with you."

Meng Shu nodded in agreement, while Donggua blushed and felt uneasy, worried about embarrassing the second young lady.

Shopkeeper Tang smiled and said, "Miss Donggua, don't worry. Our place has a mixed flavor profile. Only those with a very keen sense of smell can recognize the mystery and have this reaction." He then pointed to a woman in her thirties standing next to him, "Madam Liao, please take the two young ladies over and treat them well."

Lady Liao, being a cheerful person, smiled and agreed, leading Meng Shu and the other woman to the small building on the left side of the backyard.

"The storage of spices is extremely important. They must not be exposed to moisture or mixed with other spices. Therefore, the head of the household built this building many years ago. The spices are stored on the second floor, with seven or eight storerooms containing nearly two hundred kinds of spices."

Since we received prior notice, we don't need to visit each house one by one.

Lady Liao led them directly into a room on the second floor near the stairs. Inside, a long table was covered with many plates and cups, all filled with various spices.

When Donggua entered the house, she was as restless as Chongyang's scorpion. She had to try her best to hold back, but she still couldn't help but glance at Meng Shu. She was really my good sister, making me suffer without having to endure it.

Meng Shu was preoccupied with her mistress's mission and didn't notice anything unusual about Dong Gua beside her. A maid from the incense shop brought Dong Gua over to check on him, and Meng Shu chatted with Lady Liao.

Starting with Aunt Lu's legendary experience in the incense shop, a few words made Lady Liao even more enthusiastic. "Aunt Lu is extremely talented. Based on the incense recipes of her predecessors, she created more than a dozen unique incense types. She is especially good at incorporating flowers into incense, which is why our Tang Family Incense Shop became famous in Lin'an."

Meng Shu had seen the recipe for the Soul-Soothing Incense a few days ago by Madam Yun's side. She asked about the various spices in the recipe, and she remembered the one that was similar to sandalwood very well because Dong Gua had mentioned it. She figured that Lu Yiniang's accident was probably caused by this spice.

"You're probably referring to sandalwood incense, also known as cinnabar incense. It's typically burned only in the main hall of temples; it's used to create a tranquil atmosphere and dispel worries. Our incense shop also has some, take a look..."

"Sandalwood?" Meng Shu's heart skipped a beat, inwardly blaming herself for being careless; she should have realized the difference of just one word earlier. The Ling Shu Pharmacopoeia records that sandalwood is pungent and warm in nature, entering the spleen, stomach, and lung meridians, and has the effects of regulating qi and harmonizing the stomach. Could mixing it with other fragrances have other effects?

When Donggua came out looking dizzy, as if he had just recovered from a serious illness, Meng Shu was terrified. But the first thing she said was, "Did you remember everything?"

Winter Melon said with a bitter face, "I've memorized the flavors, but they might not match up..."

Meng Shu: "......"

She forgot that Donggua couldn't read and his mind was sometimes sharp and sometimes dull. Seeing that Lady Liao was instructing the maid to collect the spices, Meng Shu hurriedly asked if she could take them back to the Tang residence. Lady Liao nodded and told the maid to put them away in the carriage.

When Meng Shu came out of the incense shop, she was carrying several books of incense notes, which recorded dozens of incense recipes and cases of mutual generation and restraint.

Everything was normal during the inspection of the cloth shop. After finishing their meal and resting for a while, a female shop assistant brought several sets of ready-made clothes with a few embroiderers. These were clothes that the second young lady would wear on her birthday.

Meng Shu took a closer look and saw that the first set was a skirt made of spiral satin. Spiral satin was a fabric that Yongxiu Cloth Shop was preparing to launch at the end of autumn. It was made of spiral warp and weft threads, and was thick and suitable for the transition between seasons. Moreover, this spiral could be embroidered into various intricate patterns. The one presented to the second young lady was an embroidered skirt with piled flowers and branches, with a cloud-patterned crepe gauze robe over it.

The second young lady was fairly satisfied with the outfit; she had been making molds for five or six years and was used to it. After each birthday celebration, the clothes she wore, regardless of fabric or style, were always in high demand at Yongxiu Fabric Shop.

According to Meng Shu, this was not only a way to promote the cloth shop, but also seemed to be a deliberate attempt to cultivate the reputation of the second young lady's beauty. The second young lady's appearance was more like Madam Yun's, with elegant facial features, especially her straight nose, which gave people a grand and majestic yet gentle and charming feeling, like a lady who stepped out of an ancient painting. At such a young age, she was already an outstanding figure among the noble ladies of Lin'an.

After returning to the Tang residence, the second young lady took Meng Shu to Yun Gui Courtyard.

"What were your impressions of visiting the incense shop today?" Madam Yun asked Meng Shu directly.

Madam Yun intended to teach the Second Miss and Meng Shu. Since Meng Shu was aware of the mutual interaction and restraint of medicinal herbs and spices, she could use the strangeness of Aunt Lu's incident to teach them how to deduce and reconstruct the key points of the whole incident.

However, Madam Yun was always good at observing people and judging their character. She could tell from the spies in Lanting Courtyard and Aunt Wen's strange behavior that she was the mastermind. But under the pretext of spices, she deliberately guided Meng Shu to investigate the specific reason for the scorpion's unusual behavior.

Meng Shu had already reached a conclusion and carefully said, "Replying to Madam, I was chatting with Lady Liao from the incense shop today, and she mentioned the sandalwood in the recipe for calming incense. On my way back just now, I suddenly remembered that the Ling Shu Pharmacopoeia recorded that sandalwood, when burned with patchouli and atractylodes, has the effect of causing poisonous insects to move."

Ruilin Incense uses both of these spices.