TLHRP 🍁 Chapter 10: The Ye Family's Yanheji

But compared to modern perfumes, they were still far inferior. Even the lily perfume, with the longest-lasting and strongest fragrance, could only retain its scent for about half a shichen. One had to reapply it from time to time to keep the lily fragrance lasting, and that was indoors. If one went outside to an open space with wind blowing, the scent would dissipate even faster.

As he looked, Qin Li spotted a tiny speck of something powdery at the bottom of the not-very-transparent, yellowish-brown small bottle.

"What is this?" Qin Li asked, pointing at the unknown substance at the bottom.

"Oh, customer, that's just a little sediment from pollen and flower juice. It's nothing to worry about," the waiter said with a smile.

Qin Li pondered to himself. It seems the perfume-making technology of this era is still immature. They simply crush fresh flower petals and mix them with alcohol and water. Because the purification is insufficient, they only roughly crush the petals to extract the juice, the concentration isn't high enough, so the fragrance is neither strong nor long-lasting, and sediment forms after sitting for a long time.

"Then I'll take a bottle of the lily-scented one." It seems people here prefer stronger fragrances, otherwise the lily perfume wouldn't be selling so well.

Qin Li noticed that in the short time it took to drink a cup of tea while chatting with the shopkeeper, three or four people had come in and bought several bottles of lily perfume.

Taking the wrapped perfume, Qin Li paid the silver. A single bottle of perfume cost one tael of silver. Sure enough, no matter the era, cosmetics were always in high demand and commanded high prices.

After gathering this information, Qin Li began making perfume with great enthusiasm. He would also make a lily-scented version, so he could draw a direct comparison, right?

There was no need to go to town to buy lilies either, the back mountain was full of all kinds of wildflowers. Qin Li picked a little of each: lilies, peach blossoms, pear blossoms, crabapple blossoms, roses... He planned to distill a version of each scent.

After tinkering and working busily for several days back and forth, the perfumes of various scents were finally ready.

Qin Li placed his homemade lily perfume next to the one he'd bought in town and compared them carefully. His smelled even more fragrant; just a tiny spritz released a rich lily scent, as if one were standing amidst a field of lilies.

Qin Li spritzed a little on himself and waited quietly for the scent to fade. After several experiments, he concluded: his homemade perfume could retain its fragrance indoors for up to two shichen, and outdoors for about one shichen. That was already quite good, after all, he hadn't heard of any craft in this dynasty capable of achieving that.

Satisfied, he capped the bottle tightly to prevent evaporation. Qin Li had no intention of purifying it further, after all, one should leave room for future generations to research and improve!

After making his exclusive perfume, Qin Li was in no hurry to launch it. Instead, he wandered the streets leisurely for a few days, going to town early every morning and returning only at dusk. Though the Qin family was curious about what he was doing, they didn't ask many questions; Qin Feng simply quietly accompanied his younger brother back and forth.

Qin Li's days of wandering town hadn't been for nothing. After several days of inquiries, he finally settled on the Ye family's rouge and powder shop to discuss a partnership.

The Ye family's shop, Yanheji, had the best reputation of any rouge and powder shop in town. Not only did they sell excellent goods, but they also kept up with the latest trends from the capital, whatever was popular in the capital could be found here right away. Most importantly, Qin Li had learned that the Ye family was kind and honest in business, and even more crucially, they had powerful backing.

The Ye family had only come to Qinghe Town in recent years to buy a shop and do business. As outsiders, their ability to gain a foothold in Qinghe Town's cosmetics trade and rise to the top in just a few years was thanks to the main Ye family branch. The main family was based in the capital, a renowned cosmetics clan. They had produced a tanhua who rose to the rank of third-grade official, and had marriage ties to families such as the Shilang Manor. Their background was truly formidable.

Qin Li was very satisfied with this. A partner like this gave him a full sense of security: their character was reliable, so they wouldn't bully him or steal his recipe and techniques; and they had enough influence to protect his privacy, keeping him out of the public eye. They were truly the ideal partners!

Having inquired about and settled on his partner, the next day Qin Li brought his finished perfumes to Yanheji.

As soon as he stepped through the door, a shop assistant came forward to greet him, with excellent service attitude.

But Qin Li shook his head. "Shep assistant, I'm not here to buy rouge and powder today. I'm here to discuss business with your shopkeeper."

The shop assistant sized Qin Li up, and Qin Li let him appraise him calmly and confidently. Though Qin Li wasn't wearing fine, embroidered silk clothing, his bearing was extraordinary, self-assured and composed. The waiter didn't treat him with disrespect, and led him to the back courtyard.

"Young master, please wait a moment. I will go inform the steward right away."

Not long after, a handsome young man with clear features walked over.

"This is our second young master. He happened to be inspecting the shop today, and when he heard someone wanted to discuss business, he came over to take a look. I am the steward here, sharing the master's surname. You may call me Steward Ye, young sir." Steward Ye appeared to be around thirty years old, with decent, regular features.

Steward Ye brought a chair and served the second young master, then poured tea and placed it before him. Only then did he sit in the chair opposite Qin Li, gesturing for the shop assistant to pour tea for Qin Li as well. "Our second young master will just listen from the side," Steward Ye said. "Young sir, whatever business you have, you may speak of it to me."

Qin Li didn't beat around the bush. He directly took out the several bottles of perfume he had distilled and placed them one by one on the table.

"Steward Ye, please smell this perfume and see how it differs from those sold at your Yanheji."

Originally, Steward Ye hadn't paid much attention. He casually picked up a bottle, opened it, and fanned the scent toward himself. But the moment he smelled it, his expression turned serious.

"Young sir, this perfume is actually more than twice as fragrant as the best one in our shop!"

"Oh?" Hearing Steward Ye's words, the second young master Ye also stepped forward curiously, picked up a bottle, and smelled it.

"Is this peach blossom scent?" Second young master Ye asked.

"Yes, second young master. The bottle you're holding is peach blossom-scented perfume. The one Steward Ye has is lily blossom. The remaining bottles are pear blossom, crabapple blossom, marigold, and rose perfumes. You may open all of them and take a smell."

Second young master Ye opened each one to smell carefully. After smelling and examining all the perfumes, he sat down in the seat Steward Ye had originally occupied, and Steward Ye quickly stood up to attend to him closely.

"These are indeed different from the perfumes in our shop. Young sir, these perfumes have a richer, purer fragrance than any currently on the market. If sprayed on clothing, I imagine the scent would last longer too, perhaps two shichen?" After thinking for a moment, second young master Ye looked at the liquid in the bottles again. "The color is also more translucent and attractive, with no sediment from crushed petals. Truly a fine product."

Qin Li nodded. "What you say is correct, second young master. This perfume can retain its fragrance for up to two shichen, but that's indoors. Outdoors, it only lasts about one shichen."

"Even one shichen is remarkable. No other shop has managed to make a perfume that lasts a full shichen outdoors yet." Second young master Ye took a sip of tea, cleared his throat, and said, "The Ye family has also been exploring ways to improve the perfume-making process, but we've had no leads so far, so we still follow the ancient method of crushing petals. I never expected to see such an advancement today."

As he spoke, he set down his teacup and said in a deep voice, "I wonder, young sir, would the business you wish to discuss be exclusive to our family alone?"