Shocking Mountain Moon

Chapter 50 Taking the bait
"Miss, please take your time choosing." Upon hearing this, the waiter hurriedly left Fangzhou and went to entertain Hui Niang.

Lord Yuan's wife is very generous, while the young lady who came earlier just looked but did not buy anything. It goes without saying which one is more important.

"You came just in time. I just put on a new perfume pendant with a rose pattern. Can I show it to you?"

"Bring it here."

The waiter opened a drawer, took out a box and opened it. Inside were two rose pendants.

Hui Niang picked up one and examined it, revealing a satisfied look: "Not bad, much more elegant than the previous square and round ones."

The waiter agreed with a smile: "Our incense masters are all top-notch. Since the incense pendants have only been around for a short time, they are not familiar with them at the moment. They will definitely get better and better in the future. I guarantee you will be satisfied."

A sneer came, Fangzhou put one hand on his waist and said, "You waiter, I was here first, but you ran to greet others."

"I'm waiting for you to take your time to choose. I can't just sit there doing nothing for half a day while you look around, right?"

Fangzhou pointed at the plate of incense pendants and said, "These are the only things. You still blame me for taking so long to choose. It's strange that I could pick out such ordinary stuff."

The guys were furious when they heard this. This incense pendant was the pride of their Tianxiang Pavilion recently, how could it be belittled in this way?

"There are some good ones, but I'm thinking about the girl's purse." The waiter's tone became sarcastic.

Fang Zhou chuckled, not wanting to be outdone: "The best you're talking about, wouldn't it be the incense pendant for that lady?"

As she spoke, she took two steps closer and glanced into the box: "Hey, what a coincidence, I also have this rose-shaped pendant, why don't we see how much it compares to the one in your Tianxiang Pavilion."

After these words were spoken, the shop owner and his assistants stopped talking, and Hui Niang finally looked directly at Fang Zhou.

Fangzhou touched his waist, hooked his fingers around the colorful string that tied the incense pendant, and showed it to everyone.

I saw the ancient red rose petals folding and opening, and the faint fragrance of roses wafted in the air.

Hui Niang's eyes widened immediately.

The shopkeeper even pushed the waiter away and wanted to stick his eyes close to the waiter.

Fangzhou moved the rose pendant to the side, seemingly to avoid the shopkeeper's big hand that wanted to touch it, but in fact it was getting closer to Hui Niang.

So Hui Niang looked more carefully and smelled more clearly.

"This fragrance..." Hui Niang moved her nose, then looked at the pair of rose pendants lying in the box, feeling only disgust.

Not only does it look rough, but the scent is not rose either. It's really like the difference between a fake and a real one.

"Excuse me, young lady, where did this perfume pendant come from?" The shopkeeper bowed to Fangzhou and became polite.

Nowadays, incense pendants are still rare for ordinary people, and only wealthy people come to buy them. If a perfume shop has incense pendants of this quality, it will undoubtedly become famous.

"This was made by Miss Qiuliu herself." Fangzhou said with a complacent tone.

"Miss Qiu Liu?" The shopkeeper was startled, then reacted, "But is she the noble lady who first made the perfume pendant?"

"That's right. I got a scent pendant made by Miss Qiu Liu thanks to my friend. My sister liked it very much, but there was only one, so she came to the incense shop to try her luck." At this point, Fangzhou shook his head, "It's a pity that although your shops have scent pendants, they are far from the ones made by Miss Qiu Liu."

"You little girl—"

The waiter couldn't help but retort and was kicked by the shopkeeper.

"Miss, are you willing to sell this pendant? We are willing to pay a high price for it."

Fang Zhou quickly put away the scent pendant and said, "The scent pendants made by Miss Qiu Liu are not something you can buy with money. Since your store doesn't have the right ones, I'll look somewhere else."

"Girl, are you really unable to give up? The perfumes from other shops are not as good as ours..."

The shopkeeper chased after her, but returned disappointed. He perked up when he saw Hui Niang: "Madam, whichever one you like, I'll ask the waiter to pack it for you."

Hui Niang glanced at the perfume pendant in the box with disdain: "Is there nothing similar to the one that little girl is wearing?"

The shopkeeper smiled bitterly, "My lady has heard it too. The young lady's scent pendant was made by Miss Qiu Liu. The scent pendant in Beijing became popular because of Miss Qiu Liu. No one has ever seen such a rare item before. It is not easy for the perfume maker of our shop to master it in such a short time. Of course, he cannot compare with Miss Qiu Liu."

"Which family is Miss Qiuliu from?" Hui Niang had completely lost interest in the pendants in the shop. She was only thinking about the rose pendant in Fangzhou's hand.

If you ask this question to any random guy, he may not be able to answer it. For many popular things, people pay attention to the things themselves, and only a few pay attention to the source.

The incense shop owner remembered it clearly: "Miss Qiu Liu is the noble lady of the Yongqing Marquis's Mansion."

At first, the perfume maker had pestered him to meet the person who made the perfume pendant, but he gave up after finding out that it was a noble lady from a baron's family.

"The Mansion of the Earl of Yongqing..." Hui Niang muttered to herself and left the incense shop empty-handed.

"Madam, which store are you going to visit next?" asked the maid beside her.

Hui Niang was not interested: "No more shopping, let's go back."

After returning to Yuan's house, Hui Niang looked through the various incenses in her collection and felt more and more itchy.

That rose pendant is not only exquisite, but also has a nice fragrance. It would be great if I could wear it on my body.

"What's wrong, madam?" The one who spoke was the maid who did not go out with the girl.

The maid who accompanied her said, "My lady went to Tianxiang Pavilion to buy a scented pendant, and saw a particularly elegant one from a little girl. It was said to be made by Miss Qiu Liu..."

Hui Niang sighed: "It turns out that what you can't buy is the best."

The maid who spoke first rolled her eyes and suggested, "Since Miss Qiu Liu would give the pendant to someone else, why don't you ask the master? Maybe the master has connections with the Yongqing Earl's Mansion." Hui Niang's heart moved.

The beauties around the master come and go, and those who can stay for a long time are favored, but even the favored ones have a sense of crisis. Not to mention the mortal enemy Li Niang, the Si Niang that the master brought this time is a foxy woman at first glance.

She had heard that Nie Si Niang's sister who came to visit her had visited a perfume shop two days ago. It was obvious that her nonchalance was just an act, and she was not content at heart.

A woman's beauty is inseparable from clothes, jewelry, rouge and powder. She loves perfume not only to please herself, but also to keep the master's heart.

When Yuan Chenghai came back, Hui Niang took him to her room.

"Master, you haven't come to my room for a few days. Has he forgotten me now that he has a new lover?"

Yuan Chenghai smiled and put his arm around Hui Niang's waist: "No matter who I forget, I will never forget you, Hui Niang."

He usually guards against assassinations and villains when he is outside, and it is time to relax when he returns home. He loves beauties like Hui Niang and Li Niang who are beautiful, have few thoughts, and show all their desires on their faces.

It makes him feel proud without causing any trouble.

As for Si Niang, he also likes her now, oh, actually he likes her more, but he doesn’t know how long this liking will last.

Hui Niang sat in Yuan Chenghai's arms and asked, "Master, do you know anyone from the Yongqing Marquis's Mansion?"

"Yongqing Marquis' Mansion?" Yuan Chenghai frowned and thought for a moment, "Why are you asking this suddenly?"

He had seen Earl Yongqing when he was dealing with Prime Minister Fang, but he didn't pay much attention to him.

Soon, he even lost his title and became a poor man. He was still quite active, but there were too many people around him to fawn on him, so he had no shortage of such people.

"I heard that the Sixth Young Lady of the Yongqing Marquis's Mansion is an expert at making incense. In particular, the incense pendants that have become popular in the capital recently were first made by her."

"Is that the wooden sign you're wearing?"

Hui Niang pouted in disdain: "That's far worse than what Miss Qiu Liu did. Master, if you know anyone in the Yongqing Marquis's Mansion, could you ask for a perfume pendant for me?"

Yuan Chenghai twitched his mouth when he heard this.

It's just a small thing, but women's knowledge is really narrow.

"Master, is it okay?"

Hui Niang wrapped her arms around Yuan Chenghai's neck and shook him, and bursts of faint fragrance entered his nose.

"Okay, of course."

Yuan Chenghai agreed immediately.

He asked Yongqing Bo for something to give face to the old man, so there was no difficulty.

When Yongqing Bo received Yuan Chenghai's invitation, he was at a loss.

Why would this popular person in front of the emperor suddenly invite him to drink?
This shouldn’t be the case. I couldn’t reach it before.

Hiss - could it be that he's always encountering assassinations and wants to share the burden with him?
Yongqing Bo couldn't help but think too much, and felt that it was not right.

Those bad guys wanted to kill the corrupt officials, but it was never his turn. It's not that he didn't want to be corrupt, but he just didn't have the power.

Yongqing Bo went to the restaurant with a lot of questions in his mind.

There were guards inside and outside the elegant rooms of the restaurant, and there was even one guarding the window.

Yongqing Bo tried his best to look calm and bowed to Yuan Chenghai: "Master Yuan."

"Sit down, uncle."

Yuan Chenghai personally poured a glass of wine for Yongqing Bo.

Yongqing Bo quickly took it and asked politely, "I wonder what Lord Yuan wants to talk to me about?"

Yuan Chenghai laughed: "I have something to trouble you, uncle. I heard that your granddaughter is good at making incense?"

Yongqing Bo was stunned, unable to hide his surprise.

What does Yuan Chenghai mean? Is he interested in Liu Yatou? He invited him to drink today. Does he want to take Liu Yatou as his concubine?
This cannot be agreed to. This Yuan man is often assassinated and may die one day.

Besides, although this man has the emperor's favor, he is still inferior to the prime minister, and he is in the southeast most of the time, so he can't be relied on. It is not worth it to sacrifice the reputation of the Yongqing Marquis's Mansion for this.

Yuan Chenghai was puzzled when he saw that Earl Yongqing was silent and his expression kept changing.

No, is it difficult to get a perfume pendant for my concubine?

"Uncle——" Yuan Chenghai shouted with a gloomy face.

Yongqing Bo came back to his senses: "Master Yuan, you say."

"That's right. My family really likes the incense pendant made by your granddaughter. I, Yuan, would like to trouble you to ask for one from your granddaughter."

Yongqing Bo breathed a sigh of relief.

It turned out that it was because of this that he had thought of countless words of rejection and wasted so much energy.

Wait, is Sixth Girl so famous for her skill in making incense?

(End of this chapter)