Crossing the Mountains

Chapter 155 Enchanting Incense
Shen Tu Zhuo has been busy with official duties lately, shuttling between the Grand Herald, the Grand Minister of Works, the envoy Mo He, the Prince of Qin, and the Crown Prince, wishing he could split himself into eight pieces to use. Finally, when it was his turn to rest, he disregarded all talk of avoiding suspicion or overstepping boundaries, and eagerly went to the Forget-Dust Incense Shop to relax, a quiet oasis amidst the hustle and bustle, the place where he could finally unwind.

Since adopting the new methods, the incense shop has become a frequent gathering place for incense enthusiasts. Most of the customers here are married or unmarried women, as well as young men who are quite fond of incense. They gather in groups for different reasons and try out and appreciate incense in the incense room provided by Tan Huai Ke, exchanging their experiences.

Shen Tu Zhuo hid in the most secluded corner of the incense room, half-reclining on the couch, closed his eyes, sniffed, and asked, "What kind of incense is this? I've never asked before."

Tan Huaike held a long-handled bamboo fan and gently fanned away the smoke emanating from the small incense burner, replying, "The calming incense pills I made a few days ago were based on the recipe in Da Xuan's 'Xiang Cheng', using agarwood, frankincense, borneol, and poria cocos, bound together with jujube paste. Seeing that you're so tired with dark circles under your eyes, I wanted to help you calm down and rest a bit more."

“But I don’t want to sleep. I have too many worries, and even if I fall asleep, I won’t feel at ease.” Shen Tu Zhuo sat up, opened his eyes and looked at her. “I came here to find some peace and quiet, just to talk to you more.”

"Okay, what do you want to say to me?"

"Put out this incense first, or I'm really getting sleepy."

"Alright, then I'll change the incense for you." Tan Huaike smiled, covered the incense burner with a small cover, and waited for the incense ball inside to go out before replacing it with a new one.

Wisps of smoke curled upwards as a long-handled bamboo fan was gently swayed, filling the room with a pleasant fragrance.

Shen Tu Zhuo asked, "Last time you asked me to compose the lyrics for that song about spices. I originally wanted to write it myself, but I just couldn't find the time. I was also afraid of interfering with your business, so I had to ask Fang Yueguan from the Music Bureau to do it for me. Are you satisfied with what he did?"

Tan Huaike nodded, held a bamboo fan to his lips and smiled, "That's good. Haven't you heard? That folk song has been very popular lately, and people are secretly singing it."

"Really? That's good. If I were to write the lyrics, I guarantee..." Shen Tu Zhuo suddenly felt strange. "Hmm? Why sing it secretly? Why not sing it openly? Come to think of it, I've never heard of it before."

"I thought you deliberately had Fang Yueguan compose the lyrics," Tan Huai Ke said. "Don't you know he's best at writing erotic and romantic poems?"
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"Sexy? How sexy?" Shen Tu Zhuo was surprised. He had only heard that Fang Leguan was very famous and was thinking of promoting Tan Huai Ke's incense shop. He never expected that Fang Leguan would take this approach.

"What do you mean by 'dark clouds at the temples scratching the heart,' or 'white knees tugging at the mud and dust'... Oh dear, you can go and listen to it yourself." Tan Huai Ke blushed with embarrassment, and fanned himself even faster with his bamboo fan.

Upon hearing these two sentences, Shen Tu Zhuo could guess the gist of the matter and was immediately dumbfounded: "What kind of story have you made up? Is it because of such erotic lyrics that your fragrant pills can sell for such a high price? And what kind of fragrant pills do you have?"

Tan Huaike opened the incense burner lid and fanned it with a fan: "This is the kind of incense ball. Take a sniff and see what you think?"

The room was filled with a tantalizing fragrance. Shen Tu Zhuo sniffed it and felt his mouth go dry, his blood rushing, and his heart pounding. When he looked at Tan Huai Ke, he saw her eyes sparkling and her cheeks still flushed. He exclaimed in surprise, "Could it be... an aphrodisiac?"

Tan Huaike said leisurely, "This incense is called 'Joyful Tent Incense,' which, as the name suggests, is for use in the tents of husband and wife. Since you don't want to feel sleepy, I thought I'd help you stay awake..."

Shentu Zhuo instantly perked up, hurriedly pulling his clothes together, then reaching for a small cover to extinguish the incense balls, stammering, "Sister-in-law, this incense... can it really arouse love? Then wouldn't you and I be..."

"Hahahaha, look how scared you are." After teasing him, Tan Huai Ke laughed uncontrollably. "It's just a fragrance mainly composed of sandalwood, agarwood, and musk, supplemented with rose petal dew. Uncle, you've accompanied me to the black market in Zhangye County. The incense there uses strong enough ingredients to have such aphrodisiac effects. My incense here is mainly for pleasing the mood, it's not that effective." "..." In just a few breaths, Shen Tu Zhuo was covered in cold sweat. He dared not admit that just now, he was both fearful and hopeful, only thinking about whether he could take this opportunity to confess his feelings to Tan Huai Ke, and whether he could get a passionate kiss from her in the hazy fragrance.

Unfortunately, it was all just wishful thinking.

He couldn't help but sigh: "Sister-in-law, please don't play tricks on me..."

Tan Huaike shook his bamboo fan, clearing away the smoke in front of him, and said with a hint of reproach in his voice, "I specially asked you to try the incense, and you took it as a joke. Well, then it is a joke."

Shentu Zhuo clenched his fist. He understood the deeper meaning in her words, but dared not respond. At that moment, the scar on his brother's face came into view, and he had to remind himself that this was his brother's new bride.

After a long while, once his mind and body had calmed down, Shen Tu Zhuo changed the subject: "Seeing your furrowed brow earlier, is there any difficulty in the incense shop business?"

Tan Huaike extinguished the incense ball with a small cover and said, "There are indeed some unexpected situations."

Although through her vigorous promotion, people gradually gained a better understanding of the spices of the Western Regions and were more willing to come to Wangchen Fragrance Shop to blend and try fragrances, she also found that the people of Andu were too fond of chasing trends, and this obsession far exceeded her expectations.

Those precious incense products that were included in the folk songs and ballads, or those that were particularly favored by royalty and nobility, were still highly sought after by many customers, no matter how expensive they were or how unsuitable they were for them. Because these incense products often required rare and hard-to-find ingredients such as musk, ambergris, and dried jasmine flowers, the supply was very limited and always exceeded the demand.

The other spices in the shop are of very good quality and much more reasonably priced, but only a few customers buy some for their own use, and they are not very enthusiastic about them.

However, Tan Huaike couldn't possibly write lyrics and compose music for every type of incense, or force it to be tried by the ladies of official families. This resulted in the shop's famous and rare products being in short supply, while other incense products were stockpiled but no one wanted them.

After listening to Tan Huaike's words, Shen Tuzhu pondered: "Commoners rarely use incense. If they really find the smell unpleasant, they will just wash it with soapberry leaves and that's it. At most, they will find some fragrant leaves to burn for incense. Those who like to use incense are all people who are particular. They are either wealthy merchants or scholars. Too cheap incense would make them feel ashamed."

Tan Huai Ke nodded: "I think I understand now. These powerful and wealthy people in Anduli are willing to spend any amount of money just to save face. No wonder other incense shops are so audacious as to sell ordinary incense at such high prices. They're just trying to make money off suckers."

Shen Tu Zhuo couldn't help but chuckle: "So what are you planning to do? Only make money off the suckers and stop selling the cheap spices?"

Tan Huaike frowned: "I haven't thought of a way to deal with this yet."

Just then, Pei'er knocked on the door of the incense room and said, "Madam, an old customer has come to buy incense. He wants a lot and asks many questions. I'm afraid you'll have to go and receive him personally."

Tan Huaike got up and pushed open the door: "Okay, I'll come over."

Shen Tu Zhuo thought for a moment and followed, but unexpectedly met an acquaintance.
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Next chapter: What is a plain seal?