Chapter 170 Impulse
"The Grand Marshal heard that Your Highness's wedding date has been set, so he specially ordered me to deliver generous gifts to congratulate Your Highness. Your Highness will get married next year, and there will be more generous gifts to send off." Li Ge said with a smile.
"The King of Qin is thoughtful." Zhao Xing smiled and nodded.
This was just an excuse. Zhao Xing didn't believe that Li Ge came here just for such a small matter.
"Besides that, I came here to discuss a business matter with His Royal Highness the Crown Prince." Li Ge said.
"I have handed over all business matters to Sheng Wei. Just talk to him if you have any problem." Zhao Xing said.
"Only His Royal Highness the Crown Prince can decide on this matter, so we can only talk to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince." Li Ge said.
"Oh?" Zhao Xing asked with interest, "Why do you have to talk to me about this?"
"The Grand Marshal wants to buy the method of making perfume." Li Ge said.
"The method of making perfume is a gold mine. I can't sell it." Zhao Xing shook his head.
He didn't know the ingredients of fixative, so naturally he had no way of making it.
Therefore, the perfume produced has a big disadvantage. Not only is the fragrance not long-lasting, it is also not easy to preserve.
The former is okay, the fragrance is not long-lasting, just wait until the fragrance is almost gone, then use it again.
Anyway, this thing can only be afforded by rich ladies, and for them it's just a matter of spending a little more money.
In this way, you can make more money.
However, the problem with the latter is more serious. Without a fixative, the fragrance evaporates quickly, and the ancient sealing technology is backward.
Once the distance is too far, the fragrance will almost evaporate by the time the goods are delivered.
Li Ge had also bought some before, but when it was shipped to the Liao Kingdom, only a very faint fragrance was left.
Although the smell is better than those spices, it is too light. I can hardly smell the fragrance not long after using it. It is not as good as spices.
Therefore, there was no market for perfume in the Liao Kingdom.
Li Ge also knew that this was caused during the transportation process, not because there was no market for perfume.
He once mentioned that he wanted to buy the perfume making method, but was rejected by Zhao Xing.
Firstly, the price offered by Li Ge was not attractive to him, and secondly, there would be a risk of leakage after selling it to Li Ge.
"Your Highness, there is no need to be so hasty to refuse. Why don't you listen to what conditions I can offer first?" Li Ge said with a smile.
"It seems that you are very confident that your conditions can impress me. Then I would like to listen to it." Zhao Xing said.
"Five thousand stallions!" said Li Ge.
Zhao Xing was stunned when he heard this, and he was indeed tempted by the price.
Over the years, he has acquired thousands of stallions through transactions with Li Ge.
Now Li Ge asked for five thousand horses at once, which was quite generous.
However, Zhao Xing also knew that Li Ge could not decide on so many varieties of horses.
In other words, the person who wanted the secret recipe of perfume was Yelu Chongyuan behind him.
Zhao Xing did not lose his mind because of the five thousand stallions.
The perfume has been tinkering with for several years, and it has been more than a year since I rejected Li Ge last time.
Even when Li Ge came to Bian Jing to meet him last time, he did not mention this matter.
Now that he suddenly pays such a huge price for the secret recipe of perfume, it is obviously impossible that he does it just to make money.
If that's the case, why didn't Li Ge mention it last time?
Seeing Zhao Xing remained silent, Li Ge felt a little anxious, but he did not show it.
Zhao Xing's guess was correct. The secret recipe of perfume was indeed what Yelu Chongyuan wanted. He even found it a little strange.
Because five thousand stallions was not Yelu Chongyuan's bottom line, his bottom line was ten thousand.
It would be difficult not to be discovered if Song Dynasty had so many varieties of horses at once.
Although Yelu Chongyuan is very powerful now, he is not yet to the point where he can cover the whole world with one hand.
Although Li Ge was puzzled, he had no choice but to do as Yelu Chongyuan told him to get the secret recipe of the perfume.
However, in order to demonstrate his ability, he did not reveal his cards right away.
If he could get the secret formula of perfume at a lower price, it would be a great achievement.
Therefore, even though he was anxious, he did not rush her, but instead acted calmly.
While Zhao Xing was thinking about these questions, he was also looking at Li Ge's expression, but he didn't see anything.
After a moment's silence, Zhao Xing said, "I'm sorry, but I won't sell the perfume secret recipe no matter what."
Since he couldn't tell anything from Li Ge's expression, Zhao Xing decided to retreat in order to advance.
No matter what Li Ge’s purpose is, he will be the one who is anxious as long as he doesn’t agree.
Sure enough, when Li Ge heard Zhao Xing's refusal, a trace of anxiety flashed in his eyes, and he said, "Your Highness, these are 5,000 stallions, worth more than one million taels of silver, and you can't buy them even if you have money."
Stallions are naturally much more expensive than ordinary war horses, after all, those war horses are castrated and cannot reproduce.
The value of Liao Dynasty war horses ranged from fifty to more than one hundred taels, but stallions could be sold for two or three hundred taels each.
But this was only for the Song Dynasty. The price of war horses was driven up by the blockade of the Liao Kingdom. For the Liao Kingdom, they were not that valuable.
"The Song Dynasty has enough stallions for now. We don't have to fight a war anyway, so we can just breed them slowly." Zhao Xing said nonchalantly.
"This..." Li Ge gritted his teeth and said, "If Your Highness is willing to exchange, I can make the decision and increase the price to 8,000 horses."
"Haha, let me think about this matter carefully. Let's not talk about it today." Zhao Xing looked at Sheng Wei and said, "It's a pleasure to have friends coming from afar. Let's have someone prepare some wine and food to welcome Envoy Li. Today, let's only talk about love and romance, nothing else."
Li Ge opened his mouth. There was not much difference between 8,000 horses and 10,000 horses. If Zhao Xing didn't agree to this, he would probably not agree even if he raised the price to 10,000 horses.
I can only think of another way.
Upon hearing this, Sheng Wei immediately ordered people to prepare a banquet.
…………
Zhao Xing specially treated Li Ge with strong liquor and asked Gu Tingye to sit down and drink with him.
I wanted to get Li Ge drunk to see if I could get anything out of him.
Unexpectedly, Li Ge also noticed it. Seeing Gu Tingye and Sheng Wei constantly urging him to drink, he pretended to be drunk and fell on the table.
Seeing this, Zhao Xing could only ask Sheng Wei to arrange someone to send him downstairs to rest.
After Li Ge was taken away by the servants, Zhao Xing said, "It is unusual for Yelu Chongyuan to pay such a high price for the secret formula of perfume. This Li Ge may not know Yelu Chongyuan's purpose, but he can provide some useful information. I plan to leave him alone for a few days, see if you can get any useful information from him."
"Yes." Sheng Wei replied.
At this time, Zhang Feng came in and saluted, saying, "Your Highness, there are several carriages outside. They say that they are the family members of Mr. Sheng, coming from their hometown in Youyang."
"Your Highness, my son wrote to me a few days ago, saying that he would come to Bian Jing with his old mother and some relatives in the near future. They should have arrived." Sheng Wei said.
After Sheng Wei moved to Bian Jing, his mother lived there for a while, but felt uncomfortable there and insisted on returning to her hometown in Youyang.
Sheng Wei had no choice but to send his mother back.
Fortunately, Yuyang's eldest son and daughter-in-law are still there, so the old mother doesn't have to worry about being left unattended when she returns.
Now that Sheng Changwu's wedding day is approaching, his mother and relatives from Youyang have come together to attend Sheng Changwu's wedding.
"In that case, I will leave first and not disturb your family reunion." Zhao Xing stood up and said.
"I am here to see your Highness off!"
Sheng Wei escorted Zhao Xing to the door, where they saw a large group of people, young and old, men, women, standing.
Leading the way was an old woman with silver hair, supported by two women dressed in their early twenties.
"Mother!" Sheng Wei hurriedly stepped forward to salute, then turned and bowed to Zhao Xing, saying, "This is His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!"
"Greetings to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!" The Sheng family members hurriedly bowed and saluted.
"Old lady, please don't be polite." Zhao Xingxu helped her and said with a smile, "I didn't know that the old lady arrived today. I was stopped outside the house. I became a bad guest."
"Your Highness, you are too polite. It is an honor for the Sheng family to have Your Highness visit us." The eldest old lady said with a smile.
After a few pleasantries, Zhao Xing left with the Sheng family's respectful farewell.
…………
"The one on the right should be Sheng Shulan, right?"
After returning to the East Palace, Zhao Xing was often distracted when dealing with the knotted paper.
Sheng Shulan's somewhat melancholy look always appeared in his mind.
It’s not that Zhao Xing fell in love with her at first sight, but he had an inexplicable impulse.
There was no shortage of beauties around Zhao Xing. Not to mention the concubines chosen for him by his father and mother, even the palace maids in the Eastern Palace were all beautiful.
Many of them are prettier than Sheng Shulan in terms of appearance.
The maids in the East Palace were completely at his disposal. But Zhao Xing could hold back, even if he had to sleep in the same bed with Yu Yanran every day.
But I just met Sheng Shulan once, and I couldn't help thinking about her.
Could it be that I have the attributes of a thief like Cao?
Zhao Xing quickly shook his head. He didn't have this hobby in his previous life.
After thinking for a long time, Zhao Xing came to a conclusion.
What attracted him to Sheng Shulan was not her identity as a married woman, but her mature and melancholy temperament. Otherwise, why didn't he keep thinking about another one?
Zhao Xing did not have such a strong impulse towards Zhang Guifen and the other girls. He could even resist taking the last step with Yu Yanran.
It’s not that he has a strong will and can control his desires, but that the women are too young.
The same was true for the palace maids in the Eastern Palace. Basically, when they reached the age of seventeen or eighteen, they would be rewarded by Zhao Xing to the unmarried soldiers in the imperial guards.
They were too young, which made Zhao Xing lack the physical impulse, so he was able to hold back.
But Sheng Shulan is different. She is now twenty-four or twenty-five years old, and is very attractive to Zhao Xing.
"call."
Zhao Xing exhaled and said, "Sanshui, have someone go and call Liu Sanshi over."
"Yes." Sanshui replied.
Zhao Xing tapped the table unconsciously with his fingers. No matter it was heartbeat or physical impulse, with his status, there was no need to restrain this impulse and make himself uncomfortable.
If the original drama had developed, Sheng Shulan should have divorced and remarried.
But now, because of his existence, many things have deviated from their original development.
He needs to find out what Sheng Shulan's current situation is.
If Sheng Shulan was married, Zhao Xing would not have forced her to divorce.
But if she divorces but remains unmarried, then there is nothing to worry about.
As for the fact that she had been married before, it didn’t matter at all.
The Song Dynasty itself did not restrict women from changing their prices, and even encouraged it.
Moreover, one of his grandfather's queens had been married before entering the palace, and she eventually became the queen. What's wrong with him taking a married woman as his concubine?
You clearly have the capital to do whatever you want and it is not violating any ethics, so why should you suppress your thoughts and make yourself feel uncomfortable?
Soon, Liu Sanshi walked into the study and saluted, "Your Highness!"
"Come closer, I have something for you to do." Zhao Xing waved his hand.
Liu Sanshi stepped forward upon hearing this, and Zhao Xing whispered a few words to him.
"Did you hear that clearly?"
"I heard it clearly."
"Go."
"I'll take my leave." Liu Sanshi bowed and left.
After Liu Sanshi left, Zhao Xing continued to process the taro.
Not sure if he had already made a decision, but Zhao Xing felt his thoughts were clear and he was no longer as absent-minded as before.
In the evening, Liu Sanshi came to report the investigation findings to Zhao Xing.
Sheng Shulan divorced more than a month ago.
The cause was that Sheng Shulan's husband had a mistress outside and they had a son.
After being discovered by Sheng Shulan, he decided to go all out and proposed to take the mistress into the house.
However, the concubine was originally a prostitute. Both the first and second branches of the Sheng family had suffered at the hands of prostitutes, so they made a rule that the sons of the Sheng family were not allowed to marry prostitutes, and the girls of the Sheng family were not allowed to live under the same roof with prostitutes.
Sheng Shulan naturally refused and went back to her parents' home to cry.
After the old lady learned about it, she wrote a letter to communicate with Sheng Wei, and finally chose to let Sheng Shulan and Sun Xiucai divorce.
After the divorce, Sheng Wei didn't want his daughter to stay in the sad place of Youyang. In addition, Sheng Changwu's wedding date was approaching, so he asked his daughter to come to Bian Jing and prepare to find a family to marry near Bian Jing.
Zhao Xing guessed that it was probably because Mr. Sun valued Sheng Wei that he kept that woman outside.
This resulted in the two of them separating much later than originally planned.
Whether the guess is right or not is no longer important.
Since it was confirmed that Sheng Shulan had not remarried, Zhao Xing asked Liu Sanshi to visit Sheng's house the next day.
…………
When Old Lady Sheng arrived in Bian Jing, Sheng Hong and Old Lady Sheng would definitely pay her a visit.
The next morning, Sheng Hong took a leave of absence, and the whole family drove to Sheng Wei's house.
After a brief greeting, the women went to the main hall in the backyard to talk.
The men stayed in the main hall in the front yard to talk.
As they were chatting, a servant came in and reported that Liu, the eunuch from the East Palace, had arrived.
When Sheng Wei learned about it, he hurried out to greet him. Sheng Hong then called his son and nephew to the backyard to make room for Sheng Wei.
After a while, Sheng Wei and Liu Sanshi came to the main hall, talking and laughing. After they sat down, the servants brought them tea.
"Mr. Sheng, when His Highness learned that Mr. Sheng's old mother and relatives from his hometown were coming, he specially asked me to send some ginseng to the old lady to nourish her body, and also packed some cloth as a reward to Mr. Sheng's relatives." Liu Sanshi said with a smile.
"Thank you for your grace, Your Highness. Your Highness cares about me so much that I would never be able to repay you even if I die." Sheng Wei excitedly bowed towards the direction of the East Palace to express his gratitude.
"I have some great news to tell Mr. Sheng." Liu Sanshi said, looking at the servants standing in the room.
Sheng Wei understood and quickly sent the person away.
"His Highness said that after Mr. Sheng's second son gets married, Mr. Sheng's eldest daughter will be allowed to enter the East Palace." Liu Sanshi smiled and said, "Congratulations to Mr. Sheng."
Sheng Wei was stunned when he heard the news. It took him a while to come back to his senses and said, "Is Eunuch Liu right? Is the one you are talking about my second daughter?"
"How could I make a mistake in this matter?" Liu Sanshi frowned and asked, "Could it be that Mr. Sheng doesn't want to?"
"If Your Highness is interested in my younger daughter, I would naturally be happy for her. But my eldest daughter has been married," Sheng Wei said quickly.
Naturally, he would be willing for his daughter to enter the palace and serve the prince.
Although my niece has been confirmed as the prince's concubine, she can enter the palace after she reaches the age of 15.
But a niece is just a niece after all. If his own daughter enters the palace, the future and wealth of his family will be guaranteed.
But not only has Sheng Shulan been married, she is also ten years older than the prince. Why would His Royal Highness the Crown Prince ever want to let her enter the palace?
Therefore, when he heard Liu Sanshi's words, his first reaction was that he had mistaken the person.
"Hasn't they already divorced?" Liu Sanshi said with a smile.
"This..." Sheng Wei opened his mouth and said, "It is my daughter's honor to serve His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. When my son's marriage is over, I will send her to the East Palace."
Zhao Xing didn't mind that his daughter had been married, so if he said anything else, it would be ungrateful.
"Haha, then I will go back and report to His Highness." Liu Sanshi said with a smile.
……
Sheng Wei sent Liu Sanshi away with a dizzy head and came to the backyard.
There was laughter and joy in the main hall of the backyard. Old Madam Sheng, who was talking to the eldest old lady, saw Sheng Wei coming back and asked with a smile: "I heard from Hong'er that someone from the East Palace has come. If you have something to do, just go and take care of it. We are all family, and there is no outsider."
"Yes, we can't delay His Highness's business." said the old lady.
"Mother, aunt."
Sheng Wei saluted and said, "Your Highness sent someone to tell us...tell us..."
"What are you saying? Why are you so hesitant?" the old lady asked anxiously.
"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince said that after Changwu's wedding, he would let Shulan serve in the Eastern Palace." Sheng Wei said.
"what?"
As soon as Sheng Wei said this, everyone who was chatting in the hall fell silent.
"Wei'er, are you sure His Highness is talking about Shulan?" Old Lady Sheng asked uncertainly.
"Yes!" Sheng Wei nodded and said, "My nephew didn't believe it at first, so he asked again and it was indeed Shulan."
"Alas." The old lady slapped her thigh and sighed, "My poor granddaughter. She is so much older than Your Highness. In the future... in the future... Alas!"
"Sister-in-law!" Old Madam Sheng pulled the eldest old lady, looked at Li and said, "Let the servants leave."
"Hey."
Only then did Mrs. Li react and quickly sent all the servants out of the house.
"Sister-in-law, you have really lost your mind. What you just said was extremely outrageous. How can you say such nonsense?" said Old Madam Sheng.
"But Shulan is so much older than Your Highness. In a few years, when she is old and ugly, Your Highness might not even look at her." The old lady looked at her eldest granddaughter with pity.
"Grandma, please stop talking. It is my honor to enter the palace to serve His Royal Highness the Crown Prince." Sheng Shulan came back to her senses at this time and said with a smile.
She always felt that her divorce had brought shame to the family.
Even if His Royal Highness the Crown Prince doesn't even look at her, she is willing to do so as long as it can bring benefits to the family.
"You have suffered so much over the years. I wanted to ask your father to find a good family for you near Bian Jing so that they can be close to you and take care of you in the future. If I had known earlier, I should have agreed to the marriage that Huan'er suggested for you." The old lady sighed.
A big chapter of 5,000 words, two chapters of 8,000 words. It was originally planned to be an additional chapter, but later I was too lazy to divide it, so I just merged it into one chapter.
There are still three chapters to go.
(End of this chapter)