CHAPTER 91: CHAPTER 83: HOW A DAUGHTER SHOULD BE RAISED

In the Capital, a shop called Treasure Pavilion has emerged, boasting fine goods and high prices, yet no one knows who the owner is.

Merchants, being sharp, came sniffing around, but after various inquiries, they found they couldn’t learn a thing.

The formula couldn’t be stolen, and the owner couldn’t be found.

Everyone understood, though, that to sell a box of rouge and powder for dozens of taels of silver, the owner must have some backing.

The less they could find out, the less they dared to probe further, fearing they might provoke someone they couldn’t afford to.

At the same time, they thought Treasure Pavilion was quite audacious—how much could this stuff cost to make anyway? They’re bold for asking so much.

Yet all their womenfolk were upset for not being able to place an order.

Such spendthrifts!

Chunyu looked at the account books sent back from Treasure Pavilion with great satisfaction.

"I never thought Nuannuan’s method would really work."

No fine things come cheap; the ingredients in Chun Nuan’s formula were frighteningly expensive, a little capital wouldn’t suffice.

Nuannuan seemed to foresee this situation, advising her to collect deposits for pre-orders first, then supply the goods. At first, there was fear that no one would trust them, so Nuannuan suggested providing samples for them to try.

Indeed, women can never resist temptation, especially when it comes to becoming beautiful, they would never hesitate.

They pay up faster than anything else.

Treasure Pavilion succeeded by relying on this sales strategy.

Netting a profit of one hundred and eighty taels of silver a month, that was quite a tidy sum.

To know that her dowry shop had only made a little over a hundred taels of silver annually before.

"Miss, with Treasure Pavilion’s business so brisk, why not increase the daily limit of ten boxes a little, Nanny Ma says they can handle it."

"No need, let’s stick with this for now." Chunyu had long understood Nuannuan’s intention; rarity begets value.

Currently, the most flaunted items among the elite circle in the Capital are the rouge and powder from Treasure Pavilion.

If the sales volume increased, and the items became common, cheap, and ubiquitous, what advantage would they have?

Nuannuan had said to make Treasure Pavilion’s rouge and powder the favorites among noblewomen and young ladies of the Capital.

Just like now, with limited subscription, those young ladies from wealthy families would order them as gifts for their close friends or sisters, which are more practical than any other gift.

After all, who could refuse something that makes one more beautiful?

"But..."

Seeing the silver not being earned, Molan was getting really anxious.

Miss has an ambitious plan: she said she wants to earn money diligently, so when Granny and the Great Uncle reunite in the Capital, she can buy a big mansion there, and only then would the family be truly reunited.

The Capital is a place where every inch of land is worth its weight in gold; a large mansion costs at least a few thousand to tens of thousands of taels of silver. Earning over a hundred taels a month, a thousand a year, wouldn’t Miss have to keep at it for endless years?

"No worries, we must have faith in Nuannuan; she said she will occasionally provide us with new formulas, and then we can innovate and secure old customers while developing new ones."

Nuannuan playfully added a line in her letter: Once they come, there’s no escape!

"The Second Miss is really amazing."

"Nuannuan has always been remarkable." As she spoke of Chun Nuan, Chunyu brimmed with pride: "She was always able to hold her ground as a child, delving into Grandfather’s pharmacy. Grandfather once said, of my father and his two brothers, none wished to learn, and he feared the ancestral medical arts would perish with him; he did not expect Nuannuan to have such enthusiasm and talent. By three, she could identify hundreds of herbs; by five, she could recognize a variety of medicinal herbs blindfolded and accurately state their effects and contraindications."

"At seven, she began tinkering with various pills; back then, she was naughty, chasing little Chun Ning to feed him pills. Chun Ning was also greedy, and he’d eat them as soon as he heard they were sweet, resulting in various incidents, after which she would give Chun Ning the antidote."

"Chun Ning fell victim many times, each trick different; on one occasion, after taking a pill, his face turned entirely red, and he nearly fainted, which made Grandmother so furious she wanted to punish her severely."

"Perhaps by luck, as my mother and others were persuading Grandmother, Grandfather returned. Upon seeing Chun Ning’s symptoms, he asked Nuannuan if there was an antidote, and Nuannuan said yes, promptly administered it to Chun Ning, and within the time of an incense stick burning, Chun Ning was hale and hearty again."

"Grandmother was still very angry, but Grandfather was delighted, saying Nuannuan had skills, surpassing the teacher, exceptional not only in processing medicinal herbs but also in pill-making, having crafted an antidote even he couldn’t formulate."

"Afterward, Grandfather told Grandmother never to restrain Nuannuan, allowing her to do whatever she desired."

Granny obviously was not too pleased; in her eyes, girls were supposed to behave like girls, to learn music, chess, calligraphy, painting, needlework, and cooking. When grown, they were to marry, support their husbands, educate their children, respect their in-laws, and assist their families; no family desired to marry a female doctor.

Yet, Grandfather presided over the household, and Grandmother had to consent. However, among their many grandchildren, Grandmother was the least affectionate toward Nuannuan.

Fortunately, Nuannuan was unconcerned, with her mind wholly consumed by her herbs and pills, indifferent to whether she received attention. Otherwise, the hurt would have been enormous.

"Now thinking about it, Nuannuan truly was the smartest one."

Reflecting on creating the societal ideal of a virtuous wife and good mother as Grandmother preferred in herself, Chunyu thought her outcome was utterly dismal.

Now that she also had a daughter, watching Panpan grow day by day, Chunyu decided to raise her daughter following Nuannuan’s example.

Forget about being a virtuous wife and kind mother; a woman should be kind yet possess a sharpness, otherwise even her bones will be gnawed away.

Moreover, Chunyu clearly understood that because she sent the entire Wu family to ruin, people in the Capital avoided her, severely affecting Panpan’s future marriage prospects.

After all, who dares to provoke such a fierce mother-in-law?

Regarding this, Chunyu felt a bit guilty.

But thinking that if she hadn’t taken a stand, both mother and daughter wouldn’t have survived, she found relief.

The Wu family, did Lord Wu think no one would notice?

However, with her evidence, she slapped him down convincingly. Who knows what the Emperor was thinking; Lord Wu was executed, and men and women of the Wu family were exiled directly to Lingnan.

Chunyu once thought, it was fortunate they were exiled to Lingnan; if they had been exiled to the Northern Desert and encountered her father and the others, none of her dealings in the Capital would remain hidden.

Indeed, Chunyu was such a person, seemingly meek yet capable of handling matters. In her letters to her family in Shu City, she never mentioned the depth of her injuries or the severity of her hardships, just one sentence: I am well, the child is well, the child is starting to teeth, the child is starting to call for mother...

Chunyu believed that with Nuannuan’s support, she would definitely be able to achieve her goal.