CHAPTER 1540: CHAPTER 1516: MOISTURIZING ROUGE

Princess Changyu and Mingda excitedly and proudly took out half a jar of ointment to show the Emperor and Empress, "Father, Mother, this is the rouge we’ve made ourselves."

The Emperor looked at the contents of the jar and, without pausing, loudly praised, "Excellent! Our daughters can make rouge now."

Although the Emperor wouldn’t use it himself, he had seen the Empress and other consorts use it, so he knew what rouge should be like. Thus, he felt that the rouge his daughters made had gone bad.

However, seeing how happy they were, he clearly did not want to discourage them, so he lavished them with praise, and then turned around to instruct Gu Zhong to select some high-quality rouge for the two princesses.

The Emperor, holding their hands and smiling, said, "It wasn’t easy for your mother to raise you, so let this homemade rouge be for your mother to use, and you can use the ones I give you."

Changyu and Mingda didn’t hesitate and readily agreed, stuffing the rouge jar into their mother’s arms, considering it a gift for her.

The Empress: ...

She looked down at the "rouge" in her arms, speechless for a moment.

Even for someone as knowledgeable as she was, she had never seen rouge of such a color.

She cast a glance at the Emperor, handed the "rouge" in her arms to Madam Shang, and smiled, thanking them for their filial affection.

The couple chatted with the two young girls for a while, then left with the "rouge" under the reluctant gaze of the princesses.

Back at the main hall, the Emperor, in an attempt to please, gently squeezed the Empress’s hand and instructed Madam Shang, "Put away this rouge. Zitong, I’ll make time to go outside the palace and personally buy some high-quality rouge for you, how about that?"

The Empress withdrew her hand from his, smiling, "Your Majesty, I’m not that petty. This, at least, is the children’s filial affection, better to keep and use it."

The Emperor then took her hand back, smiling, "The two kids worked hard to make it, not knowing what they added. The color doesn’t look good; as for the affection, we understand it, no need to use it. I’m just worried that if they use it and something goes wrong with their faces, what then?"

Only then did the Empress show him a kind face, teasing, "The people around them are not without sense. How could they allow them to use it?"

Madam Shang timely interjected, "The recipe came from Lord Zhou Junior, made together by the three of them. Just now, someone from Princess Mingda’s side took some to the Imperial Hospital to see if it is usable."

The Emperor then asked, "What did the doctors say?"

"The person hasn’t returned yet," Madam Shang bowed and said, "Once she returns, I will have her report back."

The Emperor nodded and then said to the Empress, "Mingda and Changyu have been having too much fun with Zhou Man recently; perhaps you should guide them. As young ladies, they should still focus on modesty and decorum."

The Empress said, "Remarkable indeed, Your Majesty would actually say such a thing."

The Emperor was taken aback, only then realizing he had gone against his usual stance.

In the past, when Changyu and Mingda were mischievous, it was he who indulged them, and the Empress who disciplined them. Whenever the Empress was about to be strict, the Emperor would say, "My daughters should be naturally open and joyous; a little liveliness does no harm. Why insist on them being strictly demure and composed?"

The Emperor felt a bit awkward, thinking he was either frustrated by Zhou Man or worried about Shengzhou’s matters.

He justified himself, "Zhou Man is too unreliable. She promised not to write medical cases but went back on her word. Don’t let the two children play too closely with her."

The Empress laughed and said, "But Your Majesty has not held her accountable, clearly knowing she did the right thing."

She laughed and said, "Adhering to rules isn’t a bad thing; I’ve been thinking of teaching the two children about rules recently, so let’s start with this matter."

The Emperor did not expect that in the end, he himself would become the negative example for his two daughters, so he remained silent.

The Empress, seeing his silence, finally felt relieved.

The palace maid who went to ask the imperial physicians soon came to report back, and she bowed her head, saying, "The imperial physicians said this is not rouge, but skin ointment, used to treat facial cracks in winter. It’s a medicinal ointment. However, the physicians, after looking at the formula, said that Doctor Zhou Junior had removed some ingredients, so even if the princesses use it regularly, it won’t be a problem."

What the maid didn’t dare to say was that two of the physicians, after examining it, said, "With this amount of hyacinth orchid, even if it were all smeared on one’s face, there wouldn’t be any issue, would there? Just use it then."

"Why are Princess Mingda and Princess Changyu applying ointment with this formula? Does their face swell or are they plagued with sores? Actually, it’s still not as good as applying hyacinth orchid powder. Why didn’t Lord Zhou Junior prescribe hyacinth orchid powder?"

The maid didn’t relay these opinions to the masters. She knew what the masters wanted to hear; as long as it was known that the ointment was usable, that was enough.

The Emperor didn’t take it to heart either and said to the Empress with a smile, "Since it’s usable, let the Empress use it. But this color, it’s really not pleasing. Didn’t Zhou Man say that she would teach them to make rouge? How did it become an ointment? As expected from a physician, whatever they make ends up being medicine."

The Empress, with deep thought, scraped a piece, rubbed it on the back of her hand, and saw that the light purple ointment melted away. After rubbing, nothing was left on the back of her hand, naturally without any leftover color.

The Emperor also saw it and shook his head, convinced that the rouge was ruined.

Manbao, bringing the rouge back to the Eastern Palace, joyfully bragged to Bai Shan, "I came across this formula in the library recently, and only then did I realize that there are specific formulas for treating chapped skin. Some doctors even apply ointment on their hands all year round to prevent chapping in autumn and winter."

Bai Shan took the wooden jar and asked, "But we don’t need it at this moment, do we? Winter is still far away."

Manbao said, "This is for my mother, elder sister-in-law, and big sister. They always have cuts on their hands throughout the year. Isn’t Bai Er and Brother Bai sending a letter home later this month? I’ll let them take it back then."

Bai Shan nodded, returned the jar to her, and then asked, "You’re giving it to your elder sister-in-law, but not to Second Sister-in-law and Third Sister-in-law? Considering the effort to send it all the way back..."

Manbao was taken aback, scratched her head, and said, "We only made one jar with Princess Mingda. If we dig out two more small wooden jars, wouldn’t that be inappropriate?"

Bai Shan curiously asked, "Can’t you make it yourself?"

"I can, but I only have two days off, and some of the ingredients are quite expensive. At least the lily petals required are not few..."

These things are not cheap.

Bai Shan seriously pondered for her, "Then you should come up with another formula, and have Princess Mingda and the others make another batch. Don’t you all have similar formulas with slight variations?"

Manbao’s eyes lit up, and she couldn’t help but give him a thumbs up, "That’s a good idea. I’ll think about it more. I remember there were two formulas for acne treatment at the back of that medical book. Last time I saw Sixth Brother had one on his forehead, maybe he can test it first after I make it."

Bai Shan: "Is it healed?"

"It’s nothing, he’s often in the kitchen, it will definitely come back."

For some reason, Bai Shan suddenly felt a bit sympathetic toward Sixth Brother Zhou.