Chapter 108: Promotion: Extra Chapter for 500 Votes

Chapter 108: Promotion: Extra Chapter for 500 Votes

Zhu Jingcheng gazed in bewilderment at Su Xinbai, his usually composed and capable face now showing a childlike helplessness.

Su Xinbai hadn’t expected Zhu Jingcheng to be standing in the outer room. A flash of embarrassment and annoyance crossed his pale and aloof expression, and he averted his gaze.

Zhu Jingcheng, rarely speechless, just stood there dumbfounded.

Qiu Huanian chuckled, stepping in to break the silence, "Jingcheng is back, so I won’t disturb you any longer."

Zhu Jingcheng snapped out of his daze and coughed, "Wouldn’t you like to stay for dinner?"

"No, today the estate had a lamb slaughtered, and we’re having a hearty lamb stew at home. It should be ready by the time I get back."

Zhu Jingcheng nodded, "Then let me escort you out, Huanian."

Su Xinbai also spoke up, "Dian Mo, please escort Huanian out for me."

Xing Mi draped Qiu Huanian’s cloak back on, and the four of them left the courtyard, passing by the area where the second branch of the Zhu family used to live.

Qiu Huanian asked curiously, "Where are the people from your second branch? Why are the courtyards all empty?"

Zhu Lu, the wife of the second branch’s eldest son, died in a fire. After the Zhu family’s role in a human trafficking ring was uncovered, the Zhu family did not try to use connections to exonerate the second branch’s eldest son. Instead, they handed him and his close servants over to the authorities.

The case was of significant importance, and without Zhu Jingcheng and the family patriarch’s consent to leverage the family’s carefully nurtured connections, the second branch’s attempts to bribe their way out were futile.

The magistrate in charge of the case, Si Jing, abandoned his usual image of not offending anyone and handled the trial with meticulous care.

The second branch’s eldest son was put through the wringer in prison and finally understood the extent of his involvement.

He was indeed unaware of the Zhu family’s human trafficking activities, but upon closer examination of his external residences, he could not escape charges of enslaving commoners and forcibly taking their children.

Under Yu Dynasty law, Si Jing sentenced him to fifty heavy blows with a club as thick as a bowl’s rim and a fine of five hundred taels of silver, with one hundred taels of silver to be paid as compensation to each of the women and young men he had harmed.

The fifty heavy blows shattered both his legs.

When he was carried down, his flesh and pants were a bloody, tangled mess. After months of recovery, he still struggled to walk, and he was likely to remain that way for the rest of his life.

After such an incident, to protect the Zhu family’s reputation, the second branch had to be cut off. The Zhu family patriarch ordered the entire second branch to be removed from the family tree, giving them only a small portion of the family’s assets and sending them back to their ancestral home to tend the family graves.

However, using the excuse that their young grandchildren were too young and the eldest son’s injuries were not yet healed, they dragged their feet and refused to move, causing a lot of commotion in the mansion. Qiu Huanian had encountered them several times when he came to visit Su Xinbai.

After dragging their feet for so long, how did they suddenly leave so quickly?

Zhu Jingcheng glanced at the empty courtyard and said calmly, "I made sure they left."

Qiu Huanian knew there was more to the story.

Dian Mo added indignantly, "Those heartless scoundrels, resentful that their eldest son’s legs were broken, even harbored resentment towards the eldest young master and our young master. They said that if our young master had any familial affection, he could have asked his father to intercede, and the Left Administration Commissioner could have easily said a word to prevent such a heavy punishment."

"Not content with just talking behind our backs, they even tried to bribe the wet nurse in our courtyard to harm our young master."

"But the wet nurse, midwife, and uncle who entered the courtyard were all carefully selected and highly paid by the eldest young master. They couldn’t be easily bribed and were quickly exposed."

Qiu Huanian frowned upon hearing these things. Su Xinbai was now pregnant, and if something went wrong, both the mother and the child could be in grave danger.

"I didn’t hear Xinbai mention this earlier."

Dian Mo shook his head with a bitter smile, "How could we dare let the young master know? If he gets too upset, he won’t be able to eat."

"Anyway, the eldest son has taken care of it."

Zhu Jingcheng's expression was calm, his eyes showing a hint of tenderness after hearing Su Xinbai's rare confession.

But Qiu Huanian figured the way he 'got rid of' the second branch wasn't gentle—probably downright harsh.

After seeing Qiu Huanian off, Zhu Jingcheng hurriedly turned back towards his own courtyard, with Old Deng struggling to keep up.

Upon reaching the main house, Zhu Jingcheng saw the uncle hired to care for Su Xinbai standing outside the door.

The uncle whispered, "The young master is asleep now."

He just woke up not long ago; how is he asleep again already?

Zhu Jingcheng paused, then caught on when he saw the uncle's face.

He shook his head with a smile and slightly raised his voice, "Even though he's asleep, I still need to see him personally to be at ease."

"..."

Inside, Su Xinbai buried his face in the soft feather pillow, pretending not to hear anything, making a final futile struggle.

...

Qiu Huanian and Xing Mi returned home, and as soon as they entered, they were greeted by the scent of fresh lamb.

The lamb from the estate was free-range, and the one they slaughtered was a young lamb—barely any gamey smell, the meat super tender.

Old Physician Gu told Qiu Huanian to focus on food as much as medicine. Lamb was a great supplement, and winter was the perfect time to eat it. Qiu Huanian had long been looking forward to the lamb from the estate.

A thirty-pound lamb yielded fifteen pounds of meat, which after cooking, shrank to less than ten pounds, enough for just a few meals.

Now that they were better off, they could slaughter a whole lamb for a meal.

You don’t need much seasoning for fresh lamb. After washing the meat, it's placed in a large pot with cold water, a handful of Sichuan peppercorns, and ginger, then simmered over medium heat for one to two hours until the meat is tender and the broth turns white, ready to be served.

Large chunks of lamb are taken out, cut into one-inch-thick strips on a cutting board, with a cross-section showing distinct layers from skin to fat to lean meat, along with a bit of bone and tendon, creating a sense of being loosely connected yet full of juice.

This meat is best eaten piping hot. If you like it spicy, dip it in chili powder, but Qiu Huanian likes it plain—just the tender lamb with a hint of Sichuan peppercorn’s numbing kick.

The neck and ribs of the lamb, which have the best texture and flavor, were finished by the family in one meal.

The remaining lamb was stored away, to be eaten with the lamb broth over the next few days. The rich white broth had sliced lamb, vermicelli, and Chinese cabbage, topped with goji berries for a healthy winter boost.

Before winter hit, the estate had stocked up on plenty of stuff. Qiu Huanian loved to eat and often had them send some over.

Fresh chickens, ducks, pigs, and sheep, apples and pears stored in large cellars, and preserved fruits in jars were all good things.

When the estate folks came with deliveries, Qiu Huanian asked about the plum blossom ointment.

Once the plum blossom ointment trial worked, Qiu Huanian had the tenant farmers start making it in bulk. However, the production cycle for the plum blossom ointment was twenty days, so it couldn't be made immediately.

Qiu's Six Staples still didn't sell the plum blossom ointment, partly to create a sense of scarcity for marketing, but also because there was genuinely no stock.

Old Deng's son, Deng Da, replied, "The oil’s flowers have been changed eight times already, and they will be ready to be sent to the Township Lord the day after tomorrow."

Qiu Huanian nodded, "When you change the flowers, make sure everyone washes their hands well so the oil doesn’t get contaminated."

Although styrax was added as a natural preservative, if the oil was contaminated with dirt, there was still a high chance of it spoiling.

The production process of the Plum Blossom Balm is as time-consuming as other products, with manual operations outsourced to hired workers, while the key steps remain in the hands of Qiu Huanian.

After the people from the estate delivered several large jars of oil infused with the fragrance of plum blossoms, Qiu Huanian soaked them all in distilled high-proof alcohol. After ten more days, he filtered and heated the mixture, obtaining a large batch of plum blossom extract.

The plum blossom extract was then added to high-quality beeswax and tea oil, heated until melted, and thoroughly mixed. It was then packaged into small porcelain jars, completing a large batch of Plum Blossom Balm.

This time, with ample raw materials and manpower, and the winter season allowing for longer preservation, Qiu Huanian produced a large batch in one go—nearly seven to eight hundred jars. With the help of his family, it took two to three days to finish packaging, leaving him so exhausted he didn’t even want to lift his hands.

On the coldest day of winter, about ten days before Lunar New Year’s Eve, the long-awaited Plum Blossom Balm from Qiu's Six Staples finally hit the shelves, generating significant buzz.

The well-known plum blossom motif on the packaging was slightly shifted, revealing shelves filled with beautifully crafted red-glazed porcelain jars.

Even with the lids tightly sealed, the shop was still filled with a faint plum blossom fragrance.

Just by smelling it, one could tell this was an authentic plum blossom balm, different from the commonly found products that use other fragrances to mimic the scent.

Although Qiu Huanian had made a large quantity of Plum Blossom Balm, he didn’t sell it all at once. Instead, he continued with limited edition sales, offering only ten jars every five days.

The price was set at three taels of silver (approximately $150) per jar.

This price was exorbitant for ordinary people, but for the truly wealthy, it only enhanced their status.

For the new product launch, Qiu Huanian also introduced a "New Year’s Special Offer."

To ensure that those who loved the Plum Blossom Balm could use it during the New Year, Qiu's Six Staples temporarily removed the purchase limit.

As long as someone composed a poem, couplet, or essay about the Plum Blossom Balm, brought it to the shop to have it read aloud publicly, and gained the approval of the crowd, they could purchase one jar of the balm.

Now, no one cared about the price of the Plum Blossom Balm. For scholars and poets, something that couldn’t necessarily be bought with money but required literary talent to obtain was exactly to their taste.

If the product was associated with plum blossoms or the highest-ranking scholar, it became even more irresistible, and people would go to great lengths to acquire it.

After working hard to compose a poem or essay to earn the chance to spend money, one would even happily thank Lady Qishu, the local noblewoman.

For a time, the Qiu's Six Staples shop was filled with people reciting poetry and composing verses. The scholars and poets took pride in such matters, and since their works needed to be read aloud publicly for approval, no one took it lightly. The pieces brought in were all carefully crafted masterpieces.

Some talented women and young men also composed poems and essays, sending their servants to the Qiu's Six Staples shop to join in this refined trend.

The Plum Blossom Balm from Qiu's Six Staples sparked a wave of plum blossom craze among the elite of Xiangping Prefecture, and the sales of the balm soared.

Qiu Huanian was delighted with this outcome and instructed Meng Yuanling to find someone to document these literary works. He planned to compile the best ones into a collection and publish it to further market the Plum Blossom Balm.

Of course, Du Yunse’s poem would definitely be placed on the first page.

The production cost of the Plum Blossom Balm was very high, requiring large amounts of lard and goose fat, distilled alcohol, high-quality tea oil, and beeswax, along with labor costs. Even with mass production reducing the average cost, the cost of one small jar was already around one tael of silver.

This meant that for every jar of Plum Blossom Balm sold, Qiu Huanian earned two taels of silver.

Boosted by the New Year’s Special Offer, in the short ten days before the New Year, Qiu's Six Staples sold over three hundred jars of Plum Blossom Balm, earning a net profit exceeding six hundred taels of silver (approximately $30,000).