Chapter 91: The Effects of Beauty Products

Tian Mi nodded and said, “Mm! I got a really good book. After it’s bound, I’ll sell it. Who says only people in the capital can read and sell books? We can do it too.”

Lin Yuqing smiled and said, “The princess is right. Let’s see what kind of book is so good.”

Tian Mi calculated that Qitan would be ready to be bound today. Back in those days, books were bound one by one with needles and thread.

Oh my, this is a big project! Chun Jiu and the others were exhausted.

Tian Mi asked Chun Yi to assign some more people from Chun Jiu. Now the staff at the princess’s residence was sufficient.

Xu Feiyan eagerly took the nameplate. She wasn’t very interested in reading or selling books, but she was interested in finding someone to read the books for her. She used to pick a husband together with Tian Mi, but now she was doing it alone. Sigh! Her enthusiasm dropped by more than half.

Tian Mi said, “We can open for business tomorrow. The day after, we’ll release another book.”

There would be some excitement to look forward to! She looked at the book in her hand and said, “Yunfei, could you please give this book to Chun Yi and let her handle it?”

Xu Yunfei smiled and nodded. “Your book will definitely be a hit, leading the trend of reading. I’m looking forward to the second edition.”

After speaking, Xu Yunfei took the book and went to find Chun Yi.

Lin Yuqing wasn’t interested in reading either, but Lin Yixue still had an interest in books.

She asked Tian Mi, “Princess, what kind of book is so good?”

Xu Feiyan said, “It’s about a very powerful monkey.”

Tian Mi chuckled. She couldn’t let Xu Feiyan do the promotion. She could instantly ruin everything.

Chen Miaomiao added, “It’s not just any monkey! It’s a monkey that jumped out of a rock.”

The Lin sisters were both amused by their funny words.

Back in Tian Mi’s courtyard, Tian Mi asked Xia Mei to bring several sets of women’s beauty products.

“These are for you. The capital is a worldly place, and these products are still useful. Later, I’ll have Xia Mei try them on for you. After some time, once we have enough medicinal herbs, I’ll make some skin creams too.”

The Lin sisters looked at all the products and were unsure how to use them.

Tian Mi asked Xia Mei to teach them and, right on the spot, excitedly had Lin Yuqing try them out.

Two quarters later, when Lin Yuqing looked at herself in the bronze mirror, she couldn’t believe her eyes.

The delicate brows, red lips, white teeth, and a face as beautiful as a peach blossom—was this really her?

Lin Yixue was also stunned!

“Is this really my little sister?”

Lin Yuqing immediately replied, “Of course, it’s me! I’ve always been beautiful, I just never realized it before. Hehehe.”

Xia Mei laughed and said, “It’s the princess’s products that are so good. Even the nobles in the palace don’t have such fine items. Especially this eyebrow pencil, it’s as if it’s real.”

The two sisters couldn’t stop marveling!

Tian Mi invited the sisters to stay for a meal, but they were eager to return home and show their mother the great products. Besides, her residence was quite busy, so they didn’t stay long.

Tian Mi asked Xu Feiyan if the bookstore was ready.

She said she had looked at houses nearby, but they were expensive and too large. A small place would suffice for just running a bookstore.

Tian Mi replied, “Let it be a little bigger. In the future, Lianhua will be expanding to the capital, and we’ll have two courtyards—one for the front and one for the back.”

Xu Feiyan thought for a moment and nodded. “Okay, I’ll take care of it!” She grabbed the plaque and ran off with Chen Miaomiao.

She was a rich woman, yet still so busy!

Before long, Peng Dan returned, bringing eight musicians—five males and three females, all in their twenties. They were clearly professional musicians, not the kind who faked it.

Tian Mi knew that in this era, many people from different places were young and beautiful, using their looks and charm to entertain others. They would hold a zither and pretend to be skilled.

But these people were different—they were of a suitable age and looked like they truly belonged in this profession.

Tian Mi had already asked Xiao Ma to prepare a courtyard for them, located a bit farther from their side but quiet.

Tian Mi took them over there and had Xiao Ma arrange for someone to take care of their daily needs.

The courtyard had plenty of rooms, enough for each of them to have their own, and it was spacious. The osmanthus trees in the yard were blooming beautifully.

Tian Mi took out the lyrics and gave them to Peng Dan, who looked at them and smiled. “This top scholar really is disgusting!”

Tian Mi said, “You all need to make sure people know just how disgusting he is.”

Then Tian Mi hummed the tune for them. Professional musicians really were something else. After hearing it a few times, they could play it themselves. Then, after memorizing the lyrics and integrating them, though still a bit clumsy, they were already quite close.

Tian Mi told them to practice more, as they would be ready to perform the day after tomorrow.

Peng Dan nodded, “I’ll make sure everything’s arranged!”

Tian Mi returned to her courtyard to play with her two treasures, and asked Xia Mei to go find Chun Yi to arrange for people to collect the osmanthus blossoms from the estate. She also taught her how to wrap the trees with cloth to easily gather the flowers.

Chun Wu and Chun San chuckled, “What is the princess planning to do with these flowers again?”

Osmanthus flowers were indeed the finest of their kind, and also top-tier in fragrance!

Tian Mi naturally had her uses for them.

In this era, many people stored osmanthus flowers in cloth bags to preserve their fragrance. Since Tian Mi was a rich woman, she had to live a richer, more beautiful life!

That evening, Bai Mucheng came over. He even had dinner at her place. He had been running around all day and didn’t expect that a household in charge of the Imperial Astronomical Bureau would have so many treasures and money. He quickly reported this to the Emperor and the Crown Prince.

After they took over the palace, they found the national treasury was nearly empty. They hadn’t expected that an ordinary official could be so wealthy. It seemed like they had found the key to wealth.

Tian Mi ate her meal, listening to him enthusiastically talk about the court affairs. She joked that even robbing bandits and Bai Dongyuan could make her rich, and the wealthy families in the capital were even more so.

She then heard Bai Mucheng mention, “The calligraphy, paintings, and books are all piled up.”

Tian Mi’s eyes lit up. “Can I have those books?”

Bai Mucheng glanced at her, surprised that she cared about the books. He had thought she would be more interested in the money.

He naturally replied, “No problem, I’ll have someone deliver them to you tomorrow.”

Then he remembered her mentioning opening a bookstore and finding people to copy books—finding young men to read them.

He casually asked, “Are you planning to open a bookstore?”

Tian Mi’s eyes brightened. “How did you know?”

She realized that the purchases were arranged through his housekeeper, so it must have been him who told Bai Mucheng.

In fact, the housekeeper at the princess’s residence wouldn’t report anything to Bai Mucheng unless it was something he couldn’t handle.

Bai Mucheng’s gaze turned colder.

“Just a guess! Are you planning to hire people to copy books?”

Tian Mi was shocked. How did he know so much about her? He was impressive!

She smiled and said, “Actually, I don’t need anyone to copy the books. I have a secret method for it.”

Tian Mi planned to increase the number of books in her bookstore, then set up a copying house like a library, where scholars from humble backgrounds could come and copy books.

The librarian would be Xu Feiyan.

Bai Mucheng didn’t understand what she was saying, but his gaze became particularly cold.

After dinner, Tian Mi spent some time playing with her two treasures before she had to leave for other matters in the estate.

Tian Mi sensed something was off about him that day, but didn’t think much of it.