Chapter Five Effect

  "Your son, Li Yu, pays his respects to the Empress Dowager!" In the Ziyun Pavilion, Li Yu bowed to the beautiful woman sitting in the main seat, wearing a phoenix robe, and cold sweat broke out on his forehead. This was getting serious - Empress Longsun had also arrived.

  "Come quickly, come to me." The voice of Empress Changsun was gentle and melodious, her stunning beauty matched with a soft and elegant demeanor, no wonder Emperor Taizong of Tang was infatuated with her.

  Li Yu followed the words and walked past, Empress Changsun pulled him carefully for a while, turned to Concubine Yang beside her: "Yu'er really has less evil spirit!"

  Yang Fei smiled all over her face, "Sister has always had the best eye for people, and Yu'er has already sincerely repented. I also hope that sister will put in a good word for me with the Emperor!"

  "Don't worry, sister. Li Yu is still young and who didn't have a reckless youth? I will advise the Emperor!" After finishing speaking, she glanced at the arriving imperial concubine, remembering the main issue, and looked at Li Yu, "Yu, I heard that you purchased a batch of magical shampoo from a mysterious Persian merchant, is this true?"

  Li Yu said respectfully: "Your son indeed bought a batch of such things, and the empress dowager also used them for a period of time. This time, I was just preparing to send a few bottles to the empress dowager!" Li Yu secretly cursed his bad luck, how dare he take money from the grand empress dowager? But if he didn't take it, how could he take money from other imperial consorts?

  Li Yu's embarrassed expression was noticed by Empress Changsun, who thought for a moment before understanding and lightly laughed: "Yu-er has been fined his monthly allowance, how can I bear to let you give it away for nothing? How much does this 'Feiziyu' bottle cost?"

  With a grateful glance at Empress Changsun, Li Yu said the price he had thought of beforehand, "Two hundred coins per bottle!"

  The concubines nodded in agreement, this price was still reasonable. They all looked at each other excitedly as box after box of shampoo was carried in.

  "Leave me two boxes!" Empress Changsun had long heard of this wonderful shampoo, and as the mother of a nation, she attached even greater importance to her appearance. She had been too embarrassed to ask for it before, but now that Li Yu was openly selling it, she could buy some without hesitation.

  At the Wang Fu, Li Yu had Jin Daqian pack these Feizhuang according to 10 bottles per box, a total of 420 boxes.

  Two boxes are twenty bottles, which is four taels of silver. For an empress, this can only be considered pocket money. She had the palace maid pay for it and left with the shampoo. The Empress Changsun told Li Yu to visit her when he was free, and Li Yu understood her mood. This was a test run after she returned.

  The Empress Longsun paid the money, and the other consorts also lost their temper, one by one started to pay up, and Li Yu's shampoo was sold out in no time.

  Eight hundred and forty copper coins have arrived in the waist bag, Li Yu is still satisfied with this sale, shampoo is a consumable item, it can be used up and sold continuously, and the wealth will flow continuously.

  The imperial concubines left with satisfaction. Yang Gui Fei said to Li Yu, who was still secretly delighted: "Her Majesty the Empress is showing you her favor this time, do you understand?"

  Li Yu nodded, the history books said that Empress Changsun was knowledgeable and reasonable, gentle and virtuous. It wasn't fabricated for no reason. "I understand, I will arrange for someone to send some to Mother Empress regularly from now on."

  "My son really understands things now!" Empress Yang sighed with a mix of emotions and relief.

  Li Wang Fu, Jin Dajian put a bag of copper coins on the desk of Mr. Accountant, "Old Gao, enter the account!"

  "Money from selling shampoo?" Now everyone in the Wang estate knew that the Sixth Prince had gone to the imperial palace to do business.

  Jin Dajian nodded heavily: "Our Sixth Master is really a prodigal son who has returned, and he's so good to us servants. The master said that each of the servants in the palace will be rewarded with 200 coins."

  Gao Zhai Fang rubbed his ears and said disbelievingly: "Really? In the past, he couldn't even pay our wages on time!"

  "This is fake, he told me himself. The past is the past, but since the fall of the well, you haven't noticed the change in our young master. Every morning when I get up, he's all smiles with me. Last time, Sanzi made a mistake in the kitchen, and I wanted to hit him with a board, but he wouldn't let me, saying that education comes first."

  "I just hope he can always be like this. I was thinking of quitting the account room originally, but now that you say so, I'm a bit hesitant!"

  Jin Dajian slapped the table, startling Gao Zhai. "I suggest you don't quit," he said. "The young master has promised that once our business makes more money, we'll get a raise in our monthly salary. I was thinking of leaving too, but now I've changed my mind!"

  "You old rascal!" said Gao Zhen, stroking his beard with a smile.

  Jin Dajian's round body also shook with laughter.

  "Where can I buy Pantene?" According to insiders, in the seventh year of the Zhenguan era, this sentence became the most frequently used interrogative sentence in Chang'an City.

  The imperial concubines in the palace had already seen initial results from using Flying Soft, but as it became widely used in the court, they shifted their focus to showing off outside the palace. During their visits home, they frequently attended gatherings of noblewomen to display their luscious locks, gradually spreading the idea that "not using Flying Soft would lose one's status" among the aristocratic women of Chang'an. As a result, a buying frenzy swept through Chang'an, but Li Yu tightly controlled the supply of shampoo, making it impossible for others to counterfeit, and this was exactly what Li Yu had been waiting for.

  There is no wall in the world that can stop the wind from passing through. Soon, news of the shampoo coming from the sixth prince spread throughout Chang'an City, and the front gate of Liang Wangfu changed from being deserted to being crowded with people and horses.

  "Sixth Prince, I'm going to kill you!" A young nobleman who looked like a certain comedian burst through the heavy obstruction of the family guards and found Li Yu fishing by the pond in the palace.

  At this time, Li Yu wore a straw hat and stared at the water's surface with unwavering eyes, as if he hadn't heard the person speaking at all.

  The young master smiled awkwardly, waved his hand to shoo away the fan-wielding Yuner beside Li Yu, and sat down with a thud beside her, taking over Yuner's job.

  "It's been months since we last met, and the Sixth Prince is still as handsome and majestic as before, mysterious and unpredictable!" The young master continued to flatter, while Li Yu pretended not to hear.

  "Sixth Highness, are you fishing?" The young master was making small talk, but Li You remained as calm as Mount Tai, unmoving.

  "Brother, I was wrong! I'm not a thing, I should have come earlier, I'm slapping myself, I'm slapping myself!" The young master started self-mutilation, two loud slaps shook the sky, and Jin Dajian on the side couldn't bear to watch anymore, this is acting with one's life!

  Just then, Li Yu's fishing hook finally moved a little. Li Yu lifted it up with the trend, but accidentally hooked a branch on the water pool.

  The self-abased young master saw it, and without saying a word, he jumped into the water with a " splash", untied the fishhook, and showed Li Yu his white teeth.

  Heaving a sigh, Li Yu finally gave in. It seemed he really couldn't shake this guy off. Ever since the news that Li Yu was selling shampoo spread out, this guy had been looking for him at the Wang Manor.

  Li Yu remembered this person, one of his former friends. He didn't want to see him at first, but the guy really brought out the worst in him, making Li Yu blush with shame.

  "Lü Boyan, you're the son of a Minister of Works, how can you be so shameless!" Li Yu pointed at the young master in the water, using his father to humiliate him.

  Drenched from head to toe, Lü Boyan's eyes welled up with tears of grievance. Was it worth humiliating himself like this just for a few bottles of shampoo? Holding the fish Li Yu had caught, Lü Boyan crawled up with an expression of utter despair. "Sixth Highness, I was wrong, it was all my fault. From now on, as long as you call me, I'll come running, serving you faithfully, doing your bidding, just please forgive me..."

  "Alright! Alright! You must have taken a liking to some girl and want to use shampoo to curry favor!" Lü Boyan's reputation as a lecher was renowned throughout Chang'an, and the only thing that could make him so shameless was a woman.

  Lv Boyan smiled and said, "It's still the sixth prince who understands me. In the few months you've been away, a new brothel called Lichunyuan has opened in Chang'an. The girls there are really beautiful, and one of them, named Luo Xiaoyi, is especially stunning!"

  Wiping his mouth, Lü Boyan continued: "I was once fortunate enough to see that courtesan, and from then on I was infatuated, thinking about her day and night. But Luo Xiaoyi doesn't care about wealth or status, she only sees guests based on her own preferences. I've been rejected at the door several times, Your Highness, you must help me out!" He pretended to wipe away non-existent tears.

  Li Yu was annoyed by him and it seriously affected his quality of life. He waved his hand: "Qian Guanjia, give him two bottles!"

  Lü Boyan's eyebrows opened with a smile, "Your Highness, I'll be off then. I'll come visit again another day!" He followed Jin Guanjia with a skip and a jump.

  "What a bunch of people!" Li Yu painfully rubbed his eyebrows, and indeed, they were a group of fox friends and dog friends, using people when it was convenient and abandoning them when it wasn't.

  These days, Li Yu saw many old acquaintances, and there were not a few people who came to "visit the sick". He also received many gifts, but he understood that these guys were all sent by his wife. Who would be willing to deal with him because of his notorious name? As the saying goes, "gifts are given in return", this is the rule. Li Yu also knew what they came for, so he returned the favor with shampoo.

  Li Yu would not be taken advantage of, which was exactly what he had in mind. Once these officials' wives and husbands used their own shampoo, that's when the money would start rolling in. Their standard of living would rise, but it wouldn't be easy to come back down, especially for these famous ladies.

  The night was dark and mysterious, in the Taiji Temple, Tang Taizong Li Shimin finished reading the memorials and picked up a confidential letter that had just been delivered. The letter contained reports from various secret agents in Chang'an City, with Li Yu's name prominently mentioned.

  "Hum, not doing a proper job!" Li Shimin scolded, but his tone was not particularly angry. To him, the current Li Yuanying was better off focusing on business than idling away like before, bullying men and women with her strength.

  Leaving the Taiji Temple, Li Shimin went directly to Empress Changsun's Yanxi Hall. "Speaking of which, that kid Li E did do one good thing - his shampoo really works!" thought Li Shimin, sniffing at his own fragrant hair.

  "What is the Emperor thinking about?" After Li Shimin arrived, Empress Changsun had someone prepare a meal, but during dinner, Li Shimin would often become distracted, prompting Empress Changsun to ask.

  "I'm thinking of my several sons!" The Xuanwu Gate Incident was forever a pain in his heart, so after ascending to the throne, he attached great importance to the education of his children, not wanting such a tragedy to recur on his sons.

  "You mean the old sixth, right!" Empress Changsun smiled lightly, "I think the current sixth is worthy of support. Haven't you always been encouraging industry and commerce? Now that one of the imperial princes is involved in business, doesn't this show the imperial family's emphasis on merchants?"

  In ancient times, every dynasty was focused on agriculture and suppressed commerce, considering merchants to be unproductive and of low social status. When the Tang Dynasty was established, Li Shimin changed this atmosphere and strongly supported commerce, believing that only through prosperous trade could the imperial court collect more taxes, which would then be used for the benefit of the people and the country, bringing benefits to all without any harm. It must be said that in that era, Li Shimin's thinking was ahead of its time.

  "What you said is also true, then let the old six go ahead and see what else he can play out!" Li Shimin's knot was untied, and his mood also became comfortable.