Chapter 452 - Flower Tea and Skin Cosmetics (2/2)

Originally, only a very small group of muddle-headed people believed that there truly was a youth regaining medicine recipe. The vast majority of people in the capital only half believed what was being transmitted. Naturally, there are also people who vehemently refused to believe that this was true! When the second set of rumors came out, it gave most of these people a believable explanation for what was going on. There was still a group of people who harbored ulterior motives that decided to wait and see what would happen next.

Another two days passed and more news came out that little Official Yu had been invited into the palace to see the empress. News quickly disseminated from the palace. They said that the empress had rewarded Official Yu heavily for creating this peach blossom tea. The empress also stated that this tea was so beneficial to women that it really should be placed on the market and sold through the capital. She had also asked Official Yu whether she was planning on opening a flower tea store to sell this. Little Official Yu readily agreed to this proposal and decided to collaborate with the empress.

Naturally, with the empress as her backer, Yu Xiaocao would be an imbecile if she didn't open this flower tea store! She was someone who loved to make money, so how could she possibly let go of this perfect opportunity? In fact, she didn't even have to worry about obtaining a good location for the store. The empress herself had already prepared everything. Furthermore, even the employees of the store had already been picked by the empress. These people were all maids from the Imperial Palace who had been sent out, so she didn't even have to train them before they could be employed.

When this news came out, the people who had ulterior motives immediately stopped their plans in their tracks. If the emperor himself hadn’t approved of this collaboration, then how could the empress, who was someone who liked to keep to herself, start to work with Official Yu and open up a store jointly to sell flower tea?

Official Yu’s peach blossom tea recipe had already caught the eye of the emperor. Who was stupid enough to try to steal something from the emperor? Did they want to lose their heads?

When the noble matrons of the capital found out this news, even the most aloof person became gleeful and ecstatic. They only had to look at Lady Fang to see the effects of the peach blossom tea. Prior to drinking the peach blossom tea, her skin was sallow and had spots of discoloration all over. She had a bloated figure and there were fine wrinkles around the corners of her eyes. When she came out with her son in her arms, if no one knew the truth, they would have thought that she was holding her own grandson!

But what about now? Didn't she seem to return to her youth again? She was in her forties but looked like she was barely in her thirties. Her skin no longer had any unsightly discolorations on it and she glowed with the blush of youth. Her figure had also become more graceful and delicate than it was when she was young. When she stood next to the other matrons around her age, she made them all look like dried-up old sticks.

Furthermore, the empress herself had drunk the peach blossom tea that Lady Fang had given her. Now, her skin glowed with health and it looked as if her skin quality was about the same as when she was a young maiden.

Which woman in the world did not want to be beautiful? Which young maiden in the world did not want to become more alluring? The effects of the peach blossom tea were obvious. Unfortunately, there was none to be had on the market. If it was available, they wouldn’t care even if the price was sky high. They would still squabble to buy some!

In the past, people who had ignored Lady Fang now did their best to make connections with her. They all wanted to see if they could use their connections with her to get their hands on some peach blossom tea. However, other than giving a box to the empress herself, Lady Fang didn't have much tea at home. She wasn't even sure if she could drink a whole year's worth before it was gone. Thus, how could she possibly give some to other people? At most, if you came over for a visit, she might give you a cup of tea to drink. That was already considered very welcoming. Because of this, Lady Fang’s status and position in the capital had also increased sharply.

Now it was different. The empress had finally opened the market for the good of the people. She had Lady Fang's goddaughter bring out the tea to sell. Even if the sales were rationed, similar to the fruits and vegetables on the market, it still meant that people had an opportunity to buy some! This was still better than what it was like now, where they had to use their connections with Lady Fang to see if they could possibly get something out of her.

Yu Xiaocao didn't care what other people thought or felt at this point. As soon as she got back from the palace, she ran into her little study in her own courtyard and only allowed Hechun at her side to help her. Everyone else was prohibited from entering. She was busy recalling all of the recipes that she knew about flower teas and organizing them in a methodical manner.

She was planning on not only selling flower teas at the shop but also making a set of cosmetic products to sell at the store as well. Women who wanted to improve their appearances needed to use both ‘inner’ and ‘outer’ methods. It was definitely important to consume nourishing items but they also should not neglect using external cosmetics to help the process along!

She was planning on handing the management of the ‘Nourishing Skin Beauty’ shop to Hechun in the future. This maid was very interested in making cosmetics and also had some talent in this area as well. For example, after only getting a few tips from Xiaocao, Hechun was able to make handmade soap that came to about 80 to 90 percent of what Xiaocao was looking for.

The upgraded handmade soap had only been sent to Royal Princess Minglan and the ‘two beauties of the capital’. They had already sent back their initial impressions. The effect of these handmade soaps was quite obvious. Although they hadn’t been using the soaps for very long, they felt like their skin no longer felt as dry after washing during this early winter season. Furthermore, the smell of the handmade soap was very light and fragrant. Compared to Full Spring Fragrance’s soap, which had a very dense and heavy perfume, these soaps smelled a lot more pleasing and natural.

However, Yu Xiaocao actually wasn’t very good at coming up and making new cosmetic products. If she only relied on the mystic-stone water for the effect on her products, that wouldn’t be good for the long-term longevity for this line of business.

She vaguely recalled that when she attended the flower war banquet she had heard that one of the concubine born daughters from a high-ranking official in the Ministry of Ceremonies was obsessed with making new blushes and powders. Furthermore, the products she made worked very well. In addition, one of the ‘two beauties of the capital’, Yuan Xueyan, also liked to create new products whenever she had time. Two heads were better than one. Perhaps they could come up with products that could rival the popularity and fame of Full Spring Fragrance!

As of right now, she needed to wait a bit on the flower teas. After all, this was early winter, and most flowers were all withered and dead on the ground. There was no way for her to get any ingredients even if she wanted to. Once spring started, there were a lot of flowers to be found on the hills at the Imperial Plantation. For example, there were jasmine flowers, chrysanthemum flowers, and other early spring blooming flowers. She wasn't sure if roses were available in this time period. On another day, when she saw Royal Prince Yang, she could ask him. Roses were also quite efficacious when made into flower teas.