ebookland Chapter 27: The Art of Making Incense
Chapter 27: The Art of Making Incense
An Lingrong's greatest skills are embroidery and making incense.
Her mother was an embroiderer born in Suzhou. She had superb skills and later saved money to help her father get a small official position. Before becoming an official, An Bihuai made a living by selling sesame oil and spices.
Therefore, in this regard, An Lingrong can be said to have inherited family knowledge. Not only has she been dealing with needles and thread since she was a child, she also has excellent skills in knitting and sewing, and she is also familiar with those spice formulas.
In her previous life, she also relied on these two strengths to not only gain a firm foothold in the Queen's camp, but even turned them into her own weapons, and used them to scheme against many people in the harem.
This time, Baojuan reminded An Lingrong to be careful and prepare for the upcoming emperor's bed, which also made An Lingrong react.
Calculating the time, it is indeed fast.
An Lingrong still remembered that Zhen Huan and herself accidentally discovered Fu Zi who had been drowned in a well, and they were both scared out of their wits.
After returning to Sui Yuxuan, Zhen Huan fell seriously ill and was not favored by the emperor during that period.
By the time Zhen Huan recovered from her illness, it was already winter. After the incident in Yimeyuan, Miss Miaoyin appeared first, and then Zhen Huan suddenly gained the emperor's favor and became the queen of the six harems.
On the other hand, although she did get two chances to be picked, she ended up being uneasy and anxious, which led to her wandering around and then being sent back, thus confirming her "return of the jade intact to Zhao" and becoming a laughing stock in the harem. This was something that An Lingrong felt was extremely shameful about in her previous life.
Later, An Lingrong reviewed the situation carefully and realized that the reason why she kept trembling that day was probably related to the flowers sent by the greenhouse!
It's a pity that she didn't react at all at that time and fell for nothing.
By the time An Lingrong came to her senses and wanted to check again, the flowers had already been destroyed and she could only suffer in silence.
Now, An Lingrong asked Baojuan to help her collect flowers from the garden in order to make spices in preparation for her future bedtime.
……
"My lady, I followed your instructions and collected the dew and petals from the flowers before dawn. I also followed your instructions and selected various types of petals. Now they have been sorted one by one."
Baojuan was very efficient. She ran out of Suiyuxuan before dawn and went to the small garden to collect the flowers that An Lingrong needed.
"Yes, Not Bad."
An Lingrong looked at the two small baskets that Baojuan had brought up. Each of them contained several small porcelain jars, each of which contained flower petals that had been washed and arranged. There was also a pot of dew, which was exactly the same as what she had ordered before. She immediately gave Baojuan a look of approval.
Baojuan was not at all proud. After putting down her things, she respectfully stepped aside.
"Go and get that set."
An Lingrong asked Baojuan to bring the incense-making tools in the cabinet. All these things were brought by her from home, mainly some stone bowls, stone hammers, small scales and small bowls.
When the concubines entered the palace, their luggage would be collected by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, then undergo layers of inspection, and finally delivered to the assigned residences by the eunuchs of the Jingshifang.
An Lingrong only brought some tools for knitting, sewing and making spices, so there was naturally no problem.
"Yes."
Baojuan took out the set of tools, but according to An Lingrong's request, she placed all the containers on the table on the heated kang.
An Lingrong took a bowl of flower petals, poured them into a stone bowl, and then crushed them with a pestle. She then took out the perfume powder she had brought with her, poured some of it in, and then added dew to mix it.
This cycle was repeated until the flowers picked by Baojuan were completely crushed into mud, mixed with fragrant powder, and turned into a round, sticky mass. Only then did An Lingrong stop.
"My Lord, is this all right?"
Baojuan was curious when she saw that An Lingrong had not avoided her the whole time. Now that she saw her stop, she asked.
She could also see that An Lingrong seemed to be making some special spices, but the finished perfume powder was added to the crushed flower mud and became its current state, which made it really hard to guess its purpose.
"Of course it's not healed yet."
An Lingrong shook her head, and then said to Baojuan, "Pour this into a bowl, take it to the kitchen, and steam it until it is completely dry. Then bring it back and put it in a cool place."
"Yes." Baojuan picked up the stone bowl. Since An Lingrong stopped talking, she didn't dare to ask what this thing was used for. Instead, she obeyed the order and left.
An Lingrong watched Baojuan leave, but shook her head and started packing her things.
She knew that Baojuan was the Queen's person. Even if she was not valued by the Queen yet, she must have received benefits from Jingren Palace and was placed by her side as a secret agent.
Based on her current status and power, An Lingrong naturally did not think that the previous punishment and warning would be enough to make Baojuan loyal to her. They were just getting what they wanted now.
If Baojuan wants to continue to receive rewards from Jingren Palace, she must stay with An Lingrong and wait for the opportunity to make a difference in the future. Otherwise, she will just be a discarded pawn, no different from an ordinary cleaning maid.
An Lingrong tolerated Baojuan to stay by her side because she didn't want to replace a palace maid and let things get out of her control.
After Baojuan gave her "kind reminder", she immediately took action, gave orders to Baojuan, and made spices directly in front of Baojuan.
An Lingrong's action was not only to tell Baojuan that she was shameful, but also An Lingrong did it on purpose.
If all goes well, the Queen will soon learn that she is an expert at making incense.
However, given the queen's shrewdness, even if she knew about this, she would not rush to reveal it.
“Only by doing the right thing at the right time can we achieve long-term success.”
An Lingrong murmured to herself, then closed her eyes and took a nap.
……
According to the ancestral system of the palace, the concubines in the six palaces had to pay homage to the queen every day and pay their respects to her morning and evening.
However, because Concubine Hua was in charge of the six palaces and was extremely powerful, and was favored by the emperor, she was even more arrogant and did not take the Empress, the mistress of the six palaces, seriously at all.
The Queen wanted to establish an image and reputation of "virtue" in front of the Emperor, and she really could not compete with Concubine Hua, so she simply let it go and took the initiative to give in, showing that she was "aware of the overall situation". At the same time, she could also win the Emperor's guilt, which was also a way to protect herself.
Therefore, after that audience with the six palaces, the queen suffered from a headache again and exempted everyone from paying respects for half a month.
As the queen recovered, the custom of paying respects was naturally restored.
On the side of Sui Yuxuan, since Zhen Huan has the highest status, both An Lingrong and Chun'er must naturally go to Jingren Palace to meet the emperor under her leadership.
Ever since she went to Xianfu Palace, although Zhen Huan was happy that Shen Meiyu was favored, she was also worried about her sisters' situation in the past two days. She felt heavy-hearted and her face was full of sorrow.
"Sister, didn't you get enough rest?"
An Lingrong looked at Zhen Huan like this and asked with concern.
"I've been feeling a bit hot these past few days, and I've always felt restless and couldn't sleep at night."
Zhen Huan's voice was a little hoarse, and with the pale look under her eyes, she revealed a hint of "morbid beauty".
"Alas, I know what you are thinking, but you will be able to see me today, so just relax."
An Lingrong sighed, then took out a small brocade box from her sleeve and said with a smile, "This is my own homemade ointment, made from flowers and dew that bloom in the palace, supplemented with scented powder. It is a family recipe that can make the skin soft and naturally fragrant. Sister, please use some with me, so as not to lose manners in front of the Empress."
"My sister is interested."
As soon as Zhen Huan saw An Lingrong today, she smelled a faint floral scent emanating from her body. This scent was not the perfume they usually used. Now when she heard An Lingrong say this, she suddenly realized what was going on.
"Thank you very much for your kindness, sister." Zhen Huan said to An Lingrong with a smile.
Originally, Zhen Huan only wore a little makeup and dressed very simply. After hearing what An Lingrong said, she thought it made sense and immediately put some makeup on her face with the help of An Lingrong.
An Lingrong was happy to see that Zhen Huan had no guard or barriers towards her.
"what is this!"
Unexpectedly, at this moment, Chun'er also ran out. When she smelled the fragrance, she immediately rushed in front of the two of them and stretched out her hand to ask for it.