Chapter 1587: Chapter 1567: Keen Nose—Even Fragrance Can Kill
"Autumn Abyss, Moonless, Night Banquet... and even Soul Severing? These are all extremely valuable." Bai Yinshu listed one incense after another, while Luo Qianqian stood by with a puzzled expression.
After all, they mostly used floral essential oils for their incense, and she had never heard of what Bai Yinshu was talking about...
"And Apricot Blossom Fragrance? ...Wait, Apricot Blossom and Soul Severing? This..." Bai Yinshu looked at Mo in astonishment, his face full of disbelief.
Luo Qianqian was anxious beside them, yet helpless, because she didn’t understand what those two were talking about.
"Autumn Abyss is a poison, Moonless is a calming incense, Night Banquet is a cheer enhancing fragrance that contains aphrodisiac elements, Soul Severing is a fragrance made from an extract of the Soul Severing Flower, categorized as a Forbidden Fragrance, its function is to disturb the mind and induce hallucinations. All four are invariably expensive, even more so than jewelry... Apricot Blossom Fragrance is relatively common, mostly used for pest control, but when combined with Soul Severing, it not only invigorates the spirit, but also the body, with aphrodisiac effects and can cause addiction. If a pregnant woman comes into contact with it, it can easily cause miscarriage, and if not, the child may still be harmed." Yan’s voice sounded behind Luo Qianqian, explaining the reasons for the gravity in the two individuals’ expressions.
Luo Qianqian was stunned; why were most of these, except for Moonless, harmful?
Who on earth? Would dare to use such a poison on a princess?
Yet, it seemed there was nothing she could do to stop it... Though she was more respected than a princess, the princess had a higher status for sure.
"Most importantly, Night Banquet is my own creation." Bai Yinshu looked at Mo with a strange expression, realizing this was why Mo had brought him to smell it.
Back then, it was just a game, and he hadn’t deliberately prevented others from copying, so this was, after all, his oversight.
Luo Qianqian was stunned; could it be that alchemists were the first to try such drugs, and incense makers too?
But who would use apricot blossom fragrance on a princess? And still manage to buy off the people around her.
Luo Qianqian could hardly believe someone could attend to all of the princess’s needs without arousing suspicion, not to mention that most of the people around the princess had cared for her for years; it shouldn’t be that easy to bribe them, right?
"Leave this to me." Bai Yinshu narrowed his peach blossom eyes slightly, a dangerous look flowing across his face.
To use his incense for harmful deeds, he would thoroughly investigate to hold himself accountable.
"First, give me the incense." Mo, speechless, reached out his hand, face still urgent: "Oh, Shiqi, bring me two books, the kind for leisure reading."
"You’re not serious, are you?" Luo Qianqian looked at him, wordless. Though she had some here, they definitely had clear dates written on them, right?
Suddently seeing something about the years in the 2000s, wouldn’t that be shocking?
"...Moreover, the fonts are different." Luo Qianqian rolled her eyes, taking out a book: "Maybe you should just copy one and give it to her."
"...Let’s discuss it later..." After glancing at the multicolored covers of the trees for a long time, he put it down. More than psychological health, he worried about whether Luo Qianqian’s secrets would be exposed...
Yan sighed, took the book, flipped through it a couple of times, then looked at Mo: "What’s wrong with her that you need this?"
"A bit...anyway, her spirits aren’t great, her state is a bit off." Mo shook his head, his expression also showed some hesitation. All in all, unlike Luo Qianqian’s sisters-in-law, her condition seemed quite difficult; she maintained a facade of cheerfulness, clearly suffering but still had to outwit and contend with others at the mansion.
It was clearly the Princess Mansion, and clearly the princess should be the most important, but she seemed not at all happy.
Quite miserable, really. Honestly, if people around him were constantly scheming against him, he wouldn’t be able to live happily.
"Depression?" Luo Qianqian pondered for a moment and then thought of a condition that would frequently arise later due to various issues, even leading to situations where the sufferers couldn’t cope and resorted to jumping off buildings.
"It’s quite depressive." Mo nodded, sighing.
Luo Qianqian looked at the book and also sighed heavily: "In the next few days, we’ll split the copying work and should be able to finish. After all, there are enough of us."
"Alright, then Bai Yinshu, don’t go wandering around for now, find some substitutes for those incense scents." Mo could only nod.
The group began working in the courtyard, with Bai Yizhu looking the most unpleasant.
Writing, still calligraphy, and it had to be neat for others to read...
He walked to Luo Qianqian and He Wenyu; the two had been learning since childhood, maybe their writing lacked character, but their handwriting was still beautiful.
Then he looked at the brothers Huangfu Yihui and Huangfu Yanyao; though their handwriting was similar, one had slightly elongated characters, while the other’s was more regular.
Then there were Yan and Mo...
Yes, these were at a divine level, each stroke bore unique charm, turning it into art on paper.
It was said that doctors’ handwriting was like gibberish scribbles, where was the gibberish?
This was clearly fine enough to be collected and auctioned in the future...
Back at his own place, he looked again...
Oh dear...
Even something a chicken scratched out would look better, wouldn’t it?
Boohoo, what could he do? Even though he despaired at his writing, he still had to write. He couldn’t just burden others more because his writing was unattractive, right?
While Bai Yinshu was making incense, she also helped with some writing work, and Bai Yizhu became her assistant. After all, they shared the last name Bai.
Bai Yizhu had to admit, even though Bai Yinshu shared his surname, her writing was clearly of a different caliber.
Her ’Bai’ was truly white.
His ’Bai’ was less so...
Looking at the drying paper, it was clear. Others had to look carefully to distinguish theirs, his? A glance would suffice.
Big big big, small small small, light to heavy, impossible to decipher...
"I probably need to start from scratch." Bai Yizhu was thoroughly dissatisfied with himself.
Luo Qianqian glanced briefly before nodding: "Brother Zhuzi, you definitely didn’t learn this from your brother. Big Brother Bai’s books are clean and neat."
"..." Could they stop hitting him while he was down?
It’s one thing to fall short compared to the others, but why drag his own brother into it?
What was there to boast about? If Bai Yixian hadn’t needed to manage things and his writing wasn’t indecipherable, would he have devoted himself to learning?
Also, as far as he knew, the ledger at the entrance of the Nine Heavens Pavilion’s Forget Worries Tea House was written with water-based pens! Don’t assume she knew nothing, okay?
Still...there wasn’t really an argument to counter.
The seemingly trivial details often came back to bite him in unexpected ways...
