Chapter 51
A young maid entered and reported, “Princess, Young Lady Su is here.”
Ever since that incident, Princess Zhaoyun had been in low spirits, staying cooped up in the residence without stepping outside. She also had not spoken to Su Wan’ning.
She and Su Wan’ning had always been very close. Now, upon hearing that her dear friend had come, she immediately said, “Quickly, invite her in.”
Before long, a young girl dressed in a pale yellow blouse entered, led by a maid.
As soon as Su Wan’ning saw the Princess, she frowned and said, “My dear Princess, what’s wrong with you? Why do you look so unwell?”
Zhaoyun sighed, stepped forward to hold her hand, and asked, “Have you heard?”
Su Wan’ning replied, “Are you talking about the imperial marriage decree?”
Zhaoyun nodded.
Su Wan’ning also let out a sigh and said, “Didn’t you like the Fourth Prince? Why is this happening all of a sudden…?”
Princess Zhaoyun did not mention the unexpected incident between her and the Crown Prince. She merely sighed and said, “Fate is unpredictable, Wan’er. I owe you an apology. I fear that…”
Before she could finish, Su Wan’ning quickly shook her head and said, “Princess, please don’t say that. I come from a humble background. Even if the Crown Prince takes pity on me, I could only ever be a concubine. To remain sisters with you in the future is something I could only dream of.”
Zhaoyun was deeply moved, but Su Wan’ning suddenly changed the subject. “But… my dear Princess, are you really going to just submit to fate and be at the mercy of the Emperor’s marriage decrees for the rest of your life? The one you love—he is still waiting for you!”
For a brief moment, Princess Zhaoyun was shaken. She instinctively touched the handkerchief hidden in her robes before turning to look at Su Wan’ning.
Could it be… he really loves me?
Otherwise, why would he have left his handkerchief with me?
Did he do it on purpose? Did he… want me to run away from this marriage and find him?
Yet, the moment she met Su Wan’ning’s gaze, she instantly regained her senses.
If he truly loved me, then how could he have had a child with someone else so soon?
If he truly loved me, he would have asked the Emperor for my hand the moment I returned to the capital.
If he truly loved me, he wouldn’t have remained indifferent when the Emperor decided to grant me in marriage to the Eldest Prince.
Princess Zhaoyun shook her head and said, “Enough. The Crown Prince treats me with kindness and respect. I know that, given my current situation, it is impossible for me to have what I desire. If I do not submit to fate, then what other choice do I have?”
She had already lost her chastity to the Crown Prince. She knew better than anyone how much a woman’s reputation mattered.
However, Su Wan’ning was clearly shocked. She looked at Zhao Yun and asked, “Princess, have you… truly given up?”
Princess Zhaoyun said, “And if I don’t? Would you have me drag Brother Min into the peril of defying an imperial decree? I cannot do that.”
Su Wan’ning suddenly gripped Zhaoyun’s shoulders, eyes wide with urgency. “Princess, look at me! The Fourth Prince is your true love! You love him—you can give up everything for him! You can risk everything for him!”
But Princess Zhaoyun frowned tightly. She struggled and pushed Su Wan’ning’s hands away, displeased. “Wan’er, you’re hurting me! What’s gotten into you today? An imperial decree for marriage—is that something one can simply defy? Wan’er, are you trying to harm me? Or… do you not want me to marry the Crown Prince? Are you afraid that I will take your place in his heart? I already told you I won’t. My marriage to him is forced. The one he truly loves is still you. But even so, you can’t ask me to throw away my life just to find Brother Min! I still have my father and mother. I cannot be so reckless and selfish.”
Su Wan’ning was stunned.
Her mental manipulation had failed again.
She had spent all of her current energy preparing for this psychological attack.
If she failed now, it would take a long time before she could gather enough energy again.
Su Wan’ning was furious, but she had no choice. After all, the person in front of her was a princess—a noble with the power of life and death over others.
She could only suppress her shock, resume her delicate and gentle demeanor, and rub her wrist as she said, “No, Princess, how could I ever wish for you to risk your life? I merely feel sorry for you. But it doesn’t matter. In the future, we will live together day and night—we will still be companions.”
Last time, the Crown Prince had come to see her, saying he wanted her to enter his residence as soon as possible.
But she couldn’t—not yet. There were still matters in the Lu family that needed to be handled.
If those matters weren’t dealt with, there would be serious consequences later.
Old Madam Lu—she could not be allowed to live.
For years, she had been under Su Wan’ning’s control, her energy constantly drained. Now, her spirit was greatly weakened.
However, if Su Wan’ning stopped using her powers, Old Madam Lu would recover in half a year.
If she entered the Crown Prince’s residence now, and Old Madam Lu suddenly regained her senses and recalled what had been done to her… it would not be a trivial matter.
Once she had gathered enough energy for another attack, she would send Old Madam Lu on her way.
Meanwhile, at his countryside estate, Lu Hanzhi had finally received the first batch of orders after establishing his Han Ji Cooked Food Processing Factory.
At last, he was no longer focused solely on the capital—he had started expanding into surrounding regions.
Previously, the demand for his processed foods had always exceeded supply. But now, with the expanded scale of production, he could finally achieve a balance between supply and demand.
However, he was still falling short of the twenty-thousand tael sales target.
Moreover, cooked food was something the palace would never consider purchasing.
After all, when it came to food, the well-being of noble masters was not to be taken lightly. Even if a master wanted to eat something, the Imperial Kitchen would prepare it themselves—it would never be handled by outsiders.
As Lu Hanzhi was pondering this issue, he noticed a worker pushing a small cart full of pig bristles, preparing to dump them into the waste pit.
Lu Hanzhi’s eyes lit up, and he immediately stepped forward to stop them. “Hey! Don’t throw those away. Take them all to that courtyard over there.”
It was an old, abandoned courtyard that Lu Hanzhi had ordered to be cleaned up and repurposed into a laboratory.
Previously, whenever he worked on his inventions, he did so in his own courtyard, leaving everything in chaos and filling the air with strange odors.
Now, he had specially set aside a room to serve as his workshop.
When the workers heard the young master’s instructions, they were puzzled as to why he wanted such filthy pig bristles. However, since it was his request, they immediately told the people dumping the bristles to gather them up and send them to the location Lu Hanzhi had designated.
Lu Hanzhi had never seen a pig bristle brush in this world—nor a toothbrush.
Here, people cleaned their mouths either by chewing mint leaves or rinsing with fragrant orchid tea.
Poorer households typically used saltwater.
Moreover, apart from the wealthy, very few people bothered with oral hygiene.
He wanted to experiment and create a pig bristle brush, as well as a toothbrush.
Making a pig bristle brush wasn’t particularly difficult—it only required embedding pig bristles into a bamboo or wooden handle.
Attaching the bristles required resin, a type of strong adhesive.
These materials weren’t hard to find, so Lu Hanzhi instructed Zai Yu to gather them while he sorted through the pig bristles, trimming them neatly in preparation.
Before long, Zai Yu returned with the tools Lu Hanzhi needed: bamboo strips, wooden pieces, resin, and a saw.
He selected a suitable wooden strip and sawed it into an appropriately sized shape.
After many trials and just as many failures, he finally managed to craft a rough prototype of a bristle brush.
It looked rather ugly, but once the adhesive dried, it actually worked quite well.
Unfortunately, his hands were too clumsy to produce a finely crafted brush.
However, there had to be someone skilled among his workers—if they followed his prototype, they could certainly make beautiful, high-quality brushes.
Encouraged, he attempted to make a smaller toothbrush. Perhaps because he was now more experienced, the toothbrush turned out quite neat and well-formed.
With the toothbrush completed, he started thinking about making toothpaste.
However, given the limitations of ancient craftsmanship, producing actual toothpaste was impossible. Tooth powder, on the other hand, was worth a try.
And then it struck him—since tooth powder contained powdered soapberry, couldn’t that also be included in his GDP?
He got straight to work!
Lu Hanzhi spent the entire day in his “laboratory.”
This place had an extensive selection of medicinal ingredients, readily available because he had previously asked for them while making balms and fragrant soaps.
Later, when He Ming noticed how often Lu Hanzhi needed these materials, he took some from his family’s apothecary and delivered them to him.
Lu Hanzhi ground soapberry powder, flaxseed, rehmannia, lotus and pagoda tree seeds, lotus leaves, green salt, mint, ginger juice, wild ginger, and Ligusticum chuanxiong.
Most of the ingredients in this formula were known for their cooling and detoxifying properties, with additional antibacterial effects.
Not only could they freshen breath and whiten teeth, but they also had anti-inflammatory, pain-relieving benefits and even promoted hair health and beauty.
Having read extensively on traditional Chinese medicine, Lu Hanzhi understood these principles well.
In the final step, he mixed the tooth powder with honey and pig fat to create a paste. He also experimented by boiling it with water to make a fragrant gel-like substance, noticing that the two versions had different textures.
Just then, the brushes he had made earlier had dried. Without hesitation, Lu Hanzhi tested the toothpaste himself. After brushing, he felt his breath was fresh and slightly sweet, leaving him feeling energized!
He immediately handed the toothpaste to the maids for testing. The young maids were both excited and confused, holding the small toothbrushes and fresh-smelling toothpaste without knowing how to use them.
Lu Hanzhi personally demonstrated, and only then did they learn the correct way to use them.
That very night, he gave the toothpaste formula to Zai Yu and instructed the balm and soap-making team to assign a group specifically for toothpaste production. At the same time, he asked Zai Yu to discreetly check if any of the workers had woodworking skills.
By sheer luck, there was a carpenter among them—one with exceptional craftsmanship.
However, after arriving at the estate, the man found that other jobs paid better than woodworking, so he had never mentioned his skills.
Lu Hanzhi was delighted, immediately increasing the carpenter’s wages and asking him to craft high-quality brushes and toothpaste containers based on his designs.
When the carpenter saw these unfamiliar items, his curiosity was piqued.
Lu Hanzhi asked, “Can you make them?”
The carpenter patted his chest confidently. “Of course! Rest assured, young master, I guarantee you’ll be satisfied!”
That night, when Lu Hanzhi held the exquisitely crafted bristle brush and toothbrush—practically works of art—he was so moved that he nearly cried.
Heaven was truly on his side! At last, he could fulfill his GDP dreams.
After all, in some ancient eras, bristle brushes were considered collectible antiques!
Without delay, he ordered mass production, aiming to have them on the market within three days.
Of course, when selling products, Lu Hanzhi always categorized them into different price tiers.
For instance, there were inexpensive bamboo bristle brushes and simple bamboo toothbrushes—functional but lacking in appearance and user experience.
Then there were plain wooden brushes and toothbrushes, a good choice for those with more financial flexibility.
Naturally, he also had high-end, artisanal versions made from premium wood: purple sandalwood, camphorwood, rosewood!
Still, Lu Hanzhi was a little worried—who in their right mind would buy such expensive, impractical brushes?
Somewhere, a certain fool who had just purchased a small-leaf sandalwood brush to clean his collection of rare stones sneezed. He frowned, sensing that his mischievous wife was up to something again.
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