Two months passed in what felt like a blink of an eye. One, harboring affection, the other, harboring intent, they found themselves intertwined. A small sedan chair carried her to the back door of the Liu family. Lu Zi couldn't help but wear a sorrowful expression.
On the eve of their wedding, he had secretly approached Hua Hua, hoping to persuade her to turn back. For a woman, marrying into a family as the principal wife was the best possible outcome. Who would willingly become a concubine? It was a pity that Hua Hua's eyes were already blinded by wealth. No matter what he said, she wouldn't listen.
Their honeymoon phase didn't last more than a few days. Master Liu soon discovered that the silver in his ledgers was dwindling. A thorough check revealed that the rouge shop's business was slowly declining.
He immediately inquired about the situation and learned that Wu Caiwei had launched new designs. This time, the effect was even more pronounced than the last. Although their shop's prices were higher than other rouge shops, what woman didn't care about beauty? With enough money, they were still willing to buy from Wu Caiwei.
Naturally, Master Liu's business had fallen considerably. Compared to Wu Caiwei's rouge, theirs was lacking. However, given their price point, Master Liu, who already earned little, had intended to capture all of Wu Caiwei's business and then gradually raise his prices. He never expected to be caught off guard like this.
As dusk approached, Hua Hua, as usual, instructed the servants to prepare dinner. She expected the master to visit her room as he had in the past few days. She unconsciously touched her belly, thinking that while she was young, she should quickly bear a child or two. Even if she lost favor later, she would have a fallback. But she waited and waited, and the master never came. She sent someone to inquire and only then learned he had gone to the madam's room.
She stood there stunned for a moment, and it took her a while to react. It was at this moment that she truly felt the heartache of being a concubine. When the master visited a concubine, the principal wife could make a fuss and express her displeasure. But if the master went to the principal wife's chambers, the concubine not only couldn't show discontent but also had to act with the awareness of her status.
After a period of sadness, she came back to her senses. Compared to her past of never knowing where her next meal would come from and living in a dilapidated temple, her current situation was much better. At least now she had a room with an elegant layout, servants to attend to her, and no worries about food or clothing. Although the principal wife would occasionally say some stinging words, they were negligible.
She ate her dinner alone, assuming the master wouldn't come tonight. Before it was completely dark, Master Liu, uncharacteristically, came to her room. He looked at her with a deep gaze and said, "Do you know why I haven't asked you to make rouge at the shop recently?"
Hua Hua's heart sank. The thing she feared most had happened. How could she not guess that the rouge shop's business might have declined recently? But business ebbed and flowed; it was a common occurrence.
Master Liu knew what she was thinking. His next words shattered her self-consolation. "Your former employer has launched new products and snatched our business back. He, a man who runs a small tavern, can still come up with new things, yet you do nothing all day. Can't you develop new products based on what you've done before?"
Hua Hua was momentarily speechless. Everything she knew was taught to her by Wu Caiwei. Although all women cared about beauty, she had been a beggar before, barely able to eat. How could she have tinkered with such things? She wasn't particularly interested in the first place, so how could she develop new products? However, Master Liu's words gave her a sense of urgency, and she promised to try.
Master Liu then nodded with satisfaction and began to cajole her, explaining how difficult it was to maintain the household expenses, needing money here and there as the head of the family.
Although Hua Hua scoffed at this, the next day she still sent someone to buy some of her latest products to study.
Since ancient times, many recipes have been passed down from ancestors. There were few who heard of them being able to innovate. She meditated for a whole day, becoming more and more frustrated the more she thought about it, and finally gave up.
When Master Liu inquired, she simply told him that this was all she knew. If he wanted the latest formulas, he could find Wu Caiwei, perhaps he could buy them at a high price. Master Chen stroked his beard and nodded unconsciously.
Although he fully agreed with her viewpoint and believed that the formulas would eventually fall into his hands, it was different from what Hua Hua imagined. He didn't intend to pay a high price; instead, he wanted to obtain the products through special means.
Thus, an unexpected visitor arrived at Wu Caiwei's shop. For the past period, he had been watching her with a meaningful gaze outside her shop. She never expected him to actually enter this time. Wu Caiwei quickly handed over her work to Lu Zi and welcomed him into the inner room.
"Wu Dongjia's business is as good as ever, truly enviable," Master Liu said as soon as he sat down. He surveyed the layout of the room, and upon seeing the valuable antique vases, a look of envy appeared on his face.
"It's all thanks to Master Liu's magnanimity that you don't quarrel with me," Wu Caiwei said, feigning ignorance. She knew very well that this visitor had ill intentions.
"Let's be straightforward. I've come today for your formulas. You might say these formulas are your family heirlooms, but I must say that in the capital, there are officials everywhere, and you, an outsider with no backing, are vulnerable. I, who have lived in the capital for many years, may not be renowned, but I have relatives in court. I have my ways of obtaining things from you. Otherwise, would my years in the capital have been in vain?"
Master Liu's words were intimate, as if they had been old friends for years, but his words were filled with threats.
Wu Caiwei burst into laughter. She had investigated Master Liu. His family was wealthy, and half of the shops in the west city belonged to them. He was nothing like the unknown figure in the capital that he claimed to be. She never expected her two small shops to be on his radar, leading him to personally come and demand the formulas.
If she wasn't mistaken, he even intended to acquire her products at an extremely low price. Did he think too highly of himself? Others might ponder, but what kind of person was Wu Caiwei? Having weathered countless storms, how could she possibly take his threats seriously?
"The common people in the west city say that Master Liu is the richest man in the west city. I beg to differ. My small business is still causing you trouble. It seems the Liu family has declined. Perhaps the glittering exterior hides an internal rot, and you are unable to cover your expenses," Wu Caiwei said, as if she hadn't noticed his increasingly displeased expression, looking at him with an odd gaze and speaking to herself.