Dragon's Origin

Chapter 327: The Damnable Runzi Workshop (Part 1)

Even the Empress herself had never personally stepped into Runzi Workshop; everything was handled by Mei'er. This was Wang Sheng's idea, a business exclusively for Mei'er, and she put in almost as much effort here as she did at Qiansheng Yuan.

The very first customer should have been none other than the Empress. She was the major shareholder, and the most honored woman in the entire kingdom. If she gave her approval, the business would be sure to succeed. Unfortunately, Mei'er received word that Aunt Su was busy recently and couldn't spare the time, so it could only be the two consorts who were on duty in the palace.

It was very close; only a dozen minutes' ride from the palace. However, the group of twenty-odd people were very discreet, and no one could tell they were from the palace, especially the two consorts, who were protected in the middle of the carriage, hidden from view.

Soon, they arrived at the parking lot, and maids helped the two consorts out of the carriage and into Runzi Workshop. As they reached the entrance, the guards who wanted to follow them inside were stopped.

They were, after all, royal guards who had been inside the palace. To be stopped at a small workshop? The guards were about to lose their temper, relying on their mistresses' status.

However, before they could make a scene, one of the female guards inside pointed to something posted on a screen wall directly facing the entrance, and the guards immediately lost their temper, obediently retreating outside.

On the screen wall was a handwritten edict from the Emperor. Runzi Workshop was for women only, men forbidden. It not only had the Emperor's personal seal, but also the Empress's seal. Everyone in the palace knew these seals. The one who had wanted to force his way in was almost scared to kneel.

Soon, someone politely invited them to rest in the refined residence next door. Even the guards and attendants could enjoy various recreational facilities here, with everything carefully considered.

The two consorts didn't mind; the Emperor had told them when he granted them the favor that this was a women's paradise, only for women. They were very curious about what was inside that would make the Emperor say such a thing.

As it was the grand opening, they and their maids were the first customers. There weren't many people inside, making it seem very elegant.

As soon as they passed the screen wall, two beautiful women who looked very clever greeted them, bowing and politely asking, "Esteemed guests, do you have a VIP card from our Runzi Workshop?"

The two consorts were both taken aback, then remembered that the Emperor had given them each a very special metal card, so they had their maids hand the cards over.

The welcoming beauty took the VIP cards with both hands, looked at the markings on them, and bowed again. "Two distinguished Legendary VIPs, would you like to stay together or go separately?"

The VIP card was still Wang Sheng's idea, a special metal piece inlaid with a formation, crafted by a Grandmaster, making it almost impossible to fake. Originally, Wang Sheng's idea was to simply divide them into Black Iron, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, and Diamond levels.

However, Mei'er and the Empress both had different ideas, directly rejecting Wang Sheng's names, which obviously distinguished them by the value of the metal. Later, they considered using flower names to rank them, but the ranks of various flowers were hard to distinguish. Annoyed by the arguing, Wang Sheng simply said to use cultivation levels to distinguish them.

As a result, this idea was unanimously accepted by the two women. Cultivation had levels, and women's enjoyment should also have levels. They would be divided according to cultivation levels like First Realm and Second Realm. These cards in the palace, personally bestowed by the Emperor, were of course all Ninth Realm Legendary level.

The women in the inner palace were like sisters on the surface, but secretly schemed against each other countless times. Since they could separate, both of them chose to do so without hesitation. So, two welcoming beauties each led a consort, starting to guide them from opposite sides of the street.

Then, the two honored imperial consorts began to discover that they were like Grandma Liu entering the Grand View Garden. They didn't even know what the things in the first shop were used for.

This was when the welcoming beauties came in handy, beginning to introduce the dazzling array of cosmetics according to the training they had received over the past few months.

The Emperor's consorts, who should have been the most honored people who had seen all the rarest and most precious things in the world, were completely turned into bumpkins in this newly opened Runzi Workshop.

Dumbly following the two welcoming maids from shop to shop, the maids only introduced the uses of these things. As for how to use them, they would naturally learn when they entered Runzi Workshop's beauty salon, where there would be more professional guidance on various health, beauty, and makeup techniques.

By the time they had walked around the street and arrived at the entrance of the beauty salon, the women, whether consorts or maids, were all starry-eyed. So many things were just for women's makeup, beauty, and maintenance. Compared to the things here, the rouge and powder in the palace could be thrown away.

In the beauty salon, they were received by two even more high-end staff members. They first took the two to the most exclusive area inside for a bath. The things used for bathing were completely different. The shampoo, conditioner, and shower gel were all blended by imperial physicians according to different constitutions, carefully modulated with various fragrances.

Just to blend these things, Mei'er and the Empress used no less than a hundred of the best folk and royal doctors, and there were hundreds of people modulating various fragrances. The large manor in the suburbs of Beijing produced all sorts of things, with as many as several thousand people. This did not include the other several thousand people who were dedicated to purchasing raw materials from various places.

It could be said that the fact that every store counter in Runzi Workshop could be filled to the brim was entirely due to the piling up of gold coins. Mei'er and the Empress's successive investments in it, not counting the manor and real estate, exceeded several tens of millions of gold coins just in people and raw materials.

The consequence was that from the very beginning of the simplest bathing and shampooing, the two consorts were like two unworldly peasants who had come out of the deepest mountains, not even knowing how to choose things.

It was still the female physicians specially prepared by Mei'er who, after a brief diagnosis, recommended two kinds of cleansing products for each of the two consorts based on their five elements attributes, skin oiliness/dryness, and hair oiliness/dryness.

The maids who were bathing them were no longer the ones brought from the palace, but specially trained by the beauty salon. While bathing the two, the maids explained their skin characteristics, what flaws they had, and how to maintain them. The consorts' own maids could only stand aside and listen to the explanations, remembering them firmly.