Chapter 30: The Scent of Danger
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That evening, Qin Mu delivered the spices to the Qi Prince’s residence.
“Such a wonderful scent!” Lü Luo grabbed a handful of spices and held them to her nose, closing her eyes in enjoyment.
Ziyuan examined the spices and said, “Your Highness, these are agarwood, balsam, dried jasmine flowers, dried tulips, and borneol. I am somewhat familiar with spices from my time in the palace, and these are indeed of the highest quality.”
“Good. We cannot afford any mistakes when presenting a gift to the Empress,” Xiao Ming replied.
Lü Luo asked curiously, “Your Highness, are you planning to gift these spices directly to the Empress? But Her Majesty already has a vast collection of spices. Even though these are fine, they may not necessarily impress her.”
Ziyuan shot Lü Luo a glance and said, “Foolish girl, didn’t you notice? His Highness also bought alcohol. Clearly, he’s not just giving her raw spices.”
Xiao Ming nodded. “Of course. In a few days, when the tools arrive, I’ll personally show you what I’m making.”
Three days later, Chen Qi delivered the distillation apparatus that Xiao Ming had requested—essentially three interconnected ceramic containers.
During these three days, Xiao Ming had not been idle. He gathered the servants of the residence and explained the process of distilling alcohol and extracting essential oils.
Once the distillation apparatus arrived, the servants promptly set it up, using a coal stove beneath it to refine alcohol and extract essential oils.
This project put the entire household into a flurry of activity. While Qian Dafu led a group to mine graphite, Lü Luo and Ziyuan joined in to help.