The red lychee wine was originally sweet on the palate with a long aftertaste. Moreover, Li Wanming adjusted it to suit the tastes of people in the capital. She removed its pungency and lowered its alcohol content, making it more suitable for women.
However, although it was improved, to make a name for this women - specific wine in the capital, she needed a gimmick.
Although business had been good recently, it was only limited to the small Pingkang Fang neighborhood. It mainly relied on the neighbors coming to buy a couple of pots of wine every now and then, and the profit was quite limited.
She wanted to open up a brand - new market, and what she had now was far from enough.
Xiao Jingnan said, "Wife, you once came up with the idea of making wine with red lychees. Why not try using other flowers and fruits to make wine?"
Li Wanming's eyes lit up.
Right!
Red lychees were sweet, juicy and fragrant. The wine made from them was also fragrant and sweet. So, if other fruits were used, could different - flavored wines be made?
Not only fruits, but also flowers!
Since flowers could be used to make rouge and pastries, they must also be able to make wine!
Peach blossoms were charming, green lotuses elegant, and crabapple flowers gorgeous... With so many bright and charming flowers, surely all kinds of good - looking and good - tasting wines could be made!
Making wine with flowers and using fruits in wine, wasn't this the very gimmick she needed?
She decided to act right away!
Li Wanming stood up and looked at the flowers and plants in the yard, trying to find some raw materials that could be obtained locally.
The pomegranate flowers in the yard were in full bloom. Their fiery petals were as bright as flames, with fine yellow stamens in the middle. Clustered together, they looked like magnificent brocade.
Great, this would do!
Two days later, the first jar of pomegranate - flower infused wine was opened.
Pomegranate flowers had little smell, but their color was simply beautiful.
After using them to make wine, the red lychee wine was no longer the previous clear white color, but a fiery red like a raging flame.
When poured into a crystal - clear glass goblet, it looked like a dazzling ruby.
"Fine wine of Lanling with tulip flavor, served in jade bowls showing the luster of amber." Xiao Jingnan said, "Since you've added new ingredients, it's better to give it a new name to distinguish it from the previous red lychee wine."
He pondered for a moment and said, "Deep - dyed in red and blue, it's like a summer robe, carved like tortoiseshell to rival the autumn frost. Let's call this wine the 'Summer - Dyeing Fine Brew'."
As soon as the Summer - Dyeing Fine Brew was launched, it became very popular among the women in Pingkang Fang.
People had never seen such a brightly - colored wine before and marveled at it.
Li Wanming didn't stop there. She continued to experiment, trying to make wine with peach blossoms, crabapples, peonies, apples, and honeydews... In just half a month, she developed three more types of wine.
However, it was still not enough.
Most of the people living in Pingkang Fang were ordinary folks with limited spending power.
Even if they liked the wine very much, they couldn't spend all their money on it.
If Li Wanming wanted to earn more money, she had to focus on the entire capital and make the Li Family Winery well - known throughout.
But would the capital accept such a radical idea of making wine with fresh flowers and fruits, especially a wine specifically for women?
"We can find someone to endorse it." Xiao Jingnan said.
If they could get the support of a noble from a prominent family in the capital, this Summer - Dyeing Fine Brew would surely lead the trend in the capital and become popular overnight.
The Li Family Winery would also gain a firm foothold in the capital from then on.
Xiao Jingnan thought for a while and asked, "What do you think of Princess Chengping?"
"Princess?"
"Yes. If Princess Chengping likes your wine, other noble ladies in the capital will surely follow suit."
Li Wanming hesitated for a while and said, "It sounds good, but why would the princess help us?"
To be honest, she still couldn't understand the actions of Princess Chengping at her mother's birthday banquet.
She once indirectly asked Xiao Jingnan if his father had ever worked as a gatekeeper in the family of the Princess of Ning.
Xiao Jingnan stared at her with his mouth open for a long time before saying, "My father and the Princess of Ning... Well, if you want to say he was a gatekeeper, it's kind of a stretch."
After hearing this, Li Wanming was even more confused.
It's either yes or no.
What did he mean by "kind of a stretch"?
When she wanted to ask further, Xiao Jingnan had already resumed his usual mysterious look. It was obvious that he wouldn't tell the truth anymore.
She had no choice but to stop talking angrily.
But if it wasn't because of his family's connections, could it be because her father and General Huo were old comrades - in - arms in the army?
She also shared this suspicion with her father.
Li Rusong laughed out loud after hearing it and said, "If I knew General Huo, would I have waited almost twenty years to be transferred back to the capital from Fujian? Daughter, you think too highly of your father."
That was true.
Her father was an easy - going man. To put it nicely, he was open - minded and amiable; to put it bluntly, he was muddle - headed and just got by.
Back then in Fujian, when he wiped out seventy - two mountain strongholds in a row, it was actually all thanks to her mother's strategic planning and courage.
If it weren't for Mrs. Yuan, Li Rusong might still be an ordinary soldier now and would never have skipped two ranks to become the popular General Xuanwei.
Unfortunately, only the three sisters and a few of her parents' lieutenants knew about these things.
Mrs. Yuan didn't like to take credit. She never argued even when misunderstood by outsiders.
So in the eyes of others, all the military achievements were earned by General Li himself... As for Mrs. Yuan, although she was called a female general, she was just an assistant to her husband.
...
After much thought, Li Wanming still couldn't figure it out.
That day, Princess Chengping had also taken her eldest and second sisters out. All her actions seemed to be deliberately or inadvertently supporting her.
She couldn't understand why Princess Chengping wanted to help her.
Xiao Jingnan blinked and said, "Couldn't it be because she simply admires you?"
"Admire me for what?"
"For your courage to choose a husband right after the imperial examination and bravely pursue true love!"
Li Wanming raised her hand to hit him. Xiao Jingnan dodged while laughing, "Admire me, it's okay to admire me, right? Your husband is handsome and elegant. It's quite normal for her to admire me!"
Li Wanming remembered that when Princess Chengping came to the Li family that day, she did ask to see him first. She stopped her hand and glared at him, saying, "If I didn't know that the princess has no daughter, I would really suspect that she wants to recruit you as her son - in - law..."
Xiao Jingnan said, "Forget about being a son - in - law. I'm a husband. I don't have such wild thoughts."
Li Wanming sighed and said, "What if Princess Chengping doesn't like my wine?"
If she said a single negative word, the Li Family Winery would be finished.
"We don't necessarily have to give it to her personally." Xiao Jingnan said, "As long as the wine from the Li Family Winery gets into the princess's mansion, what people say outside depends on us. Who will care whether the wine is for the princess or the maids?"
Li Wanming thought for a while and found it feasible.
Advertising was all about half - truth and half - falsehood.
As long as their wine could be sold into the princess's mansion, whether the princess actually drank it or not didn't really matter.
The princess had once come to the Li family to celebrate the birthday, so presumably the guards at the gate wouldn't stop them. It shouldn't be a big problem to sell some wine in.
Just as they were planning, Chun Tao suddenly came in with a beaming face and reported, "Miss! Princess Chengping has sent someone to invite you to a flower - viewing banquet!"
Xiao Jingnan was stunned. After a while, he managed to force a smile and said, "The princess is really considerate. Just when we're sleepy, a pillow arrives... Well, congratulations, wife. You're going to get a big deal!"