The reason why Ji Lingchuan asked this question was that he had smelled two different scents of apricot blossoms recently.
One was more like the scent when the apricot blossoms first bloomed, while the other was the scent at the end of their blooming period.
The shopkeeper smiled and said, "Sir, you may not know that all our scented creams are made from fresh petals. And the scent of the petals is affected by factors such as weather, temperature, sunlight, and geographical location. Looking at the entire capital... no, looking at the entire Yu State, no one dares to claim that the scented cream they make can always maintain the same scent."
"Moreover, each person who uses the scented cream has a different body temperature. After the scented cream is applied to the body, it will also change. If one really wants to identify a person by the scent, in my humble opinion, it is not accurate."
Ji Lingchuan lowered his eyes and examined the porcelain bottle in his hand. As the shopkeeper's wife spoke, he fell into deep thought.
He didn't expect that there were so many subtleties behind such a small bottle of scented cream.
Just as the shopkeeper said, trying to find someone by this faint and fleeting scent was like looking for a needle in a haystack.
"Sir, are you sure that the scent comes from the scented cream?" the shopkeeper's wife suddenly asked.
"Why do you ask this, shopkeeper?" Ji Lingchuan raised his eyes.
The shopkeeper's wife said, "If the scent never changes, it may not come from the scented cream. It is very likely to be the natural body fragrance."
Fuzhou was waiting outside the perfume shop boredly. It was about half an hour later that he finally waited for Ji Lingchuan to come out.
Seeing that Ji Lingchuan came out empty - handed, Fuzhou looked surprised. "My lord, why did you come out empty - handed?"
Wasn't he here to buy rouge and powder for the princess of the heir apparent?
Ji Lingchuan didn't answer his question. He mounted his horse and said, "Let's go back to the mansion."
Fuzhou scratched his head and mounted his horse, closely following Ji Lingchuan.
Looking at the bustling streets and listening to the noisy cries of the peddlers on both sides, Ji Lingchuan frowned tightly and still couldn't relax.
Because there were so many pedestrians on the street, the master and his servant advanced very slowly.
When they passed by a bookstore, they suddenly heard the shopkeeper shouting, "Come on, come on! Brand - new poetry collection of Scholar Gu, the youngest and most handsome second - place finisher in the imperial examination in Yu State. Hurry up and grab one!"
As soon as the voice fell, a group of people immediately rushed towards the bookstore from the roadside, holding the copper coins in their hands to grab the books just put on the shelf.
"Give it to me. I want a copy of Scholar Gu's poetry collection!"
"Don't push. I got here first!"
"Ouch, you stepped on my foot!"
"I got it! I got it! Scholar Gu's poetry collection. I can finally have a good sleep tonight!"
Ji Lingchuan's horse stopped. He watched the bustling scene of the scramble in the bookstore, and his face became even colder.
Fuzhou smacked his lips and sighed beside him, "I didn't expect that after so long, Scholar Gu's poetry collection is still so popular. And most of the people buying the books are women. Sure enough, romantic scholars are the favorites of women."
As soon as he finished speaking, he felt Ji Lingchuan glaring at him.
Fuzhou shivered. He found that Ji Lingchuan urged his horse to leave quickly. Fuzhou quickly said, "My lord, my lord, wait for me!"
But after Ji Lingchuan walked forward for a while, he forced his horse to stop again.
Looking back at Fuzhou, Ji Lingchuan gave a meaningful look at the bookstore where people were scrambling.
Fuzhou had served him for many years and immediately understood Ji Lingchuan's intention. He patted his chest with a smile and said, "My lord, don't worry. I will surely grab a copy for you!"
Ji Lingchuan returned to the Prince Ning's Mansion. Sitting in the study, he stared at the poetry collection in his hand, and his mind couldn't stop recalling the scene of the women scrambling for the poetry collection in the market.
Was Gu Yunzheng's poetry collection so popular among women?
Those women even fought in the street just to scramble for his poetry collection?
Ji Lingchuan opened the poetry collection in his hand. With each page he turned, his eyebrows furrowed deeper.
In his opinion, both Gu Yunzheng's poems and calligraphy were very good. The lines of the poems were neatly antithetical, and the tones were in line with the rules. His calligraphy was free and easy, with the pride of a young man in his brushstrokes. He really deserved to be the most talented disciple of Scholar Qi's class.
However, looking at those lines of quatrains, an uncontrollable thought popped up in Ji Lingchuan's mind.
So, was Song Yihuan attracted by Gu Yunzheng's talent back then?
Realizing that he had uncontrollably thought of Song Yihuan again, Ji Lingchuan's face changed. He closed the poetry collection in his hand and threw it far away, forcing himself to focus on finding that young friend from the past.
It seemed that only in this way could he prove that he had not been bewitched by his wife's younger sister.
Ji Lingchuan frowned.
The shopkeeper of the perfume shop said today that if the scent never changed, it was very likely to be the natural body fragrance.
The scent on the letter had long since dissipated with time, but he remembered very clearly that the scent on it had never changed.
Since returning to the capital from the border, he had only smelled that elegant apricot - blossom scent on three women: Song Nanxin, Song Yihuan, and... that woman he accidentally met in the medical clinic.
That day he had also suspected that the woman was Song Nanxin, but Song Nanxin hadn't gone out that day. And Song Yihuan, who also had the apricot - blossom scent on her, was wearing different clothes from the woman in the medical clinic that day.
Moreover, both Song Nanxin and Song Yihuan had personally admitted to him that the scent on them came from the scented cream.
Maybe the woman he caught a glimpse of in the medical clinic that day was the old friend he was looking for?
But the capital was so big. How could he find her?
His gaze involuntarily fell on the poetry collection he had thrown on the table. Ji Lingchuan suddenly stopped his movement.
Yes, why didn't he think of it?
He straightened up and shouted, "Fuzhou, come in!"
Fuzhou came in in response. "My lord, what are your orders?"
Ji Lingchuan rolled up his sleeves, pointed at the inkstone on the table, and said, "Grind the ink."
Fuzhou answered "Yes" and started to grind the ink for Ji Lingchuan. Ji Lingchuan took out several pieces of blank rice paper. He lowered his eyes and thought for a moment, then picked up the writing brush in his hand, dipped it in the ink, and almost without hesitation, started to write.
The ink with a faint scent of pine resin left one powerful character after another on the paper following the movement of the brush. It was very similar to what Song Yihuan had written before, but there was a kind of wildness and arrogance in the font.
Ji Lingchuan was very focused. After writing for about the time it took to burn two incense sticks, he finally stopped his brushstroke and straightened up.
Fuzhou was curious. He picked up the papers and read aloud.
"In the summer of the first year of Taichu, I went to Fengcheng on the border, faced Yangshan Mountain, and lived in Tianyuan Temple..."
Ji Lingchuan had written a short record. The content was not long, telling what he had seen and heard on the border.
After Fuzhou finished reading, Ji Lingchuan asked, "What do you think of this article? Can you understand it?"
Fuzhou immediately praised, "I think it's very good. It's easy to understand, the content is interesting, and it makes people want to continue reading. My lord, are you planning to compile the things on the border into a book?"
Ji Lingchuan coughed lightly and nodded. "Yes."