Having already stockpiled grain, Shen Xuan no longer concerned himself with the locust plague. Instead, he focused on thinking about soap-making methods.
At this time, Great Jin did not yet have soap base, but soap already existed. However, the price of soap was not low.
One bar cost at least one hundred wen, affordable only for households with some financial means.
Ordinary poor people generally could only afford "bath beans" (澡豆 - powdered bath cleanser) and soapberry.
There were two types of soap sold on the market in Great Jin. One was made from lye produced by burning plant ash, which was gray and cloudy in color, not very appealing, and sold for one hundred wen per bar.
The other type was made from soda ash produced from soda lakes, which was transparent in color. This was much more expensive, costing five hundred wen per bar, and only very wealthy families would use it.
Shen Xuan wanted to open a beauty and skincare shop, doing business with women and gers. The first business he thought of was soap.
Soap-making was simple, and there were many ways to create hype. With good packaging, it could be sold at a high price.
In the modern world, various facial cleansing soaps, essential oil soaps, floral soaps, and shampoo soaps were plentiful and diverse. Any one of them, if sold to the gers and women on Zhijin Street (Gold-throwing Street), could bring in a large profit.
Thinking of this, Shen Xuan purchased many more spices, as well as He Shou Wu (Fo-Ti) to make hair black and some herbs to make skin fair and tender.
This included popular essential oils on the Great Jin market, such as osmanthus oil and gardenia oil. He then closed himself off and began to tinker with the process of making soap.
Shen Xuan had learned the process of making soap in the modern world during his middle school days. Now, trying to figure it out again, he had largely forgotten most of it. Without the exact proportions, he failed several times in a row.
He wanted to produce high-end fragrant soaps, so he naturally abandoned the use of cheap plant ash and chose the more expensive but more effective soda ash from Great Jin for production.
Fortunately, the soap-making process was relatively simple. After half a month of trying and experimenting, and using up ten jin (approx. 5 kg) of soda ash, Shen Xuan finally managed to produce an osmanthus-scented transparent soap based on his memory.
This soap was golden and clear in color, with an overwhelming osmanthus fragrance. With this soap's formula, Shen Xuan used the same method to substitute other essential oils and spices, successfully producing many soaps with different scents and colors.
Shen Xuan's self-made soap project was always quietly conducted in the back courtyard of the Xiyuan Xianwei after he went there during the day. Aside from Jinzhi and Jin Gui helping him cover it up, no one else in the Shen household knew about it for now.
In fact, seeing Shen Xuan with oils, herbs, and spices, everyone thought he was developing some new food product.
It wasn't until Shen Xuan distributed the coarse soaps to a few servants, telling them to use them for bathing, that the servants realized Shen Xuan wasn't making food, but rather special, fragrant soaps.
"These soaps smell so good. They look incredibly precious," Jinzhi and Jin Gui were naturally delighted. Each picked a few pieces of soap with different scents, and Jinzhi immediately used a gardenia-scented one to wash her hands.
Qingkang and Qingping, coming from farming households, had never even seen soap before. This was their first time seeing such fragrant, transparent blocks used for washing, and they simply couldn't bear to use them.
Shengfu and Shengcai, however, had seen more of the world and knew what soap was.
But previously, the soap in their former master's household was only for the masters. How could servants like them enjoy it? They never expected that after following Shen Xuan, they would get to use such special, fragrant soaps, even better than the transparent soap their previous young master used!
"Shen Ger, these soaps aren't cheap, are they? Is it really okay to just give them to us?" Shengcai couldn't help but ask.
"It's fine, they're just samples," Shen Xuan said casually. These soaps were roughly made by him using bamboo tubes as molds. their shape wasn't pretty. They were fine for personal use but couldn't be sold as products.
To sell these soaps, he still needed good packaging.
Thinking of this, Shen Xuan went to find a carpenter and asked him to make molds of various shapes according to his specifications.
These molds were either square or round, carved with different patterns. The designs included osmanthus flowers, gardenia flowers, jasmine flowers, and even He Shou Wu.
The only consistent feature was the character "宣" (Xuan) carved at the bottom, which served as his advertisement for his products.
Shen Xuan had a set of these molds made for each type of soap, which took a full seven days to carve.
After all the molds were complete, Shen Xuan then re-produced a batch of different soaps according to the various molds.
This time, the osmanthus soap was perfectly square, with a golden transparent body intricately carved with osmanthus patterns in three dimensions. The jasmine soap was oval-shaped, a pale translucent green.
Other scented soaps also corresponded to different soap bodies and colors. The gardenia soap body was off-white, while the He Shou Wu soap body was a translucent dark brown.
Just seeing Shen Xuan unmold these soaps left Jin Gui and Jinzhi dumbfounded. Even though they had spent many years in the Marquis's residence and seen many rare things, they had never seen such beautiful soaps.
"These soaps are really beautiful," Jinzhi exclaimed, sighing. "My sister serves Aunt Wen in the Marquis's residence. Her soap is a coconut oil soap specially bought from Nanyang, said to cost one taels of silver per bar, and she treasures it like gold. But compared to the soaps Shen Ger made, it's still far inferior!"
Jin Gui also said, "Yes, I stored the osmanthus soap I got last time in my cabinet. All the clothes in the cabinet became infused with an osmanthus scent, comparable to the top-grade incense from Hundred Flowers Hall."
Shen Xuan took out the pre-purchased mulberry bark paper, cut it into neat squares. He wrapped a piece of soap in the paper, folded it, and then tied it with a straw rope.
The packaged soaps were both exquisite and beautiful. Shen Xuan then took out a seal, pressed it into golden inkpad, and stamped the bottom of the wrapped soap.
Jin Gui looked closely and saw the characters "桂花" (Osmanthus), which Shen Xuan had taught him before.
"Shen Ger, do the characters on these seals correspond to the different scented soaps?" Jin Gui immediately asked.
"Exactly," Shen Xuan nodded. "Learn from me and help me wrap the rest of these."
"Yes," Jinzhi and Jin Gui quickly agreed, carefully cutting paper and packaging the unmolded soaps. Jin Gui already recognized some characters. After Shen Xuan taught them for a while, he let them continue on their own.
Shen Xuan, from the side, took out a pre-prepared bamboo box and placed one piece of each scented soap into the compartments of the box. The lid of the bamboo box also had a large character "宣" (Xuan) stamped on it, which Shen Xuan had designed himself earlier and had someone carve into a seal.
As the Imperial Examination approached, Xue Fenglin was busy daily studying classics and debating with his classmates at the Imperial Academy.
Shen Xuan didn't feel right disturbing him for minor matters, so he designed a slender, elegant artistic font himself.
Although it lacked the calligraphic depth of Xue Fenglin's writing, it fit the needs of beauty products quite well.
Shen Xuan took the box and headed to Jinning Prince's Residence.
Ever since their acquaintance at the hunting grounds, Xianzhu Jinning had been quite appreciative of Shen Xuan, sending him invitations to his home two or three times.
Shen Xuan had been busy making soap before and had declined a few times. Now that the soap was made, there was no need to decline anymore.
Upon arriving at the Jinning Prince's Residence, the household members treated Shen Xuan very courteously, leading him directly to the main reception hall.
Prince Jinning and the Princess had a very good relationship and no concubines. They had only one son and one ger in total, and Xianzhu Jinning, as the youngest ger, was naturally their cherished treasure.
Shen Xuan's act of saving Xianzhu Jinning last time naturally couldn't be hidden from Prince Jinning and the Princess.
Therefore, they also had a very good impression of Shen Xuan. Hearing of Shen Xuan's arrival, Princess Jinning personally came out to receive him, also to express her gratitude for him saving her child.
Princess Jinning had not attended the Ye family's Double Ninth Festival banquet last time, so this was Shen Xuan's first meeting with her.
The palace servants had just served a cup of tea, and before Shen Xuan could even take a sip, he saw Princess Jinning walk out with Xianzhu Jinning.
Shen Xuan quickly stood up and performed a grand bowing ceremony to show respect. The Princess, with a benevolent expression, personally helped him up and spoke to Shen Xuan kindly and pleasantly, showing no disdain due to his humble status.
After speaking a few words, the Princess motioned to a maid beside her, who brought forward a tray. "To acknowledge Shen Ger's great kindness in saving my Yue'er from the lake last time. Such a great favor is difficult to repay. Please accept this small token as a greeting gift."
The maid lifted the silk handkerchief on the tray, and Shen Xuan discovered a neatly arranged set of accessories suitable for a ger beneath.
There was a jade pendant, a headpiece, hairpins, and beaded strings, all made of excellent cat's eye stone, exquisitely carved. They clearly looked like imperial gifts and must have been very valuable.
"This... this greeting gift is truly too precious," Shen Xuan quickly declined.
"What are these trifles worth compared to my son's life?" Princess Jinning said. "Shen Ger, please don't decline further. It would be rather ungracious."
Hearing this, Shen Xuan knew it was not good to decline further. So, after expressing his gratitude, he gladly accepted. He then took out the bamboo box he had brought and said.
"This is my first visit. I didn't know Her Royal Highness would prepare such a generous gift, so I only brought a humble one. I hope Your Royal Highness and the Xianzhu will not dislike it."
"You actually brought something too? Let me see what it is!" Xianzhu Jinning was curious about the bamboo box Shen Xuan brought.
He saw the character "宣" (Xuan) stamped on the box, but for a moment, he didn't connect it to Shen Xuan's name. Instead, he thought it was some new dessert from a household in the capital, so he immediately opened the lid to look.
Unexpectedly, as soon as the bamboo lid opened, a rich fragrance wafted from the box.
Many concentrated floral scents mingled together, emitting a unique, rich aroma that filled the entire reception hall.
"Are these spices?" Xianzhu Jinning curiously picked up a paper package and saw the characters "茉莉" (Jasmine) printed on it.
"They are fragrant soaps, for bathing and washing the face," Shen Xuan said.
"Fragrant soaps? Soaps with a scent? This is the first I've heard of it." Xianzhu Jinning found it fresh and interesting, so he immediately unwrapped a paper package to look.
He didn't expect that when the paper package was opened, inside wasn't an ordinary square or round bar of soap, but a translucent bar, exquisitely patterned and beautifully colored like a piece of art.
"Hiss... this soap is truly too exquisite!" Xianzhu Jinning's eyes lit up upon seeing the soap, and he let out an exclamation of awe.
He immediately brought the bar of soap to Princess Jinning, letting her examine it closely.
Even a lady as experienced as Princess Jinning, who had seen many imperial treasures in the palace, was surprised when she first saw the soaps Shen Xuan had made.
"Such soaps, I've never seen them even in the palace," Princess Jinning couldn't help but say.
Shen Xuan hadn't expected such a knowledgeable noblewoman like Princess Jinning to praise his soaps so highly.
After thinking for a moment, he said to the Princess, "These soaps come in several scents. I've chosen one of each. Among them is also a He Shou Wu shampoo bar, made with the medicinal juice of He Shou Wu, said to make hair blacker and more lustrous."
"Let me see?" Xianzhu Jinning's interest was piqued. He found the He Shou Wu shampoo bar and unwrapped it to examine it.
The soap was dark brown, and its scent was not as fragrant as the other floral soaps. Instead, it had a cool, fresh herbal aroma, which was also very natural and pleasant.
When making this soap, Shen Xuan had added some lemongrass and lemon fragrance to mask the medicinal smell of He Shou Wu.
These two scents, though not strong, were refreshing and pleasing.
Princess Jinning took the He Shou Wu soap from Xianzhu Jinning to look at it herself, then brought it to her nose to smell it. She then said, "Yue'er, recently I've been getting some white hairs on my head. I'll take this bar of soap for myself."
Shen Xuan saw this and knew she had taken a liking to this soap. Seeing Princess Jinning and Xianzhu Jinning's delighted expressions, he had an idea.
He had actually brought these soaps with a bit of self-interest.
Shen Xuan wanted to open a beauty shop on Zhijin Street earlier, but lacked the funds. He had thought of approaching Xianzhu Jinning, asking him to invest a share and then dividing the profits with him.
However, after seeing how popular his soaps were even with a noblewoman like Princess Jinning, Shen Xuan suddenly changed his mind.
Such a good business, a definite money-maker, he no longer wanted to share the profits with anyone. If he had to share, it would only be with family, as "fat water doesn't flow to outsiders' fields" (meaning, profits should be kept within the family).
Comments Box