There is a happy inn in the capital.

Chapter 383 I'm Hard to Chase

The stall was surrounded by a dense crowd.

The young stall owner enthusiastically introduced the stall.

"Come and see this miraculous elixir for the imperial examinations! It's called 'Dragon and Phoenix of Man.' Just apply a little to the philtrum during the exam, and it will keep you refreshed all day. The imperial examinations are just around the corner, so get a bottle for your son who's taking them."

"I want a bottle! I want a bottle!"

"Give me one too."

"Don't push! Which bastard stepped on my foot?"

Li Shuchen squeezed through the crowd, grabbed a bottle, opened it, and sniffed it.

"How much is a bottle?"

"Ten taels, only ten taels of silver. This is made with very precious medicinal herbs that you simply can't buy anywhere else."

"Okay, I'll take it. Grapes, please."

Grape took out ten taels of silver and handed it over.

The two squeezed through the crowd and turned to enter the Precious Pavilion.

A small stall selling mosquito repellent to refresh the mind was set up next to the entrance of the Precious Pavilion.

Most of the customers were wealthy ladies and young women who, after shopping at the Precious Pavilion, would casually buy a bottle for their sons who were away on their academic journeys.

Business is neither good nor bad.

Although the number of customers was small, they bought at least three bottles at a time, and one big customer even ordered ten bottles.

Li Shuchen glanced at it twice and went straight to the orphanage.

The stall set up in front of the orphanage was huge; there were over a hundred porcelain vases on it alone.

But business... was almost nonexistent.

The street was bustling with pedestrians, including many students and test-takers, but you wouldn't find many people even asking about prices, let alone buying anything.

Li Shuchen frowned and walked closer to the stall.

"How much is a bottle of Princess Changning priced?"

"In reply to Miss Li, each bottle costs twenty taels of silver. Princess Changning said that if Miss Li comes, she would like to invite you into the warm pavilion for a chat."

"I see"

Stepping into the warm pavilion, one immediately sees Princess Changning sketching and writing on a piece of paper.

Scratching his face one minute, scratching his head the next.

I'm never satisfied with what I've written.

"What are you writing, so engrossed in it?"

Li Shuchen walked to the table and sat down, glancing at the handwriting on the paper.

Buy two bottles of "Scientific Expedition Miracle Liquid" and get one free.

"A bottle of the scientific expedition elixir costs ten ounces."

Buy one bottle of "Scientific Expedition Miracle Liquid" and get one bottle of "Scientific Expedition Miracle Liquid" free.

"As you can see, business is slow, and we're trying to find ways to boost sales."

"We need to find a solution, but a price war won't work. If we lower our prices, others might follow suit. If you sell a bottle for ten taels of silver, they might sell it for five taels. And if we keep lowering prices, we won't make any profit, and we'll waste our time, resources, and manpower."

"I've thought about these things too, but I still can't understand how they can sell a bottle of 'Dragon and Phoenix Among Men' for ten taels of silver when the medicinal materials required to make it are extremely expensive?"

"You bought a bottle of 'Dragon and Phoenix Among Men' for ten taels of silver?"

"Yes, I not only bought it, but also had the pharmacy owner analyze it. He said it contains several kinds of precious medicinal herbs, and the cost of one bottle is at least ten to twenty taels of silver. Plus the cost of the porcelain bottle, how can it be sold at this price?"

Princess Changning's eyes were full of confusion.

Li Shuchen took out the "Dragon and Phoenix Among Men" and poured all the liquid from the porcelain bottle into the bowl.

"Look at this, this liquid isn't clean. The bottom is full of fine sediment, and it smells much stronger than ours."

"Our divine liquid is indeed clean and flawless, and smells wonderful, but it just won't sell."

"Some discerning families will buy our miraculous liquid, but in small quantities; it's far from enough to deplete our inventory."

That's why I'm worried about this.

"Your Highness, Miss Zizhu requests an audience," Emerald announced as she entered the room.

Princess Changning looked at Li Shuchen

"What could Miss Zizhu possibly want with me?"

"I don't know, maybe Yuying needs to talk to you about something."

"Jade, go and invite her in."

"Yes, Princess."

A moment later, a girl dressed in tight-fitting casual clothes entered the room.

"Zizhu greets Princess Changning and Miss Li."

"But does Yu-ying have something important to discuss with me?"

“No,” Zizhu said, glancing at the group of maids in the room.

Princess Changning: "All of you, leave."

After the maids left, Zizhu closed the doors and windows before continuing her conversation.

"I was ordered by the general to guard a suspect. Today, I staked out his residence and followed him, intending to capture him alive, but unfortunately, I lost him."

Princess Changning: "Yu Ying sent you to follow him; he must be a suspect who has done something very serious."

"Yes, whenever someone in the army manages to develop a new weapon, they die that very night; there have been three such incidents so far."

After hearing this, Li Shuchen immediately swore.

"Damn it, he doesn't want us to win against Boyu Kingdom. Could he be a spy from Boyu Kingdom?"

"We must capture him quickly, otherwise who knows what other things he might do to harm the dynasty?" Princess Changning said solemnly.

Zizhu looked at Princess Changning and said

"The person was lost at the orphanage."

Princess Changning was dumbfounded, and after a long while she said...

"You mean there's a spy in the orphanage?"

"That's possible."

"What are his distinguishing features? Tell us so we can help you find him."

"Yes, yes, tell me quickly."

"He was a middle-aged man about eight feet tall, with a thin build. He had a black jade thumb ring on his left thumb, but unfortunately, he was wearing a bamboo hat, so his face was not visible."

"When I bought the 'Dragon and Phoenix Among Men' and asked Grape to pay for it, I saw a man wearing a straw hat in the crowd in front of the stall. He was quite thin. As for the thumb ring... there were too many people, so I didn't see it. The stall owner, however, had a piece of black jade thumb ring in his hand..."

Li Shuchen paused after speaking, then quickly replied, confirming that his memory was correct.

"That stall owner also wears it on his left thumb, could they be part of the same group?"

"When I was chasing him, I did pass by the 'Dragon Among Men' scientific research elixir stall, so I suppose we saw the same person."

"Does the stall owner have any tattoos on his neck?" Princess Changning asked urgently.

"No, I checked specifically, absolutely not," Li Shuchen said, raising his hand to assure them.

"That's strange. Could it be two opposing forces?" Princess Changning's brows furrowed even deeper.

"I think it's more like a group of people trying to stop Yu Ying from developing a new, highly lethal weapon and preventing us from making money. Essentially, they're trying to stop us from progressing, becoming stronger, and gaining resources. They seem very afraid of us growing stronger," Li Shuchen said leisurely.

Princess Changning nodded in deep agreement.

"What you say makes sense, but what have we done to offend him that he has to be so ruthless, willing to kill talented people to prevent the development of new weapons, willing to lose money to steal our business?"

"Who knows? Anyway, they don't want us to become stronger, but we're determined to become stronger."

"We must become stronger," Princess Changning said resolutely. "Zizhu, go back and tell Yuying that I will strengthen my supervision of Aiyoutang, and inform her immediately of any news."

"Yes"

After Zizhu left

Princess Changning whispered, "Should we find an excuse to gather the servants in the hall together and look for this suspect?"

"They've probably already left. We should be more vigilant in the future. Right now, the main issue is resolving the sales problem of the energizing mosquito repellent."

At this point, Princess Changning frowned again.

"I've been thinking about this all morning, and I haven't come up with a single idea."

"You were so cocky when you talked to Ruan Jingshang the other day, I thought you had a good plan."

"I was just putting on an act in front of him, to let him know that I'm beautiful, intelligent, proud, and hard to get!"