Fragrance Pearl

“Next one!”

“…”

No one answered. Jiang Danhe glanced around. “Anyone?”

“No! General, we’re convinced!”

This time, the recruits did not keep quiet. When they heard his question, they immediately expressed their admiration. How could they not be impressed? Most of them had gone forward and challenged him, but everyone was defeated before they could get near the general. They were either grabbing their buttocks or clutching their stomachs when they exited from the ring.

Jiang Danhe laughed and wiped the sweat off his neck. He was already used to this. Almost every recruit would make the same request when they have newly joined the camp. He never turned down any of their requests. Anyone that was not convinced in the beginning would end up convinced after every challenge. In this place, brutality was the solution to everything!

Jiang Danhe stood on the field for a while longer and said a bunch of words to boost the soldiers’ morale before exiting the ring to the cheers of the soldiers.

The subordinate who had been holding Jiang Danhe’s official uniform approached him with an indescribable expression. Then, he looked at him with an ambiguous gaze. He sniffed hard at the strong scent emanating from the general’s body and was hesitant about speaking.

Jiang Danhe did not notice this. After taking the official uniform, he took off his clothes and handed them to his subordinate. After giving the man a few simple instructions, Jiang Danhe left.

However, he did not leave immediately. Instead, he walked to every corner of the military camp to show off the new clothes that Xiaoguo had made for him. Only then did he leave in satisfaction.

After Jiang Danhe left, everyone was looking puzzled. The same thought was going through their minds. “Did that fragrance come from the general?”

When the recruits were cleaning up at night, they started talking about this matter.

“Look at the general, he’s definitely different from us!”

“That’s right. Look at us. We totally stink after being drenched in sweat the whole day. But our general smelled so good even though he was sweaty like us.”

“Indeed, I was intoxicated by the fragrance today…”

“Hahahahahahaha, look at the perverted look on your face…”

“Alright, alright. Let’s quickly clean ourselves up. We shouldn’t take our time in this weather. We might catch a cold again!”

“Let’s go.”

–

Back to Jiang Danhe. He had just left the military camp contentedly in his new clothes. As soon as he got on the carriage, he noticed that something was amiss.

He didn’t notice it when he was in the open just now, but now that he was in an enclosed space, he wondered what was that fragrance lingering in the air.

The smell was getting stronger, and it seemed familiar. Jiang Danhe had a bad feeling about this. He eagerly lifted the curtain and asked the coachman, “Do you smell anything?”

As soon as the curtain was pulled open, a strong fragrance wafted out of the carriage. The coachman took a deep breath. He wasn’t quite sure whether to tell the truth, so he could only ask vaguely, “What smell is that?”

“A fragrance?”

The coachman pursed his lips nervously and said honestly, “I can smell something.”

With a loud bang, the curtain was slammed down by the person inside, cutting off his view. The coachman wiped the sweat off his face and sniffed himself.

“Hmm… I do smell a little bad…”

The coachman rubbed his nose in disdain and wondered if he should apply some incense. Since the general was particular about his image, as a coachman, he could not embarrass the general. He must take action immediately. When he reaches home later, he will apply some powder that his wife had to cover up the smell.

In the carriage, Jiang Danhe’s head was buzzing non-stop. “That’s the end of my image…”

In that case, he was the one in court with the scent… Just now, he was sparring with the recruits… and he even walked around the military camp. The smell must have filled the entire camp…

Damn it, he actually despised the fact that someone else had applied powder to smell good. So he was actually the real culprit. But he had not applied any powder.

Jiang Danhe sniffed his body in confusion and realized that the fragrance was not coming from his clothes, but from his skin.

With this thought in mind, he was revolted. Being a man, how could he face others, smelling like this?

Jiang Danhe was frustrated. He rubbed his skin vigorously until his arm was red.

Then, he leaned over and smelled his arm carefully. He realized that the smell had intensified. However, the other parts of his body only had a faint scent. It only smells stronger at the spot where he had just rubbed.

The carriage stopped at the entrance of the mansion. Jiang Danhe got out of the carriage and went straight to Li Shouji’s house.

He racked his brains, trying to recall if he had applied any weird stuff on himself. He only remembered using Li Shouji’s soap last night.

It seemed that only he could explain this situation.

Jiang Danhe arrived at his door and pushed it open. “Li Shouji.”

Li Shouji, who was still sleeping, was startled from his dreams. He turned around and saw that it was Jiang Danhe. He sat up helplessly. “Brother, is it appropriate for you to disturb my sweet dreams?”

“What sweet dreams? Look at the time.”

“It doesn’t matter what hour it is. I had spent so much time studying the cannon that I haven’t had enough sleep.” As he spoke, he yawned. “Even the emperor has granted me permission to rest well during this period of time. So why are you bothering me?”

After saying that, he was about to lie down again in a daze. Seeing him like this, Jiang Danhe was furious. He walked towards the bed and lifted him up.

As he approached, Li Shouji’s nose twitched and his eyes widened. “Which soap did you take from me yesterday?”

It would have been better if he hadn’t mentioned it. Once he did, Jiang Danhe’s face darkened. “It’s all your fault!”

He had embarrassed himself all because of that soap.

“No way!” Li Shouji got up and put on his shoes. He went to his closet and opened the box that contained his collection of soaps. After rummaging around, he realized that his most precious piece was missing.

“Argh!!!”

Jiang Danhe covered his ears and stood a little further away. When Li Shouji stopped yelling, he asked, “What is wrong with you again?”

“You, you, you…” Li Shouji clutched his heart and fell back onto the bed. He looked at the ceiling beam with a hopeless expression.

“What’s wrong?”

“How dare you!” Li Shouji jumped to his feet and glared at the innocent man. “You took my Fragrance Pearl!”

“Fragrance Pearl?” Jiang Danhe looked puzzled. He had actually come up with such a feminine name.

“The Fragrance Pearl is one of its kind. I used countless precious herbs, flowers, and top-grade honey to make this. I had to brew it by simmering it over low heat for more than a month. Do you know that this is my blood and sweat?”

Jiang Danhe glanced sideways at Li Shouji, who was crying. “Since it’s so hard to make, why didn’t you make more?”

“…” That was true…

Li Shouji blinked. He had already forgotten what he was whining about, but he continued to argue, “None of your business!”

“I don’t care. I am not interested in your business, I just want to know why there is a fragrance coming from my skin.”

“…”

Li Shouji was speechless. He glared at Jiang Danhe and gloated. “How much did you use?”

As the name suggested, the Fragrance Pearl was made by condensing fragrances. He had heard this recipe from a storyteller in the street market. However, no one had ever seen something like that before.

Success comes to those who work hard. Li Shouji flipped through many ancient books and searched for information everywhere. Eventually, he managed to list out the required ingredients. Among them, there was one that was very rare. He sent someone to look for it for a year before it was found. After countless failures, he finally completed the Fragrance Pearl before the ingredients were exhausted.

On the surface, it looked ordinary and the smell was not that intense. However, the magical thing about it was that, once it was applied on the body, the smell would instantly adhere to the skin of the person using it. When the person perspires or feels warm, they would start emitting an extremely tempting and exotic fragrance.