Day 17: “A Plan.”

It's late at night, but I dared myself to go visit the barrack. When I arrived, two guards stopped me and asked about my business. I stated my name and told him I wanted to meet Liao Yan. The guards gave a slight nod and opened a path for me. When I had arrived at Liao Yan's camp, I spotted him still awake and sitting outside while drinking a beer. He doesn't seem to notice my presence, so I got a silly idea to prank him. With a hoarse and low voice, I screamed, "Soldier, what are you doing here!",

Liao Yan jolted and immediately straightened his back, "I'm watching out for enemies, sir-- wait, Jinyun? What the hell are you doing here?!",

"I came to visit you.",

Liao Yan swayed his hand and said, "Bah, you came to discuss some crazy ideas, I'm out.", he went inside his tent, I followed him along while explaining my idea, "Liao Yan, I need to build up my name in this kingdom, so I could get the Emperor's attention.",

"You want to fight Qin Zihao? Bah, you're crazy! Let me tell you, he's a great Marquis who had killed hundreds of Huns and plenty of Huns generals. It's best to just give up on Zhao Mingxia.",

"Who's said that I'll fight him with fists? I will fight him with this.", I pointed at my head, then said, "I'm planning to make moisturizing skincare in this era. People always wanted to look good regardless of time.",

"So you want to be the first doctor who has found a cream to make people look young?",

"Exactly.",

Liao Yan and I sat on the same chair and he offered me tea, "So, what should I do? This doesn't seem like a bad idea.",

I drank the sweetened tea and explained, "I want you to help me gather the necessary ingredients, and if you can, I want you and Qi Mo to help me process the ingredients. Because it'll be quite a long process to do it alone.",

Liao Yan propped his chin and he spotted a pimple on his left cheek, "This is a good idea, actually. My face has gotten a lot of pimples lately because we all have been training in the rain. Man, it's quite a disaster to be in the army."

"Speaking of, how's your relationship with Li Xiang?",

"No progress as usual… she already got the man in her heart.",

"Do you know who?",

Liao Yan opened his mouth, but there were no words coming out of his mouth. Then, he tilted his head down and wiped his nose, "Let's just say, he's a great guy and I couldn't match him."Looking at him like this, I feel like Liao Yan and I are quite in the same situation. We both had our own obstacles to be with the person we both love. However, I guess I'm luckier than him because it was a mutual love. As for Liao Yan, it's been a few months since we got here. Yet, he didn't seem to make any progress with Li Xiang.

"If you need me, I'll always be willing to help you, man.", I tapped his shoulder just like when he reassured me yesterday. Liao Yan was taken aback, then he returned to his usual confident smile, "So, when are we going to start a skincare business?",

"As soon as possible.",

"Actually, I haven't got the time to take a day off since I joined the army. Perhaps, I could take a month off from the barracks.",

"Perfect, I will be waiting for you. While at it, here's the list of the ingredients, some can only be found in the wilderness, so I'll be counting on you.",

"Sure! By the way, it's getting late, I think you should go back.",

"Yeah, thank you.",

Liao Yan escorted me to the entrance, we both talked as usual, mostly about how we missed all of the things from the modern era. Before I went back to the clinic, we bro-fisted and I got on the horse,

"How's your riding skills, mate?",

"I'm getting the hang of it, how about a race sometime?",

"Haha, you bet!", Liao Yan threw another fist excitedly and watched me slowly depart from the tent.

The next day, I have Qi Mo came to the clinic and discussed the skincare ideas. She seemed to be interested in it as well, I suppose it wasn't so surprising since she's a girl. But what had me surprised is, she actually could make the tools to speed process the moisturizing cream. However, I refused since it could backfire on our business. Besides, the quality is even better if it's handmade.

"I suppose you're right, can you make soap too? I miss taking a bath with aromatic soap.",

"I could also make a bath bomb.",

"You're a fellow prodigy, Jinyun.",

Qi Mo hugged me out of nowhere, I also felt excited for this business to run. Later, when we were in the middle of discussing the job task. Liao Yan came with crates full of herbal plants, flowers, and others.

"Phew, just give the word and I'm ready to kick in.",

The three of us worked on the aromatic soap first, to test if we could create the others too. As the result, we're able to create it easily… a homemade rose soap!

Qi Mo smelled the soap and said with great delight, "It smells good and has a beautiful craft. I don't know that you're good at crafting Jinyun.",

"I often craft wooden doll for my niece, so I'm quite an expert in crafting.",

"Liao Yan too, it smells amazing to mix with a variety of roses without ruining its appearance.",

"I'm an expert in perfume, so I know how to create the best aroma.",

We put down the soap and packed it inside a cloth, "This is why I need the three of you to work on this project. Thanks, guys.",

"No problem.",

"I love bathing so this is considered a benefit for me too.",

We had created the soap and introduced it to the Queen immediately. Zhao Baiguang was pleasantly surprised and had all the princesses gathered at her palace. Here, we have Zhao Mingxia the eldest princess, Zhao Ling the second princess, Zhao Rong the third princess, and Zhao Lihua the youngest princess. It's my first time meeting all the princesses, however, Qi Mo had already gotten used to meeting them, since her mansion is close to their palaces.

"It's fragrant, I can't wait to try it on my evening's bath.", Zhao Ling said with great delight. The other princesses also agreed with her, although Zhao Mingxia was happy to try our product, however, she threw an unpleasant gaze at me. I was wondering what I did wrong, but she quickly returned to her usual smile. I was confused if it was just my imagination or something.

After introducing our soap product to the family member, the word traveled fast, and everybody talked about my name and the product I created with Liao Yan and Qi Mo. In just a few days, the Emperor asked for my audience at the imperial palace. I came wearing my usual black and gold Hanfu. To my surprise, Zhao Baiguang and Zhao Kang were also there. The Emperor praised my name and my expert skills in skincare products. He asked me to produce hundreds of soaps, I told him that the product had a time limit until its expiration date. However, I told him that I would produce over twenty soaps for the royal members for free.

"That is so kind of you, physician Xun. I should grant you three hundred fiefs and a palace for you.",

"This subject thanked Your Majesty for the glorious rewards.",

After the audience with the Emperor, Zhao Kang suddenly called me and introduced himself. There's only one possibility for him to call me…

"I'd like to have dinner with physician Xun to discuss business. Would you be willing to attend the Fluttering Inns at the central town on tomorrow's evening?",

I propped my chin and thought for a moment since I couldn't trust Zhao Baiguang anymore, it would be better to have another backup from another royal member.

"This subject thanked the prince for the invitation and will attend it.",

"Thank you, physician Xun. I look forward to discussing things with you.",

I bowed and said, "The pleasure is all mine.",

After that, I returned to my mansion and found Zhao Mingxia's personal maid standing at the gate. Her face looked agitated and somehow panicked. I got off the horse and asked if there was something wrong. She suddenly kneeled before me and said, "Physician Xun, please… save the eldest princess."