Perfume

With Phung Tien fallen, it meant that on the main Thanh Chau battlefield, there was no one left to share Nam Duong's pressure. The rebel army could pass through Phung Tien, penetrate deep into the rear of Thanh Chau, and could also encircle Nam Duong from behind, completely trapping Nam Duong like "wrapping dumplings."

If no miracle occurred, the fall of Nam Duong was just a foregone conclusion. This was an earth-shattering event.

Most crucially, his term of office was not yet over.

This news certainly couldn't be concealed for long.

Outside the city, there was already a rebel Tran Mac. When the news of Phung Tien's fall reached the county town, who knows how many more people would rebel.

Furthermore, before Phung Tien fell, many refugees had fled south.

At that time, the county town would definitely descend into chaos.

Thuong Vien was able to become the County Magistrate of Binh Dinh County because his vision was very far-sighted. He quickly considered the chain reaction this event would bring and immediately said: "Men!"

"Your Excellency."

"Go inform the Wang and Yi families that this official wishes to host a banquet for them at Van Hac Lou tonight."

.

"Furthermore, go and summon Commander Ton. This official wants to recruit local braves."

Phuc Trach Village.

Tran Mac was unaware of Phung Tien's fall. He had people build another lime kiln in the village and ordered them to work overtime to burn seashells into quicklime.

Furthermore, the tasks of boiling saltwater, processing quicklime into milk of lime, the precipitation after adding milk of lime to saltwater, and the subsequent boiling, Tran Mac assigned to different people to be in charge.

The reason for this was to prevent anyone from leaking the complete procedure for refining crude salt.

The final proportioning issue would be personally controlled by him.

As for Han Vu, who had seen the process once, Tran Mac was not worried.

In less than two days, two hundred catties of crude salt were completely refined.

It was still Ho Thuong Sinh and Truong Ha leading the men.

Tran Mac had them bring an additional twenty men.

One day after Ho Thuong Sinh and his group departed, the weather suddenly changed, and a continuous light rain began to fall from the sky.

The saying "continuous spring rain" was no mere talk.

The construction work on the mountain stronghold was temporarily halted.

Tran Mac temporarily reassigned the villagers from the construction team to the fishing team.

The construction of the mountain stronghold could be paused, but fishing could not be interrupted for even a single day.

The light rain continued for three days.

During these three days, Tran Mac's cultivation speed slowed down but did not stagnate.

When idle, Tran Mac tinkered for a while. After several failures, he finally made a simple distillation apparatus.

He wore a wide-brimmed hat and a traditional raincoat, personally going up the mountain to pick some wildflowers.

In the kitchen, Han An Nuong and Tong Man squatted on the ground, carefully picking the flowers from their stems, placing them in a wooden basin filled with clean water, and washing them clean.

"Uncle, are you going to eat these flowers?" Han An Nuong, after washing the flowers clean and shaking them dry, arranged them in a bowl. Seeing Tran Mac starting a fire, she knew some flowers could be stir-fried and eaten, and tasted quite good.

"Sister-in-law, just watch."

Tran Mac took out the high-proof alcohol Truong Ha had brought back last time, poured half a cup into the pot, then tore the cleaned petals and put them into the pot. After stirring for a while, they were mixed with the alcohol.

Han An Nuong and Tong Man didn't understand what he was doing, only knowing that in just a short while, a particularly fragrant aroma filled the kitchen.

Under the puzzled gazes of the two women, Tran Mac took out his self-made distillation apparatus and placed the half-cooked petal water from the pot into the pot on the distillation apparatus.

Because the distillation apparatus Tran Mac made was not particularly large, he could only take out an oil lamp, light it, and place it under the pot to heat it again.

As the water evaporated bit by bit, Tran Mac had to add oil to the lamp twice.

Finally, from a jar of high-proof alcohol, Tran Mac obtained just under half a bowl of condensed liquid.

The size of a rice bowl.

And this nearly half bowl of condensed liquid was perfume.

"Smell it," Tran Mac said to the two women with a smile.

Han An Nuong and Tong Man took turns stepping forward to sniff it, then said in unison: "It's so fragrant."

"Uncle, what kind of flower wine is this?" Han An Nuong had never used perfume before, so her first thought was not perfume, but wine brewed with wildflowers.

It was not uncommon for common folk to brew wine with flowers such as chrysanthemum, osmanthus, rose, and peach blossom.

And Tran Mac's actions just now also greatly resembled brewing wine.

Tran Mac dipped his finger into the floral water and then flicked it onto Han An Nuong's hair.

"Uncle, what are you doing?" Han An Nuong pouted, her eyes carrying a hint of complaint.

"Sister-in-law, this isn't any wine, it's perfume." One drop wasn't enough. Tran Mac dipped a few more drops and flicked them onto Han An Nuong's hair, then leaned closer to inhale, his eyes even closing: "Indeed, very fragrant."

Han An Nuong's face flushed red. She lifted a strand of her hair and sniffed it; it was indeed very fragrant.

What woman doesn't like to adorn herself? It was just that Han An Nuong hadn't had the means before.

Knowing it was perfume, Han An Nuong, with a touch of vanity, also dipped her hand for a few drops and applied it to the back of her hand.

Tran Mac originally wanted to say that perfume wasn't used like that, but then he thought that the perfume in this bowl wasn't made of those messy chemical concoctions, but was truly natural perfume. Even applying it wouldn't be a problem; she could use it however she liked.

"Uncle, does it smell good?" Han An Nuong extended her hand.

"Fragrant," Tran Mac said, while taking Han An Nuong's hand, first bowing his head to kiss the back of her hand, then sucking on Han An Nuong's small finger.

Han An Nuong's face instantly turned red. She wanted to say something, but Tran Mac pulled her into his embrace with one arm, gently holding her voluptuous waist, and kissed her lips.

Han An Nuong's body tensed instantly, her face burning hot.

After their lips parted, Han An Nuong quickly broke free, complaining嗔怪: "Uncle, Man Nhi is still here!"

"I didn't see anything." Tong Man covered her eyes, speaking in an innocent, childlike voice, but the blush on her cheeks betrayed her.

Han An Nuong shyly turned her head away. Tran Mac, however, rubbed Tong Man's little head and said with a smile: "Little rascal."

This was just a small, spontaneous moment of affection from Tran Mac, adding a bit of spice to their somewhat dull life.

"Sister-in-law, this perfume is for you," Tran Mac said.

Han An Nuong simply thought Tran Mac was giving her a gift and shyly nodded.

"Oh right, Sister-in-law, you should use this perfume up quickly, otherwise, after a while, it will lose its fragrance." Tran Mac currently didn't have those small porcelain bottle-like containers and couldn't preserve it well. Just leaving it in the bowl like this, the fragrance would evaporate completely in less than two days.

After speaking, Tran Mac thought of something and immediately called someone to help him summon Lieu Quy.

After Lieu Quy arrived, Tran Mac told him his requirements.

Lieu Quy patted his chest, guaranteeing there would be no problem, and then quickly went off.

Time entered April.

Due to the rain, Truong Ha and his group were delayed by two days before returning.

It was morning. Two mule carts laden with goods and three donkeys immediately attracted the attention of many villagers.

Groups of children followed behind, laughing and watching the excitement.

The villagers themselves might not have noticed, but these children of theirs were much more lively and spirited than before.

Even they themselves, although still somewhat tired, their spirits were much better than before.

No debts.

Although they didn't eat their fill, at least they didn't have to worry about having nothing to eat.

What they didn't know was that they had unknowingly become reliant on Tran Mac.

The caravan arrived outside Tran Mac's courtyard before the trailing children dispersed.

Because their parents had instructed them not to be noisy or misbehave at Immortal Master Tran's house, and also to hold reverence in their hearts...