"Then shall we continue to hold our troops still?" Zhang Le probed.

"No, we can gather the troops now. I have a premonition that a great battle will soon break out."

King Anping held black and white chess pieces in his hand. In the current game, whether it's the black piece or the white piece, whoever places it in the right position first can capture the opponent's piece.

...

Shu Residence.

Hongdu City.

The Shu Residence governs the Three States, but the Shu Residence has more mountains than Yu State, and they are high mountains. The actual arable land area is not as much as that of a single Qingzhou State.

And Hongdu City is the most prosperous and lively city among the Three States.

The residence of the ruler of Shu, the local emperor Yang Xian, is located in this city.

The largest rouge shop in the city — Miaoxuan Pavilion.

"Go and take a look. I heard that Miaoxuan Pavilion has something new, a perfume from Qingzhou. The shopkeeper of Miaoxuan Pavilion said this perfume was personally made by Duke An and is very fragrant. It was brought from Qingzhou after much effort. There aren't many bottles, and if you're late, they'll be gone."

The promoters of the rouge shop were spreading the word on the street.

The rouge from Miaoxuan Pavilion is well-known in Hongdu City. Basically, any young lady or lady of the city looking to buy rouge or perfume would go to Miaoxuan Pavilion.

The promoter's words immediately piqued the interest of some young ladies and ladies.

"Made personally by Duke An, really? Duke An is a man, and he knows how to make perfume?"

"You don't understand. Duke An is a true polymath. Do you remember the refined salt that the nobles and elites of the city were scrambling for? That was also something orchestrated by Duke An."

"..."

Hearing the promoter's words, the ladies who were already somewhat interested promptly took action.

Nowadays in Great Song, if anyone can claim the title of the absolute top influencer, it has to be Chen Mo.

Anything associated with Chen Mo sells particularly well and particularly fast.

Miaoxuan Pavilion was not the first to promote using Chen Mo.

Take Fu Ze Restaurant, for instance.

Fu Ze Restaurant hasn't yet opened in the Shu Residence, but a Shu Residence merchant who had gone to Linzhou tasted the hot pot of Fu Ze Restaurant and immediately sensed a business opportunity. Upon returning to Hongdu, they immediately set up a knock-off version of Fu Ze Restaurant.

They even righteously claimed that it was one of the branches of Fu Ze Restaurant, with Duke An's approval.

During the opening, they also used Chen Mo for promotion.

Though the taste wasn't authentic, it wasn't bad either. After all, not many people in Shu Residence had truly tasted the hot pot from Fu Ze Restaurant, and this novel dining style made the knock-off Fu Ze Restaurant quite popular.

"Miss, shall we also go and take a look?" A gentle voice sounded from the corner of the street.

Soon, five people and one beast appeared on the street. The passersby quickly stepped aside, showing expressions of fear on their faces.

All five were women, with three muscular women clad in armor and holding long spears trailing behind.

Leading them was a woman dressed in a yellow embroidered dress, seemingly under twenty, without any jewelry adornments. She had a silver curved blade hanging on one side of her waist and a coiled whip on the other.

The woman's black hair cascaded down her back like a waterfall. Her dress was slit on both sides for riding convenience, revealing white boots and close-fitting trousers, her thighs taut and long, looking clean and sharp.

Indeed, while others might travel on horseback, she rode a white tiger with black stripes, and this tiger was several times larger than an average tiger, walking taller than a person.

This white tiger appeared very docile, showing no signs of aggression, and over the years, no incidents of harm had occurred in Hongdu City.

But still, a tiger is a tiger, and given its large size, the common folk dared not approach.

Beside the woman was a young girl, seemingly her maid, holding a rope with the other end connected to a collar around the tiger's neck.

However, given the size difference, it was hard not to doubt whether the maid could hold the tiger if it got aggressive.

"No need. Having just returned from the outskirts and bringing along Dabai, let's not scare them. We'll have someone come to Miaoxuan Pavilion later." The woman said calmly, in a voice that, by this world's standards, might be seen as less pleasant, but if Chen Mo were beside her, he would surely comment that this was a naturally smoky voice.

"True, whenever there are new products at Miaoxuan Pavilion, they always set aside a portion for Miss." The maid laughed.

The group walked down the street, and as pedestrians saw them, they quickly stepped aside, fearing they might be too slow.

Which was good, as it saved the hassle of clearing a path.

Soon, they reached the woman's home, the Yang Residence.

Unlike the commoners on the street, the people in the residence were not as afraid. Guards came forward to greet them and, after the woman dismounted, took the rope from the maid, leading the white tiger through a side gate to the tiger park specially built for it in the residence.

Entering the residence, the woman asked someone, "Is father home?"

"Master is in the study." After responding, the servant hesitated and then, somewhat reluctantly, added, "Young Master Yu also came."

The woman's brows immediately furrowed, and she instructed her maid, "Go bring Dabai over."

The maid did not immediately take action but instead said, "Miss, you forgot. The last time you had Dabai scare Young Master Yu, when Master found out, he punished you with a seven-day confinement. He also said that if you did it again, next time it would be a month."

Upon the maid's reminder, the woman reluctantly gave up, but her brows furrowed even tighter.

Outside the study of the Yang Residence stood a handsome young man in fine clothing, with a genteel appearance.

This young man was named Jiang Yu.

The legitimate second son of Yang Xian's trusted general, Jiang Li.

Hearing the clear sound of boots stepping on the ground, Jiang Yu turned his head, and then with a happy expression exclaimed, "Qingqing, you're back."

However, Jiang Yu's greeting was met with a flick of a whip from Yang Qingqing.

As soon as Yang Qingqing saw Jiang Yu, she took down the leather whip hanging on her waist, swung it lightly, and the coiled whip struck the ground with a loud "snap," causing Jiang Yu's face to change slightly, retracting the foot he had just stepped forward.

"Qingqing, what are you doing..."

Jiang Yu had just begun to speak when Yang Qingqing lashed out once more, this time striking near Jiang Yu, saying, "Don't call me so intimately. You think you can call me Qingqing?"

"Isn't it just a matter of time? After all, you'll have to marry me someday." Jiang Yu replied.

"Pfft." Yang Qingqing spat, shouting, "If you keep talking nonsense, do you believe I'll whip you across the face?"

"Who do you want to whip?" At this moment, Yang Xian emerged from the study with a dark face, followed by Jiang Yu's father, Jiang Li, asking after hearing the commotion.

Yang Qingqing quickly put away her whip, approached, and saluted: "Father."

"Where have you been roaming again? You're a young lady, you should be staying at home properly, not running around outside all day. What kind of behavior is that?" Yang Xian didn't spare Yang Qingqing, scolding her.

"I took Dabai to the outskirts to hunt." Yang Qingqing promptly clung to Yang Xian's arm, acting coy: "Alright, father, I know I was wrong."

Yang Xian snorted coldly, but his expression softened. Yang Qingqing was his youngest child and his only daughter, and he doted on her greatly, basically indulging her in everything.

However, in front of others, Yang Xian still gave Yang Qingqing a stern look and said, "No matter how young Xiaoyu is, he's still older than you. Even if you don't call him Young Master Yu, you shouldn't be so rude. Hurry and apologize to Xiaoyu."

Faced with her father's strong gaze, Yang Qingqing could only reluctantly apologize to Jiang Yu.

Jiang Yu hastily expressed that Yang Qingqing had just been playing with him.

Yang Xian said to Jiang Li, "General Jiang, I spoiled her too much. Pardon the embarrassment."

"Captain, what are you saying? It's Xiaoyu's fault." Jiang Li replied.

Yang Xian nodded, "I already know the matter. General Jiang, go and organize the troops."

"Yes." Jiang Li left with Jiang Yu.

Jiang Yu looked back at Yang Qingqing with reluctance, but the latter glared back at him.