Bab 125: Chapter 125: Extortion and Blackmail_1

Wei Zhan was absent, and Yingbao finally had a couple of days of peace.

Whenever the girls weren't working, they would learn to make rouge and scented powder with Yanru.

They would pick lotus and pomegranate flowers and repeatedly pound them in a stone mortar. After adding water and washing the product, they would dispose of the top layer of yellow liquid, leaving behind red ointment as their bright rouge.

This intense rouge could be scraped into tiny porcelain bottles and used for a long time.

The preparation of scented powder was more complex. Country girls usually used a powder made from ground chestnuts, while young ladies from prestigious families would often use lead powder or mix a varying amount of lead or aluminum powder into the chestnut powder.

Another type was the "Fair Lady Peach Blossom Powder" blended with gypsum, talcum, powered oyster shells, beeswax, musk, and motherwort.