The Delicate Darling with Her Rough Man

In ancient times, facial balms—also known as facial creams or facial salves—did more than just moisturize. Most formulas incorporated numerous traditional medicinal ingredients, offering benefits like skin whitening, wrinkle reduction, and spot removal.

Furthermore, these balms could be paired with orally ingested medicinal pills, nourishing the body from within while protecting it from without, to achieve everlasting beauty.

Speaking of facial balms, Gu Jiaojiao recalled a story she had heard from her master.

The story went that there was a man named Zhang Wenzhong, who had served as an Imperial Physician and later as Chief Imperial Pharmacist. One day, Wu Zetian suffered a sudden heart ailment during a court session. Although she recovered, the prolonged illness took its toll, leaving her with more facial wrinkles. Thus, the beauty-conscious Empress Wu Zetian summoned Zhang Wenzhong and ordered him to develop a formula to eliminate them.

Zhang Wenzhong was skilled at treating ”wind” ailments but knew nothing about cosmetology. As he was worrying helplessly, his wife, Mrs. Cao, handed him a recipe. Influenced by her husband, she often perused various medical texts, paying particular attention to the arts of health and beauty preservation. Thus, she was able to come to her husband’s aid in his moment of need.

Zhang Wenzhong was astonished after reading it. The very next day, he went to court and presented the recipe to the Empress. After using the preparation made from this formula for just a few days, the Empress saw results. She showered praise on Zhang Wenzhong for his miraculous medical skills and named the formula the ”Wenzhong Facial Balm Formula.”

The Wenzhong Facial Balm Formula consisted of: 0.3 grams each of wild ginger, Solomon’s seal rhizome, astragalus root, white aconite root, Chinese yam, magnolia bud, Szechuan lovage rhizome, and Dahurian angelica root; 0.6 grams each of snake gourd fruit and magnolia bark; and 200 grams of lard.

Directions: Chop the eleven ingredients above and wrap them in a cotton cloth. Soak the bundle in strong liquor overnight. Add the lard to a pot, then add the bundle and begin to simmer. While simmering, lift the bundle out and re-submerge it seven times. Continue this process until the Dahurian angelica root turns yellow and about a liter of ointment has been rendered. Once ready, remove the dregs. Stir the mixture as it cools and congeals. Apply to the face as needed.

In this formula, the Dahurian angelica root, magnolia bud, white aconite root, wild ginger, and Szechuan lovage rhizome are acrid and warm, helping to disperse ”wind,” invigorate blood circulation, and perfume the body. The fragrant magnolia bark clears heat, detoxifies, and reduces nodules, making it effective for treating facial heat rashes and rosacea. The snake gourd fruit reduces nodules and swelling. The Solomon’s seal rhizome moisturizes, nourishes yin, and can eliminate dark spots, giving one a ”good complexion.” The astragalus root, Chinese yam, and lard nourish the skin and enrich the flesh. Combined, these ingredients have moisturizing, anti-wrinkle, complexion-enhancing, dark-spot-removing, and skin-whitening effects.

Additionally, facial balms designed for skin repair were given different names depending on their specific function.

These included ”Ledebouriella Cream,” ”White Aconite Cream,” ”Almond Cream,” ”Sheep Marrow Cream,” ”Jade Powder Cream,” ”Musk Cream,” ”Magnolia Cream,” and ”Dahurian Angelica Cream.”

They also had numerous other effects, such as treating acne, reducing scars, fading spots, minimizing wrinkles, and whitening the skin.

The facial balm Gu Jiaojiao made was a type of cosmeceutical. She extracted specific dosages of the medicinal ingredients from a formula and compounded them according to a precise ratio. The only thing was, several of the ingredients were quite precious.

As the saying goes, a thousand pieces of gold are easy to come by, but good medicine is hard to find. These ingredients were the kind of thing money couldn’t always buy. Naturally, a cosmeceutical made from such materials would command a high price.

Gu Jiaojiao tearfully pocketed two hundred in profit.

Because she had foraged all the medicinal ingredients herself, they didn’t cost her a penny.

Compared to her business, the trivial matter of Yun Hao getting married was the last thing on her mind.

When Yun Hao had attended her wedding, he had given them a gift of two yuan. Gu Jiaojiao returned the favor with two yuan for his. As for the additional gift, she considered it repayment for him saving her man’s life.

’All things considered, we still got the short end of the stick.’

「County Town」

Lu Yuanbin was sitting in the courtyard, contemplating life.

He had already asked Chen JianShe to pass a message to his sister-in-law, letting her know he was out of facial soap. He had no idea when she would be able to send more.

After all, he’d been out of stock for several days now.

He had wanted to say something much earlier, but Brother Leng had forbidden it. Leng had explained that his sister-in-law had just gotten married and wasn’t focusing on business for the time being. That’s why Lu Yuanbin had forced himself to wait a few days before asking Chen JianShe to pass on the message. As for going himself? He wouldn’t dare. He was afraid Brother Leng would beat him up.