"I bought some. It has the same scent as the Moonlight Fragrance sold back home, so it must be from the same formula. Hey, why are we blindly guessing? We can just ask Mr. Zhao, right? His wife is the one who makes Moonlight Fragrance. All we have to do is ask him whether the ones here and the ones in Qingshui County are from the same person."

Many people came to ask Zhao Jing and De’an.

De’an scratched his head, at a loss. This was a tricky thing to explain.

But Zhao Jing was direct. "It’s the same formula. If any of you fellow candidates need it, feel free to go and buy some."

Others nearby were drawn in by their conversation and eagerly sidled up to ask, "What’s this Moonlight Fragrance? What incense pills? What are they for?"

Hearing this, the group of scholars from Qingshui County excitedly began to explain it to the crowd.

They hyped up Moonlight Fragrance as if it were the greatest thing on earth, claiming that using it in the examination hall was like receiving divine aid.

As for whether Moonlight Fragrance truly possessed such miraculous effects, they were convinced it did. Otherwise, how could Zhao Jing’s writing have flowed so divinely, allowing him to surpass them and claim the title of top scholar in the county?

It was infuriating that they’d found out so late. If they had only started using this incense sooner, it was hard to say who would have ended up as Qingshui County’s top scholar.

The examination for the title of Scholar only involved competition with other candidates from one’s own county. There was no conflict of interest with candidates from the other counties under the jurisdiction of Xinghuai Prefecture.

Thus, the scholars from Qingshui County grew even more shameless in their promotion of Moonlight Fragrance.

The more they hyped up Moonlight Fragrance, the more it "proved" they weren’t just a bunch of good-for-nothings who couldn’t compete with Zhao Jing. Instead, it framed it as someone bringing a divine weapon into the examination hall. His victory was dishonorable, and their own loss was a great injustice.

Besides, this also happened to be great for Moonlight Fragrance sales.

If Moonlight Fragrance sold well, Zhao Jing would be the primary beneficiary. ’He probably won’t mind us using him as a stepping stone to protest our own unfair loss,’ they thought.

Some of the scholars from other counties, particularly those who had departed later, had also vaguely heard of Moonlight Fragrance. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

They’d heard it was a secret weapon for exams, with shopkeepers touting it as something out of this world, but they hadn’t dared to believe the hype and hadn’t bought any. Now, looking back, they felt like they’d missed out on one thousand taels of gold.

Luckily, it was sold right here in the Prefecture city. It wasn’t too late to buy some now.

But before heading off to buy it, they couldn’t resist asking Zhao Jing, "Does it really work that well?"

Zhao Jing gave a slight nod and uttered two concise words, "It works."

De’an was far more dramatic. "It refreshes the mind and sharpens your senses! It’s like a moment of pure enlightenment. Go on, try it. I guarantee it’ll leave you speechless."

With both Zhao Jing and Chen De’an’s endorsement, quite a few people went to Moxiang Pavilion to buy the incense, figuring they might as well give it a try.

When they got there, they saw that Moonlight Fragrance at Moxiang Pavilion was practically flying off the shelves.

Never mind that those exam-bound scholars wore clothes covered in layers of patches, so poor they could only afford to gnaw on steamed buns all day. When it came to buying Moonlight Fragrance, they didn’t hesitate in the slightest.

One would say, "I’ll take one box for now." Another would chime in, "We still have the prefectural exams coming up. I’ll need at least two boxes." "May the heavens grant that this incense works wonders and helps me pass the Scholar exam without a hitch."

The owner of Moxiang Pavilion happened to be in the shop today and was astonished to see such a sudden flood of customers.

They had only just shipped in a batch of Moonlight Fragrance from Qingshui County two days ago and had only recently begun selling it. Unfortunately, desperately pushing it as "highly effective" and an "exam artifact" hadn’t done a damn bit of good.

Just as the owner was thinking about finding Zhao Jing to see if he could help with a bit of promotion, a massive wave of business came pouring in.

’Could the God of Wealth have heard my prayers?’

’If the God of Wealth really is answering my call, I’ll have to prepare a grand offering for the Lord God of Wealth later on.’

But after asking around, he learned that it was actually the scholars from Qingshui County, led by Zhao Jing, who were behind the aggressive promotion of Moonlight Fragrance.

The management at Moxiang Pavilion understood the intentions of Zhao and his group almost instantly.

’To suppress a scandal, the best method is to create another center of public attention to divert everyone’s gaze.’

’And right now, isn’t Moonlight Fragrance the perfect "center of attention" to do just that?’

’With a secret weapon for the exams like Moonlight Fragrance available, who would even remember the ugly scandal about the Qingshui County candidates plotting to harm one of their own? Everyone’s too busy scrambling to buy Moonlight Fragrance to care.’

The owner of Moxiang Pavilion stroked his jaw, pondering. ’Since both Zhao Jing and that Chen De’an know Moxiang Pavilion is selling Moonlight Fragrance, they’ll likely pay a visit to ask about the situation by tonight at the latest.’

’I’m not going anywhere today. I’ll just wait right here in the shop. I want to see with my own two eyes what this young man, whom Mr. Wang has praised time and time again, really looks like.’

The owner of Moxiang Pavilion waited, and waited, and then waited some more. He waited from the afternoon until dusk, from dusk until the sun had fully set, and from sunset until the night was deep and dark.