“How will you know?” scoffed her mother. “A girl in love is no judge of character.”
Zhengyi thought of Jun’s broad shoulders under his trim black jacket, the perfect shine in his black hair, and she was honest enough to admit this was true. “I will take your guidance.”
This silenced her mother. They might disagree, but her mother had an eye for people and she loved Zhengyi. She would be a good judge of an appropriate husband. “You will?” she asked slowly.
“Yes, but I have the final say.”
Her mother considered this, tilting her head back and forth so her gold filigree earrings tinkled. “What do I get in return if I allow this?”
Zhengyi adjusted her padded jacket. Nanjing was oppressively humid in the summer but cold in the winter. Cold for her, that was. She’d heard Beijing was worse.
“In return,” her mother prodded.
“In return, I will make this family safer.”
Her eyes narrowed. “How?”
Zhengyi had her plan prepared. She’d been thinking about it for months, ever since her elder brother had come home from Paris, where he had met a Monsieur Jacques Guerlain and visited his shop in the Rue de Rivoli. He’d come home filled with barbed comments about the Huas being old-fashioned, so she knew he at least would be open to the idea. “There are houses in the West creating fragrances,” she said.
Her mother made a face. “Heavy, cloying things. They smell like animal behinds.”
It was true, but Zhengyi ignored that. “We will do the same.”
Her mother stilled, her earrings silenced. “We do not create for farmers.”
“We will now. We will be a perfume house, and we will sell to anyone who can afford our wares.”
“We can’t simply provide everyone with our moli. Safety, Zhengyi. Safety. We must have trust with whom we deal. Remember your grandmother’s mistake.”
“We will continue to do so, in secret and with select clients. We will also make perfumes for others, with no magic. Regular perfumes people can wear simply to enjoy. Hair oils. Powders. Whatever will sell. We will become known around the world as perfumers, not as holders of moli. That will remain the knowledge of a chosen few while we hide in plain sight.”
There was no doubt in Zhengyi’s mind that her mother considered this a demotion in prestige. Their family had never been able to strut their wealth the way others had, and her mother chafed under the restrictions that hid their power instead of displaying it to garner the appropriate respect.
“We’ve never done such a thing.” She frowned. “All our perfumes are moli scents.” Zhengyi heard the unspoken words. How wouldthey save face if they became mere craftswomen, no better than weavers or builders?
“We’re skilled technicians, Mother, and there is no shame in that.” Zhengyi walked to the window to look at the river, already rising up the banks with the coming spring, and waved north to Beijing. “There may be no empresses soon.”
“Perhaps not, but there will always be the rich.” Her mother joined her and lowered her voice. “Lady Yu contacted me the other day. This is what this family is. We are only for the select.”
“That world is changing,” Zhengyi said. “We aren’t limited to China, and we aren’t limited to only one kind of perfume.”
“Your father will not approve.”
There was a long silence as Zhengyi thought of her poor father, a scholar who loved nothing more than his books. And, unfortunately, opium. His wing of the house reeked of the acrid smoke, which fuddled his brain and made him by turns maudlin or wistful.
“We need to do this for Father,” she finally said. It hurt to have to be a parent to her parent, but the moli power had always resided in the women. They were used to wielding authority within the house and on behalf of the family, to varied levels of bitterness from men who assumed that authority should be theirs alone.
“It’s proper for your eldest brother to make this choice for us,” her mother said stubbornly. “You’re only a girl.”
“I am the fifth daughter,” Zhengyi reminded her.
Her mother bit her lip, knowing Zhengyi was right but that her brothers would resent having it thrown in their faces.
“We’ll find jobs for them,” Zhengyi assured her. “This will be a business, and we will find more customers in China and beyond. We’ll send my brothers to school in America and France so they can become fluent in the languages foreigners speak and make important connections.”
Her mother nodded slowly. “They’ll like that.”
“They’ll like the money too,” Zhengyi said dryly. “Elder Brother especially. I saw his bills from Paris.”
