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Chapter 345 Gu Lingyun

Lu Yan, who hadn't spoken until now, suddenly seemed to remember something, hissed, and looked at Lu Zhang's face.

"Why are you staring at me like that?" Lu Zhang felt a little uneasy under Lu Yan's gaze. "I didn't say or do anything just now, so why are you looking at me like that?"

"It seems that Second Brother is a regular customer at that famous Tze-Lü Shop in the capital." Lu Yan scrutinized Lu Zhang. "Someone once tried to curry favor with me and specially bought some fine fabrics from the Tze-Lü Shop in the capital and had them delivered to my residence."

Presumably afraid I wouldn't recognize its value, the person specifically told me that this Tze-Leg Shop was no ordinary place. The female manager was not only incredibly beautiful, but also exceptionally skilled in social interaction. She had won the hearts of many noblewomen in the capital, and even gained the special favor of the illustrious Prince Yi.

Upon hearing this, without saying a word, I threw the man and his belongings out.

"His Highness Prince Yi is so noble; what virtue or ability do I possess to presume to use the same fabric from the same cloth shop to have my clothes made as His Highness's!"

After saying that, before Lu Zhang could speak, he muttered to himself, "What was the shopkeeper's name again... Gu... Gu something?"

Then, glancing at Lu Zhang, whose expression had become somewhat uneasy, she feigned sudden realization: "Oh, right, Gu Lingyun!"

"Third brother, don't spread rumors and make things up!" Lu Zhang denied it with a displeased expression, mimicking Lu Qing's way of speaking to Lu Yan, "I thought you were an upright gentleman and wouldn't like to listen to such gossipy chatter."

Unexpectedly, despite it being Lu Qing's tried-and-true method, Lu Yan didn't buy it at all when it came from Lu Zhang's mouth. He smiled sarcastically and said, "It's all up to people. Those people are just making baseless accusations."

If the second brother didn't show any special favoritism, others can't just make things up out of thin air, can they?
It's just that Second Brother has a preference for fabrics from a certain cloth shop; why is Second Brother making such a fuss?

Could it be that you and the manager of Gu Lingyun Valley really have something 'not for outsiders to know' about?"

"Nonsense!" Lu Zhang was extremely embarrassed and angrily rebuked Lu Yan. He slammed his hand on the table, got up, and quickly left the guest room, going upstairs alone.

"That person is really interesting! That Tse-Leg Shop is one of the most prestigious shops in the capital, isn't it?" Lu Yan sneered as he watched Lu Zhang leave in a huff. "So many people favor that shop's products, and Gu Lingyun isn't the only skilled female shopkeeper in the capital."

Why is he so guilty?

Zhu Yu touched his nose and secretly glanced at Yan Shu, who had no expression.

Lu Yan didn't know why Lu Zhang was so angry, but she seemed to have a general idea.

If, before they had a sufficient understanding of each other, Lu Qing had learned from others that he had a close relationship with Liu Yueyao, the beautiful female manager of Yunyin Pavilion, Lu Qing probably wouldn't be sitting there with such a calm expression now.

Even if he wouldn't be as furious as Lu Zhang, he would at least feel a little uncomfortable... However, Zhu Yu wasn't entirely sure, since Lu Qing was a cunning and secretive person, so even if he was panicking inside, it might not be obvious on the surface.

"You brought up the Tze-Lü Workshop just now on purpose to upset him? I'm afraid not, am I?" Lu Qing didn't try to persuade Lu Yan, but asked seriously.

Lu Yan was slightly taken aback, then nodded to Lu Qing: "That's right. Although I'm a bit impulsive and we don't usually get along, I'm not so childish as to bring up these trivial things to annoy people."

It just happened to remind me of the Tze-Lü-Fang workshop, and I mentioned it casually, but I didn't expect him to get angry.

"Is it because of that dress from before?" Lu Qing asked. "I have indeed heard that Zelifang is a very famous fabric shop in the capital, and many noble ladies and noblewomen flock there."

However, since there were no women in my family, I haven't frequented the place much.

“I’m not in the capital, so I don’t know what’s going on here,” Lu Yan said. “What I said just now was not a lie. Someone really wanted to curry favor with me and went to great lengths to get a few bolts of cloth from the capital to give to me.”

The man told me that the biggest difference between Zelifang and other cloth workshops was that they used a special method to lock the fragrance into the fabric when weaving silk.

Dresses made from their local fabrics, even without additional incense or carrying sachets, will still exude a subtle fragrance wherever they go. Combined with their exquisite weaving techniques, this has earned them the name "lotus blossoms with every step."

The skirt that the old steward of Fairy Castle had carefully carried over in a wooden box had a faint fragrance, unlike anything that had been deliberately scented with perfumes. That's when I suddenly made the connection to this incident.

“I had indeed heard that the fabrics from Zelifang were naturally fragrant, so there was no need to worry about burning perfume on the fabric after it was made, which would ruin its original luster. However, I had never seen it with my own eyes, so I didn’t think of all this right away.” Lu Qing nodded in realization.

“Actually, I heard that the one who is very close to that Tze-Leg Shop can’t really be considered Second Brother.” Although Lu Yan had intended to provoke Lu Zhang earlier, he was quite frank when it came to serious matters. “It’s the people from the Duke of Yan’s mansion who seem to have a particular fondness for Tze-Leg Shop products.”

I heard from the person who wanted to curry favor with me that the Duchess of Yan only liked to wear clothes from the Zhelufang store, so Gu Lingyun, the store manager, would often bring the store's tailors with the latest fabrics to the Duke of Yan's mansion to take measurements and make clothes for the women in the mansion.

There were also rumors circulating that whenever a favorite concubine in the palace wore a particularly beautiful dress that received praise from the Emperor, it wouldn't be long before Gu Lingyun was able to spin fabric of similar quality and sell it to the noblewomen and ladies of high rank outside the palace.

"So your suspicion is..." Lu Qing nodded knowingly.

“I suspect that the so-called Immortal Fortress that supplies goods to the big shops in the capital and caters to the nobles is referring to the Tze-Lü Shop.” Lu Yan didn’t mince words and spoke very directly. “Now everyone knows that the only person in the world who can be called second only to the emperor is Duke Yan.”

If it weren't for such a powerful backer, what right would a mere manager of Fairy Castle have to speak so arrogantly!
Therefore, I suspect that someone is using the Duke of Yan's power to deliberately cause trouble outside.

He paused, glancing towards the staircase outside the classroom: "Or perhaps, these strange occurrences might not be entirely at the behest of the Duke of Yan."