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Chapter 555 The Female Shopkeeper

After Zhu Yu walked around the second floor, he found that the smell was very faint and did not come from any of the clothes or embroidered shoes sold on this floor. It seemed to be simply floating in the air, because someone or something had stayed on this floor and left behind.

Just as Zhu Yu was about to tell Lu Qing about her discovery, there was a commotion on the stairs, and a slender figure gracefully descended from the third floor.

As soon as that person appeared, not only Zhu Yu and Lu Qing, but also the eyes of two or three other customers who were picking out their favorite clothes on this floor were drawn to him. They stopped what they were doing and all looked in that direction.

A petite woman with a graceful figure slowly walked down from the third floor.

The woman wore her hair in a bun styled like a fallen horse, and a light veil was draped over the bun in a unique way.

I had seen that kind of light gauze at Yunyin Pavilion before. I knew that it was called "Flying Cloud Cover". It was originally something that some musicians and dancers liked to wear on their high buns to create a kind of beauty like clouds covering mountains.

The loose, low-hanging topknot, combined with the flowing gauze covering it, made it seem as if the clouds in the sky were about to pour down and flow to the human world, giving it a unique charm.

The weather is alright during the day, but there's a slight chill in the air in the mornings and evenings. Even now, with the sun shining brightly, people watching the commotion on the street are wearing two or three layers of clothing.

The woman was wearing a long, fitted dress made of smooth, lustrous, and very light light blue silk, over which was a plain white robe. The robe was made of fine silk, like a layer of light mist floating around the woman, making her look even more ethereal.

The woman held a round fan in her hand, which was also semi-transparent and embroidered with some flowers and birds. She waved it casually in front of her.

Judging from her demeanor and bearing, this person is undoubtedly Gu Lingyun, the female manager of the Tze Lu Fang.

Zhu Yu was initially worried that staring at the other person would be noticeable because of her abrupt behavior, but she soon discovered that the other customers here also seemed to be very interested in this beautiful female shopkeeper, and they all stopped what they were doing and looked at Gu Lingyun.

Since that's the case, she no longer had any concerns and simply stopped what she was doing, curiously examining the other person.

She had heard of Gu Lingyun before, who was rumored to be a very capable person. She was the only one who managed the entire business of the Tze Lü Fang, turning it from an unknown brand into one of the top fabric shops and clothing stores in the capital.

People often talk about her and Liu Yueyao together because, whether it's Zelifang or Yunyin Pavilion, outsiders have never seen the so-called behind-the-scenes boss come forward. It's always these two female managers who support the business.

These two women were both beautiful and skilled in social interaction, capable of handling things independently and managing their young employees with ease, making their business very successful.

In private, these men would even refer to the two of them as the "Two Beauties of Beijing".

As for Zhu Yu, she had become quite familiar with Liu Yueyao during this period. Gu Lingyun had only heard rumors about her and Lu Zhang before, as well as a few lines of poetry that seemed to contain the names of the two people.

This is the first time I've ever seen a person like this.

But even from just a few glances from afar, she realized that Gu Lingyun and Liu Yueyao were not the same kind of people at all.

As the proprietress of Yunyin Pavilion, Liu Yueyao appeared very worldly, managing everything inside and outside the pavilion with a smile and navigating among the patrons. No matter how unruly the drunkards were, she had a way of handling them. However, if you paid attention to her eyes, you would easily discover that they were always cold and indifferent. Her worldly smile was merely for business purposes; in reality, she was a very upright yet ruthless person.

Then look at Gu Lingyun. She slowly descended from the road with light, graceful steps. When she looked around, her eyes were full of emotion, and her gaze seemed to be full of affection as she swept over everyone. Her eyes seemed to have little hooks in them.

She seemed to be constantly trying to display her charm, like a passionate and gentle woman, but Zhu Yu couldn't explain why, she could sense an indescribable evil aura from that harmless smile.

It makes people feel somewhat uncomfortable after seeing it.

Gu Lingyun gracefully descended from the third floor, her gaze sweeping over the people on the second floor before finally settling on Zhu Yu and Lu Qing.

Seeing Gu Lingyun walking towards them, Zhu Yu couldn't help but feel a little nervous. After all, this time they were "deep into enemy territory". If they were discovered by the other side before they could do anything, wouldn't they have no chance to play at all?

She pretended to pick up two exquisitely embroidered handkerchiefs from the table next to her and held them up in front of Lu Qing, as if asking him to help her with the design. She took the opportunity to look at Lu Qing and ask him with her eyes how he should respond.

Lu Qing winked at her without making a sound, and casually pointed to the handkerchief in one of her hands, as if she preferred that pattern.

Gu Lingyun walked up to the two people and quickly looked them over. Although their clothes were ordinary, they seemed quite at ease strolling around the shoe store, where the goods were not cheap. She couldn't help but feel a little curious.

“You two look unfamiliar,” she said with a smile as she stepped forward to strike up a conversation. “Our shoe store has been in the capital for quite some time now, but we don’t seem to have seen you before.”

As she approached, Zhu Yu caught the faint scent from before again, but she didn't show it, acting as if she hadn't smelled anything at all.

Lu Qing glanced at her with a puzzled expression: "We are indeed not from this capital. May I ask who this young lady is...?"

Gu Lingyun covered her mouth with a round fan and chuckled: "So it turns out that the two distinguished guests are not from the capital. It's not surprising that the two of you don't recognize me."

My name is Gu Lingyun, and I am the manager of this shoe shop.

Upon hearing this, Lu Qing and Zhu Yu both showed expressions of surprise.

"I never expected that such a beautiful fabric shop would be run by such a young and beautiful woman!" Zhu Yu exclaimed sincerely. "Manager Gu, my husband and I have come all the way from Liangzhou to celebrate the birthday of our distant relatives in the capital on behalf of my parents-in-law."

To avoid flaunting our wealth, we didn't wear any nice clothes on the way. The clothes we brought were useless because we didn't expect the capital to be so much colder than where we were.

Just now, when I passed by the entrance, I noticed that you were displaying a fabric called "Flowing Clouds and Rosy Clouds," which was quite eye-catching.

Although the shopkeeper said that item wasn't for sale, we figured that if a shop like this could have "Flowing Clouds and Glow" fabric, it must have other decent and good materials, so we went in to take a look.