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Chapter 564 Give me a pillow if you feel sleepy

"So what do you think is going on?" Lu Qing asked.

"There are two possibilities. One is that the person who did it had a sense of mockery and disgust towards this person, and deliberately did not want to give him a quick death, but wanted him to suffer more before he died."

Another possibility is that there are no truly ruthless people in that shoe store.

While killing someone by repeatedly beating them to death is tiring, troublesome, and unsafe, taking a life with a single blow is not something just anyone can do; it requires far more courage than a group of people beating someone to death.

Zhu Yu already had a good idea of ​​the answer to this question. As soon as Lu Qing asked, she spoke up: "So I guess that in addition to the young shop assistants, the Tze Lü Fang must have also kept some guards or similar people. Perhaps they were just a group of thugs who were not particularly fierce, but definitely not kind-hearted either, just to do some 'dirty work' for Gu Lingyun."

This person must have caused trouble for the Tze-Lü Workshop for some reason, so he was 'taken care of' by the thugs they employed.

Lu Qing nodded, agreeing with her speculation.

"Leave Fu Wen in this courtyard. If anything happens to this person, report it immediately." He instructed Fu Wen, and then said to Liu Yueyao, "Go to our side and bring over the food we left for Fu Wen."

"Yes!" Liu Yueyao quickly replied, glancing at Zhu Yu with considerable admiration before leading her people to fetch the food.

When Zhu Yu returned to her own courtyard, she seemed very excited.

“This is like a pillow sent to someone who is sleepy.” She said to Lu Qing, “We didn’t see anything suspicious at Zelifang that day except for Gu Lingyun’s sachet, but we were very clear that the place was not simple.”

Now look what's happened. If this person didn't have some grudge against the Zhelufang, how could he have been beaten to the point of barely breathing?

In other words, the fact that this person was beaten like this is enough to indicate that something is wrong. What legitimate business would secretly employ so many thugs?

"Don't get excited," Lu Qing shook his head at Zhu Yu, afraid that she would have too high expectations and be disappointed later. "No matter what we find out, we can't act rashly. At this point, we can't do anything to alert the enemy except to stand by and watch. We must prioritize the overall situation."

Furthermore, times have changed. I am neither the Carefree King nor the Golden-Faced Censor; I have no right to interfere in these matters.

“I understand.” Zhu Yu nodded. “Even so, I still don’t like the feeling of being left confused by the other party.”

Even if we can't do anything to disrupt the entire plan, we should at least figure out what they're really up to behind the scenes—know your enemy and know yourself.

That night, there was no movement from the rune side, and the next day was also quiet.

Zhu Yu went over to check on him. The man was still unconscious, but the bleeding from the wound had stopped and his breathing was more stable, so it seemed that he was probably not in serious trouble.

Sure enough, the man finally woke up that evening. Seeing that he was still weak, Fu Wen fed him medicine and some porridge, and put him back to sleep. The next morning, the man woke up again, much more energetic. Only then did Fu Wen go to tell Zhu Yu and Lu Qing the news. When he brought the news, Liu Yueyao was reporting the news outside to Lu Qing and the others. Lu Qing asked Fu Wen to wait a moment and gestured for Liu Yueyao to continue.

“These past few days, it’s been very lively outside the Zhelufang store. That piece of 'Liuxia Yunluo' fabric has been brought out every day to show everyone its beauty. Now, almost everyone in the capital, unless they are blind, has seen this fabric and knows that the Duchess of Yan is going to wear a dress made of such a gorgeous fabric for her birthday celebration next month.”

Liu Yueyao told the two people, "I roughly found out that the clothes of the Duchess of Yan were made in the backyard of the Zhelufang workshop, and the management is very strict, and no one is allowed to get close."

This is quite strange. On one hand, there's fabric displayed openly at the shop entrance and on the street, visible to everyone; on the other hand, there are clothes being made secretly and secretly, day and night. It's rather perplexing.

"It's a pity that I was demoted and my friendship with Lu Zhang wasn't that deep. Otherwise, the birthday banquet of the Duchess of Yan would have been quite a spectacle," Lu Qing said with a hint of regret.

"That Manager Gu has been very busy lately," Liu Yueyao continued. "Besides ordering the dress for the Duchess of Yan's birthday celebration from her, it seems that Prince Shu has also acquired some new items recently. She often personally delivers these items to Prince Shu's residence."

"Prince Shu?" Zhu Yu made a preconceived connection when Liu Yueyao first spoke, but realized he was wrong after hearing her finish. "Prince Shu, Lu Ze? Not Prince Yi, Lu Zhang?"

“It is indeed not His Highness Prince Yi.” Liu Yueyao shook her head with a smile. “I thought that since you married into the Shuo Kingdom, you wouldn’t know about the rumors about Prince Yi and Manager Gu from a few years ago. I didn’t expect you to know even this.”

Gu Lingyun was indeed very close to Prince Yi for a time. Not only was she beautiful, but she was also said to be quite capable. She not only had outstanding embroidery skills, but was also good at perfume making.

Back then, they blended a kind of incense with a delicate and elegant scent, which was highly praised by Prince Yi, and from then on, the two began to interact.

At that time, there was indeed a lot of discussion and rumors. Everyone said that the shrewd and resourceful Manager Gu might have a chance to be taken to a side courtyard by Prince Yi. Although with her status, she might not even be able to become a concubine or a high-ranking official, but if Prince Yi were to inherit the throne in the future, it would be a piece of cake for her to be a concubine or a high-ranking official.

Then, suddenly, nothing more was heard of it. Rumors circulated that the Duke of Yan disapproved of Prince Yi's close association with a woman of such dubious origin, and therefore forbade Prince Yi from having any private dealings with Manager Gu.

Zhu Yu nodded.

Through the time Zhu Yu spent in Shuo Kingdom and Lan Kingdom, she had come to know Lu Zhang a little better than before.

She initially thought Lu Zhang and the Duke of Yan were exactly the same kind of people, but after getting to know them, she realized they were quite different. Lu Zhang wasn't a particularly strong-willed person, and his pursuit of power was more of a forced choice, pushed along by his maternal grandfather.

Deep down, he's more like someone who enjoys nature and likes to cultivate an elegant lifestyle, and he also has quite a talent for calligraphy and painting.

Or perhaps, what he values ​​is not talent, but rather the freedom from constraints and detachment from worldly affairs.

Being drawn to delicate fragrances seems to be something he's capable of doing.