Plotting with You: The Forensic Scientist in Ancient Times!-Chapter 346 - 345: Gu Lingyun

Lu Yan, who had been silent all this time, suddenly thought of something and let out a "hiss," his gaze falling on Lu Zhang’s face.

"Why are you staring at me like that?" Lu Zhang felt uneasy under Lu Yan’s gaze. "I didn’t say or do anything earlier, so why are you looking at me like this?"

"That famous Headdress and Shoes Workshop in the Capital, it seems Second Brother is a regular there." Lu Yan scrutinized Lu Zhang. "Previously, someone wanted to make connections with me and deliberately bought some fine fabrics from the Headdress and Shoes Workshop in the Capital, asking someone to deliver them to my residence.

Afraid I wouldn’t recognize the items, that person even made a point to tell me that this Headdress and Shoes Workshop is extraordinary. Not only is the female shopkeeper exceptionally beautiful, but she is also very sociable, winning the hearts of many noble women in the Capital and even attracting the special favor of Prince Yi.

When I heard this, I threw the person and everything he brought out without a second thought.

Prince Yi is so noble, what right do I have to be so presumptuous as to use the same cloth for clothing as Prince Yi from the same workshop?"

Before Lu Zhang could reply, he murmured to himself as if talking to himself: "What was that shopkeeper’s name again... Gu... Gu something?"

Then he looked at Lu Zhang, whose face had become somewhat uneasy, and feigned sudden realization: "Oh, right, Gu Lingyun!"

"Third Brother, don’t spread baseless rumors!" Lu Zhang denied it outright with an unpleasant expression, mimicking Lu Qing’s tone when speaking to Lu Yan, "I thought Third Brother was an upright gentleman who wouldn’t be one to indulge in such gossip."

Unexpectedly, the usual tactic of Lu Qing was not effective when coming from Lu Zhang, and Lu Yan was not convinced at all, mockingly smiling: "Everything depends on actions, those people are just spreading baseless rumors.

If Second Brother does not show favoritism, how could others fabricate things out of nothing?

It’s just that they say Second Brother favors the fabrics from a particular workshop, so why overreact?

Could it be that you really have some ’secret matters’ with that Gu Lingyun, the shopkeeper?"

"Nonsense!" Lu Zhang, extremely embarrassed, scolded Lu Yan angrily, slapped the table, got up, and quickly left the hall, going upstairs by himself.

"This person is quite interesting! That Headdress and Shoes Workshop is one of the major shops in the Capital, right?" Lu Yan sneered as he watched Lu Zhang leave in anger, "Many people favor that shop’s products, and Gu Lingyun is not the only sociable female shopkeeper in the Capital.

Why is he so flustered?"

Zhu Yu touched her nose and secretly glanced at the expressionless Yan Shu.

Lu Yan didn’t know why Lu Zhang was so furious, but she seemed to have some guesses.

If, without sufficient understanding of each other, she learned from others about Lu Qing’s close relationship with the beautiful female steward Liu Yueyao from the Yunyin Pavilion, Lu Qing would probably not sit there so calmly now.

Even if not as furious as Lu Zhang, he would at least feel a bit uncomfortable...

But Zhu Yu wasn’t entirely sure, given Lu Qing’s hidden and unfathomable nature. Even if he were panicking inside, it might not show on the surface.

"Did you mention the Headdress and Shoes Workshop just to annoy him, or was it something else?" Lu Qing, instead of persuading Lu Yan, asked seriously.

Lu Yan was slightly startled, then nodded to Lu Qing: "Indeed, although I am a bit impulsive and don’t get along with him usually, I’m not childish enough to deliberately annoy someone with baseless things.

It just happened that I thought of the Headdress and Shoes Workshop and mentioned it casually, not expecting him to get upset."

"Is it because of that dress earlier?" Lu Qing asked, "I did hear that the Headdress and Shoes Workshop is a highly reputed store in the Capital, and many noble women are eager to visit.

But since there were no ladies in my household in the past, I didn’t bother visiting."

"I wasn’t in the Capital, so I don’t know what exactly happens there," Lu Yan said. "Earlier, I spoke nothing but the truth. Someone indeed tried to curry favor with me and went through a lot of effort to bring a few bolts of cloth from the Capital.

That person told me that the biggest difference between Headdress and Shoes Workshop and other tailoring shops is that they use a special method to lock fragrance into the fabric when they weave silk.

Makes clothes cut from their materials naturally emit a subtle fragrance without needing additional scenting, earning them the name ’step by step with fragrance’.

The scent on the dress that the old steward from the Immortal Castle had brought was exactly that, not artificially added, and I made the connection immediately."

"I did hear that the fabrics from Headdress and Shoes Workshop have a natural fragrance, sparing the need for additional scenting that could damage the original luster, but I hadn’t seen it myself to make the connection." Lu Qing nodded in realization.

"In fact, I heard it isn’t particularly Second Brother who is closely connected with the Headdress and Shoes Workshop." Lu Yan, though intent on vexing Lu Zhang earlier, was forthcoming now, speaking candidly. "It seems like the Duke Yan Mansion people especially favor the things from that workshop.

The person trying to curry favor with me said that the Duchess Yan only likes wearing clothes from the Headdress and Shoes Workshop, so Manager Gu often takes tailors and new materials to the Duke Yan Mansion for measuring and tailoring for the household ladies.

There are even rumors that if a favored concubine in the palace has a dress praised by the Holy Emperor, it wouldn’t take long before Gu Lingyun manages to create similar materials for noble women outside the palace."

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

"I suspect that this Immortal Castle, which claims to supply major stores in the Capital and cater exclusively to nobles, is referring to the Headdress and Shoes Workshop." Lu Yan didn’t mince words and said bluntly, "Now, who doesn’t know that in this world the only one claiming to be second to none is Duke Yan.

If it weren’t for backing from someone like him, how could a mere steward from the Immortal Castle speak so arrogantly?

Therefore, I suspect that someone is using Duke Yan’s influence to stir up trouble outside."

He paused, glancing towards the stairs outside the classroom: "Or, maybe, these shenanigans might even have Duke Yan’s implicit consent."