After returning from the Bai manor, Bai Yu Yan didn't think about everything that happened with the Bai family and carried on with her everyday life. She went to her shop and was welcomed with Manager Gao's happy face before she saw customers inside.
Last time, after seeing the Gu Matriarch and Madame Gu enter the shop, people's interest in Silver Closet finally piqued. After all, who did not know the Gu house not only had abundant wealth but the ladies of the house had a distinct class and their taste in attires was something the nobles in the upper class had always tried to imitate. From how their carriage stopped in front of Silver Closet, it seems they had specifically come there. So, if they decided to visit Bai Yu Yan's shop, that means what Silver Closet offered were real deals.
Because of it, that day the shop received a few customers who had come for shopping in the Zongyuan street. At first, no one was expecting anything big but when they actually saw the dresses Bai Yu Yan had designed, everyone was in awe.
Unlike how snobbish they had heard she had become after marrying into the Lu family, Bai Yu Yan personally took the job of explaining to them about the dresses and what kind of body it suits to all while appearing polite. Her clear and unexaggerated words were like those of the professionals who had been into that profession for years which was surprising to them as the First Miss Bai they knew of had no knowledge about clothes and designs. In fact, the previous Bai Yu Yan did not even have a good taste in clothing and was always overshadowed by Bai Chun Hua.
Everyone was looking at the dresses on the mannequins when suddenly one of the girls laughed looking at a dress on the display.
"What is this fabric? Isn't this used for bedsheets?"
Bai Yu Yan who was explaining the design and embroidery to the other group of customers turned to look at her back where a group of girls were standing near the glass display. One of the girls was pointing towards a mannequin and the others were laughing together.
"Yeah, and we don't even use this type of bed sheets for our bed. It's only for the servants" another girl chimed along with a mocking tone.
"Don't tell me she is expecting us to buy this and wear them," another one added.
"Who knows! She seems to be going all out for money after witnessing the Lu family's worth."
Manager Gao who was at the reception frowned when he heard the girls whose loud voices were attracting the other customers. These troublemakers, he thought and put down the sales book on the table to walk towards them. He had been the manager for long enough to understand how supercilious and unreasonable the ladies of noble households can be. It was an almost impossible task to satisfy them. He had noticed these girls since they entered the shop and looking at how disdainful they had been all the while, he had guessed they were not there for anything good.
Before he could come forward and say something, Bai Yu Yan looked at him and nodded her head indicating that she got this. She then excused herself from the customers she was attending to and walked towards them.
"Can I help you with something?" Bai Yu Yan stood before them and asked the group of girls who didn't look that far from her in age.
The room was now in complete silence. Everyone in the room dropped their eyes from the dresses they were inspecting and turned their attention towards the girls and Bai Yu Yan. After all who didn't enjoy watching the drama in a noble circle. Moreover, almost everyone knew the identity of Bai Yu Yan and the other girl.
The four girls standing before her were lavishly dressed, very apparent that they belonged to the noble household. With impeccably combed hair and perfectly painted nails, they had the aura of rich Misses.
"Bai Yu Yan, before I had always known that you have a questionable taste in clothing but to think that you can go as far as tricking your customers just for the sake for some money, isn't this too much?" said the girl who had first spoken about the fabric material is the same as the bedsheet. She was wearing a beautiful pale hanfu embroidered in the right places which Bai Yu Yan had rarely seen with the other people. Light makeup was delicately applied on her face to make it look like a naturally-contoured face. She looked at Bai Yu Yan as if she was really disappointed at her and her soft voice sounded slightly reproachful. On the other hand, the girls beside her glanced at Bai Yu Yan like they were looking at a joke.
Hearing that, a round of whispers had started in the crowd that had gathered.
"Just because you married Prime Minister Lu did you think that people would blindly buy anything you sell, even if it's just trash?" another girl by her side scoffed to receive voices of agreement from her other friends.
Bai Yu Yan subtly raised her eyes at their unexpected aggressiveness. She recognized the person before her from the original's memory. Her name was Song Mei Lin, daughter of the Minister Song who was a minister of justice and a first ranking official with quite some reputation in the palace. And most importantly, she was the fashion queen of the upper socialite. Another one she recognized was Han Ruo Lan, who always followed Song Mei Lin like a devoted follower, copying every style and taste from her. The other girls surrounding her were also the daughters of government officials and missus of the noble houses. And if she was not mistaken, they were also friends with Bai Chun Hua.
Her eyes curiously darted towards the mannequin to briefly look at the dress they were talking about with such an obvious distaste. For the dresses she designed, it didn't take her long to realize which dress they were throwing insults at.
"Are you talking about this dress?" Bai Yu Yan stood with folded hands, her index finger gently tapping on her arm. She didn't move but pointed towards the dress with her eyes. If the dress had not been inside the glass display, she couldn't say for sure if the people in front of her wouldn't have ripped it off.
Seeing Bai Yu Yan's calm front, Song Mei Lin kindly smiled with her perfectly glossed lips and said, "Bai Yu Yan, we know that in your current situation, you want to desperately prove your worth to everyone as Prime Minister Lu's wife. But you also have to understand that using these methods to cheat your customers is not ethical," saying she shook her head, expressing her disapproval at Bai Yu Yan's actions.
"Why don't you tell us how much this costs?" Han Ruolan asked, raising her perfectly arched brow. She was eager to see how dumb Bai Yu Yan had become after having a sudden rise in her status.
Bai Yu Yan tilted her head as she was thinking about its price and said, "Hundred and fifty gold taels."