The weather in Yi Prefecture City was great on the day Mixue Ice City opened.
The secret agents at the Flower-Between Pavilion acted faster than Gu Moran anticipated.
From forging his identity to taking over that prime two-story street-front shop in the west of the city, it only took three days.
The names, places of origin, and travel permits on the contract were all included, and even the business tax records of three generations of the Zhou's Shop family were supplemented.
In the back courtyard of the old prince's mansion, three of the six screens were erected.
Su Yao stood behind the innermost screen, tying the belt of her moon-white brocade robe three times in front of the bronze mirror, each time feeling it was too tight.
Xie Wanqing whispered a reminder from the side, " Sister Su, a man's belt is tied here."
Su Yao glanced at the spot where she was pointing.
"So low?"
"Um."
Su Yao pursed her lips, lowered her belt by two inches, and then picked up the folding fan and tried to wave it.
The person in the mirror has delicate features and bright eyes, truly possessing the elegant demeanor of a young master from a noble family.
"It's alright." Su Yao nodded to herself.
A muffled thud came from outside the screen.
"Damn it, this stuff is stuck up my nostril!"
Murong Xue's voice.
Liu Ruyan gently advised, "Don't pull it, you'll tear the skin..."
"This young lady is dignified."
"Shh," Lin Qingdai interrupted her, "Once you leave this courtyard, you're no longer a young lady."
Gu Moran, holding the medicine bowl, leaned against the door frame and watched the whole spectacle unfold.
Su Yao was the first to step forward. Dressed in a moon-white brocade robe and holding a folding fan, she possessed an air of elegance. Gu Moran nodded. "Absolutely similar."
Su Yao raised an eyebrow slightly.
Where were the two points deducted?
"Eyes." Gu Moran pointed to his eyes. "When a man looks at a woman, his gaze goes downwards, but when you looked at me just now, your gaze went upwards."
Su Yao's face flushed slightly, and she snapped the fan shut.
"Next."
Murong Xue strode out from behind the screen.
Wearing a black short khaki jacket, a leather belt around his waist, and ankle boots, he looked quite like a capable bodyguard.
The problem lies in their faces.
She plastered a thick beard around her mouth, but it was crooked and messy, with a tuft sticking up on the right and a piece stuck directly under the corner of her mouth on the left, making it look like she had hair growing in her mouth from a distance.
Gu Moran took a sip of medicine and almost choked.
"Who... taught you how to stick them on?"
" Batuer," Murong Xue said matter-of-factly, "All the men in the Northern Territory have this kind of beard."
"Men from the Northern Territory don't have beards growing in their nostrils." Gu Moran handed the medicine bowl to Uncle Fu behind her and walked over.
He reached out, pinched the tuft of fake mustache sticking up on Murong Xue's right cheek, gently tore it off, and then stuck it back in the correct position.
My fingertips slid along her jawline, smoothing out the crooked part.
Murong Xue tilted her head slightly after he bumped into her and glared at him.
Your hands are cold.
"I just picked up the medicine bowl." Gu Moran's fingers were still on the side of her chin, and with his other hand he peeled off the piece that was stuck to the corner of her mouth and straightened it.
The movement was slow, taking three breaths longer than necessary.
Murong Xue's ear tips turned slightly red. She slapped his hand away.
"Alright!"
Gu Moran took a half step back and looked her up and down.
"Yeah, now he looks like a brute."
"That's exactly right."
Lin Qingdai the third to come out.
She changed into a gray-blue round-neck, narrow-sleeved short-sleeved shirt, wrapped a training belt around her waist, and tucked all her hair into an old straw hat.
He doesn't look like a young man, but like a young escort.
Gu Moran didn't find any fault.
"Pass."
As Lin Qingdai walked past him, she whispered, "If you dare to help me 'adjust' anything, believe me, I'll put your hands behind your back."
"I wouldn't dare."
Xie Wanqing is the fourth.
She wore an old, bluish-gray scholar's robe, with the cuffs rolled up twice, revealing her slender wrists.
He looks like a scholar taking the imperial examination, except his face is too pale and his eyes too bright; it's obvious he's never been out in the sun or wind.
Gu Moran glanced at her hand.
"The direction of the callus is right, but the hand is too pale."
Before Xie Wanqing could speak, Liu Ruyan handed her a small jar from behind the screen. "Apply this, it's a tea color mixed with walnut water."
When did you start preparing?
Liu Ruyan smiled slightly.
She had already changed herself, dressed in a dark blue merchant's outfit, with a bamboo hat on her head and an abacus at her waist, her gait carrying a hint of shrewdness. Of the six people, she looked the most natural.
"Six parts appearance, four parts demeanor," Liu Ruyan said softly. "Walking style, posture, eyes... these are more important than clothes."
Gu Moran gave her an approving look. Liu Ruyan didn't avoid the question or say anything more, but the corners of her mouth curved slightly.
The last one.
Shen Ling'er hesitated for a long time before finally emerging from behind the screen.
She was dressed in a servant's blue cloth short coat, her hair was tucked into a hat, and her face was smeared with ash.
But in my chest...
That's clearly wrong.
Her corset was wrapped too loosely, the fabric heaving with her breath, and her movements were stiff like a puppet due to the tight straps.
Gu Moran stared at it for two breaths.
Shen Ling'er's face had already started to turn red.
"What are you looking at!"
"This servant doesn't have such impressive pectoral muscles."
Shen Ling'er picked up the silver needles from the medicine box.
"What did you say?"
"I said your straps are loose." Gu Moran raised his hand to block the silver needles she was thrusting at him, and his other hand naturally reached out, his fingers touching the knot of the straps at the edge of her clothes.
The fingertips brushed against the fabric below the collarbone.
Shen Ling'er froze.
"You!"
"Here," Gu Moran said in a low voice, so only the two of them could hear, "Take one more loop, go under your ribs, tighten it towards your back, otherwise it will loosen up when you run."
His finger touched the cloth strip on her side, then withdrew it.
Shen Ling'er's ears turned bright red, and she took a step back.
"I can do it myself!"
"Okay." Gu Moran turned around and went back to get the medicine bowl.
Behind them came the rustling sound of Shen Ling'er slipping back behind the screen to re-tie the bandages, and Su Yao's casual remark. "Quite quick."
"Just helping out."
"Oh."
Su Yao trailed off her "oh" and tapped her folding fan twice in her palm.
Gu Moran decided not to continue the conversation.
Half an hour later, Shen Ling'er came out again.
This time it was tied tighter, her chest was much flatter, and she could breathe more easily. She glared at Gu Moran fiercely.
Gu Moran finished drinking the medicine and smacked his lips.
Let's go.
"Wait." Shen Ling'er took a small porcelain bottle from her medicine box and put it in his hand. "If you feel chest tightness on the way, take one."
"Weren't you just about to stab me?"
"I'll treat you even if I'm stabbed, and I'll treat you even if I'm given medicine."
Gu Moran smiled and tucked the porcelain bottle into his sleeve.
Uncle Fu had prepared three inconspicuous carriages in the back alley.
The seven people set off in two groups, with the departures staggered by the time it takes to drink a cup of tea.
Head straight to the main street in the west of the city.