Transmigrated Female Official

On the eve of his departure for the capital, Jiuwei came in carrying a basket of cassia seeds: "Miss, I've brought you some cassia seeds. What do you need these for so late?" A few days ago, when the young lady asked him if his household had any cotton or cassia seeds, he only knew about cassia seeds, so he went and bought them.

"You'll see in a bit." Chu Qingluo happily took the cassia seeds, poured them into the cloth bag she had already sewn, quickly sewed the opening shut, and then placed it flat on the bedside table. She picked up the porcelain pillow and handed it to Jiuwei: "Here, take this away. It's too hard, I can't sleep on it." These past few days, she had been sleeping with a corner of the bedding as a pillow.

"Miss wants to use this as a pillow?" Nine-Tailed Fox asked in surprise.

"Hmm." Chu Qingluo immediately lay down to try it out, and sighed, "It would be perfect if there were cotton. You go ahead, I'm going to sleep."

"Okay." The young lady's behavior and thoughts are quite strange now, but she seems more clever than before. Nine-Tailed Fox chuckled and closed the door for her.

A good night's sleep.

Chu Qingluo's entry into the imperial court was the most important event for the Chu family. As soon as it was light, Chu's mother led twenty or thirty members of the Chu family to the main gate to see Chu Qingluo off.

"Be careful in everything you do," Chu's mother instructed.

"Third sister, I wish you all the best in your career advancement." Chu Yinuo smiled and joined in.

Only Chu Yilin, still half-asleep, said, "It's not like she's not coming back. Why the fuss about saying goodbye?"

Chu's mother glared at him and said, "What do you know? Entering the court as an official is a first-class honor."

"Mother, I'm going to court."

Chu Qingluo wore the official uniform of an executive officer—a light purple, fitted, narrow-sleeved long dress with a cross-collar, and a dark purple short-sleeved blouse over it. She gave a slight bow to her mother, who nodded with satisfaction. Finally, under their watchful eyes, she boarded the carriage to the capital. Jiuwei and Tongmu jumped on board to help her drive.

This was the day the newly appointed executive officer entered the court. Including Chu Qingluo, a total of ten women gathered at the palace gate. After a while, an older woman arrived, first verifying each of their identities with a booklet, and then leading all ten of them into the palace. Only after watching Chu Qingluo's figure disappear at the palace gate did Jiuwei and Tongmu drive back to the Chu residence.

"Hello, my name is Chu Qingluo." She looked at the woman walking behind her, who was about the same age as her, had a lovely appearance, and a humble smile on her face. She took the initiative to greet her.

The woman smiled and replied softly, "Hello, Miss Chu. My name is Mo Shao, but you can also call me Shaoyao."

The older woman led them into the Mingshuang Palace, where a woman in a blue official robe was waiting for them.

"Fellow officers, I am Qin Mei, a seventh-rank official. You may call me Aunt Qin. For the next month, I will give you your first lesson, after which you will undergo closed-door training in the palace."

"Thank you, Aunt." Chu Qingluo bowed to Aunt Qin along with everyone else.

"Now, two people per room. Put your belongings in the room first. Don't linger. Come back as soon as you've put them in." Aunt Qin said with a serious expression, without a smile.

Upon hearing this, the ten people quickly ran towards the room they had chosen. Chu Qingluo invited Shaoyao, "How about we share a room?" Shaoyao agreed.

After putting their things down, they didn't dare to delay for a moment. Aunt Qin led them into the inner hall, where there were more than a dozen heavy wooden tables, which Chu Qingluo thought looked like a classroom. They could choose their own seats, and Shaoyao naturally sat next to Chu Qingluo.

After they were all seated, Aunt Qin spoke: "To become officials in the court, you must first understand the hierarchy of official ranks. I will explain it to you now. If you have any questions, please ask after I finish speaking. Do you understand?"

Everyone nodded.

There are ten ranks for female officials, divided into two categories: primary ranks and secondary ranks. Ranks one to six are primary ranks, and ranks seven to ten are secondary ranks. Rank one is the highest rank, and so on. Each rank has corresponding executive officers. Newly recruited executive officers are assigned to the secondary ranks, and only the most capable can be promoted to the primary ranks or directly ascend to the tenth rank.

To put it bluntly, they are just working for others; the decisions and pronouncements are made by the leaders, who are simply divided into middle-level and upper-level leaders.

Everything in the palace—food, drink, shelter, clothing, housing, and transportation—was assigned. Chu Qingluo summarized Aunt Qin's words: The Empress is the final boss. The first rank is equivalent to an assistant, the second rank is in charge of priests, the third rank is in charge of politics, the fourth rank is in charge of military affairs, the fifth rank is in charge of finance, the sixth rank is in charge of internal affairs, the seventh rank is in charge of human resources, the eighth rank is in charge of poetry, books, rites, and music, the ninth rank is in charge of clothing, and the tenth rank is in charge of imperial cuisine.

"Next, you will choose which sub-tier you wish to join." Aunt Qin's voice brought Chu Qingluo back to her senses.

She majored in fashion design in college, and since she was already a model, choosing the second-ninth rank would naturally be most suitable. However, remembering Chu Yilin's advice, she hesitated. While she wasn't completely clueless about food, she wasn't particularly skilled at it either. She decided to choose something she was good at. So, gritting her teeth, she finally chose the lower second-ninth rank.

"Qingluo, you chose the ninth rank?"

"Yes. And you?"

"I don't know which one to choose." Peony remained hesitant and unable to make up her mind.

"Choose whichever area you're interested in or relatively good at," Chu Qinglu suggested.

“Then I’ll choose the same one as you.” Peony was somewhat interested in the jewelry, and besides, it would keep Qingluo company, so she also chose the second-ninth grade.

Having chosen the rank, today's learning is now complete.

The next day, Aunt Qin led them to familiarize themselves with the palace, starting from the main gate they had entered through the day before. Chu Qingluo discovered that the palace was not entirely populated by women; on the contrary, all the guards and attendants were men, and importantly… none of them were eunuchs.

Does an empress's dynasty need eunuchs? Of course not, she knows... hehe!

There were hundreds of palaces of all sizes, with red pillars carved with phoenixes. This was completely different from the Forbidden City she had visited. In addition to its solemnity, there were many very feminine places. For example, the scenery along the way was full of flowers and green trees, and the palace furnishings were exquisite. If you could tell where women were by the sight of light gauze curtains and brightly colored things, then here, women were everywhere.

The Empress's Phoenix Palace was located in the very center, while her palace for council meetings and court assemblies was the Qingming Palace, closest to the palace gate. Therefore, she was escorted back and forth daily in a grand sedan chair carried by eight men. The Imperial Garden was located in the southwest of the palace, next to the Yongle Palace, where banquets were usually held. It felt like if you drank too much in the Yongle Palace, you could go to the Imperial Garden for some fresh air—a truly thoughtful design, Chu Qingluo silently gave it a thumbs up.

The best and most thoughtful feature is that each palace has its own private bath. If you wish, there are even people who can provide hot water 24/7 and sprinkle flowers for you. Chu Qingluo was incredibly excited; it was practically a resort! Of course, the size and luxury of this place couldn't compare to the Huaqing Pool in the Phoenix Palace.

Unfortunately, these female officials didn't live in the palace. Tenth-rank female officials all had residences bestowed by the Empress outside the palace, only occasionally staying overnight. After completing their month-long training, these officials would return to their own homes, just like coming to work every day. Therefore, the people living in the palace were the Empress and her children, male servants, and attendants.

That's really a waste of talent...

After getting a general understanding of the palace, the ten of them were to go to the lower-ranking areas they had chosen earlier to study.

Chu Qingluo and Shaoyao, who were traveling together, followed their memories to the clothing workshop they had just visited. Inside, many men and women were busy at work. The women, dressed similarly to Chu Qingluo, were officials who had entered the palace before them. These people did not stop their work because of Chu Qingluo and Shaoyao's arrival.

The two slowly walked through them and into the inner chamber, where a woman sat at a table, staring blankly at a piece of fabric. The woman looked quite young, not much older than them. Chu Qingluo noticed that her official robes were a different color from Aunt Qin's; hers was dark green.

"Sister Ziyou." The two bowed to the woman in unison.

The woman looked up at the sound and sized them up.

"We are both newcomers, please give us your guidance, Sister Ziyou." The two then introduced themselves to the woman.

Li Ziyou nodded, showing she was quite polite. She said, "Do you see the busy executives outside?" After the two nodded, she added, "Go and learn from them now. Learn every kind; they will teach you."

They noticed as soon as they entered that the east pavilion was making ornaments, the west pavilion was sewing, and there was even the smell of dye coming from the back of the west pavilion, so it seemed that someone was dyeing fabric. Seeing Li Ziyou's words, the two didn't care about anything else and immediately threw themselves into the simplest learning activity.

……

The long day finally came to an end... The two dragged their tired bodies back to their dormitory.

"Peony, my right hand is going to be useless, and my eyes are going to go blind." Although she studied fashion design, needlework such as embroidery still caused her great suffering.

"It's not that exaggerated." For Peony, who has been good at embroidery since childhood, it was not a problem.

"What do you mean, 'no'?! Didn't you see I was almost scolded to death by that Aunt Qi?"

Peony chuckled: "You call that embroidery flowers? It's normal to get scolded."

"That's because her standards are too high!" The flowers she embroidered were actually quite good; it just took her a long time. "Never mind, never mind, I'm going to take a bath." At this moment, only a bath could bring her back to life.

Upon entering the bath, Chu Qingluo was completely stunned. Back at the Chu residence, Jiuwei and Tongmu had also offered to bathe her, but she had refused, so she was somewhat prepared. However, the scene before her was still beyond her wildest imagination!

The entire bath was steaming hot, and a group of shirtless men were bathing several of the executives who had arrived earlier. Some were scrubbing their backs, others were sprinkling flowers... and they were even whispering sweet nothings to them from time to time!

Besides the complete destruction of five, six, seven, and eight views, their integrity was also shattered!

This is practically a male version of the infamous "Heaven on Earth" nightclub! It's so open!

Even in modern mixed-gender hot springs, you should at least wear a swimsuit, okay? This level of openness is off the charts... Even someone as open-minded as her couldn't help but gasp a few times. I admit defeat.

Chu Qingluo picked up her chin from the ground and tried to back out, but was stopped by Shaoyao next to her: "Where are you going? Weren't you just saying you wanted to take a bath?"

"...I'll come back later." She swallowed.

"You forgot? It's time for the men to bathe later. Oh... could it be that you want to monopolize all the men in Mingshuang Palace?" Peony had a knowing look on her face.

"I think it would be better if we took a bath together now." Damn! Women in ancient times weren't afraid of anything, so why should she be?! There were quite a few men around when models changed clothes backstage. Chu Qingluo took a deep breath and decided to treat them as costume designers; that would make her feel much more comfortable.

She imitated the peony, handing her discarded dress to the male attendant standing by the pool, then immersed her entire body in the water. Rose petals covered the surface, easing her embarrassment.

A handsome man in his early twenties approached them and said, "Sirs, would you like me to clear your meridians?"

Peony smiled and glanced at Chu Qingluo: "Help her with everything, she needs it."

Chu Qingluo initially wanted to refuse, but then she thought, "Since I'm already here, and besides, there are male masseurs too." So she said, "Just give me a massage on my shoulders and arms."

The man smiled slightly: "Sir, there's no need for such formalities. It is my honor to serve you." Before he finished speaking, his fingers had already gently rested on her shoulders and were skillfully massaging them.