Transmigrated Female Official

"The food here is better than in the palace! No wonder it's so famous." Zi Yan blurted out, then remembered that Gongsun Yu, an outsider, was also there, and his smile froze for a moment.

Gongsun Yu realized Ziyan's concerns and said, "I've heard my mother say the same thing before, but I didn't believe it at the time. Now that I've heard Brother Ziyan say this, I know that what my mother said is true."

Seeing him say that, Ziyan asked curiously, "May I ask, Young Master Gongsun, is my mother an official in the court?"

Gongsun Yu: "Exactly."

Ziyan breathed a sigh of relief. After all, he was just a lowly attendant, and he was still worried about what he might say in front of outsiders. "May I ask what rank you hold?"

Gongsun Yu politely replied, "Rank five."

So Gongsun Yu's mother is the current God of Wealth, Chu Qingluo thought to herself, raising an eyebrow slightly.

Seeing that Chu Qingluo hadn't spoken, Gongsun Yu asked, "Miss Chu, you're also an official in the court, aren't you?" After all, she knew the Seventh Prince, and Ziyan had also unintentionally mentioned the palace.

Chu Qinglu smiled slightly at him: "Shrimp soldiers and crab generals, not worth mentioning."

Hearing her say that, Gongsun Yu understood. Having eliminated the higher-ranking tenth-grade officials, only the executive officer or physician remained.

Every woman in Yancheng aspires to serve in the imperial court, yet only ten pass the examinations each year. This woman before him, besides her outstanding beauty, is also so intelligent; his judgment was indeed excellent. He praised, "Miss Chu, there's no need for such modesty. Only ten people pass the official examinations each year."

Zi Yan ate while agreeing, "That's right." In his eyes, Chu Qingluo was exceptionally intelligent.

Chu Qinglu smiled. These two probably had completely forgotten that the total number of women in the Ji Kingdom, young and old, was only a few thousand, while the number of men was in the hundreds of thousands. Fortunately, their Empress was benevolent and had taken many men into the harem; otherwise, there would be even more old bachelors.

Today, having left the palace, I've accomplished my business, enjoyed the festivities, eaten and drunk my fill, and had a very pleasant chat. Chu Qingluo was quite satisfied with her day trip, and patting her slightly swollen belly, she bid farewell to Gongsun Yu: "Thank you for your hospitality today, Young Master Gongsun. Next time, it'll be my treat."

Gongsun Yu appreciated her straightforwardness and said with a smile, "Alright, I'll be waiting for you, Miss."

Zi Yan: "Brother Gongsun, let's meet again someday." Leaving the palace is not easy, and Zi Yan doesn't know when he will be able to leave the palace again.

Gongsun Yu's eyes were resolute: "Of course we are destined to be together." He didn't know if he was destined to be with Ziyan, but he was very certain that he was destined to be with Chu Qingluo.

……

While the clothing workshop was busy preparing new clothes for the princesses and princes for their grand ceremony, the gift-giving project, overseen by Chu Qingluo, was also in full swing.

She first drew several clothing design sketches and showed them to Li Ziyou.

Li Ziyou and Aunt Qi were both amazed by the painting before them. "We've never seen a painting like this before." Aunt Qi's words were absolutely true. The portraits they had ever seen were all meticulously crafted, with every detail of the figures and their clothing rendered in exquisite detail, taking months to complete. But this rendering of Chu Qingluo was something they had never heard of or seen before.

Li Ziyou was puzzled: "Although I have never seen it before, these few strokes have brought out the appearance of the clothing. It is really ingenious." She wondered how Chu Qingluo came up with the idea.

After Chu Qingluo explained the clothing details, the two were even more convinced and felt her idea was feasible. Li Ziyou couldn't help but look at her with new respect, "Qingluo, since you are so talented, how about you give me some ideas?"

"Please speak, Sister Ziyou." Although Li Ziyou was cold and stern by nature, the fact that she dared to put her in charge of the gift-giving matters showed that she was exceptionally courageous, and Chu Qingluo still had some respect for her.

"It's all because of the clothes for those princesses and princes. I just finished making the clothes for Princess Fulin, avoiding blue, green, orange, black, and yellow according to her requirements, and finally chose light purple. But the servant who delivered the clothes still got a severe scolding." After saying that, he handed the clothes to Chu Qingluo.

The fourth princess was rather plump, and Li Ziyou chose a light color instead of a dark one to dress her, showing that she was still experienced. If the color was used well, the fourth princess would at most be a helium balloon; if used poorly, she would be a lead ball.

Chu Qinglu put down the clothes: "Under the premise of keeping the color the same, change the style. Remove all the embroidery and beadwork from the strapless dress, and make a dark purple body-shaping waist belt, with gorgeous beaded strings hanging from the waist belt. Change the outer garment to a thin and transparent gauze, tighten the cuffs with brocade, and then do a lot of work on the cuffs, embellishing them with pearls and jade."

Li Ziyou understood most of what she meant, except for one thing: "What exactly does the body-shaping waist belt look like?"

Chu Qingluo was thinking of a European-style corset with built-in steel frame, the kind where the person helping to put it on would kick you while squeezing you tightly with their hands. Unfortunately, this didn't have steel frame, and besides, if it was too tight, the Fourth Princess might suffocate while elegantly playing the zither, which would be far too much of a loss. She drew a rough sketch on paper, showing Li Ziyou that the back was bound with crisscrossing straps, only ropes, which would achieve the desired slimming effect without being too forceful.

"By the way, the strapless dress should have a lower curve." Cleavage is always a plus, especially here in such a revealing setting. Remembering they might not understand the word 'curve,' she made a heart shape with her hand in front of her chest. She then added, "When Princess Fulin tries on the dress, suggest she put all her hair up in a side bun. If she doesn't want to, compliment her beautiful face shape, her rounded earlobes, and how blessed she is." At this moment, Chu Qingluo was thinking of Yang Guifei—so plump, yet still one of the Four Beauties, famous throughout history? People with slightly chubby faces always like to keep their hair to cover the sides of their faces, not realizing that showing the whole face actually makes them look slimmer.

"..." Li Ziyou looked at Chu Qinglu thoughtfully. This young girl was young and should be inexperienced in the ways of the world, but her thoughts were as turbulent as a flood. She was so clever and handled things so well... She was not to be underestimated.

Seeing that she remained silent, Chu Qingluo suddenly realized that she had said too much. Feeling guilty, she said, "I just... had a little idea. The specifics are up to Sister Ziyou to decide."

Li Ziyou chuckled and waved her hand, instructing Seventh Aunt to do exactly as Chu Qingluo instructed. She added, "After you've made the changes, show them to Qingluo to see if they have the effect she predicted, then send them to Princess Fulin."

"Yes..." Aunt Qi was puzzled as to why Li Ziyou would listen to a young girl so readily. Only after Princess Fulin tried on the clothes would she know whether Chu Qingluo was a mule or a horse.

As expected, after trying on the modified clothes, Princess Fulin praised them highly. She paced around her palace in her new clothes, eager for the summer festival to be held the next day so that everyone could witness her beauty as soon as possible.

Now it seems that Chu Qingluo can be considered a horse.

……

The long month-long lockdown finally ended. The Chu family's carriage was already waiting at the palace gate to take Chu Qingluo back home. Because she still had to prepare for the gift presentation, Chu Qingluo didn't emerge until dark.

Having not seen her family for many days, as soon as she got into the carriage, Nine-Tailed Fox and Kirito clung to her like sloths, impossible to push away, as if afraid she would disappear. She simply let them cling to her.

Meanwhile, in the mansion, Chu's mother waited until dark.

"Why are you only coming back at this hour?" Chu's mother asked as soon as she saw Chu Qingluo, her expression somewhat worried.

"Mother," Chu Qingluo replied with a bow, "The palace is preparing for the summer festival, so it will be quite busy lately."

"Good, good, good." Chu's mother was delighted to see that Chu Qingluo, a newcomer, was so busy. She must have been given important responsibilities.

Chu Yilin was about to leave when he saw Chu Qingluo surrounded by a group of people in the lobby. He walked over and asked, "Third Sister is back?"

"Second Brother." Chu Yilin still maintained his carefree and unrestrained demeanor, and Chu Qingluo smiled gently.

"You're going out so late?" Chu's mother asked, her tone tinged with displeasure.

"Yes, Mother must have a lot to say to Third Sister. I'll go out now." Chu Yilin disappeared in a flash as soon as he finished speaking.

"That child! So many young ladies from prominent families have come to invite him to join their family, and they've told him to choose one from among them, but he just won't listen."

"Mother, don't worry about Second Brother. He's still young, there's no rush," Chu Qingluo tried to reassure her.

"Too many older men have failed to get married. He should hurry up and get married while he's still young!" Chu's mother was worried that Chu Yilin would end up like those older men who couldn't find a husband.

Chu Qinglu chuckled. The saying "a man is in his prime at forty" didn't seem to apply here. She originally had some questions about Ji Qiran that she wanted to ask Chu Yilin, but seeing how quickly he ran off, she'd have to find another opportunity.

"And you too." Chu's mother's tone suddenly shifted, catching Chu Qinglu off guard: "Me? What about me?"

"Your sixteenth birthday is coming soon, and your mother will definitely give you a grand celebration."

"Huh?!" To make such a big fuss about that coming-of-age ceremony, wouldn't that just be making a spectacle of ourselves?! She casually put her arm around Chu's mother's shoulder: "My dear mother, can we just keep it low-key and pretend nothing happened, okay?"

Although Chu Qingluo has lost her memory, she seems much more lively than before. Chu's mother likes her this way from the bottom of her heart, so she no longer insists on having her find a female physician in the palace to treat her illness.

Chu's mother tapped her forehead hard: "I think you've not only lost your memory, but your brain is also damaged! Of course, the more glamorous the better in this kind of thing. Alright, enough of this nonsense. You'll be sleepy by now, so hurry up and go to sleep after you finish eating."

"..." The objection was invalid.

Heavens above, earth below...