Transmigrated Female Official

Even before Chu Qingluo returned, Shaoyao had already told Luo Lifei the details of today's imperial selection. Although Luo Lifei knew that Chu Yilin's entry into the palace for the selection was a one-way trip, she was still deeply hurt when she heard Shaoyao's description of the competition among the three princesses.

Luo Lifei even hoped that a miracle might happen at the last moment of the selection, and perhaps Chu Yilin wouldn't have to enter the palace... But all of this was just wishful thinking. It turned out that drawing a bad lot really meant that they were destined to be apart.

Chu Qinglu glanced thoughtfully at Luo Lifei before answering the question Shaoyao had asked earlier: "The Sixth Princess won." After thinking for a moment, she felt that they were all on her side, so she added in a low voice: "The Sixth Princess actually did this to help my Second Brother."

"Help? What do you mean?" Luo Lifei pressed.

Chu Qinglu shook her head: "I don't know the specifics either, but I guess Second Brother has now escaped the clutches of the Eighth Princess."

Luo Lifei's heart skipped a beat. She silently wondered, there was no precedent for a Yun servant being expelled from the palace before. Could it be that the Sixth Princess was willing to make an exception and let Chu Yilin be the first one to do so? If that were the case, then her hope was not yet extinguished...

Seeing Luo Lifei lost in thought, Chu Qingluo said, "Don't think too much about it. Let's just take it one step at a time."

Luo Lifei glared at him and retorted, "I didn't think much of it!"

Peony looked at the two of them, not quite understanding: "What do you mean, 'want' or 'don't want'?"

"Peony, let me tell you..." Chu Qingluo pretended to tell Peony the truth, but Luo Lifei quickly covered her mouth! Her face turned red as she said, "Chu Qingluo! Don't talk nonsense!"

Peony, sensing the juicy gossip, rushed forward and joined them, trying to pry Luo Lifei's hands off. "Qingluo, tell me quickly!"

Chu Qingluo was almost out of breath from being tormented by these two. She laughed and slapped their hands away, saying, "I raise the flag, I surrender!"

"Then tell me quickly," Peony asked.

Seeing that Luo Lifei was about to pounce on her again, Chu Qingluo quickly said, "Let's wait until Luo Lifei wants to say it herself before we talk about it."

"Luo Lifei—" Peony wouldn't have it, so she raised her hands to tickle Luo Lifei.

Chu Qingluo had assumed that Luo Lifei, with her fiery temper, would stick to her principles and fight to the death, or at least struggle for a few rounds. But to her surprise, the moment Shaoyao's finger touched her waist, she exclaimed and admitted, "I like Chu Yilin!"

"Ah?!" Peony seemed quite surprised. "But..."

Chu Qingluo knew what Shaoyao wanted to say, and continued, "The outcome is still uncertain, so let's not rush it."

"Um……"

……

Upon returning to the Chu family home, Chu Qingluo saw her mother burning incense outside the gate. She quickly approached and asked, "Mother, what are you doing...?"

"The Heavenly Goddess has shown her power, finally allowing Yilin to obediently enter the family, and even into a wealthy and powerful family like the princess's. That's his good fortune. All of this is thanks to the Heavenly Goddess." After saying this, she inserted incense into the small incense burner on the lower left of the doorway.

"..." Chu Qingluo suddenly felt that the task Chu Yilin had given her was extremely difficult. She said weakly, "Um... Mother, we just had a banquet for guests, so let's not go through the trouble this time, okay?"

After thinking for a moment, Chu's mother said, "Then let's not invite them for now."

Hearing her say that, Chu Qingluo had just breathed a sigh of relief when her mother suddenly added, "Invite her again in a few days."

"Mother, may I kneel before you? Please don't publicize this so much." Chu Qingluo was truly impressed.

"This is such a joyous occasion, why are you reacting like this?" Chu's mother couldn't understand Chu Qingluo's mindset.

Forced into a corner, Chu Qingluo had no choice but to bite the bullet and say, "Given Second Brother's personality, he might offend the princess and be kicked out."

Before she could finish speaking, Chu's mother pinched her right cheek and scolded, "How could you curse your second brother like that?!"

"Ouch—" Chu Qingluo only wanted to give her mother a heads-up, but she never expected to get her face pinched. She continued to explain, "I just wanted to remind Mother to keep a calm mind! That way, you can better deal with all sorts of situations!"

Chu's mother suddenly realized that the texture was nice, so she reached out with her other hand and pinched Chu Qingluo's left cheek, then said, "You're starting to sound more and more like your second brother now, you need to be taught a lesson!"

Just then, Wu Yang returned to the Chu family home and saw this scene at the door. He quickly stepped forward to help, saying, "Please calm down, Madam."

"Ahem." When Chu's mother saw someone coming, she let go of her hand and said, "I'll let you off this time. Go inside."

Chu Qinglu pouted, rubbed her cheeks, and walked in with Wu Yang.

"Are you alright?" Wu Yang asked.

"Hmm, it's nothing." Mother Chu wasn't really angry, and she hadn't hit her hard. As long as she didn't host a banquet, she considered it a success.

"By the way, you seem to be back earlier than usual today?" Chu Qingluo asked. Normally, Wuyang would stay at Miaoyin Pavilion until evening before returning home.

"Oh...no, nothing's wrong, I just came back."

Seeing that he was stammering, she looked him over carefully and noticed a bruise on his forehead. She immediately asked, "What happened to you?"

He hurriedly covered his mouth with his hand and said, "It's nothing, it's nothing... I just bumped into something by accident."

Seeing that he seemed to be hiding something from her, Chu Qingluo did not press him further, but simply said, "Then I'll have Jiuwei get you some medicinal wine to rub on it."

He gave her a grateful look: "Thank you, Qingluo."

After the two arrived at Ningxiang Courtyard, Wuyang suddenly asked, "Qingluo, could I... go help out at Mingyi Shop?"

"Huh? You're leaving Miaoyin Pavilion?" Chu Qingluo didn't think much of it and subconsciously said, "How can I let down such a beautiful flute?"

"..." He was silent for a while before saying, "Qingluo is right."

Chu Qingluo then realized that something seemed off about him and asked nervously, "Did something happen at Miaoyin Pavilion?"

Wu Yang smiled and said, "Nothing's wrong, Qingluo, don't worry."

"..." Chu Qingluo looked at him thoughtfully, hesitated, and finally said nothing more.

……

Having finished her work on the selection process, Chu Qingluo could finally enjoy her day off. Ever since seeing the bruise on Wu Yang's forehead last night and recalling his words, she had felt uneasy. After discussing it with Gongsun Yu, they decided to temporarily entrust the affairs of Mingyifang to Bayue, and Gongsun Yu would accompany Chu Qingluo to Miaoyinfang.

They made a point of not letting Wu Yang notice them, and chose to sit in an inconspicuous corner on the second floor.

Miaoyinfang was doing brisk business, and it was already packed with people. Downstairs, someone was playing the zither, and others were clapping and cheering. The atmosphere inside the venue was pleasant, and nothing seemed out of the ordinary.