Transmigrated Female Official

Ji Qiran's answer was somewhat different from what Chu Qingluo had expected, causing her heart to skip a beat. She instinctively avoided his eyes and simply said, "...Thank you."

"No need. I just happened to run into you, and besides, you're Yilin's sister, so of course I have to help." After saying that, he paused and added, "You're still Shaoyao's good sister."

Chu Qingluo was taken aback at first, then smiled awkwardly: "Then I'll head back now."

Ji Qiran's heart tightened, and he quickly stood up, wanting to persuade her to stay, but what came out of his mouth was a seemingly casual "Take care, don't bother seeing me off."

Once Chu Qingluo's figure disappeared at the entrance of the library, he slammed down his brush and let out a furious sigh! He really wanted to strangle himself! Knowing she wouldn't react at all, he still insisted on using the peony to test her! It was completely unnecessary and a self-inflicted wound!

"Alas—" Ji Qiran wailed again and suddenly collapsed onto the desk.

……

The next day, Peony followed Chu Qingluo's instructions and went to the laundry to retrieve Ji Qili's newly washed clothes.

The laundry room was under the jurisdiction of Guangrentang. Although male attendants usually delivered the clothes, since it was Shaoyao, the executive officer, who came to collect them, the male attendants did not dare to ask any questions and simply let her take the clothes.

Ji Qili's clothes naturally returned to Guangrentang.

For the first time, Chu Qingluo realized that managing internal affairs was such a wonderful thing.

With a flick of her fingers, she spread the lining of Ji Qili's clothes out on the table, then took out a small white porcelain bottle that Gongsun Yu had prepared for her, and generously sprinkled the powder inside the bottle evenly onto the clothes, before carefully folding them up.

She summoned He Qi and asked him to find someone he trusted to deliver the clothes to Changming Palace. She also handed him a note, telling him to find a way to secretly place it on Ji Qili's desk, making sure no one knew.

After He Qi took the clothes out, Shao Yao asked, "Isn't it obvious?" If you investigate thoroughly, you'll find out it was them who did it.

"It's obvious, so what?"

"Is this tantamount to declaring war on the Fifth Prince?"

Chu Qinglu snorted coldly and said, "The moment he used the sleeping potion on me, the war had already begun!"

At first, she tried her best to avoid Ji Qili, not wanting to suddenly lose her temper and turn against him. But he, on the other hand, kept getting closer, even resorting to underhanded tactics! So she had no choice but to accept the challenge!

"Did that bastard Li Yan come today?" Chu Qingluo asked.

"Here it comes!" Peony exclaimed excitedly.

"How's our tea preparation going?"

"Also ready!" Peony's eyes flashed with an evil light, almost exactly the same expression she had when she said she was going to push Pan Yin into the cesspool.

"Alright! Let Heqi serve the tea, and call Li Yan over too." After spending so many days together, Chu Qingluo was convinced that Heqi was a reliable person, so she didn't plan to be on guard.

Once everything was ready, Li Yan arrived. She forced herself to step forward and bow, saying, "My lord."

Li Yan originally agreed to help Ji Qili with this wicked deed because she realized she had no future in the palace and thought it better to take the gold Ji Qili gave her and resign to return to her hometown. However, unexpectedly, she was granted a prince, so she could not give up her status as a female official for the time being.

So she hadn't considered how to face Chu Qingluo beforehand. She hadn't even come up with a good plan after asking for a day off, intending to play innocent to the end.

"Are you sweating? Are you hot?" Chu Qingluo asked deliberately when she saw that Li Yan's forehead was covered in sweat.

"Thank you for your concern, sir, but I am not hot."

"sit down."

Li Yan glanced at the peony and goji berries standing on either side of the table and replied, "This humble official dares not."

"Sit down when I tell you to." Chu Qingluo didn't waste any more words with her and directly gestured for He Qi to press her down on the stool. Then she asked, "That day you told me that there was a problem with the mint incense in Changming Palace and that the Fifth Prince had fallen into a coma. But when I rushed there, the Fifth Prince and the mint incense were perfectly fine! Don't you have anything to say to me?"

“My lord—” Li Yan thought to herself that Chu Qingluo probably wouldn’t dare to abuse his power so blatantly, especially since she had just been granted the title of prince. So she said, “Someone informed me of this… that’s why I relayed it. I had no idea about the situation, my lord.”

"You're spreading rumors without knowing the facts?" Presumably, Li Yan wouldn't admit it, so Chu Qingluo didn't ask who relayed the message. Instead, she followed up on her question: "And how did you end up in the Fifth Prince's bed? Didn't you know the facts either?"

"...It was...something that happened in a daze..."

Chu Qinglu sneered and said, "You might as well say you were possessed by a ghost and that you don't know anything after waking up. That would be more convincing."

"I don't dare!"

Chu Qingluo moved the teapot closer to her and said, "Given your oversight and unclean conduct, this tea was specially prepared for you. It's already cold, so you can drink it."

Li Yan stared at the large pot of tea in front of her, utterly shocked! She instinctively tried to stand up, but He Qi pressed her down again.

"Don't worry—this isn't poison, it won't kill you." Chu Qingluo rested her chin on her hand, winked at her, and said, "From now on, I will prepare this kind of top-quality tea especially for you."

"My lord... please spare my life!"

It was clear that Li Yan was starting to panic.

Chu Qingluo curled her lips: "I just said—I don't want your life, so you can drink it without worry."

Li Yan stared intently at the teapot in front of her, her face twitching involuntarily. Her hand slowly reached out, barely touching the teapot's surface... before retracting it.

Seeing this, Chu Qingluo said impatiently, "Do you want to drink it yourself, or do you want them to force you to drink it?" She was already being quite merciful by letting Li Yan do it herself.

Li Yan knew she wouldn't be able to leave the inner hall without drinking the tea, and since Chu Qingluo had said it wasn't poisonous and wouldn't kill her, she simply picked it up herself... She had only taken two gulps when she spat out the tea!

This tea tastes so weird! And they even added chili peppers!

Fortunately, Chu Qingluo managed to dodge Li Yan's spray in time, otherwise she would definitely have been unable to resist using violence against Li Yan!

"Heqi, hold her down!"

"My lord! I'll drink it myself! I'll drink it myself!" Seeing Chu Qingluo about to force-feed her, Li Yan quickly snatched the teapot and closed her eyes to drink it all at once.

Only after watching Li Yan finish the entire pot of croton and chili tea did Chu Qingluo finally let her leave, satisfied.

"Isn't it too easy on her to just give her an upset stomach?" Peony asked.

"No." Chu Qinglu clapped her hands twice and said, "Li Yan will soon experience what it means to be worse than dead, to have no will to live, to be caught between life and death, to live... to live in vain!"

To see how effective the croton and chili tea was, Chu Qingluo specifically assigned someone to keep an eye on Li Yan and record how often she went to the outhouse. Over the course of the entire afternoon, Li Yan went in and out six times, becoming so exhausted that she had to hold onto the railing to walk; she probably really felt like dying.

But for her, this was just the beginning.