Transmigrated Female Official

Ji Qiran carried Chu Qingluo on his back for a while, and when he noticed that the person on his back was unusually quiet, he asked, "Are you asleep?"

"..." Chu Qingluo did not respond.

"Your attitude towards your savior doesn't seem very friendly."

Chu Qinglu rolled her eyes and asked, "Where are you taking me?" He wasn't on the way back to Guangrentang.

"You'll find out soon enough." He didn't answer her directly, but instead asked, "Was it you who led Fifth Brother to Qingliang Palace?"

"Ah."

"Don't do that again." If he and Chu Yilin hadn't run into them by chance, who knows what would have happened? Just imagining it made him angry. "A weak person fighting a strong person, like an egg hitting a rock—how could you be so bold?"

Seeing that Chu Qingluo remained silent, Ji Qiran sighed and said, "You can leave these kinds of things to me in the future. I will do them for you."

"……Why?"

Chu Qinglu couldn't help but ask again, "Why did you do this?"

This time, Ji Qiran remained silent, and she continued, "I really... don't want to owe you anything."

"Would you rather be violated by Fifth Brother than have me help you?"

"You know that's not what I meant."

Ji Qiran suddenly put her down, turned to face her, and asked, "Do you hate me that much now?"

"..." She met his dark eyes, and her heart tightened.

Dislike? She seemed to have never felt that way. But…

Even if I don't dislike you, does that mean I should depend on you?

"You..." Ji Qiran was almost driven mad with anger by her.

"I appreciate you, but... that's all I can say."

Ji Qiran stared at the slightly raised foot of hers and frowned, saying, "Since you don't dislike me, why don't you try to accept me? If it's because of your best friend, I'll talk to her and make things clear."

Upon hearing that he was going to confront Peony, Chu Qingluo exclaimed anxiously, "It's not because of Peony!"

"Why exactly?"

"So, according to you, for the past three years, you refused to accept me because you disliked me?"

This sharp rhetorical question left Ji Qiran speechless.

She continued, "Besides, I already have Gongsun Yu now."

Upon hearing this, Ji Qiran gasped and said with a dark face, "You're still unharmed! That's no excuse."

"I'm fine, but..."

Chu Qingluo realized she couldn't explain her unease to him. So, while her values ​​were still intact, keeping her distance was the best course of action. "Forget it, I can't explain it to you. Just assume I dislike you."

"This is utterly absurd!" Ji Qiran angrily abandoned her and turned away.

Chu Qingluo sighed heavily, then limped slowly in the opposite direction, intending to return to Guangrentang.

She had only taken a dozen steps when she heard footsteps behind her again. Before Chu Qingluo could turn around, she was lifted into the air once more.

"Ji Qiran, what's wrong with you...?"

"Don't speak." He picked her up and walked quickly. "You've spent so much time for me, and I won't abandon you now."

"..." After hearing him say that, she was suddenly a little touched, but besides being touched, she also felt guilty. After all, the Chu Qingluo who had pursued Ji Qiran for three years was not herself.

She stopped speaking and struggling. After being quietly led outside Changhong Palace by Ji Qiran, she learned that the old place he and Chu Yilin had agreed to meet was actually the Sixth Princess's place.

Chu Yilin had already changed his clothes and had been waiting in the hall with Shaoyao for a long time. When he saw the two of them, he breathed a sigh of relief: "Why did it take you so long? I thought you had run into trouble."

“We’ve run into trouble.” Ji Qiran glanced at Chu Qingluo and said meaningfully, “It’s a big problem.” As he spoke, he took off his night clothes.

The Sixth Princess ordered someone to take the clothes, saying, "Take them to the brazier and burn them." After saying this, her gaze lingered between Ji Qiran and Chu Qingluo…

"Huh? What happened? Did the patrol team find you?" Peony seemed a little worried.

"No, no, I just twisted my ankle by accident." Chu Qingluo first bowed to the Sixth Princess before explaining to Shaoyao that she shouldn't worry.

The Sixth Princess smiled and said to Chu Qingluo, "I have some excellent medicinal wine here. I'll bring it back to Guangrentang for you later."

"Thank you for your kindness, Princess Anyang. This sprain is nothing serious, and the Imperial Hospital already has plenty of medicinal wine. Your Highness need not trouble yourself with this."

Seeing that Chu Qingluo was reluctant, the Sixth Princess did not insist any further and said with a smile, "Alright then, it's up to you."

Ji Qiran felt very embarrassed when she saw the Sixth Princess with her large pregnant belly, having to deal with them so late. "Sixth Sister, I'm sorry to have troubled you."

When he and Chu Yilin discussed beating up Ji Qili, they had already planned their escape route. If they were investigated, the Sixth Princess would be their alibi. However, now there are two unplanned people, Chu Qingluo and Shaoyao.

"You four are really too much troublemakers." The Sixth Princess shook her head helplessly and continued, "Consider tonight my invitation to Changhong Palace. The four of you haven't left the palace at all; you've stayed overnight. Do you understand?"

"Understood," the four replied simultaneously.

The sixth princess nodded in satisfaction and said, "I'm going to rest now. You can eat and drink whatever you like, just relax."

The four of them nodded frantically again.

After the Sixth Princess left, Peony stared at the wine and drinks on the table and asked, "So what do we do now?"

The four of them looked at each other...

Chu Qingluo noticed Chu Yilin's eyes darting around and guessed what kind of trick he was up to, so she immediately said, "Go to sleep!"

Enough has happened today; she doesn't want to sit here any longer and upset Ji Qiran or Shaoyao.

"Uh..." Chu Yilin was about to say something when he suddenly heard a male attendant's voice from inside the hall: "The princess is about to give birth—!!"

Chu Qingluo immediately stood up: "Quickly, summon the physician!" In her memory, the Sixth Princess's due date shouldn't have arrived yet; now it's half a month early. Among the physicians on duty tonight happened to be the Imperial Physician Fang Ying, so she quickly called out to the male attendant who was jogging out of the palace: "We need to summon Minister Fang!"

News of the sixth princess's impending childbirth spread rapidly throughout the palaces. The Empress, disregarding any need for rest, immediately rushed to Changhong Palace.

"Lord Chu and the Seventh Prince are both here?" The Empress glanced at the people bowing in the hall and noticed them.

"Your Majesty, tonight Sixth Sister invited us to appreciate paintings and compose poems, and we were in high spirits. Perhaps for this reason, the baby in Sixth Sister's belly is also eager to come out and appreciate it together." This was Ji Qiran's reply.

"Hmm, seems to be quite active." The Empress smiled, and just as she sat down, someone came to report: "Your Majesty, the Fifth Prince has been found unconscious in Qingliang Palace, with injuries on his body, as if he had been beaten..."