Transmigrated Female Official

Chu Yilin hurried past Yongle Palace and finally spotted Luo Lifei's back on the pebble path in the Imperial Garden. She was looking down, as if deep in thought, and slowly kicking pebbles with her feet.

He deliberately took a side road to overtake her, then pretended to bump into her head-on. "Luo Lifei, what a coincidence!"

Luo Lifei was startled by the sudden appearance of the person, screamed, and took a step back due to inertia.

Chu Yilin reached out to support her, then rubbed his ears in disgust, saying, "You're yelling way too loudly! People who don't know better might think I did something to you."

Why did you suddenly jump out like that?!

"It's your own fault for being too focused on your thoughts, you can't blame me."

Luo Lifei glanced at him and asked, "Where did you go?"

"I didn't go anywhere." Chu Yilin shrugged, not understanding why she asked.

"...I went to Changhong Palace just now, but I didn't see you."

"There are so many male servants in Changhong Palace, it's normal not to see them."

"..."

Seeing that Luo Lifei remained silent, Chu Yilin smiled and teased, "So you had the princess prepare plenty of charcoal because you were worried I'd get cold?"

"How did you know?!" A look of surprise flashed across Luo Lifei's face, then she added, "I was talking about the charcoal!" She remembered that he wasn't even there at the time!

"Thank you for your concern." He smiled to himself.

Hearing Chu Yilin shift the focus back to himself, Luo Lifei blushed slightly, turned her head away, and muttered, "I'm concerned about Princess Anyang, what does that have to do with you?"

Seeing her eagerness to deny it, Chu Yilin didn't expose her. He simply raised an eyebrow and nodded, saying, "I was just being presumptuous."

Luo Lifei glanced around to make sure no one was there before asking in a low voice, "Are you... getting used to staying in Feihong Palace?" She remembered that Chu Qingluo had said that the Sixth Princess had taken him as a Yunshi to help Chu Yilin. Now that the matter was over, why hadn't he been sent out of the palace on some pretext?

"Yeah, it's pretty good. The food and accommodation are great, I'm almost getting lazy from all this."

"Don't you feel that this place is too restrictive and restrictive, and miss life outside the palace?" She wanted to ask him why he hadn't left the palace yet, but she was too embarrassed to ask directly, so she asked indirectly.

"It's too noisy outside the palace, but it's quiet here. I can even play a few games of chess with the princess occasionally. It's quite relaxing."

"..." Luo Lifei said with a sullen face, "It seems that you and Princess Anyang get along very well!"

"It's alright, they're old acquaintances."

Upon hearing his words, Luo Lifei felt completely terrified. She glared at him, gritted her teeth, and said, "Then you can stay in the palace until you're old!" With that, she turned and ran.

"..." Chu Yilin watched Luo Lifei's indignant departure and laughed again. Teasing her in his spare time was indeed a fun thing to do!

Luo Lifei didn't return to the clothing workshop; instead, she went to Guangrentang. She really needed someone to share her worries with.

Chu Qinglu could tell that Luo Lifei had come to them to vent her frustrations, so she quickly asked He Qi to prepare tea and snacks.

In situations like these, alcohol is usually the best accompaniment to pouring out one's heart. However, this is the palace, so it's best not to be unrestrained when it's inappropriate.

The three of them sat around the table.

Peony spoke first: "You don't look well. Did Princess Joy bully you again?"

Luo Lifei rolled her eyes and said, "Princess Xile is too busy to torment me anymore. Her male attendant sent winter clothes to Feixian Palace, but she didn't even bother to look at them, let alone ask me to find fault with them."

"That's a good thing, why do you look so unhappy?" Peony asked, puzzled.

Chu Qinglu put a piece of walnut pastry in her mouth and continued, "Is it because of my second brother?"

Luo Lifei sighed softly, picked up her tea and took a sip before saying, "Didn't you say that Princess Anyang was fighting with Princess Xile to save Chu Yilin? But looking at Chu Yilin now, he's completely enjoying life in the palace!"

"You mean Brother Lin doesn't want to leave the palace?" Peony asked.

Hearing the two women address Chu Yilin in such different ways, Chu Qingluo suddenly found it somewhat amusing. Even though Luo Lifei was the youngest, she addressed Chu Yilin by his full name. This reminded Chu Qingluo of that brat Ji Qibai, who always called her Chu Qingluo directly.

Perhaps this feeling of liking someone is about wanting to be on the same level as the other person, wanting them to look at you as an equal.

Chu Qinglu smiled and asked, "Did my second brother tell you that he doesn't want to leave the palace anymore?"

“No.” Luo Lifei pouted. “He’s living a very comfortable life in Changhong Palace. He often plays chess with Princess Anyang. He’s having a wonderful time.”

"Oh? I think I smell vinegar." Peony covered her mouth and chuckled.

Luo Lifei twitched the corners of her mouth, not denying it, but sighed heavily: "It seems he really doesn't care about me at all."

"..." Peony stopped smiling and glanced at Chu Qingluo without saying a word.

Chu Qingluo wasn't entirely sure how Chu Yilin actually viewed Luo Lifei. It seemed his attitude towards Luo Lifei and Shaoyao was similar... yet also somewhat different.

She stared at Luo Lifei's dejected face and realized that things couldn't continue like this. Chu Yilin had become accustomed to hiding his true feelings; unless someone dropped a bombshell on him, he would probably continue to act so lukewarmly and indifferently.

But how do we catch this big fish, Chu Yilin?

"We have to think of a way," Chu Qingluo said.

"How about Qingluo goes and sound out Brother Lin's opinion first?"

"I've already investigated," Chu Qingluo said helplessly. "He managed to fool me."

"Then... let's kidnap him while he's masked, and then force him to tell us the truth." Peony started coming up with wild ideas again.

"Peony, that's enough!" Chu Qingluo was truly exasperated with her. She clearly wasn't that bold, yet she was resorting to such underhanded tactics. "The three of us? Kidnapping my second brother in the palace?"

Peony pouted and muttered, "Can't we still use a sweat towel..."

"Are you addicted to being an Avenger or what? Even if we had the ability to kidnap him, he's my second brother. Are we going to torture him to extract a confession?"

“Exactly.” Although Luo Lifei wasn’t quite sure what Chu Qingluo meant by revenge, she understood the last two sentences perfectly. She nodded in agreement: “What if we accidentally hurt him?”

Chu Qinglu chuckled and said to Shaoyao, "Look at your terrible idea, it made Luo Lifei worry."

"Sigh—I'm out of ideas anyway. If I had any, I would have used it on the Seventh Prince long ago." Peony rested her chin on her hand in frustration. She also wanted to test Ji Qiran's true feelings.

Chu Qingluo remained silent. If she were to tell Shaoyao that Ji Qiran loved her… she truly couldn't bring herself to say it. Or should she advise Shaoyao not to be so fixated on Ji Qiran? But what reasons could she give?