Transmigrated Female Official

"The Fifth Prince has left?" Peony brought Luo Lifei to Guangrentang and asked as soon as she entered, "What did he say?"

It was clear that the two of them had rushed back in a great hurry, still panting heavily. This deeply moved Chu Qingluo.

"It's roughly a way of saying 'we'll see'."

"Tsk tsk tsk—" Peony shook her head helplessly and said, "If the Fifth Prince had taken a liking to either me or Luo Lifei back then, wouldn't things have been much simpler?"

Chu Qinglu rolled her eyes, both amused and annoyed: "Do you think I want this?!"

Luo Lifei's expression wasn't good either. She sighed, "Back then? Why so much 'back then' stuff?" Back then, she was very ambitious and only wanted the prince to join her family. Now, she's been blinded by Chu Yilin and has forgotten her original pursuit.

"Um... how was your rendezvous with Lingnan?" Chu Qingluo didn't mention Chu Yilin directly, but instead asked Luo Lifei for her opinion on Lingnan.

“He’s a nice person, but he’s too quiet.” After saying that, Luo Lifei picked up the sachet hanging from her waist and said, “Look, he made this for me himself.”

"Wow—, it's a carp." Peony took it first and held it in her palm to admire it. "The workmanship is really good, the needlework is much better than mine."

“Of course. His skills are definitely better than both of ours.” Chu Qingluo took it and examined it carefully, saying, “Lingnan’s thoughtfulness shows that he is a very meticulous person.”

Chu Qingluo had completely forgotten to remind Ling Nan to prepare a gift, since unexpected surprises are always more effective. Fortunately, he was quite sensible and made the gift himself. He's truly a teachable child.

"Sigh, to be honest, I really think Ryonan is a great guy. He's honest and doesn't waste time talking nonsense. If he took a liking to me, I would definitely let him join the family." Peony looked envious.

"You have quite the appetite!" Chu Qinglu couldn't help but tap Shaoyao on the head and said, "Where's that spoiler-monger from last night? Are you thinking of taking him in too?"

"Hehe..." Peony smiled shyly and said, "It seems pretty good too."

"..." Chu Qingluo realized she couldn't continue talking to Shaoyao, so she turned to Luo Lifei and said, "I heard your conversation with my second brother last night."

Luo Lifei felt a surge of anger whenever she thought of Chu Yilin being surrounded by those three women. She gritted her teeth and said, "He's absolutely detestable!"

“I think so too.” Chu Qingluo nodded in agreement with Luo Lifei’s point of view, and then said, “To deal with the likes of him, we can only be more heartless than him.”

"What does that mean?" Peony asked.

"From now on, we should treat Chu Yilin as an ordinary person, categorize him as...some unrelated people, and when facing him, we can be free from any personal feelings."

"...That's difficult, isn't it? How can you avoid revealing any flaws?" This time it was Luo Lifei who asked.

“This isn’t something you can fake; it has to come from the heart.” Chu Qinglu shook her hands and continued to explain, “Do you remember the fortune stick you drew at the Goddess Temple? The abbot told you not to force it, remember?”

Luo Lifei nodded and said of course she remembered. Chu Qingluo then continued, "So, you have to face him with a mindset of 'if I get him, it's my fortune; if I lose him, it's my fate.'"

"Huh?!" Luo Lifei frowned and said, "Isn't that just accepting your fate?"

“You’ve tried your best, and it’s true that there’s no better way, which is why things are like this. To be honest, if we push too hard, my second brother will definitely keep avoiding us. Why not try letting go first? If he remains indifferent as always… then so be it! Anyway, Ji Kingdom has no shortage of men.” Chu Qingluo was really determined this time. She wanted to see how long Chu Yilin could keep up his self-hypnosis.

Peony thought for a moment and said, "That makes some sense."

Seeing that Luo Lifei was still hesitating, Chu Qingluo said again, "Think about it. Anyway, I also think Lingnan is good, so why not give him more opportunities?"

"That's right. If we can recruit both of them in the end, wouldn't that be a win-win situation?"

Peony revealed the truth, leaving Chu Qingluo no choice but to sigh in admiration once again: "You're truly amazing."

Luo Lifei pouted and said, "I didn't think that much about it."

Chu Qinglu smiled and said, "Don't pay any attention to her."

……

After waiting for so long, the day has finally come for Ji Qili to enter the sect.

Although Yu Fei had chosen the auspicious day, the weather turned against them. Before dawn, a heavy rain began to fall, followed by a sharp drop in temperature.

Chu Qinglu sneezed three times in a row.

Today, her main task was to check the gift list prepared by the palace for Ji Qili's entry into the palace, making sure that nothing was missing, before letting her attendants take all the gift boxes away.

The prince's initiation ceremony was indeed extremely luxurious, far exceeding the simple twelve gifts expected of an ordinary family. Of course, the twelve traditional initiation gifts also had to be prepared in full. All were made of pure gold, making them quite substantial.

Besides these, there were boxes and boxes of gold, silver, jewelry, porcelain, and jade. The glittering strings of beads... Chu Qingluo estimated that each bead was about the size of a lady's watch face, almost blinding her.

"Sigh—" she sighed as she watched the gifts being taken away.

What a lucky break for Li Yan! She committed such a treacherous act, and apart from being forced to drink croton and chili water for several days, she hasn't received any severe punishment at all! On the contrary, there are piles and piles of gold, enough for her to spend for at least three lifetimes, being sent to her house.

Chu Qinglu was so angry she almost vomited blood!

Peony, who was watching from the side, suddenly asked, "What? Are you envious?"

Seeing that Chu Qingluo did not answer, she continued to speak to herself, "The Fifth Prince is so persistent in his pursuit of you, wouldn't it have been better to just let him join the family from the beginning? That way, neither such a terrible thing would have happened, nor would Li Yan have benefited as she has now. Don't you think so?"

Chu Qinglu rolled her eyes at her and said irritably, "That's a lie!"

Peony was still puzzled: "Actually, I don't quite understand. The Fifth Prince has always been a very good person. How come you were able to avoid falling for his tricks from the very beginning?"

“I call this keen insight! And you should say ‘thankfully’ I didn’t fall for his tricks! A person’s true nature will slowly reveal itself over time. If I had really been as easily bewitched as you say… I probably would have been sold out long ago and would still be busy counting gold for him.”

Chu Qingluo didn't tell Shaoyao that, based solely on Ji Qili's face, she had already rejected him tens of thousands of times in her heart and would never be foolish again. And indeed, facts proved that judging him by his appearance was absolutely correct.

Peony shook her head, only half understanding, ultimately still not quite grasping what she meant.

Chu Qinglu patted Shaoyao on the shoulder and said, "It doesn't matter if you don't understand. As long as you know that this is the right choice, that's enough."

"But all this gold was sent to Li Yan's house!"

"Don't mention Li Yan to me, or I'll get angry with anyone who does." After saying that, Chu Qingluo added, "And don't mention gold either."