Transmigrated Female Official

With the summer festival fast approaching, everyone in the clothing workshop was working tirelessly through the night to prepare for this special gift, and forty sets of clothing were already taking shape. That night, Chu Qingluo didn't return to the Chu family; instead, she was organizing everyone to try on the clothes.

"Qingluo, you are amazing! These clothes are so beautiful, I can't find the words to praise them." Ziyan couldn't hide his excitement and kept praising the clothes that had been given to him.

Chu Qinglu chuckled and beckoned to him, "Ziyan, come here."

"Hmm?" Ziyan put his ear closer.

“You have a special prop that you need to make yourself.” After he nodded, Chu Qingluo continued, “I’ve drawn a pattern, and you…” She explained in detail what he needed to do, and Ziyan listened attentively.

“This is very important, do you understand?” she asked.

“Yes!” Zi Yan nodded vigorously, tucking the paper pattern Chu Qingluo gave him into his sleeve. “I’ll do it right away!”

"Okay." Chu Qingluo nodded in satisfaction. Ziyan's clothes had been tried on and were fine. All that was missing were the props she had just mentioned.

Chu Qingluo carefully checked everyone's clothes, and if there was anything wrong with them, she immediately pointed it out and had it altered.

After spending these days together, everyone recognized Chu Qingluo's abilities, so they readily accepted any suggestions she made. Even Luo Lifei, who was usually as prickly as a hedgehog, hid her quills and obediently followed instructions.

Li Ziyou came to inspect the gift-giving preparations overseen by Chu Qingluo and was surprised to find that everyone was very cooperative. It seemed that Chu Qingluo was indeed quite capable, especially after everyone changed into their costumes and the ecstatic expressions on their faces, which made Li Ziyou secretly commend her.

In her view, this gift from the Clothing Pavilion is bound to be stunning and will inevitably spark a revolution in clothing.

"Seventh Aunt, a huge uproar is about to begin." Li Ziyou's lips curled up slightly.

"What does Your Excellency mean?" Seventh Aunt couldn't understand whether the uproar Li Ziyou was referring to was a blessing or a curse. But Li Ziyou did not answer her question, which made her even more worried about this gift presentation.

Aunt Qi was about to ask what was going on, but a man's sudden visit forced her to abandon her doubts and retreat.

Upon seeing the visitor, Li Ziyou followed him intimately back into the inner chamber.

"Is that the Third Prince?" Chu Qingluo was instructing Zi Yan on how to make props when she happened to see the man arrive. She had measured the Third Prince once before and vaguely felt that he resembled him.

"Yes," Ziyan replied, without stopping his work.

"I wonder what business he has with Lord Li..." When it comes to gossip in the palace, asking Ziyan is definitely the right thing to do.

Seeing Chu Qingluo's clueless expression, Ziyan said helplessly, "Didn't you see he was holding a food box? He's Lord Li's male servant, probably bringing soup."

"Huh?! The prince personally delivered the soup?" If I had known this would happen, I would have just let Li Ziyou go home and take the Third Prince's measurements myself. It made me run around several times for nothing.

“Otherwise, the other male servants wouldn’t be able to get in either. You really don’t know anything.” Zi Yan had to shake his head and gossip, “This Lady Li is quite a legendary figure. She passed the official examination at the age of twelve and became a ninth-rank female official at the age of thirteen. It is said that she asked the Third Prince for a position back then, but the Third Prince refused because she was not yet sixteen. Lady Li did not give up. As soon as she turned sixteen, she asked for a position again. The Third Prince was moved by her persistence and nodded. The two of them got together naturally.”

"So she's a woman of action after all." Li Ziyou wasn't usually very talkative, but she was quite efficient when she did act. Chu Qinglu thought for a moment and said, "That's true, she's very courageous, that's her style. Tell me more about the other princes and who they've been with, so I won't be ignorant."

For now, all she can do is hope that Ziyan, this little genius in the palace, can give her some pointers.

When it comes to gossip, Ziyan gets particularly excited: "The eldest prince was personally bestowed upon Lord Gongsun, a fifth-rank official, by the Empress. The second prince himself invited Lord Yu, a second-eighth-rank official. The other princes haven't entered the gates yet."

"Wait... Lord Gongsun?" Chu Qingluo emphasized again, "Fifth rank?"

"Yes, Gongsun Ruyi." Ziyan was certain he hadn't misremembered.

"Let me sort this out..." She remembered that Gongsun Yu had mentioned before that her mother was this fifth-rank official, the God of Wealth. In modern terms, Gongsun Ruyi was her nominal mother-in-law. The First Prince entered the Gongsun family, so the Empress is Gongsun Ruyi's mother-in-law? Following this logic, the Empress also became her mother-in-law's mother-in-law? "I can't take it anymore... This is so confusing!" Chu Qingluo felt her brain was about to give out.

Seeing her frowning and patting her head, Ziyan asked, "What exactly is it that you can't understand? It's such a simple thing. I always thought you were incredibly smart, but now it seems you're not so clever after all."

"I just want to ask, now that the eldest prince has entered Lord Gongsun's family, what should the relationship be between the Empress and Lord Gongsun?" I wonder if the concept of mother-in-law and daughter-in-law relationship is considered here?

"What relationship could there be? Of course, it's master and servant."

"That's good." That's more like it, to avoid making the relationships too complicated. Besides, even the Empress couldn't handle having multiple daughters-in-law.

The daughters here are truly treasures; sons are not only used as a form of reward, but also accompanied by a large sum of gold and silver—a veritable "construction bank." Another point that puzzles Chu Qingluo is: in this relationship chain where only the mother is known and not the father, isn't there bound to be a melodramatic plot like "lovers who are actually aunt and niece"?

However, such chaos was beyond Chu Qingluo's control. She was already preoccupied with Gongsun Yu's impending marriage into her Chu family, and couldn't even attend to her own affairs. After thinking for a moment, she mentioned to Ziyan, "Ziyan, I have something to tell you. A few days ago, I asked for leave to leave the palace for a day, right? Actually, I went to the city for my coming-of-age ceremony."

"Ah—! Such a big happy occasion, and you didn't even tell me beforehand?! You should have taken me to see the scene of you throwing the lucky charms! You're so disloyal!" Zi Yan got angrier and angrier as he spoke. He had always regarded Chu Qingluo as a close friend, but she didn't even remember him!

"I'm sorry, Ziyan, don't be angry. It was just a bit sudden. I even forgot my own birthday. Please don't blame me, okay?" Chu Qinglu apologized while trying to appease him. Seeing that he still had a stern face and remained unmoved, she simply said, "Don't you want to know who ended up with my sachet?"

Ziyan finally couldn't resist his curiosity and rolled his eyes at her: "Who?"

"Gongsun Yu is the one who had dinner with us at Yibinge last time."

Ziyan's eyes widened: "It's him—Lord Gongsun's son!"

"Yes. He did explain his identity at the time, but we were just strangers who met by chance, and we didn't care whether what he said was true or not. Now it seems that it is true." She rested her chin on her hand, with an expression that said it was a done deal.

"Oh, Qingluo, you're amazing! This is a great shortcut to getting close to the Grand Female Official." Ziyan teased her with a smile in his eyes.

"Let me make it clear beforehand, I didn't throw it to him on purpose! Besides, didn't you also say that even if the eldest prince marries into Lady Gongsun's household, she and the Empress will still be master and servant, and there will be no difference at all?"

"So what you really wanted to ask was what kind of relationship you and Lord Gongsun will have? You went through all that trouble, it was like traveling a million miles."

"Sigh—just keep this to yourself, I don't want to spread it around and make everyone know," Chu Qingluo instructed him, but still worried that he was being too gossipy, she added, "Whether you're a trustworthy person or not will be revealed in a situation like this!"

"Qingluo! What do you take me for? I only told you so many secrets because I consider you one of my own. I wouldn't have mentioned a single word to anyone else!" Ziyan's anger, which he had just suppressed, was about to flare up again.

"Okay, okay, I was wrong!" Chu Qingluo had to coax him again. This guy was exactly the same as Momo, the only difference being that he actually liked women... and queen-type women at that! It was truly baffling...

She had originally planned to talk to Li Ziyou about setting up the stage, but it seemed she would have to postpone it until tomorrow. She should focus on working on the costumes first.

……

Everyone worked until late into the night before finally going to rest. Peony still shared a room with Chu Qingluo. After they both lay down, Peony suddenly sat up and said, "Qingluo, is there something you haven't told me? Hmm—?" She then winked at Chu Qingluo.

"What is it?" Chu Qingluo was puzzled. She hadn't deliberately hidden anything from her... but there was a clear hint of ambiguity in Shaoyao's smile. Could it be... she was referring to the Seventh Prince's affair?! No way! How could she possibly know? She began to feel a chill run down her spine. "That kind of... awkward, unexpected incident isn't something to talk about, is it?"

"Awkward? How could it be awkward? How come such a joyous occasion as the coming-of-age ceremony becomes awkward and unexpected in your mouth?" Peony was a little confused by her.

"Ahem! So you were talking about this? Ziyan didn't tell you, did he?" Chu Qingluo jumped up as well. Could Ziyan's mouth really be that loose? He just finished speaking and then...

"Even Ziyan knows? Sigh—" Peony deliberately sighed heavily.

"...Then how did you know?" It seems she misunderstood Ziyan; he is still very reliable. Chu Qingluo breathed a slight sigh of relief.

"The news of the stunningly beautiful third young lady of the Chu family's tour of the city has caused quite a stir, and I've naturally heard about it too." As soon as she returned to the manor, she heard her servants discussing it. When she went up to inquire, she learned that it was her good friend's coming-of-age ceremony, but she herself knew nothing about it.

"Peony, I really didn't take this seriously, that's why I didn't mention it. Please don't mind." She had just comforted Ziyan about this during the day, and now it was Peony's turn. This gave her a strange feeling, as if she were coaxing her two wives…

"I just hope that you can share anything with me in the future," Peony said from the bottom of her heart.

"Okay! I will reflect on my actions and definitely improve." Chu Qingluo raised two fingers to swear an oath, showing her firm attitude.

"I heard your destined one is a handsome young man?" Seeing her like this, Peony smiled.

"...Not bad." Gongsun Yu's appearance would get a 7 out of 10, and his gentlemanly demeanor would add 1 point. "But you, when is your coming-of-age ceremony?" she asked Shaoyao in return.

"That was already over last year."

"Ah—? So that means you have male servants now?" Peony looks so quiet and reserved, not like someone with much experience.

"Yes, there are four now." Peony said calmly.

"..." This speed is unmatched. She's had three boyfriends, and Peony has even more experience than her. Chu Qingluo had no choice but to admit defeat.