Transmigrated Female Official

one year later.

The Empress abdicated, and the Sixth Princess officially ascended the throne as Empress.

Previously, the Sixth Princess had vigorously suppressed the remnants of the Fourth Princess's faction, including Qin Mei, a seventh-rank official, and Yu Yi, an eighth-rank official.

After several attempts, the Sixth Princess finally succeeded in replacing the position of a seventh-rank female official with a newcomer she had supported. Compared to Qin Mei, Yu Yi was more adept at changing her stance according to the wind, and since her position was not a crucial one, the Sixth Princess allowed Yu Yi to cautiously retain her position.

A month after the Sixth Princess ascended the throne, she kept her promise to Chu Qingluo, allowing her to make any requests and granting them all.

Chu Qingluo yearned for freedom, a desire that had never changed. Therefore, she didn't hesitate to request her resignation from the Sixth Princess, who granted it in court.

Many coveted the prestigious position of a first-rank female official, yet Chu Qingluo regarded it as nothing. This news quickly spread throughout the Ji Kingdom, adding another unbelievable element to Chu Qingluo's legendary life.

……

Inside the Ningxiang Courtyard of the Chu Mansion.

"what--!"

A scream pierced the sky, followed by a bamboo arrow that flew through the air and struck the target next to the swing.

"Miss—! You're trying to kill Nine-Tailed Fox!" Nine-Tailed Fox quickly patted his chest to calm his turbulent emotions; he had almost been scared out of his wits by that bamboo arrow.

Tongmu found it amusing and chimed in, "Knowing that Miss was practicing archery, you still rushed over by yourself. You can't blame Miss for that."

"That was close." Ji Qiran, who was instructing Chu Qingluo on archery posture, also said, "It's fortunate that Qingluo's archery skills are not yet proficient, otherwise you wouldn't have the strength to shout here."

Chu Qinglu glared at Ji Qiran, then poked his chest hard with her elbow, and said defiantly, "How can you be so mean? Even if your archery skills aren't great, at least you didn't miss the target!"

Ji Qiran raised an eyebrow and said with a wicked smile, "I'm just telling the truth. If you hadn't missed, Nine-Tailed Fox would have been dead."

"Miss, look, they all always bully me!" Nine-Tailed Fox tugged at Chu Qingluo's sleeve, looking pitiful and begging her to stand up for her.

Before Chu Qinglu could even speak, Ji Qiran slapped Jiuwei's hand down, saying disdainfully, "Are you getting carried away with this? Be careful, or I'll shoot you with an arrow, I guarantee it'll be accurate and deadly."

Upon hearing this, Nine-Tailed Fox quickly hid behind Chu Qingluo and complained, "Miss, the Seventh Prince is so fierce! He's terrifying!"

"You little brat..." Ji Qiran gritted his teeth, about to grab him, when Chu Qingluo stopped him in time. "Alright, alright, stop scaring my people, okay?"

Ji Qiran grunted, "What do you mean 'your person'? I'm the one who's your person."

"Then will you listen to me?"

Seeing Chu Qingluo ask this question in public, Ji Qiran quickly glanced at Nine-Tailed Fox and Tongmu, who were watching the commotion, cleared his throat, and said vaguely, "I... I think so."

"Huh? What did you say?" Chu Qingluo pretended not to hear clearly and asked again.

Ji Qiran sighed helplessly, never expecting that he, the dignified seventh prince, would be in such a state. He then pursed his lips and said, "I'll listen."

"Pfft—" Seeing Ji Qiran run into a wall with Chu Qingluo, Jiuwei and Tongmu couldn't help but burst out laughing.

Ji Qiran gritted his teeth and glared at the two men, threatening, "What are you laughing at? Tomorrow I'll send you to some remote, impoverished place to work!"

After more than a year of getting to know each other, Nine-Tailed Fox and Kirito had come to understand Ji Qiran's personality. They knew that he was actually a person who was tough on the outside but soft on the inside, so they were not really afraid of him. They took advantage of the situation and said, "Miss is reluctant to let us leave the Chu Mansion!" After saying that, they even bravely made a face at Ji Qiran.

"...Nine-Tails!" Ji Qiran really wanted to tie the Nine-Tails up tightly right away and then give it a good beating!

Seeing this, Chu Qingluo suddenly said, "That's hard to say. Maybe I'll change my mind one day and actually send you to the countryside."

"Miss--!"

"Hahaha!" Seeing the panicked expressions on the faces of Nine-Tails and Kirito, Chu Qingluo laughed heartily.

Ji Qiran was not about to let go of such a good opportunity to kick someone when they were down, so he quickly said, "I can also 'kindly' prepare an initiation gift for you."

"Miss—!" Nine-Tailed Fox still wanted to continue wailing, but Ji Qiran grabbed Chu Qingluo's hand and turned to leave without saying a word. As she left, she turned back and threw out a sentence: "Stop yelling, Qingluo is mine."

The two disappeared around the corner of Ningxiang Courtyard in the blink of an eye, leaving Jiuwei stamping her feet in frustration. "Miss is clearly biased towards the Seventh Prince!"

Tongmu blinked and asked, "Otherwise what?"

"You..." Nine-Tails rolled her eyes at him, ignoring him, then looked up at the sky with a mournful face and sighed to herself, "Alas! When will Miss finally let me join the sect?"

Tongmu glanced at him indifferently, then uttered the truth: "A long way off."

"You damned paulownia tree, I'll fight you to the death!"

……

"Where are we going?" Chu Qingluo and Ji Qiran rode their horses across the grasslands outside the city.

"Let's go to the little waterfall!" Ji Qiran's bright voice rang out cheerfully in the wind. "And while we're at it, let's test your riding skills and see who's faster."

"Don't underestimate me, I won't lose!" Chu Qinglu said, immediately spurring her horse and galloping forward.

Seeing her cheating, Ji Qiran couldn't help but laugh, mimicking her usual tone and shouting, "Cheating, is that alright!" Then, he chased after her, disappearing into the distance...

Reaching the large tree beside the waterfall, Chu Qingluo leaped off her horse. She knew Ji Qiran was deliberately letting her win, but she still said triumphantly, "I won!"

Ji Qiran shrugged and said, "Then I'll tell you a secret."

"What secret?" She blinked, her face full of excitement and curiosity.

“Look,” Ji Qiran pointed to the big tree with his chin and said, “There is treasure buried under this tree.”

"Treasure—?!" Images of various ancient antiques flashed through Chu Qingluo's mind, as did stacks of gold bricks, causing her eyes to gleam with gold.

Seeing that she had already run to the tree impatiently, Ji Qiran also jumped off his horse and laughed, "You really are a little money-grubber." She was not interested in being a female official above thousands of people, but she was quite interested in making money.

"So what if I'm greedy?" Chu Qingluo picked out a suitable stick from the side, ready to start digging. "I call this daring to confront the depravity of human nature."

Ji Qiran plopped down next to her, leaned against the tree, and rested his hands behind his head, saying leisurely, "Anyway, whatever you say is right."

Chu Qingluo stared straight at him and asked, "Are you just going to stand by and watch? Not help at all?"

He said innocently, "Isn't it more satisfying to dig up the treasure yourself?"

"..." She looked at him suspiciously, wondering what he was up to, and decided to try digging herself first.

She had only dug a few inches deep when Chu Qingluo's stick poked something hard. She simply brushed away the soil with her hand and found that it was a small wooden box.

She took the box out, dusted off her hands, and carefully opened it... Inside, it was filled with bamboo skewers? There were no other valuables.

"Where's the promised treasure?" she couldn't help but ask, pouting.

"Sigh—" Ji Qiran sighed softly, "It seems I was mistaken."

Chu Qingluo pouted, picked up the bamboo skewer, and murmured, "A very auspicious sign?" She turned the skewer over and saw the date marked on the back.

This left Chu Qingluo even more confused. She quickly picked up the other bamboo sticks and examined them all. All of them had "the best fortune" written on them, only the dates recorded on the back were different.

"What is this...?" she asked, puzzled.

Ji Qiran smiled and said, "It's really nothing valuable. It's just a fortune slip I got for you at the Goddess Temple in my spare time."

Looking at the considerable number of bamboo sticks, Chu Qingluo couldn't help but widen her eyes and ask, "Did you personally go and ask for all of these?"

Ji Qiran casually hummed in agreement.

Chu Qinglu stared at all the 'best fortune slips' and suddenly froze. The time period recorded on the bamboo slips started after they returned to Ji Kingdom from Yuezhi Kingdom and lasted until the day before Ji Qiran entered the sect.

In other words, during this not-so-short period of time, he frequently visited the Temple of the Goddess to pray for her safety.

How could she not be moved by his sincerity? "How could they all be the best possible outcomes?"

Ji Qiran replied nonchalantly, "Yes, you are a blessed person. Of course, the fortune sticks drawn for you are all the best."

He wouldn't tell her that he couldn't bear to see her suffer and beset by troubles. So, to show his piety, he began to kowtow nine times every three steps from the bottom of the steps of the Goddess Temple. Of course, even with such sincerity, it was impossible for all the fortune sticks to be the best. He simply burned all the others, keeping only the best ones—a full one hundred of them.

"Qi Ran... thank you." Chu Qinglu couldn't find the words to express her feelings, so she simply threw herself into his arms.

Even if he didn't say anything, how could she not know how hard it was to obtain so many auspicious fortune slips?

Ji Qiran wrapped one arm around her waist and gently stroked her back with the other. "Those were the days when I couldn't be with you, but they're all in the past. Now, I'm here, and I'll protect you."

“…I know.” She lifted her head from his embrace, gazing up at him quietly, tears welling up silently.

He was the seventh prince, known as the most handsome man in Yancheng; he was once unruly and arrogant, like a wild horse with a fiery temper; he also had a falling out with her, and they parted on bad terms, making him someone she didn't want to touch and avoided at all costs...

No matter how she tried to avoid him, he always stood not far from her. In her moment of crisis, he reached out and grabbed her firmly, rescuing her!

At this very moment, his unfathomable black eyes reflected her image, and the upturned corners of his mouth, like willow catkins fluttering in the wind, stirred her heartstrings.

His slender fingers ran through her dark hair, gently pulling her close, and a tender kiss landed on her smooth forehead.

His kisses covered every inch of her face—her eyebrows, the corners of her eyes, the tip of her nose, her cheeks—dripping away her tears before finally resting his tender lips on her soft skin.

He was someone she couldn't ignore, sweeping in like a hurricane, domineeringly and willfully taking up residence in her heart.

She gazed intently at him, as if trying to see into his very soul. "In this life, you are not allowed to abandon me."

His lips curled into a captivating smile. "Yes, Lady."

"Hmm?" She asked softly, her almond-shaped eyes flashing.

He tightened his arms, holding her tightly in his embrace, and whispered his true feelings clearly in her ear: "Even if you want to drive me away, you can't. My Qingluo mistress, in this life, you must repay the debt you owe me..."