Transmigrated Female Official

Peony seized a moment to slip out of the clothing workshop to share information with Chu Qingluo. She lowered her voice and said, "Have you heard? His Majesty was furious in the Qingming Hall today! Lord Ji is probably going to be in trouble this time."

"Well... this can be considered reaping what you sow." Since Chu Qingluo was at Guangrentang, she naturally learned about Ji Jie's involvement faster than Shaoyao.

"But..." Chu Qinglu couldn't quite put her finger on what was wrong, but she felt that things had happened suddenly.

Peony: "Just what?"

"The physician who committed the offense is named Yan Xi. I happened to run into her the day she entered the palace, the same day I went to you to help Lord Ji make private clothes. It's only been a little over ten days since then..."

Although the Empress has not yet decided on the final sentence, her good days are coming to an end.

Ji Jie probably never imagined things would turn out this way. The sexy new dress she had specially prepared for Ji Qili's arrival hadn't even had a chance to be worn yet…

Life is inherently unpredictable, especially in this era and in this position, one should be even more vigilant to avoid making mistakes.

“They brought it on themselves!” Peony said righteously, believing that buying and selling official positions was an unforgivable crime. “Now that Lord Ji is in prison, who is in charge of Guangrentang?” she asked again.

“Look…” Chu Qingluo pointed with her chin at Li Yan, who was gesturing to the male attendants not far away. “She has been serving Lord Ji for quite some time now, and she is very adept at managing affairs.”

Peony pursed her lips, unconcerned.

……

Inside the Flying Immortal Palace where the Eighth Princess resides.

"Ji Jie is truly courting death! She dares to accept people without even a basic understanding of pharmacology! She let Fourth Sister take advantage of her!" The Eighth Princess frowned, slamming her beautiful eyebrows down on the armrest of the stool. "What a scoundrel!"

Longkui, however, thought differently. She shook her head and pondered, "I'm afraid things aren't as simple as they seem..."

"Oh? What do you mean by that, Lady Longkui?" Pan Yin asked from the side.

Long Kui is a meticulous and observant person, highly valued by the Empress. Now that Long Kui and Pan Yin are jointly assisting the Eighth Princess, Pan Yin naturally follows her lead. If she feels something is amiss, then there's probably a real problem.

“In my opinion, although Ji Jie is greedy, she has always been very cautious. This time she was so careless, which is not like her style. Perhaps someone deliberately set her up…” A sharp glint flashed in Long Kui’s eyes, and she judged that there must be something fishy about this matter.

Upon hearing this, the Eighth Princess's face darkened further. "Last night, Ji Jie secretly sent a message through a jailer... saying she wanted to see me."

Longkui did not approve of her meeting with Ji Jie in private again, so she directly objected: "Princess, it would be best to avoid suspicion at this time."

"I agree," Pan Yin nodded in agreement.

The Eighth Princess was puzzled: "But didn't you also say that Ji Jie was framed? Are we just going to stand by and watch Fourth Sister sharpen her knife over my head?"

"It's true that Ji Jie was framed, but it's also true that she sold official positions. If the princess helps her now, she will definitely be implicated in the case of selling official positions."

If we lose the Emperor's favor because of this, then we have truly lost.

"...What a Fourth Sister! She caused me to suffer heavy losses, I will not let this go!" The Eighth Princess had no choice but to swallow her anger for the time being, but the desire for revenge was already burning fiercely.

Seeing that the Eighth Princess was no longer wavering, Longkui then turned to Pan Yin and instructed him, "This time, His Majesty has ordered you to investigate the case of selling official positions. Do you know what to do?"

A ruthless glint flashed in Pan Yin's eyes, and he resolutely said, "This humble official understands."

……

On the other side, inside the Changxuan Hall.

"First, Yan committed a crime immediately after entering the palace. Second, Qin Mei jumped out and said that someone happened to report Ji Jie for selling official positions in an anonymous letter at this time. Third, even more coincidentally, Yan also confessed that she entered the palace by buying an official position... Isn't this series of events too coincidental?" Ji Qiran had many doubts after listening to the Sixth Princess's explanation of what happened at the morning court.

When the incident first occurred, he suspected that someone was trying to harm the emperor with ulterior motives. Later, he suspected that Rui'an was trying to win the emperor's favor. In the end, he realized that the incident was aimed at Guangrentang and was targeting Ji Jie from beginning to end.

Ji Qiran was quite certain: "Fengyi Incense is just a gimmick to mislead people; their real purpose is the case of selling official positions."

The Sixth Princess smiled faintly, picked up her teacup and blew on it twice: "Judging from Fourth Sister's demeanor today, she is very confident and has probably been planning this for a long time."

Ji Qiran pondered for a moment, his expression somewhat grave: "After all these years, these two have finally lost their patience and are about to make their move. I'm afraid this time their attack will be fierce and won't stop."

...But this time the Fourth Princess's target is Ji Jie, who will it be next time?

Hearing Ji Qiran's analysis, the Sixth Princess remained calm and composed, taking a leisurely sip of tea: "If I make another move, it will only be a fight between the two of them. I pose no threat to them, so I am naturally safe."

"But Sixth Sister is not entirely without threat. With Yao Man's support, Fourth Sister and Eighth Sister will definitely not remain indifferent. I suspect that Fourth Sister is in a hurry to act because she saw that you have also been granted a title, and there is one more person vying for the throne. Sixth Sister, you should be more vigilant."

The sixth princess remained relaxed and said with a smile, "I understand."

……

After a period of investigation, and with the addition of the anonymous letter from Qin Mei, Pan Yin thoroughly investigated the case of selling official positions at Guangrentang.

Over the years, quite a few female physicians have bought their official positions from Ji Jie, and Pan Yin truthfully reported the list of them one by one without any cover-up.

At Longkui's suggestion, Ji Jie had already become a pawn discarded by the Eighth Princess. Since that was the case, Pan Yin no longer needed to take any risks for her.

Looking at the list of more than twenty female physicians involved in the case, the Empress was furious! This was undoubtedly a disregard for her, the Empress! The court announced the verdict: all the female physicians on the list were dismissed from their posts, branded, flogged thirty times, and expelled from the palace, never to practice medicine again; Ji Jie and Wu Lian were dismissed from their posts, their homes were confiscated, they were flogged fifty times, demoted to criminals, and exiled to Bingshan.

There were very few women in the Ji Kingdom, so the Empress ultimately showed them mercy.

Yan Xi, however, was not so lucky. She was sentenced to death by hanging, which was seen as a warning to others.

……

On the day of the execution, the Empress ordered all the executioners and physicians to be present at the execution ground to witness the execution. The execution of a female official was a major event in Yancheng, and the people crowded the execution ground to the point of being impassable.

A sun shower was falling from the sky, with large raindrops pelting people. Chu Qingluo and Shaoyao shared an umbrella, squeezed into the crowd, and stared intently at Yan Xi's expression on the execution platform.

Her hands were bound behind her back with rope, rainwater washed over her face, and her hair clung to her sides. Through the sunlight and rain, Chu Qingluo could finally see that it was a plain little face.

It was very...strange. She neither cried nor laughed, and showed no fear whatsoever. She simply stared intently at a little girl dressed in simple clothes in the crowd below the stage, her eyes filled with boundless affection.

The little girl just kept crying and crying. The rain relentlessly lashed at her eyes, then mixed with her tears and flowed into her slightly open mouth.

Pan Yin's subordinates were sent to supervise the execution. She looked at the sky impatiently and said, "This strange weather!" Then she said to the burly man who was carrying out the execution, "The auspicious time has come. Let's do it."

A rope was roughly looped around Yan Xi's neck and tied tightly. The burly man held the other end of the rope and pulled hard...

The people were in uproar.

Chu Qingluo subconsciously closed her eyes at that moment, her hands clenched into fists... She could feel that the peony beside her also trembled!

When she opened her eyes again, she saw Yan Xi hanging high in the air, her body swaying involuntarily... Her legs struggled a few times, then she stopped moving. The little girl, who had been crying the whole time, fainted in the rain upon seeing this!

Chu Qinglu was startled and tried to squeeze through the crowd to help the little girl up, but found that an older woman had already taken the little girl away before her.

...Turning back to look at Yan Xi, who was hanging high, she was only eighteen or nineteen years old, in the prime of her youth. After taking such a short trip in the palace, she passed away.

At this moment, it felt as if a huge stone was pressing down on Chu Qingluo's heart, making it difficult for her to breathe and leaving her speechless with a heavy feeling...