Transmigrated Female Official

During the court assembly, Chu Qingluo encountered the Fourth Princess, and she was devastated. However, the Fourth Princess showed no sign of awkwardness and greeted her warmly, as if she didn't mind at all that her gift had been returned.

Regardless of what the Fourth Princess was really thinking, Chu Qingluo could no longer explain it to her and could only silently maintain the superficial peace.

……

Back at Guangrentang, before she could even have a sip of water, Shaoyao anxiously urged, "Qingluo, the Ninth Prince has been sent by the Emperor to the Shennv Temple for a year of fasting. He wants to say goodbye to you and has been waiting for you at the palace gate for half a day."

"Huh?!" Chu Qingluo didn't have time to think and hurriedly went out the door.

He jogged all the way to the palace gate and saw the Ninth Prince's carriage waiting there. Ji Qiran was standing under the carriage, talking to Ji Qibai.

"Chu Qingluo!" Ji Qibai waved his arms happily. He had been staring at the corridor the whole time, so he noticed her as soon as she appeared.

Ji Qiran also turned his head, glanced at her, said nothing, and then turned back.

"I heard you're going to fast for a year?" Chu Qingluo asked, panting, as she leaned against the carriage wall.

Ji Qibai nodded: "Yes, His Majesty said I have grown up and can stand on my own." After saying that, he took out a purple purse from his pocket and handed it to her: "This is for you."

Chu Qingluo took it: "Isn't this the purse that contained my hair?"

Ji Qibo chuckled and pulled out an identical pouch, waving it in front of her: "This is the one. The pouch in your hand contains my hair."

"..." She was so touched that she didn't know what to say.

"Chu Qingluo, you must wait for me. When I return to the palace, I will be an adult." Ji Qibai placed his small hand on her hand holding the purse, his dark eyes sparkling.

"The temple is a sacred place, so you must behave yourself and take good care of yourself... Remember to read more books in your spare time." A warmth filled her heart; these words came from the bottom of her heart.

"Okay, I will definitely listen to you."

"Ninth Prince, it's time to set off," a male attendant reminded him, noting that they had already wasted quite a bit of time.

Ji Qibai glanced at Chu Qingluo, then at Ji Qiran, and finally, with great reluctance, stepped onto the carriage. He leaned out of the carriage window and waved to them: "Seventh Brother, Chu Qingluo, you must come see me when you have time!"

Ji Qiran: "I will, Ninth Brother, take care."

Chu Qinglu waved her hand vigorously: "Take good care of yourself!"

Watching Ji Qibai's carriage drive away, Ji Qiran turned his head and asked, "Judging from your expression, you're reluctant to part with my ninth brother?"

Chu Qingluo did not deny it: "A little."

Amidst the bickering and commotion, Ji Qibo's mischievousness and straightforwardness had slowly won her heart, making him seem like her own younger brother. She wanted him to be well, and hoped he could always remain carefree and retain his innocent and cheerful nature.

Ji Qiran stared at her for a long time before his brows furrowed slightly: "They don't even spare a twelve-year-old child, it's incomprehensible!" After saying that, he turned and left.

"Hey!" Chu Qingluo was almost speechless with shock. She chased after him, shouting, "I treat him like a younger brother, okay?! How is that being unreasonable?!"

Ji Qiran ignored her and strode along the corridor like a gust of wind.

"This is insane! It's utterly absurd!" Seeing that she couldn't catch up, Chu Qingluo simply gave up.

……

Back at Guangrentang, Chu Qingluo saw He Qi carrying some books into the courtyard. A brazier was prepared beside him, seemingly for burning the books. Chu Qingluo stepped forward and asked, "What kinds of books are these? Why are you destroying them?"

He Qi replied, "These were cleared out by the physicians, who said they were Yan Xi's medical books."

Chu Qinglu bent down and picked up a book, glancing at the title: "Ancient Herbal Remedies? Why destroy such a good thing?"

“Because…” He Qi hesitated for a moment, but finally answered truthfully: “Because the physicians thought it was bad luck, so no one wanted these medical books.”

Chu Qingluo sighed heavily. Although Yan Xi had bought her way into office, she hadn't committed murder, arson, or robbery. Was it really necessary to be so superstitious? The scene of Yan Xi's execution flashed through her mind again... and the little girl who cried until she fainted...

"I want these medical books. Move them all to my inner room," Chu Qingluo said calmly.

He Qi was taken aback at first, but then readily agreed and immediately wiped the book clean and placed it on the bookshelf in the inner hall.

Chu Qingluo took the book, sat back down, and casually flipped through it… She couldn't understand anything about pharmacology, and there were some words she didn't recognize, so she was just flipping through it casually. But this book was covered with dense notes and markings, it seemed that Yan Xi was studying it very seriously…

She suddenly sensed something was wrong, so she went to the bookshelf and went through all the medical books that Yan Xi had left behind... Sure enough, Yan Xi had made detailed notes in every single one of them, showing her diligence and meticulousness.

Chu Qinglu thought for a moment, then found a piece of cloth, packed all the books together, and decided to take them back to show Gongsun Yu.

"Qingluo, what are you doing?" Peony saw Chu Qingluo packing books as soon as she entered the room, which she found very strange.

"I'm going to take these books back and study them." Then, as if remembering something, he added, "Peony, could you go to the Imperial Hospital and get me the roster of the physicians?"

The Empress asked her to select a new head of the Imperial Medical Academy, which was undoubtedly a difficult task for her... Although Li Yan knew everything about Guangrentang, she couldn't rely on this person and had to find a solution herself.

"Okay." The Imperial Hospital was located inside Guangrentang, and Shaoyao was immediately transferred there.

After Peony brought back the flower roster, Chu Qingluo took it and the medical book and prepared to leave the palace. "I almost forgot!" Just before leaving, she remembered something very important and quickly turned to Peony and said, "This morning, my second brother unusually waited for me in the main hall. He said that he had made an appointment with you to go boating on the lake together, so why don't we choose the next day off?"

Peony remembered this as well, and replied with a smile, "Sure, no problem."

Chu Qinglu shrugged: "Then I'll go back."

……

The Chu family, Ningxiang Courtyard.

Gongsun Yu stared at the books spread out in front of him and asked in surprise, "Where did you get these medical books?"

Chu Qinglu pouted: "Yan Xi's."

Gongsun Yu stared at her: "What? You think I don't know anything about medicine and want me to study medical books?"

"Pfft—" Chu Qinglu laughed, "Young Master Gongsun, who knows everything about astronomy and geography, actually says he doesn't understand medicine?" After saying that, she winked at him provocatively.

"..." He silently wiped away a bead of sweat: "I'm just not interested in medicine."

She continued to tease him, "What if I let you start learning now?"

Gongsun Yu let out a soft breath: "...Then I'll have no choice but to..." He couldn't bring himself to say the word 'learn' for a long time.

Unexpectedly, there was something in this world that could make the usually composed Gongsun Yu show signs of distress and resistance! Chu Qingluo had always thought he was omnipotent and capable of anything.

However, she was pleased with his resistant expression just now; it at least proved he was still a normal human being. She interrupted him with a smile, "You're overthinking it. I just wanted you to help me see what notes Yan Xi had made."

Gongsun Yu seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, raised an eyebrow, and lowered his head to flip through the book: "Why are you so interested in her?"

Chu Qingluo rested her chin on her hands and pouted, "I just find it strange, but I can't quite put my finger on what's wrong with it."

He glanced at her with amusement and asked, "What's the use of that roster?"

"Oh, right!" Chu Qingluo picked up the booklet. "I need to carefully examine the background of each physician." She then began to study it diligently...

The two sat facing each other, one flipping through medical books, the other studying a roster... Gongsun Yu would steal glances at Chu Qingluo from time to time, feeling quite satisfied.

Time flowed slowly between their fingers as they turned the pages, peaceful and beautiful.