Transmigrated Female Official

During the last lake excursion, the Eighth Princess gave Chu Yilin an ultimatum, saying that this holiday happened to fall on the fifteenth of the lunar month, and asked him to help him be the first to offer incense. So Chu Yilin was forced into this situation and left early in the morning.

When he returned, he happened to find Chu Qingluo and Gongsun Yu having lunch at Ningxiang Courtyard. Chu Yilin went over and sat down, and instructed Jiuwei to add an extra pair of chopsticks.

Chu Qingluo wanted to laugh when she saw his lifeless look: "Second brother, did you help the Eighth Princess get the first incense offering?"

Chu Yilin rolled his eyes: "You practically risked your brother's life! Luckily we managed to snatch it, otherwise we'd have to go again next time!"

"Serves you right! Who told you to bring it up yourself?" Chu Qingluo thought he deserved it and didn't deserve any sympathy.

Nine-Tailed Fox handed a pair of chopsticks to Chu Yilin. He picked up a piece of eggplant, put it in his mouth, swallowed it, and then continued, "It's quite a coincidence, I ran into Luo Lifei again at the Goddess Temple today."

"Oh?! She went again?" Poor Luo Lifei, she ran into the spoiled Eighth Princess again this time and didn't even get to be the first to offer incense.

Chu Yilin nodded: "That's right, Luo Lifei was really unlucky. She brought five male attendants, which wasn't a small number, but the Eighth Princess brought ten, plus me, her capable helper, making a total of eleven. She didn't get a single benefit and went home empty-handed again." As he spoke, his hands were busy eating, constantly putting food into his mouth.

Seeing his expression, Chu Qingluo couldn't help but say, "Second brother, I didn't prepare any for you here, so please don't eat so rudely."

Chu Yilin glanced at her sideways: "Are you being petty? You're even arguing with your brother." He then continued eating.

She pursed her lips and asked, "Why didn't the Eighth Princess invite you to lunch?"

"Don't even mention it. After she snatched the first incense offering, she insisted that I accompany her around for a while, and she even asked me to have a meal with her... I absolutely couldn't do that, so I made up an excuse to escape."

After hearing this, Chu Qingluo chuckled: "So there are women in Yancheng that even you, Second Brother, can't handle?"

"Stop making fun of me."

Gongsun Yu, who had been quietly eating his meal, suddenly remembered something and gave Chu Qingluo a wink.

She nodded knowingly and said, "Second brother, I want to ask you something."

"Go ahead and tell me." Since he had eaten her food, Chu Yilin stopped teasing her.

"...Have you found out who that scarred boatman is working for?" Chu Qingluo didn't beat around the bush and asked directly.

Chu Yilin was completely unprepared and choked, coughing repeatedly. After a while, he glanced at Gongsun Yu beside her before asking, "You... what do you know?" He picked up his tea and took a big gulp.

Chu Qinglu pouted: "I might have offended the Fourth Princess."

"Pfft!" He almost choked on his tea again! After swallowing it, he said, "You seem to know quite well."

She sighed heavily, her face full of helplessness: "It really was her—"

After Chu Yilin discovered the scarred man's identity, he hesitated to tell Chu Qingluo, afraid of frightening her. Although Ji Qiran had said he would protect her, it seemed safer for her to be more careful on her own. So he said, "Now that you know, be more careful in the future and don't cause trouble."

"I really didn't mean to offend anyone!" Chu Qingluo declared, expressing her genuine innocence. She had simply refused material temptations with great integrity, so why was she hated? The main point was that in this era, people were quick to kill or threaten to die.

"I guess the Fourth Princess didn't go all out this time either, and the scarred man didn't hide much. They found him without much effort... Maybe it's just a warning."

Chu Qinglu nodded helplessly, thinking to herself that city people really know how to have fun. "By the way, there's another extremely important matter at the moment."

"What is it?" Chu Yilin and Gongsun Yu both looked at her at the same time, waiting quietly for her to continue.

“I have carefully studied the palace rules, and there is no regulation that prohibits female officials from engaging in commerce. So... I want to open a shop.”

Chu's mother has already declared that she will have to pay for the renovation of the house herself. She can't just sit around with this imperial gift of one hundred taels of gold, can she? How can she just sit around and do nothing? Besides, one hundred taels of gold might not even be enough.

"...With your little head, how can you manage?" Chu Yilin seemed quite surprised. A fourth princess could drive her crazy, yet she still had the mood to open a shop?

Gongsun Yu remained calm: "Yes, I agree."

Chu Yilin glanced at him and laughed, "You think too highly of my third sister. She can't compare to Lord Gongsun."

"What do you mean?" Chu Qingluo didn't understand how Gongsun Ruyi had been brought up.

"You didn't know that Lord Gongsun runs a pawnshop, did you?"

Chu Qingluo's mouth dropped open in surprise. She glanced at Gongsun Yu and shook her head; she genuinely had never heard of him. Chu Yilin, looking disgusted, then went on and on explaining...

It turns out that the most powerful pawnshop in Yancheng was owned by Gongsun Ruyi, with one branch in each of the four cardinal directions and the city center. He was incredibly wealthy! I only knew that Gongsun Yu was a rich second-generation, but I never imagined he was such a rich second-generation.

Chu Qingluo suddenly looked at Gongsun Yu and asked, "Do you have any sisters?"

"I only have one older sister, and all the others are brothers."

"I want to be friends with her."

Gongsun Yu was taken aback: "...Huh?" Two seconds later, he said, "Sure."

Chu Qingluo chuckled again: "I was just kidding." After laughing, she asked him seriously: "Why haven't you ever mentioned this to me?" She only knew that he was the second child in his family, and didn't know much else about him.

"Are you referring to the pawnshop or your sister?"

"All."

"Because...you didn't ask."

Chu Qinglu rolled her eyes dramatically: "Couldn't you have just told me if I didn't ask?"

Gongsun Yu shrugged, deeming it unimportant: "I am me, and they are them."

"..." That's not wrong, since family gatherings aren't common here. Chu Qinglu couldn't find a topic to talk about for a moment.

"Cough cough..." Chu Yilin had been eating for a while and felt it was time to leave, so he said, "Third sister, I'm full, I'll leave first."

Dropping a bomb and running away, that's really Chu Yilin's style...

Seeing that she didn't speak, Gongsun Yu asked, "Are you angry?"

Chu Qingluo muttered "idiot" to herself. She was less angry at him and more angry at herself.

How can you know so little about Gongsun Yu's affairs?!

"I just feel like I owe you something."

"Oh?" Gongsun Yu smiled in surprise: "What do you owe?"

Chu Qinglu frowned and stared at him: "I know too little about you."

Gongsun Yu laughed heartily, his smile as gentle as a spring breeze: "Didn't I just offer myself up to you so you could understand?" If he hadn't intercepted her sachet back then, how would he have had the chance to hear her say these words today? He felt deeply that his decision back then was incredibly wise.

She stood up and extended her slender hand to him.

"Hmm?" Gongsun Yu stood up as well, looked at her hand, and slowly raised his own hand as well.

Chu Qingluo grabbed it and smiled sweetly: "Let's go."

"Where?"

Before Gongsun Yu could even savor this sudden sweetness, she pulled him out of the courtyard. "Let's go for a stroll in the city!"