Transmigrated Female Official

When Chu Qingluo appeared in the Yibin Pavilion's private room with Chu Yilin, Ji Qiran seemed quite surprised. "Why are you here?" he asked in a strange tone.

Seeing that he looked completely sober and didn't seem to have been drinking... Chu Qingluo realized that she had probably been tricked by Chu Yilin. She glared at Chu Yilin before replying, "I have something I want to tell you."

"Ahem." Chu Yilin cleared his throat. "You two chat slowly, I'll take a walk outside first." After saying that, he tactfully walked towards the door, and as he was about to close the door, he didn't forget to add, "Make sure you have a good chat, don't worry about me." He emphasized the word "good chat" before closing the door.

Ji Qiran stared at Chu Qingluo and asked casually, "Weren't you busy with getting others to join your sect? How come you have time to come see me?"

Sensing the jealousy in his tone, Chu Qingluo knew she had to make things clear with him today, no matter what. She walked up to him, took out a jade pendant from her waist belt, and handed it to him: "This... should be returned to its rightful owner."

Ji Qiran's eyes lit up when he saw that the smooth, white object in her hand was actually his own Pixiu jade pendant. He quickly took it and examined it carefully from both sides. "How did it end up with you?"

"...To my shame," Chu Qinglu smiled sheepishly, "this jade pendant was actually found in a sandalwood box next to my dressing table."

"You mean, you found it in your room?" Ji Qiran raised an eyebrow in disbelief, then seemed to recall something, smiling ambiguously: "It should have been found in Heqing Courtyard. But, it's not surprising that it's in your room." His words implied that she had secretly kept his personal belongings.

Chu Qingluo ignored him, pretending not to understand, and continued, "You know I have amnesia, so I don't know why you're here... Anyway, I apologize to you first."

Ji Qiran smiled slightly: "No need to apologize, perhaps this is fate." After saying that, he handed the jade pendant back to her.

She didn't understand what he meant by this action, so she looked at him suspiciously and didn't take it.

Ji Qiran placed the jade pendant on the table, then took off the one from his waist and put the two jade pendants side by side, saying, "Take a close look at these two jade pendants and see what the differences are."

Chu Qingluo then picked them up and compared them, discovering that the one she had previously hidden was a single-horned Pixiu, while Ji Qiran was now wearing a double-horned Pixiu. "They have different numbers of horns on their heads."

“Yes, that’s right.” Ji Qiran nodded: “Legend has it that a single-horned beast is called Pi, which is male; and a double-horned beast is called Xiu, which is female. In other words, these two jade pendants were originally a pair.” After saying that, he looked at her with burning eyes and said softly: “Therefore, this jade pendant is destined to belong to you.”

After hearing his words, she was stunned... She gently placed the two jade pendants back on the table, and said with her lips slightly parted, "I cannot accept them."

"Why?" Ji Qiran frowned and asked again, "Wasn't I clear enough last time?"

"No, it's because I didn't explain it clearly."

Seeing her serious expression again, Ji Qiran turned her face away, not wanting to look into her eyes. She whispered, "Don't say anything more."

"I'm here today to make things clear." Regardless of whether Ji Qiran wanted to hear it or not, Chu Qingluo insisted, "Thank you for what you said to me by the waterfall... but I can't accept it."

Ji Qiran looked at her, hurt, and asked, "Qingluo, do you know what your words mean?"

Why did she keep pushing him away from her?

“...I know.” Probably no one knows better than herself.

He chuckled self-deprecatingly and asked, "There must be a reason, right?"

Chu Qingluo sighed softly and said, "Ji Qiran, you are indeed the most handsome man in Yancheng, but that's not the most important thing to me..." She paused, then added, "I suppose it's all about fate between people."

Although she believes more in the idea that fate is something you have to fight for, she'll say it all to distance herself from him.

"You mean fate?" he questioned. "Isn't our fate after all these years shallow?"

Chu Qingluo gasped, "Fine, let me put it this way. When I wanted to go east, you wanted to go west; now that I want to go west, you want to go east again... It can only be said that we have never been on the same page, and it was inevitable that we would miss each other."

Ji Qiran stared at her silently, her words piercing his heart like a thousand arrows... Although he understood that everything was his own fault, his heart still ached so much that he couldn't breathe!

After a long silence, he finally managed to speak: "...I still want to win you back."

"sorry."

Seeing his wounded expression, she felt a pang of pity, even heartache. But hesitation would only lead to more trouble; she had to be resolute, she had to be ruthless!

Seeing that he was no longer speaking, Chu Qingluo said softly, "I'll head back now."

He remained silent and did not look at her, like a fine stone sculpture.

As she reached the door, she still felt it necessary to say something, so she turned back and said, "When His Majesty bestowed you upon Pan Yin, Shaoyao was extremely worried and racked her brains to help you... Such a good woman, I hope you won't let her down." After saying this, she pushed open the door and left.

Chu Yilin, who had been waiting in the corridor, saw Chu Qingluo come out with a very pale face, so he went up to her and asked, "What happened?"

She forced an awkward smile and replied, "It's alright, Second Brother, you should keep the Seventh Prince company."

"But you look terrible. Shall I take you home first?" Chu Yilin was genuinely worried about her.

"Don't worry, I'm fine." Chu Qinglu forced a smile and waved to him casually, "Let's go—"

"..." Chu Yilin had no choice but to watch her leave.

After leaving Yibinge, this seemed to be the first time Chu Qingluo had wandered around Yancheng alone. Wouldn't it be wonderful to watch a movie and sing karaoke with He Yun and Momo, and then get drunk until the next day?

But everything is gone.

She still remembered the worst fortune she drew at the Shennv Temple: "The water flows eastward, why seek its return westward?" Too much reminiscing about the past would only add to her sorrow.

Instead of going straight back to Mingyifang, she detoured to the pastry shop run by the Chu family to fill her stomach, packed a food box of snacks, and then headed towards Shennv Temple.