Transmigrated Female Official

157 Hurry up and surpass them.

Just as Chu Qingluo and her group were squinting at the sedan chair, they suddenly heard a woman's voice shout, "Hurry up and overtake them—!"

Immediately afterwards, a large sedan chair carried by six men suddenly rushed out from behind the four-person sedan chair, speeding past the four-person sedan chair and rushing towards the center!

The woman in the six-person sedan chair, her flowing black hair and red dress, stood out dazzlingly against the white snow.

Chu Qingluo seemed to see a chariot speeding towards them! And the chariot was being commanded by a woman in red. Judging from the voice and the manner, this woman in red was undoubtedly Luo Lifei!

As expected, Luo Lifei's sedan chair arrived at the center first. She also saw Chu Qingluo and Ling Nan, and waved to them with a smile. "Today, I, Luo Lifei, will be the first to parade through the city—!"

Just then, someone spat out a mouthful of tea from the window of a side room on the second floor of Yibinge.

Ji Qiran glanced at the perpetrator with disdain, then shook off the water droplets splashed on him and asked, "What's all the fuss about?"

"No..." Chu Yilin wiped his mouth and said, "I just couldn't help but sigh at the combative nature of women."

Ji Qiran glanced at him thoughtfully, then asked, "When do you plan to go out?"

"Huh? Where to?" Chu Yilin feigned ignorance and said, "Didn't you ask me to come here?"

"It was me who invited you," Ji Qiran shrugged. "I invited you here to ask when you plan to go out and greet the destined creature."

“This joke isn’t funny—” Chu Yilin turned back to his seat from the window, poured himself a cup of tea, and said, “You know I don’t want to give up my freedom.”

Ji Qiran ignored him and continued to stand by the window, her gaze fixed on Chu Qingluo not far below. Seeing Gongsun Yu's hand on her shoulder, his heart ached again. "I just don't want you to end up like me, missing out and only having regrets."

He had stood in this very spot by the window back then, watching her walk away into the distance...

"..." Chu Yilin looked at Ji Qiran's melancholy profile and didn't say anything.

……

Because of the weather, there weren't as many people in the city center as when Chu Qingluo held her coming-of-age ceremony. However, the lively music still attracted some onlookers.

"The fifth young lady of the Luo family is so beautiful! Don't you all agree?!" August took the lead in cheering and livening up the atmosphere.

“Yes! She’s a lady-in-waiting in the palace!” Nine-Tailed Fox chimed in.

Seeing Chu Qingluo give him a thumbs-up, he became even more enthusiastic. "Lord Luo—we have a devoted young man here, please take a second look—" With that, Nine-Tailed Fox pushed Tongmu forward.

With this push, Tongmu got a few steps closer to the sedan chair.

Luo Lifei looked at the somewhat bewildered Tongmu, smiled awkwardly, looked around again, and then turned to Chu Qingluo and said, "It's still early, I'll go sightseeing first... I'll be back here in two hours."

Chu Qingluo knew what she was thinking and that she wanted to go to the Goddess Temple to draw a fortune stick again, so she nodded and said, "Good luck, we'll wait for you here."

Luo Lifei's sedan chair was turning around, and Tongmu wanted to follow. Chu Qingluo quickly pulled him back and asked, "She said she would come back here. Are you still planning to follow the sedan chair?"

"Hmm," he replied briefly, indicating his firmness.

This determination forced Chu Qingluo to let go of her hand, and she said, "...Go ahead."

Tongmu nodded and quickly followed Luo Lifei's sedan chair.

Chu Qinglu stared at Tongmu's retreating figure, her feelings incredibly complex. No matter how good Tongmu was, it couldn't compare to the fact that Chu Yilin had already won Luo Lifei's heart.

If Chu Yilin doesn't show up soon, it will truly be a waste of Luo Lifei's good intentions, and Chu Qingluo will regret that she has been helping him all along.

Ji Qiran, who had been staring out the window, saw the sedan chair move and said to Chu Yilin, "The sedan chair is heading east of the city. If you are unmoved, then so be it. Just wait and see what happens."

Seeing Chu Yilin frown, Ji Qiran added, "The person who received Luo Lifei's item should be from Lingnan... almost certainly."

Before Ji Qiran could finish speaking, Chu Yilin jumped up and said, "I'm going out for a bit."

His action was entirely within Ji Qiran's expectations. Ji Qiran smiled and said, "Don't drag it out too long, go and come back as soon as possible."

……

Chu Yilin followed diagonally behind Luo Lifei's sedan chair, without getting too close.

He first surveyed the area around the sedan chair. Besides the sedan bearers and Luo Lifei's entourage, Tongmu was also closely following. There weren't many onlookers along the road, only three or five…

Chu Yilin breathed a sigh of relief, his gaze sweeping over Luo Lifei. She was staring blankly at something in her hand, her head bowed. From his current position, he couldn't make out what it was. But he figured it was probably the object she was going to throw today.

He suddenly became curious about what kind of object Luo Lifei had prepared.

Luo Lifei looked up and saw out of the corner of her eye that Tongmu was still following beside the sedan chair. She couldn't help but say, "Tongmu, we still have a long way to go. You don't need to come with me. I will eventually return to the city center."

Tongmu shook his head and said calmly, "It's alright."

Upon hearing his answer, Luo Lifei instinctively clutched the thing in her hand tighter...

During the tour of the city, they encountered several burly men blocking the front of the sedan chair, demanding gifts from Luo Lifei. However, Luo Lifei scolded them away with a stern face, telling them to go home and look in the mirror instead of blocking the way and scaring people!

Chu Yilin couldn't help but laugh when he saw this. Sure enough, Luo Lifei is Luo Lifei.

The sedan chair arrived at the Goddess Temple, but Luo Lifei had no appetite for the vegetarian meal. She told everyone else to eat in the backyard first, while she went to the statue of the deity to draw a fortune stick.

Chu Yilin stood at the doorway, carefully observing her every move from behind. He watched as she devoutly shook the divination tube, then picked up the bamboo sticks that had fallen to the ground…

He couldn't see the expression on her face, but he noticed that her shoulders seemed to slump slightly...

Chu Yilin frowned. Wasn't this a good sign?

Seeing that she was about to stand up, he quickly hid to the side.

At this moment, Tongmu came up and asked, "Do you need to have your fortune told by the abbot?"

Luo Lifei shook her head and said, "No need."

During the subsequent city tour, Luo Lifei deliberately shortened the journey for the sedan chair bearers, skipping many of the planned destinations, so the sedan chair quickly returned to the center of Yancheng.

At this hour, Chu Qingluo and her group were still having lunch in the lobby of Yibin Pavilion. Jiuwei's seat faced the main entrance, so as soon as Luo Lifei's sedan chair appeared, he immediately shouted, "It's back! The sedan chair is back!"