Chapter 155: Secure Catch

After wandering around the No. 13 Qihuang Hall for a while, Hua Changxi prepared to leave—without a wooden token, she couldn't crack the teachings inside the No. 13 Qihuang Hall anyway.

Unexpectedly, as soon as she stepped out of the courtyard gate, she ran into the Seventh Prince.

"Manager Hua."

Hua Changxi looked at the Seventh Prince and said with a smile, "I'm no longer a manager now, Your Highness the Seventh Prince, so please don't call me Manager Hua."

The Seventh Prince immediately asked with a warm and refined smile, "Then how should I address you now?"

Hua Changxi said, "My name is Hua Changxi."

Seeing her serious expression, the Seventh Prince didn't try to force intimacy by just calling her "Changxi" but dutifully addressed her by her full name, "Hua Changxi."

"The Prince Uncle has put me in charge of the No. 14 Qihuang Hall, so now we're neighbors, Hua Changxi. I hope you'll guide me in the future."

After saying this, the Seventh Prince smiled and clasped his hands in a bow toward Hua Changxi, his attitude extremely humble and polite, without any of the royal arrogance.

Seeing him like this, Hua Changxi felt even more wary—a person wouldn't treat another well without reason. She smiled and said, "If we're talking about guidance, it should be Your Highness the Seventh Prince who guides me more."

The Seventh Prince heard this and didn't feign modesty; instead, he smiled and said, "Then from now on, we shall guide each other."

Hua Changxi smiled but said nothing.

Seeing this, the Seventh Prince didn't dwell on it and quickly changed the subject: "Oh, by the way, there's something I must tell you. Each Qihuang Hall will be assigned eight pharmacy apprentices, and over the next few days, they will gradually report to their respective halls."

Hua Changxi frowned upon hearing this: "I don't need pharmacy apprentices."

The Seventh Prince smiled and said, "This is a requirement from the Prince Uncle—every Qihuang Hall must have them." He paused. "Although in principle the apprentices are assigned uniformly by the Medical Affairs Bureau, the Prince Uncle has left this matter to me. How about this: you decide the list of apprentices yourself, as long as they are from the Medical Affairs Bureau."

A look of disgust flashed in Hua Changxi's eyes—first handing in thirty bottles of first-grade spirit pills each month, now assigning apprentices. The pill tribute treated them like pill refiners; the apprentice assignment was a way to send people to monitor them. That way, their every move would be under the royal family's watch.

Letting them take over the Qihuang Halls was a pretext; the royal family's real goal was to have them crack the secrets of the Qihuang Halls.

Hua Changxi didn't want to talk any longer, so she said, "Your Highness the Seventh Prince, I still have matters to attend to, so I'll take my leave now."

The Seventh Prince smiled and nodded, watching Hua Changxi leave.

After she had gone far away, the Seventh Prince's attendant, Xiao Li, spoke up: "Your Highness, Hua Changxi is indeed aloof, proud, and unapproachable, just as the investigation showed."

The Seventh Prince didn't mind and smiled, saying, "Sincerity can move even metal and stone. If I sincerely befriend her, in time, I believe she will feel my sincerity."

After leaving the Apprentice Hall, Hua Changxi returned to the Chores Hall. She had originally wanted to go back to her own courtyard to refine pills, but upon entering the Chores Hall, she noticed many cultivators.

Connecting this with the mortal servants she had seen dismissed earlier, Hua Changxi's heart stirred. Swapping in cultivators to do menial labor—the number of cultivators under the royal family's control was far beyond her imagination.

Soon, Hua Changxi saw rows of lines in the central courtyard of the Chores Hall. Drawing closer, she realized it was the new manager of the Chores Hall testing everyone's spiritual roots.

Those with spiritual roots stayed, while those without had to leave.

The Chores Hall had several thousand people, all strong and healthy, so the number of people found to have spiritual roots was not small. Hua Changxi stood by and watched for a while—in less than an hour, twenty or thirty people had been detected with spiritual roots.

"No wonder the royal family has so many cultivators. With this kind of large-scale spiritual root testing, doing it several times will inevitably accumulate a considerable number."

Hua Changxi didn't stay long. Thinking about the many personnel changes in the Chores Hall recently, she took a walk around the various areas. Apart from the increase in cultivator servants, the storeroom was now piled high with many medicinal herbs, spiritual plants, and spiritual fruits.

"Does the royal family really think the Dānshèng Hall is already in their pocket?"

With so many cultivators added to the Chores Hall, Hua Changxi didn't dare return to her courtyard to refine pills. She left the Medical Affairs Bureau directly and returned to the Shennong Medicine Shop in Feng'an Ward.

Over the next few days, while Mu Qingying and the others gradually moved into their Qihuang Halls, Hua Changxi focused on refining pills and cultivating in the medicine shop.

[Realm: Infant Transformation Realm 9.9999 billion / 10 billion; Divine Sense: 110,000+]

During cultivation, Hua Changxi found that she had hit a bottleneck—no matter what, her cultivation couldn't break through the ten-billion mark. After trying many methods to no avail, she had no choice but to spend her time on pill refining and body tempering.

On the day of October 22, after lunch, Hua Changxi was hesitating whether to return to the Hua residence early when Hua Dalang arrived.

"Big Brother."

Hua Dalang looked at Hua Changxi: "Tomorrow is my engagement banquet as the eldest brother. Are you really planning to show up like a guest and only come tomorrow?"

"Third Aunt and Second Lady, Fifth Lady, and the others have all returned. Among the siblings at home, other than Tenth Lady, you're the only one missing."

"Come on, go home with me."

Hua Changxi did not refuse. She followed Hua Dalang back to the Hua residence.

"Ninth Lady is back!"

Hua Changxi followed Hua Dalang back to the Hua family courtyard. As soon as they entered, the crowd, which had been chatting and laughing, suddenly fell silent.

Seeing everyone looking at her as if she were a rare guest, Hua Changxi felt rather uncomfortable.

Just then, Yao Shi, who had been busy in the kitchen, came out and looked at Hua Changxi: "...It's good that you're back."

After Hua Changxi had greeted everyone, Hua Dalang said, "Jiumiang, come with me to pay respects to Grandfather and Grandmother."

Hua Changxi was silent for a moment, then followed Hua Dalang into the main hall.

In the main hall, Old Master Hua and Old Madam Hua sat in the seats of honor. On the left and right chairs sat the three brothers Hua Minghe, and the three sons-in-law: Uncle Shen, Second Brother-in-law Cao, and Third Master He.

"Grandfather, Grandmother, I'm back."

Hua Changxi stepped forward to offer her greetings.

Old Madam Hua immediately smiled and said, "It's good that you're back. Except for Shiniang, who can't come home, all the brothers and sisters of your generation are now gathered. Everyone can get together and bond well."

After speaking, she quickly shot a glance at Old Master Hua.

Seeing this, Old Master Hua gave a nonchalant "Mm" and said, "It's good that you're back. Your mother is busy over there—go help her quickly."

Hua Changxi said, "Okay."

After greeting everyone else in the room, Hua Changxi left the main hall.

Seeing that the two had no conflict, everyone in the main hall secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

"Jiumiang."

When Hua Changxi came out of the main hall, Hua Liulang approached her with a look of guilt: "Jiumiang, the Sheng family's status is much higher than ours. I was worried that Sheng's relatives and friends might look down on our family tomorrow, so I took the liberty of bringing back a batch of spirit rice and spirit fruits planted around the spirit mine. Please don't be angry with me."

Hua Changxi looked at him and frowned: "Sixth Brother, it's just some spirit rice and spirit fruits. Do you really think I'm that petty?"

Hua Liulang shook his head: "I didn't think that. I just acted first and reported later."

Hua Changxi knew this was the aftermath of her big quarrel with the old master last time. After a moment's thought, she said, "Sixth Brother, regarding the spirit mine at Triple Fork Medicine Valley, aside from the spirit stones, you can discuss and handle everything else with Old You and the others on your own, as long as you don't get tricked by them."

Hearing this, Hua Liulang immediately grinned widely: "Alright, I know what to do from now on." Then his expression turned serious, "How could I possibly be tricked? I'm not stupid."

Hua Changxi laughed: "Old You and the other three are seasoned veterans. You're just a greenhorn. Study hard."

Hua Liulang promised to study hard, then headed to the backyard to help tidy up the rooms.

Hua Changxi asked in confusion: "Tidy what rooms?"

Hua Liulang jerked his chin toward the main hall: "Third Uncle-in-law, Second Brother-in-law, and Third Master He are all staying at our place tonight."

Hearing this, Hua Changxi quickly glanced at Hua Wuniang, who was playing with a baby in the courtyard. Seeing her rosy complexion and bright eyes, it was clear that her life was indeed comfortable.

"A marquis's son actually staying overnight in our courtyard..."

Hua Liulang also found it strange that Third Master He was staying over. If he were really Fifth Sister's husband, it would be normal for him to stay, but Fifth Sister was only his concubine.

"Jiumiang, Third Master He is a son-in-law of the Fourth Branch. We of the First Branch shouldn't meddle."

Hua Changxi looked at him: "Do I look like someone who meddles?" After a pause, "As long as he doesn't provoke me, he can do whatever he wants."