Chapter 203: Seating Order

On the morning of the twenty-eighth of the twelfth month, Hua Changxi flew away from Lingguang Hall and headed straight for the capital. She arrived at the Medical Department exactly at the fourth ke of the Chen hour (9:00).

Thinking she had come very early, she saw from afar Xu Yaoshi pacing back and forth at the main entrance.

"Oh my heavens, you've finally come."

Seeing Hua Changxi, Xu Yaoshi's eyes lit up and he immediately strode quickly toward her.

Seeing him reaching out as if to grab her, Hua Changxi quickly sidestepped to avoid Xu Yaoshi: "Uncle Xu, speak properly."

Xu Yaoshi had no leisure to argue with Hua Changxi; he said anxiously: "The various hall masters have been arriving since the beginning of the Chen hour, and Prince Shou and the Director entered the council hall a quarter of an hour ago. My dear young lady, now only you haven't arrived."

Hua Changxi showed surprise: "Why did everyone come so early?"

Xu Yaoshi said helplessly: "It's not that others came early, it's that you came late." As he spoke, he quickly led Hua Changxi in a brisk walk toward the Medical Department building.

"Jiuniang, let me tell you, Prince Shou has the worst temper among all the princes. If Prince Shou scolds you later, you must concede and admit your mistake. Whatever you do, don't argue with the prince in public..."

"Also, today all eighteen hall masters are here. No matter what orders come down from above, let's not be the first to stick our necks out. First, see everyone's reaction, then side with the majority."

"Among the eighteen Qihuang Halls, only our hall and Halls No. 11 and No. 12 have no backing. At this time, we must develop quietly. Don't be impulsive..."

Amid Xu Yaoshi's nagging, they arrived at the Medical Department building.

Outside the council hall, Xu Yaoshi seemed to want to give more instructions to Hua Changxi, but seeing this, she quickly stepped into the conference hall.

Half of the first floor of the Medical Department building was occupied by the council hall. In the spacious council hall, the seventeen Qihuang Hall masters, Prince Shou, the Director, and officials of all levels from the Medical Department had all arrived.

As soon as Hua Changxi entered the council hall, it was as if a pause button had been pressed; suddenly it became silent, and everyone looked at her.

Prince Shou and Director Gu sat high in the central hall, while the others sat facing each other on two sides: on the left sat the officials of various ranks from the Medical Department, and on the right sat the Qihuang Hall masters.

Hua Changxi surveyed the people in the council hall and was speechless at their seating arrangement. The seats on both sides were arranged in only one row. Clearly, if they had set up several rows, everyone could be closer to the main seats for easier communication, but they had only arranged one row.

Eighteen desks and chairs were lined up in a single row, with the last chair at least twenty meters away from those at the main seats. At such a distance, could they really hear each other's words?

There were fewer people on the officials' side; twelve people were seated.

Seeing that everyone was looking at her, Hua Changxi steadied her mind, nodded to everyone, glanced at the empty chair at the very end of the right row, hesitated for a moment, then decisively walked over to the officials' side and sat down in the thirteenth chair.

Seeing this, many people showed expressions of interest.

The official sitting in the twelfth chair, seeing Hua Changxi sitting below her, kindly reminded her: "Hall Master Hua, you should sit over there."

Hua Changxi knew the officials present but was not sure of their seating order. However, on the Qihuang Hall side, the seating did not follow the hall numbers. Sitting in the first seat was Seventh Prince Chu Junhao, and Mu Qingying from Hall No. 1 surprisingly sat in the fifteenth chair.

"Is there a special rule about where to sit?"

The seating order certainly had rules: the officials sat by rank, and the Qihuang Hall side sat by the forces they represented behind the scenes. These were unspoken agreements. The No. 12 official could not say directly, and looking at Hua Changxi who was asking humbly, he grinned awkwardly: "Not really."

Hua Changxi immediately smiled: "Since there's no rule, then I'll sit here. It's more convenient here to hear the prince and the director speak."

The No. 12 official: "......"

On the hall masters' side, Tang Yufeng, sitting in the eleventh chair, leaned sideways and whispered to Gu Jinfan, who sat below him: "I've long heard that your Hua Changxi has a strong personality. Seeing her today, she is indeed interesting."

Gu Jinfan gave him a sideways glance: "Interesting? She clearly doesn't understand the rules of officialdom, you know."

Tang Yufeng didn't quite agree with that, but looking at Hua Changxi across the way, who seemed a little tense and unaccustomed to this kind of occasion, he smiled and shook his head. Her background was indeed a bit lacking.

On the main seat, Prince Shou was already angry that Hua Changxi had arrived later than he did; now seeing her sit in the wrong place, he became even angrier. He immediately snorted: "Hua Changxi, last month, No. 13 Qihuang Hall was the last to hand in spirit pills. This month, it's already the last day, and your hall hasn't handed them in yet. Don't you think you owe me an explanation now?"

Hearing this, Hua Changxi only then remembered the matter of handing in spirit pills.

Prince Shou certainly knew that Hua Changxi had only spent half a day at No. 13 Qihuang Hall during the entire twelfth month and hadn't come back to refine spirit pills at all. If she didn't find someone to help, she wouldn't be able to hand in this month's pills: "The Medical Department distributes the full allotment of spirit medicines every month, but you can't hand them back. Since you can't manage No. 13 Qihuang Hall well, I have people by my side..."

As soon as Hua Changxi heard that Prince Shou was again planning to insert someone into No. 13 Qihuang Hall, she decisively interrupted him: "I've already refined the spirit pills. After the meeting, I'll hand them in."

Prince Shou frowned deeply and said in an unpleasant tone: "Then hand them in right now."

Hua Changxi very much disliked being pressured by others, and with everyone in the council hall staring at her with ambiguous expressions, she couldn't help but feel angry. She really had the urge to hit someone. At that moment, a dull pain came from the back of her hand, suddenly waking her up.

"Phew~"

Hua Changxi took a deep breath, quickly composed herself, glanced at Prince Shou, and prepared to take out thirty bottles of the first-grade spirit pills she no longer used from her Sumeru ring. But when she took them out, she realized that the lower-grade and mid-grade pills had been sold at the pharmacy, and the high-grade pills had been distributed to the Vermilion Bird Army at Lingguang Hall. Now she only had first-grade supreme-grade pills in her hand.

Handing over supreme-grade pills to the imperial family—she couldn't bear to part with them.

Hua Changxi looked at the hall masters sitting across, looked at the ones she knew: Chu Junhao, Duan Yuyan, Mu Qingying, Shen Qianfan, and Zhu Qinghuan, and finally her gaze fell on Mu Qingying: "Hall Master Mu, can you lend me thirty bottles of spirit pills? I'll return them after the meeting ends."

At these words, Prince Shou was directly amused, while the others present were also somewhat speechless.

Mu Qingying never expected that Hua Changxi would ask her for a pill under such circumstances; unsure of what to do, she couldn't help glancing at Director Gu above.

Director Gu gave no hint, clearly signaling his disciple not to meddle in other people's business.

Understanding her master's intent, Mu Qingying looked apologetically at Hua Changxi: "I'm sorry, Hall Master Hua, I don't have any spiritual pills on me."

After hearing this, Hua Changxi then looked at Shen Qianfan and Zhu Qinghuan, but both turned their heads away, avoiding her eyes.

Among the acquaintances present, only Chu Junhao and Duan Yuyan remained.

Considering their statuses, Hua Changxi had no intention of asking them; just as she was about to take out the supreme-grade pills, Chu Junhao stood up.

"Uncle, I'll help Hall Master Hua hand in her spiritual pills for this month first. I think she didn't mean to delay. Please give her another chance, Uncle."

Seeing Chu Junhao bowing to plead on her behalf, not only was Hua Changxi stunned, but everyone else present was also greatly surprised.

Prince Shou looked at Chu Junhao; he was quite fond of this nephew and granted him face: "For your sake, I'll let it slide this time. If the Thirteenth Qihuang Hall fails to submit its spiritual pills on time next month, its hall master will be replaced."

Chu Junhao quickly gave thanks: "Thank you, Uncle." Saying so, he produced thirty bottles of spiritual pills in front of everyone.

Just as Prince Shou was about to accept the pills, Hua Changxi shot up from her seat and spoke out to stop him: "Wait a moment."

Everyone's gaze once again converged on Hua Changxi, wondering what she was going to do now.

Hua Changxi looked at Chu Junhao: "Thank you for your kindness, Seventh Prince, but I cannot accept your spiritual pills."

Chu Junhao smiled: "Hall Master Hua, I’ve attended your lectures; we share a teacher-student bond. It’s only right that I help you."

Hua Changxi shook her head: "The help I need is help; the help I don’t need is not help. Take back your spiritual pills." As she finished speaking, she flipped her wrist, and three wooden boxes appeared in her hand.

Everyone watched Hua Changxi curiously until she opened the boxes, and an extremely rich aroma of pills rushed into their noses.

Supreme-grade spiritual pills!

The boxes were made of black iron wood, with excellent sealing properties. Having already taken out the supreme-grade pills, Hua Changxi didn’t want to lose three more boxes. She pulled out a handkerchief and decisively poured out the three hundred pills from the three boxes.

During this time, the scent of pills in the council hall grew stronger and stronger. Watching Hua Changxi's crude actions, everyone was dumbfounded and pained.

"Your Highness, these are the spiritual pills submitted by the Thirteenth Qihuang Hall. Please count them."

With a pained expression, Hua Changxi used her spiritual energy to send the supreme-grade pills wrapped in the handkerchief to Prince Shou, then sat down in silence with a gloomy face, not moving.