Chapter 49: The Hunchback Elder

"How preposterous, simply outrageous!"

A mere errand boy dared to threaten him—Lu Gonggong was truly furious: "I will drive her out of the Errand Hall."

Yu Hui heard this, his eyelids twitching. After hesitating, he still mustered his courage and said, "Lu Gonggong, that Hua Changxi has always been bold. If you expel her from the Errand Hall, she might really dare to make a scene in front of Jia Gonggong, or even resort to some underhanded tactics against you."

Lu Gonggong's face darkened even more upon hearing this. Looking at Yu Gonggong, he asked, "What martial rank is that Hua Changxi exactly?"

Yu Gonggong shook his head: "We've never fought, but my pressure doesn't work on her."

At this, Lu Gonggong sank back into his seat with a gloomy face: "So we just let this slide? Let a mere errand boy lord it over us?"

Yu Gonggong did want to cooperate with Lu Gonggong, because that way they could access more medicinal herbs. More herbs meant more pills refined, and thus more silver earned.

He also disliked giving Hua Changxi a forty percent cut, and her complete lack of reverence toward them displeased him greatly.

"Let's think of a way to teach her a lesson."

The pill refining couldn't stop, but they couldn't let Hua Changxi have the upper hand either.

Yu Hui glanced at Yu Gonggong, then at Lu Gonggong, and reminded them, "The various herb farms are about to start their planting season."

Yu Gonggong looked at Yu Hui, somewhat surprised—this adopted son of his had always been quite good to that Hua Changxi.

Yu Hui's expression stiffened under the gaze, and he immediately declared with righteous indignation, "In my heart, godfather always comes first."

Yu Gonggong showed satisfaction at this and turned to Lu Gonggong: "What do you think?"

Lu Gonggong hesitated: "Going to work at the herb farms would take several months."

He wanted to teach Hua Changxi a lesson, but he also didn't want to delay making money.

Yu Hui shot a quick glance at Lu Gonggong, feeling contempt for him—he wanted to profit from Sister Changxi's skills while simultaneously suppressing her, wanting everything, even greedier than his own godfather.

Yu Gonggong also didn't want to interrupt the pill refining. After thinking for a moment, he said, "I've thought of a way to make Hua Changxi obedient."

Yu Hui tensed up, looking at Yu Gonggong, waiting for him to continue.

Unfortunately, Yu Gonggong said nothing more, only telling Lu Gonggong to wait for news.

Hua Changxi, having just crossed Lu Gonggong and Yu Gonggong, had prepared herself for retaliation. But to her surprise, after waiting a few days, nothing happened.

On the fifteenth day of the second month, Yu Hui told Hua Changxi that Yu Gonggong had acquired another batch of medicinal herbs and asked her to go to No. 9 Qihuang Hall to refine pills, with the same profit split as before.

"I don't know what my godfather is up to—be careful."

In the end, Yu Hui still gave Hua Changxi a warning.

Hua Changxi thanked him and then went straight to No. 9 Qihuang Hall.

Upon arriving at No. 9 Qihuang Hall, Hua Changxi noticed that Xiao Xizi, who was always by Yu Gonggong's side, was not there.

Previously, whenever she came to refine pills, Xiao Xizi was almost always present. Even if he didn't watch her the whole time, he would drop by every now and then.

Hua Changxi looked at the herbs laid out in the courtyard and raised her eyebrows.

The herbs weren't many—they were all already processed.

After examining each herb one by one, Hua Changxi knew these were the ingredients for refining Digang Pills.

Digang Pills are the most needed pills for seventh-rank martial artists, helping them convert their internal force into gangqi.

Naturally, the herbs used by seventh-rank martial artists were extremely precious. Only in the Medical Supplies Department could a storeroom manager easily produce them. Outside, a martial artist might spend many years gathering materials before they could amass enough for a single refinement.

Hua Changxi didn't know what Yu Gonggong was up to. As she processed the herbs for refining, she kept a wary eye on her surroundings.

Soon, she heard several very faint footsteps from outside the courtyard. After a few breaths, the sounds ceased.

Hua Changxi's five senses were now extremely sharp. Though the footsteps had stopped, the breathing sounds remained. Without even stepping outside, she knew that several people were monitoring her from outside Qihuang Hall.

She seemed to guess what Yu Gonggong was planning.

Nine times out of ten, Yu Gonggong intended to frame her for stealing medicinal herbs. The fact that they hadn't rushed in yet probably meant they were waiting for her to finish refining the Digang Pills.

While thinking these thoughts, Hua Changxi didn't stop her pill-refining motions.

The herbs Yu Gonggong had placed in the courtyard were collected according to the Medical Supplies Department's formula for refining Digang Pills, requiring over seventy varieties.

When she refined Digang Pills, she only needed thirty-six.

She had no intention of leaving the excess medicinal materials behind as evidence for those outside. With a sweep of her spiritual power, she reduced them all to dust, then summoned a gust of wind that scattered the powder in an instant.

By now, aside from the ingredients still being refined in the furnace, there was no trace of any other herbs in the courtyard.

Before long, the Digan Pill was finished. Hua Changxi quickly packed the pill into a porcelain bottle and, while the people outside were still reacting, leaped over the wall and left the Ninth Qihuang Hall.

She had no intention of meekly submitting. With the materials gone, once she found a place to hide the finished Digan Pill, even if Eunuch Yu tried to frame her for stealing medicinal ingredients, there would be no physical evidence.

The overall layout of the Medical Department was rectangular. At the front was the Nine Street Medicine Hall, and at the back were the Apprentice Hall and the Servant Hall.

Between the Apprentice Hall and the Servant Hall was a large square.

The Ninth Qihuang Hall happened to be situated at the northwest corner of the Servant Hall. As soon as Hua Changxi vaulted over the courtyard wall, she found herself in the square.

People were chasing her from behind, so Hua Changxi had to run quickly toward the Apprentice Hall.

Directly north of the center of the square stood a huge three-legged stone cauldron. As she ran, Hua Changxi couldn’t help glancing at it a few times.

This stone cauldron looked just like the Shennong Cauldron she had used as a storage container in her former life!

Just as Hua Changxi ran past the stone cauldron, a sudden "weng" sounded in her head, as if something were trying to burst out of her mind.

In an instant, Hua Changxi's face turned ghastly pale. At that moment, she felt only one thing—her head seemed about to explode.

The excruciating pain drained all her strength. Dizzy and lightheaded, she collapsed directly to the ground.

"Quick! Hua Changxi is over by the stone cauldron."

The men Eunuch Yu had arranged to capture Hua Changxi were already closing in.

Hua Changxi's head throbbed so violently that her vision began to blur. She didn't know what was happening to her, but instinctively she channeled her spiritual energy upward toward her head.

As the spiritual energy circulated, the intense pain in her brain gradually subsided.

Seeing that this method worked, Hua Changxi breathed a sigh of relief. Noticing Eunuch Yu's men getting closer, she struggled to get up.

Just then, a creaking sound came from the north side of the stone cauldron. The old courtyard gate, directly facing the cauldron and rarely opened, was pushed open from within.

The next moment, an old man with white hair, his body hunched nearly ninety degrees, leaned on a walking stick and tottered out of the courtyard gate.

The sudden appearance of the hunched old man made Eunuch Yu's men stop in unison.

Hua Changxi stared at the hunched old man walking toward her, utterly stunned.

In the distance, Eunuch Yu—knowing that Hua Changxi would never give in without a fight and worried about failing to retrieve the Digan Pill—had been secretly following behind the men he had arranged. When he saw the hunched old man, his brows instantly knit into a knot.

The hunched old man walked up to Hua Changxi, scrutinized her carefully with a flicker of doubt in his eyes, then circled around her a few times. "Little girl, what's wrong with you?"

Instinctively, Hua Changxi concealed her condition and said casually, "I... low blood sugar."

The hunched old man: "...Would you like to come into my courtyard and rest for a while?"

Hua Changxi found the hunched old man very strange, and his appearance was a bit frightening, so she flatly refused: "I'm fine, no need to trouble you, elderly sir."

Having said that, she struggled to her feet.

The hunched old man looked up at her and smiled. "Little girl, I see a kind face in you. You can come to my courtyard as a guest someday."

Hua Changxi glanced toward the old courtyard with its half-open gate. When her gaze fell on the inside, her head began to throb and swell again.

As she withdrew her gaze, she caught a fleeting glimpse of a magnificent, imposing palace. But when she forced herself to look again through the pain, there was only the dilapidated courtyard.

Too weak to wonder whether she had been hallucinating, Hua Changxi twitched the corner of her mouth, forced a faint smile, and declined: "I'm just a lowly servant; I have duties to attend to every day."

The hunched old man smiled and said nothing more. He turned around unsteadily, cast a glance at Eunuch Yu in the distance, and then hobbled back into the broken courtyard on his cane.

The courtyard gate closed, leaving only Hua Changxi and Eunuch Yu's men in the square.

Hua Changxi's head still ached terribly, making it impossible for her to think about how to deal with Eunuch Yu. She could only wait for them to make the first move and then respond accordingly.

Eunuch Yu stared at the old courtyard gate, then at Hua Changxi. Finally, he waved his hand and led his men away.

Seeing this, Hua Changxi was greatly puzzled, but she couldn't dwell on the reason. Clutching her head and enduring the pain, she hurried back to Bureau Six.

"What about Hua Changxi? Didn't you catch her?"

Eunuch Lu, seeing Eunuch Yu return empty-handed, looked displeased.

Eunuch Yu gave Eunuch Lu a faint glance. "I saw Old Gu at the square."

Eunuch Lu frowned: "Old Gu? What Old Gu?" As he spoke, his expression changed, "You're not talking about that old hunchback, are you?"

Eunuch Yu suddenly didn't want to talk to Eunuch Lu anymore. Even the bureau chief had to show some respect to that person, yet he displayed a contemptuous attitude. It was best to have as little to do with such a person.

"I don't want to continue the matter of dealing with Hua Changxi. As for how you want to cooperate with her, handle it yourself. On my end, I'll still give her the original share."

Hearing this, Eunuch Lu's face turned somewhat unpleasant: "You, a steward in charge of the entire warehouse, are actually afraid of a handyman?"

Eunuch Yu wasn't angry either; at this moment, his mind was entirely occupied by the matter of Old Gu inviting Hua Changxi to his courtyard as a guest.

Old Gu rarely appeared in public, and never casually invited people to his courtyard.

As far as he knew, only three people had been invited by him: one was the head of the Heaven Department, one was the current director of the Medical Department, and one was Celestial Master Zhang from the Celestial Masters' Residence.

Regardless of why Hua Changxi had caught Old Gu's eye, given the status of the three people previously invited by Old Gu, he no longer intended to have conflict with her.

Eunuch Yu let Hua Changxi off, but Eunuch Lu did not want to let her off so easily. After thinking it over, he decided to send Hua Changxi to work at the Herb Manor.

Knowing that Mao Yong and Mao Wei of the Three Forks Herb Manor had a grudge against her, in order to force her to submit to him sooner, he directly added Hua Changxi's name to the list of those going to the Three Forks Herb Manor.