Chapter 15: Menial Hall

After Hua Changxi arrived at the Medical Department, she prepared to enter through the main gate. The gate guard, upon learning that she was going to report to the Menial Hall, told her in a not-so-good tone that menials could not use the main entrance and could only enter and exit the Medical Department through the side gate.

Hua Changxi was stunned for a moment, asked for the location of the side gate, and took a huge detour before entering the Medical Department. After walking for half an hour, she finally stood outside the Menial Hall.

This time, Hua Changxi didn't see Eunuch Jia. As soon as she entered the Menial Hall, she was summoned by Xiao Luzi, the eunuch who had sent her away yesterday.

Xiao Luzi didn't pay much attention to her and summoned a young woman in her twenties.

"Xiangru, this is a newly recruited menial. Put her wherever there is a shortage of people."

Leng Xiangru sized Hua Changxi up and told her to wait at the door.

Hua Changxi stood outside the door. Perhaps because of her cultivation, she discovered that her five senses had become much more sensitive, and the whispers in the room kept reaching her ears.

"Eunuch Lu, this isn't the time to recruit menials. What's the background of this person?"

"Heh, what background could there be? It's just that she happened to help Godfather with a small favor, so she shamelessly begged for a job in the Menial Hall."

"Doesn't that mean that Hua Changxi has caught Eunuch Jia's eye?"

"Hehe, what nonsense are you talking about? Is Godfather's eye so easy to catch?"

"Yes, yes, yes, Xiangru said the wrong thing. Eunuch Jia is a person from the palace; what big figures hasn't he seen? How could he look up to a little girl?"

"That Hua Changxi is a good hand at processing medicinal herbs. In the future, when you are assigned to process difficult medicinal herbs, use her. If she didn't have any use, I wouldn't have given her to you."

"I knew Eunuch Lu cared about me."

"Hmm, go. We'll talk properly tonight."

"Annoying, then I'll take the person away."

Leng Xiangru came out of the room with a smile on her face. Seeing Hua Changxi standing properly without looking around, she smiled: "She's an honest one. Come with me."

Hua Changxi didn't show any emotion on her face, but her heart was not calm at all.

The tone of the two people in the room just now was too greasy; one could tell at a glance that their relationship was not ordinary.

"Du Ruo, come over here."

Leng Xiangru led Hua Changxi to a courtyard with a plaque of the Sixth Bureau and beckoned to a woman in her thirties.

"Manager Leng."

Du Ruo was leading several subordinates to clean a batch of medicinal herbs. Hearing Leng Xiangru call, she immediately put down her work and trotted over.

Leng Xiangru pointed to Hua Changxi: "This is a newly arrived menial. She will follow you from now on. You are responsible for training her."

Du Ruo immediately agreed: "Manager Leng, don't worry. I will train her well."

Leng Xiangru looked around at the menials working in the courtyard. Seeing that no one was slacking off, she turned and left.

As soon as she left, the menials who had been working hard a moment ago couldn't help but size up Hua Changxi one after another.

Hua Changxi was also secretly sizing up everything in the courtyard.

The courtyard was the size of a football field, and there were over a hundred female menials inside, with at least two carts of medicinal herbs waiting to be cleaned behind each menial.

"How old are you?"

Hua Changxi quickly withdrew her gaze and said quickly: "Thirteen."

Du Ruo took off the apron in front of her and asked while taking it off: "Listening to your accent, you are a local from the capital, right?"

Hua Changxi nodded: "Hmm."

Du Ruo: "Can't your family survive?"

Hua Changxi gave an uncomprehending "Ah."

Seeing her like this, Du Ruo showed a strange expression: "If your family can survive, then why did your family let you, a young girl, come out to be a menial?"

Hua Changxi said vaguely: "I want to learn medical skills."

Du Ruo smiled: "Learn medical skills? Then you've come to the wrong place. The Menial Hall doesn't teach people medical skills. You should go to the Apprentice Hall and the Disciple Hall."

Hua Changxi: "... I can't get in."

Du Ruo didn't speak, having roughly figured out the situation of her new subordinate.

Her family background was ordinary to below average; otherwise, she wouldn't have thought of running to the Menial Hall to learn medicine.

Du Ruo noticed that her subordinates on the side were still looking over here constantly and couldn't help but scold: "What are you looking at? Don't you want to sleep tonight? Hurry up and work!"

After speaking, she looked at Hua Changxi: "Let's go, I'll take you to the Internal Affairs Court to collect things."

Hua Changxi hurriedly followed.

When the two walked out of the courtyard, more male menials came over pulling carts of medicinal herbs.

Seeing this, Du Ruo's expression was not very good: "I don't know how busy we will be tonight." Saying this, she glanced at Hua Changxi.

"You are unlucky. The time you entered the Menial Hall is wrong. Every year, the ninth and tenth months are the busiest times for the Menial Hall."

"According to the rules, for the first three months of a new person entering the Menial Hall, cleaning and processing 200 medicinal herbs every day counts as completing the job."

"But the ninth and tenth months won't work. Even if you are a newcomer, you have to clean and process 500 medicinal herbs every day."

Hua Changxi tentatively asked: "What if I can't finish cleaning them?"

Du Ruo looked at her with a half-smile: "That won't happen, because if you can't finish cleaning, you aren't allowed to sleep."

Afterward, regardless of Hua Changxi's reaction, she continued to speak while walking.

"People outside all think the Medical Department is a government office and think that even if you come in to be a menial, it is a glorious thing."

"But a menial is a menial, and it's no different from other places. Instead, because the Medical Department uses a large amount of medicinal herbs, the job is even more burdensome than elsewhere."

"The Apprentice Hall and the Disciple Hall are eyed by all parts of the capital as soon as there is news of recruitment. But when the Menial Hall recruits people, anyone with a bit of family background wouldn't even look at it."

Du Ruo looked back at Hua Changxi and asked with a smile: "Do you still want to enter the Menial Hall now?"

Hua Changxi hurriedly expressed her determination: "Of course. Manager Du, don't worry, I will work hard in the Menial Hall."

Hearing her say this, Du Ruo raised her eyebrows, smiled, continued to walk out, and began to talk about other matters of the Menial Hall.

"The Menial Hall is managed by Eunuch Jia, Eunuch Sun, and Eunuch Zhao who came out of the palace. The three eunuchs each manage one department, and each department is divided into ten bureaus, with about a hundred people in each bureau."

"We are in the Sixth Bureau of the Third Department managed by Eunuch Jia."

"The people with the highest status in the Third Department are Eunuch Jia, and then Eunuch Fu, Eunuch Lu, and Eunuch Shou. They are the three great managers of the Third Department."

"Of the ten bureaus of the Third Department, the first, second, and third bureaus are managed by Eunuch Fu; the fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh bureaus are managed by Eunuch Lu; and the eighth, ninth, and tenth bureaus are managed by Eunuch Shou."

"Each bureau has a second manager, and under the second manager, there are ten third managers, each managing ten people."

"Manager Leng, who handed you to me earlier, is the second manager under Eunuch Lu. And I am the third manager under Manager Leng."

"If you have any difficulties in the future, you can come find me. If I can't handle it, I'll go find Manager Leng. Remember, don't find the wrong person."

Seeing Hua Changxi not speaking, Du Ruo smiled: "Did you understand?"

Hua Changxi nodded: "I understood. Manager Du, are the other bureaus as big as our Sixth Bureau?"

Du Ruo: "Some bureaus are even bigger than our Sixth Bureau."

Hua Changxi exclaimed: "Then the Menial Hall is really big."

The Menial Hall has three departments, each with ten bureaus, and each bureau is at least the size of a football field. No wonder they hadn't left the Menial Hall after walking for so long.

Du Ruo smiled: "The Menial Hall only has the advantage of occupying a vast area. The Apprentice Hall and the Disciple Hall combined are not as big as the Menial Hall."

Seeing that Du Ruo was easy to talk to, Hua Changxi dared to ask more questions: "Manager Du, besides cleaning medicinal herbs, do we do other jobs on weekdays?"

Du Ruo asked back: "Why, do you still want to do other jobs?"

Hua Changxi smiled shyly: "I'm just asking."

Seeing that she was young, Du Ruo didn't say much: "Cleaning and processing medicinal herbs is not the most tiring and bitter job in the Menial Hall. You just saw those people pulling medicinal herbs."

"The ones pulling carts, as well as the menials who go to the medicine farms, medicine mountains, and medicine valleys to pick herbs, are the most hard-working. Those are all heavy physical labor."

Hua Changxi asked again: "Will we be arranged to pick herbs?"

Du Ruo glanced at her: "Unless you make a mistake and are punished. Otherwise, generally speaking, heavy physical labor is done by male menials, and female menials only stay in the Menial Hall to process medicinal herbs."

During the conversation, the two finally left the Menial Hall. After leaving the Menial Hall, they walked for another quarter of an hour before arriving at the Internal Affairs Court.

When new menials reported, Hua Changxi received a menial waist token, two sets of menial clothes, and a set of bedding.

Du Ruo: "The front of the Sixth Bureau is the place for processing medicinal herbs, and the row of rooms at the back is the place for eating and sleeping, with ten people in one room."

Hua Changxi looked at the bedding: "Manager Du, must I live in the Menial Hall?"

Du Ruo smiled: "You aren't still thinking of going home to sleep, are you? You'd better have a bottom line in your heart; in the future, you might have to work until midnight every day."

Hua Changxi was numb, holding the things and following behind Du Ruo to walk back.

When they were about to reach the gate of the Sixth Bureau, Hua Changxi saw from afar a woman wearing the same manager's clothes as Du Ruo laughing and talking with a middle-aged man. The two were very intimate in their words.

Soon, the two also noticed Hua Changxi and Du Ruo walking over and couldn't help but stop laughing and talking.

"Manager Niu."

Du Ruo took the initiative to greet the middle-aged man.

The man was the second manager of the Fifth Bureau. Although Du Ruo was not his subordinate, when encountering someone with a higher rank than her, she still had to greet him.

Before the man could speak, the woman standing beside him spoke first: "Manager Leng is really biased. As soon as a newcomer arrived, she immediately gave her to you, Sister Du."

Du Ruo glanced at her: "Ling Xiao, if you want a newcomer, you can go tell Manager Leng. I was really short of hands, so Manager Leng supplemented me."

Ling Xiao chuckled and wanted to make a few sarcastic remarks, but seeing Manager Niu glance at her, she could only turn her head away in displeasure and say nothing more.

Du Ruo looked at Manager Niu: "There are still many jobs to do today, so I'll go get busy."

Hua Changxi hurriedly followed Du Ruo. After walking a few meters, she could still hear the cold snort of Ling Xiao coming from behind.

Du Ruo: "Manager Niu is the second manager of the Fifth Bureau, and Ling Xiao is the same as me, both third managers of the Sixth Bureau. She and I don't get along. In the future, if you run into her, stay away from her."

Hua Changxi: "I'll listen to Manager Du."

Soon, Hua Changxi was led by Du Ruo to a room.

"You will live here from now on. The people living inside are all under my management. You should get along well with them in the future."

Looking at the ten-person communal bed in front of her, Hua Changxi, who valued privacy, felt somewhat collapsed inside.

"You tidy up first. After you tidy up, come find me. Today is your first day on the job; just clean and process 200 medicinal herbs."

After Du Ruo left, Hua Changxi sat on the bed and let out a breath.

She had thought of the Menial Hall too simply before. After Manager Du told her the structural framework of the Menial Hall, she had a premonition that the personnel inside were definitely not simple.

Sure enough, on the first day she came, she first discovered that Eunuch Xiao Luzi and Manager Leng had an unusual relationship, and then discovered that another third manager of the Sixth Bureau and the second manager of the Fifth Bureau were close friends.

It was simply a mess!

Hopefully, these complex personnel matters would not affect her. ===== CHAPTER 16 =====