Chapter 28: Golden Phoenix

The Hua family.

After Lady Yao pulled her daughter back into the room, she brought out the braised delicacies, sweets, and fruits she had prepared early: "Knowing your Fifth Sister was going out, I knew you would return; your father, your Third Brother, and your Sixth Brother prepared all these for you."

Hua Changxi picked up a braised pig's trotter and began gnawing on it: "Mother, you don't know how terrible the food in the Labor Hall is; look, I've starved myself thin."

Lady Yao looked at her daughter, whose complexion was even more ruddy than when she was at home, and found it amusing: "If the Labor Hall is so bad, then just come home."

Hua Changxi shook her head hurriedly: "I won't; one must see things through from start to finish. Since I entered the Labor Hall, I am determined to make a name for myself there."

"I want Grandfather and Grandmother to see clearly that it is not only boys who can achieve great deeds; girls can do the same."

Lady Yao never discouraged her children's enthusiasm; she sat beside her daughter, looking at her with concern: "The Labor Hall must be very hard, right?"

Hua Changxi shook her head: "It's not hard; in the Labor Hall, I am only responsible for cleaning medicinal herbs, which is not hard for me at all."

Servants in the Labor Hall performed nothing but physical labor; how could it not be hard? Lady Yao only felt her daughter was unwilling to complain before her; knowing her daughter's strong-willed nature, since she did not speak of it, she would not ask further.

Not seeing Hua Minghe, Hua Changxi asked: "Mother, where is Father? Why haven't I seen him?"

Lady Yao's face showed worry: "Your father accepted an assignment and has left the capital to handle a case."

Hua Changxi frowned, putting down the pig's trotter: "Why has he left the capital to handle a case again? How long will this take?"

Lady Yao shook her head: "Your father didn't say; he only said he would return once the case was settled."

At that moment, Hua the Sixth entered; after first asking how Hua Changxi was faring in the Labor Hall, he said: "Mother, Grandfather has summoned you both to the main hall."

Upon hearing this, Hua Changxi's face fell: "Grandfather and Grandmother are about to scold and reprimand me publicly again."

Lady Yao fell silent for a moment, pushing the half-eaten pig's trotter toward Hua Changxi: "Eat first; we will go over after you finish."

Hua Changxi ate slowly and deliberately, dawdling for over a quarter of an hour before finally following Lady Yao and Hua the Sixth to the main hall.

Inside the main hall, the entire Hua family was present.

Old Master Hua looked at Hua Changxi, seeming hesitant to speak; finally, he glanced at Old Mistress Hua, signaling for her to speak.

Old Mistress Hua said: "...How have you been faring in the Medical Bureau's Labor Hall?"

Hua Changxi immediately began complaining: "Grandmother, I have suffered terribly in the Labor Hall; look, haven't I become thinner and darker?"

Old Mistress Hua looked at her ninth granddaughter's fair and ruddy face; she really wanted to spit in her face, but instead gritted her teeth and said: "You have truly suffered greatly indeed."

Hua Changxi nodded vigorously: "Isn't it suffering? But Grandfather and Grandmother, rest assured; for the sake of the Hua family, I can endure hardship, and I will certainly achieve success in the Labor Hall."

"When I return after mastering my studies, I will come home in glory, bring honor to our ancestors, and illuminate our family name."

"Therefore, Grandfather and Grandmother, could you stop focusing solely on the boys in the family and allocate some resources to the girls as well? Perhaps the family may not produce a qilin son, but might instead give rise to a golden phoenix."

Old Mistress Hua was amused by her words: "A golden phoenix? Are you referring to yourself?"

Hua Changxi felt slightly embarrassed: "Perhaps it is me."

She was a transmigrator, after all; if she hadn't obtained a cultivation opportunity, that was one thing, but now that she could cultivate, was it too much to dream of becoming a golden phoenix?

"So, Grandmother, you can invest in me now; let Third Brother and Sixth Brother visit me more often at the Labor Hall and bring me some good food and drink. When I truly rise to power in the future, I will be able to support the family in return."

Old Mistress Hua snorted coldly: "If we don't let your Third Brother and Sixth Brother visit you, then you won't support the family?"

Hua Changxi spoke with righteous confidence: "Of course not; Grandmother, you were born into a merchant family, so you should understand the principle that one must give something to gain something. Wanting to share in the spoils without investing is simply freeloading."

Old Mistress Hua's hands began to itch: "Hua the Ninth, you have truly become capable; after just one month in the Labor Hall, your skin has grown thicker and thicker—no, not just your skin, but your tongue has become increasingly poisonous as well."

"Tell me, were those words you spoke today to your Great-Uncle appropriate?"

Hua Changxi's expression remained indifferent: "Why would they be inappropriate? Everything I said was the truth."

Seeing her act like a dead pig unafraid of boiling water, Old Mistress Hua was furious: "That mouth of yours will sooner or later bring disaster upon this family."

"Your Eleventh Brother is set to enter the Martial Academy together with several grandsons from your Great-Uncle's branch; we are counting on them to look after Eleventh."

"And your Fifth Sister is still relying on help from the Marquis's mansion; we cannot speak directly to the Marquis's household and can only beg your Great-Uncle to mediate on our behalf."

"Yet you go and offend them with all your might; do you not realize that by doing so, you are harming Fifth Sister?"

Hearing this, Hua Changxi became angry: "I am harming Fifth Sister? Who exactly is harming Fifth Sister? Who forced Fifth Sister to become a concubine?"

"If the eldest branch of the clan is the primary culprit, then you are the accomplices."

"If only you had not forced Fifth Sister to become a concubine, she would not have suffered the humiliation from the Marquis's steward and elderly nurse today, nor would she have dared not utter a single word in protest."

These words struck Old Master Hua's sore spot; his face turned iron-green as he lifted the teacup from the table and smashed it violently onto the floor, his chest heaving up and down, glaring at Hua Changxi with full fury, looking utterly enraged.

Seeing this, Lady Yao quickly signaled to Hua the Sixth with her eyes.

Hua the Sixth, seeing the signal, steeled himself and stepped forward to grab Hua Changxi, directly dragging her out of the main hall.

Just as they were about to exit the main hall door, Hua Changxi turned back and shouted one more sentence.

"Believe it or not, with the attitude you showed today of handing everything over to Hua Tai and his wife to handle, if anything happens to Fifth Sister in the Marquis's household, they will only notify Hua Tai and his wife; by the time they inform us, it will already be too late."

Seeing his sister still fanning the flames, Hua the Sixth used all the strength he could muster to drag her away: "Ninth Sister, how has your strength increased? I can barely pull you along."

Hua Changxi paused briefly: "Perhaps it is because I have done so much miscellaneous work."

Hua the Sixth said: "Didn't you say that servants in the Labor Hall are always bullied? How is it that not only have you not learned to be obedient after entering the Labor Hall, but your temper has grown even worse?"

Hua Changxi remarked with deep implication: "People are different from one another."

Why did she have such confidence today?

Was it not because her realm points had broken through 1000, increasing her combat power significantly? Once her realm improved further, even if the Marquis's household had high-grade martial artists as guards, she would dare to attack their gates.

Speaking of martial artists, Hua Changxi grabbed Hua the Sixth: "Sixth Brother, let us go to your room."

Hua the Sixth was puzzled: "What do we need to go to my room for?"

Hua Changxi said: "The family's few martial arts manuals are all with you; I want to take a look."

Hua the Sixth laughed: "What, do you want to practice martial arts?"

"Is that not allowed?"

Upon reaching the room shared by Hua the Third and Hua the Sixth, Hua Changxi pushed the door open directly: "Sixth Brother, do not underestimate me; beware that one day I become a martial arts expert and scare you to death."

Hua the Sixth did not take Hua Changxi's words to heart at all; smiling, he went to fetch the books, soon retrieving three volumes from the bookshelf: "Anecdotes of the Capital Martial Academy," "Strolling on Waves," and "Mount Wuzhi."

"Mount Wuzhi?"

Hua Changxi flipped through *Mount Wuzhi* first: "The name of this technique sounds quite domineering."

Hua Liulang looked puzzled: "Where is it domineering? It looks quite ordinary to me."

Hua Changxi let out an "Oh" and said casually, "I once read a storybook where a monkey was suppressed by the Buddha's Mount Wuzhi."

"?"

Hua Liulang: "Exactly, that's the Mount Wuzhi I practice."

Hua Changxi showed regret: "Then the power of this Mount Wuzhi is somewhat weak. I've seen you practicing in the courtyard usually, but you haven't achieved anything notable."

Hua Liulang was speechless: "Mount Wuzhi is very powerful. Father earned merit to copy this from the Ministry of Justice's library tower. It's said that when a Grandmaster uses Mount Wuzhi, they can kill anyone within fifty meters."

"Your Sixth Brother is merely a First-Rank martial artist still cultivating blood; naturally, I cannot unleash the power of the Cloud-Splitting Palm."

After finishing *Mount Wuzhi* and *Lingbo Micro-Steps*, Hua Changxi finally flipped through *Anecdotes of the Capital Martial Academy*.

"First-Rank martial artists cultivate blood, Second-Rank cultivate bone, Third-Rank cultivate organs, Fourth-Rank connect meridians, Fifth-Rank cleanse marrow, Sixth-Rank unlock shackles, Seventh-Rank transform internal force into qi armor, Eighth-Rank project qi armor externally, and Ninth-Rank Grandmasters can borrow the power of heaven and earth."

"Ninth-Rank can borrow the power of heaven and earth..."

What does this mean?

Does borrowing the power of heaven and earth mean she can cultivate like this?

Hua Changxi gazed thoughtfully at the introduction to martial artists at the beginning of *Anecdotes of the Capital Martial Academy*.

Seeing his sister motionless, Hua Liulang waved his hand before her eyes: "Stunned silly?"

Hua Changxi came to her senses and smiled at Hua Liulang: "?"

Hua Liulang glanced disdainfully at *Anecdotes of the Capital Martial Academy*: "I begged Big Brother for ages to bring back a couple more martial arts manuals, but what did Big Brother do? He just brought back one copy of *Anecdotes of the Capital Martial Academy* to fob me off."

Hua Changxi flipped through *Anecdotes of the Capital Martial Academy*: "The stories in here are quite interesting."

Hua Liulang snorted: "Interesting my foot; it's all just brawling and fighting among academy members. I'm not a child who likes stories; I want to practice martial arts."

Hua Changxi smiled at him: "Sixth Brother, I have a way to rapidly increase your martial prowess."

Hua Liulang immediately widened his eyes: "Really? How to increase it?"

Hua Changxi: "Take medicinal pills."

Upon hearing this, Hua Liulang's face immediately fell: "I know taking medicine can rapidly increase martial prowess, but the question is, do I have the silver to buy pills?"

"Do you know that a single Qi and Blood Pill for a First-Rank martial artist costs five taels of silver? Given our family's situation, can we afford to eat them?"

Hua Changxi said no more; she could refine pills up to the Sixth Rank, but she currently lacked medicinal ingredients: "Sixth Brother, you must treat me well; perhaps I really can obtain some pills for you."

Hearing his sister say this, Hua Liulang ultimately felt a spark of hope: "Have I not treated you well?"

Hua Changxi shook her head: "No, you haven't. I've been in the Menial Hall for a month, and you haven't once come to see me."

Hua Liulang scratched the back of his head: "Grandfather and Grandmother wouldn't allow it."

Hua Changxi snorted: "If they don't allow it, you just don't go? And here I was hoping you would come visit me."

Hua Liulang: "?"

Hua Changxi: "Just tell me, will you go see me or not?"

Hua Liulang nodded hurriedly: "Go, go, go! I definitely will."