Chapter 37: Saving People

After having the Yuanling Pills, most of Hua Changxi's energy was devoted to improving her realm. In the eyes of the others in the dormitory, except for spending an hour or so washing medicinal materials in the morning, she was almost always resting at other times.

Time flew by, and seven days passed.

On the fifteenth day of the twelfth lunar month, Hua Changxi handed over the cleaned medicinal materials to the Second Bureau as usual, and then prepared to return to her room to practice.

But while passing the ditch, she saw that the menials of the Sixth Bureau had all put down their work and were standing around their respective Third Stewards. The Third Stewards seemed to be assigning some tasks.

Seeing that Du Ruo was also saying something to Lu Qingluo and the others, Hua Changxi thought for a moment and walked over quickly.

Seeing Hua Changxi come over, Du Ruo didn't say anything and continued: "The First Bureau has a batch of medicinal materials that need to be processed before the New Year. Now they are short of manpower and need to transfer some menials from our side to help. Who is willing to go?"

As soon as Hua Changxi heard this, she immediately raised her hand actively: "Steward Du, I am willing to go!"

Wang Yunchu scoffed: "Who wouldn't be willing to go for this kind of thing? You can learn the technique of processing medicinal materials and earn extra income."

Entering the twelfth month, the medicinal materials transported to the Medicine Department were more than half less than in previous months. They only needed to wash 200 stalks of medicinal materials every day.

Although the work was easy, the stipend would also decrease accordingly.

Going to the First Bureau to help wasn't for free. Every year at the end of the year, the First and Second Bureaus would find menials from the Third Bureau to help, and the menials who went to help would receive a subsidy.

Everyone would be tempted by this kind of good thing.

Sister Shi also followed: "That's right, I'm willing to go too."

Sister Lin and Aunt Zhao immediately followed: "We are also willing to go."

Others also echoed.

Du Ruo: "There are only two spots for each group."

Upon hearing this, everyone immediately started discussing.

Wang Yunchu spoke first: "Steward Du, Qingluo's sister is an apprentice in the Apprentice Hall and has taught Qingluo quite a bit of pharmacology. She will definitely have no problem processing medicinal materials."

Du Ruo showed approval: "Qingluo is steady in her ways. Count her as one for going to the First Bureau to help. Then who else will go?"

Hua Changxi spoke again: "Steward Du, I also understand pharmacology and know how to process medicinal materials."

Hearing this, Du Ruo had no reaction but continued to look at the others.

Wang Yunchu and the others looked at each other. Finally, Sister Lin said with a smile: "Let Yunchu go. Although Yunchu's mouth is a bit unforgiving, she has often stood up for us, and she is also clever. If she goes with Qingluo, she will definitely not lose face for our group."

Du Ruo glanced at Hua Changxi, nodded in agreement: "Alright, our group will be Qingluo and Yunchu." After saying this, she turned and left.

Once the steward left, the others also went to wash medicinal materials, leaving Hua Changxi standing there alone.

"Hoo—"

Hua Changxi stood for a while, exhaled a breath of turbid air, turned around, and returned to the dormitory.

Watching her walk away, Wang Yunchu immediately winked at Lu Qingluo: "Sister Qingling was right. A person like Hua Changxi cannot gain a foothold in the Medicine Department."

"I admit, she is very capable. Nowadays, there probably isn't anyone in the Menial Hall who dares to provoke her, but at the same time, no one dares to get close to her."

Lu Qingluo nodded: "Changxi's personality is indeed too solitary." Fighting alone, no matter where, was not feasible.

After returning to the dormitory, Hua Changxi tried hard not to recall the scene of being excluded just now, forcing herself to calm down and start practicing, but the circulation of spiritual energy was always unsmooth.

Hua Changxi had to stop practicing. After all, she would still be affected by others.

She asked herself, she hadn't done anything excessive, so why was the hostility of outsiders toward her so great?

"Did I... do something wrong?"

At home, except for the Sixth Brother, her relationship with her other brothers and sisters wasn't very harmonious. Now that she had arrived at the Menial Hall, she was also unwelcome.

There were many brothers and sisters at home, and conflicts were inevitable, so let's not talk about that for now.

Hua Changxi seriously recalled her experience after entering the Menial Hall.

She didn't wash medicinal materials for Wang Yunchu, didn't swap shifts with Sister Shi; she was just guarding her own boundaries. Even if she was capable, there was no reason to let others exploit her, right?

Was she wrong?

Of course she wasn't wrong. If she didn't do this, that would be the big mistake.

As for taking the initiative to befriend Yu Gui and cooperating with Eunuch Yu to refine medicine, that was even less wrong.

"I'm not wrong!"

She shouldn't doubt herself. Isn't it just not being liked?

Her purpose in entering the Menial Hall was to upgrade data to obtain inheritance and improve her cultivation.

Now these goals were being achieved step by step. As for expanding her network, it was good if she had it, but there was no need to force it if she didn't.

Hua Changxi comforted herself, her mood improved, and she could calm down again when practicing.

Lu Qingluo and Wang Yunchu went to the First Bureau to help the next day. When they returned in the evening, both were happily talking about what they had seen and heard in the First Bureau.

The second day and the third day were the same, but on the fourth day, just after Hua Changxi handed over the cleaned medicinal materials to the Second Bureau and returned, she saw the two of them coming back.

Not only them, but all twenty female menials from the Sixth Bureau who went to help had returned.

Everyone was pale, their expressions enduring.

Hua Changxi glanced at their complexions. Without even going up to ask, she guessed that something must have gone wrong when processing the medicinal materials.

They were just like the menials she encountered on the day she applied for the apprenticeship who had been infected with fire poison while cleaning fire crystal grass.

Seeing Du Ruo and the other three stewards invite Steward Leng over, Hua Changxi didn't look anymore. She thought that with the relationship between Steward Leng and Eunuch Lu, treating Lu Qingluo and these people shouldn't be a big problem.

Steward Leng indeed didn't ignore Lu Qingluo and these people. She went to beg Eunuch Lu, brought back a bottle of pills, and gave them to the twenty female menials who went to help.

Afterward, Lu Qingluo and Wang Yunchu returned to their room to rest.

Everyone thought that after taking the pills given by Eunuch Lu, Lu Qingluo and the others would be fine. Who knew that in the middle of the night, painful groans from Lu Qingluo and Wang Yunchu would sound in the dormitory.

"Qingluo!"

"Yunchu!"

"What's wrong with you?"

Sister Shi and the others lit the oil lamp and were shocked to see Lu Qingluo and Wang Yunchu sweating profusely from pain.

"Why are they ice-cold all over?"

"Look, they are still shivering."

"Qingluo and Yunchu's situation is not right. We must tell Steward Du."

Soon, the people in the dormitory found Du Ruo.

Du Ruo looked at Lu Qingluo and Wang Yunchu's situation and ran to find Steward Leng without saying a word.

"Steward Leng doesn't have a very good temper. Disturbing her so late, I wonder if she will be unhappy?"

"We can't care about that now. Qingluo and Yunchu's situation clearly cannot be delayed."

"I hope Steward Du can come back quickly."

After about half an hour, Du Ruo returned with two packets of medicine: "Hurry up and boil the medicine, then give it to Qingluo and Yunchu."

After taking the medicine, Lu Qingluo and Wang Yunchu's situation improved, and they became quiet.

Seeing this, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

However, by the next morning, the two of them started sweating coldly and shivering again.

"Why aren't they better yet?"

Sister Shi and the others found Du Ruo again. Seeing that Lu Qingluo and Wang Yunchu's illness was recurring, Du Ruo had no choice but to bite the bullet and go to find Steward Leng again.

When Du Ruo arrived, several Third Stewards had already gathered in Steward Leng's room, all there to beg for medicine.

Steward Leng hadn't slept well all night and her face was a bit poor: "Don't be anxious. I asked Eunuch Lu, and Eunuch Lu said that those female menials are fine, they just have to suffer a bit these few days, and it will pass if they endure it."

Du Ruo said anxiously: "But they are shivering. Is this really fine?"

Steward Leng glanced at Du Ruo: "Eunuch Lu said it's fine, then it's fine. If there really is something wrong, then it's their own body's problem."

Du Ruo was silent. After a long while, she gathered her courage again: "Steward Leng, the medicine you gave last night was very effective. Can you give some more..."

Steward Leng directly interrupted Du Ruo: "There is no more. Do you know that I had to beg Eunuch Lu for a long time to get that medicine? One dose costs several taels of silver. I have already done justice to those menials."

"Alright, I'm dizzy. You all go back."

"For those female menials, let them rest in the dormitory if they can endure it. If they can't endure it, let them go home. They can come back when they are better."

Du Ruo and the other Third Stewards looked at each other and left with helplessness on their faces.

In Hua Changxi's view, Lu Qingluo and Wang Yunchu's problem wasn't a big one. After finishing her practice in the morning, seeing Du Ruo go to find Steward Leng again, she went to eat breakfast.

After breakfast, when Hua Changxi walked out of the canteen, she saw Sister Shi calling Lu Qingluo's sister, Lu Qingling.

"Qingluo!"

Lu Qingling was full of anxiety, but she didn't lose her sense of proportion because of her anxiety. She immediately began to check Lu Qingluo's situation. After checking, she asked Sister Shi and the others to help look after Lu Qingluo, and then strode out of the Sixth Bureau.

Watching her appearance, Hua Changxi thought she must be going back to the Apprentice Hall to beg for medicine.

Without continuing to pay attention, Hua Changxi went to the warehouse to collect medicinal materials.

"Sister Changxi."

As soon as Hua Changxi arrived at the warehouse, Yu Gui waved at her.

"Sister Changxi, my foster father has again obtained some discarded medicinal materials and stored them at the Imperial Pharmacy. Remember to go over after finishing your chores today."

Hua Changxi gave an "Mm," pushed the medicinal materials back to wash, and after washing them, went straight to the Imperial Pharmacy.

By the time she returned from the Imperial Pharmacy, it was already dark.

As soon as she entered the Sixth Bureau, she heard pleading cries coming from the backyard.

"Steward Ling, please don't drive me away. I can't live without this job."

"No one is driving you away, just letting you go home to recuperate. You can come back to the Menial Hall when you are better."

"I won't go back. I'll just stay in the Sixth Bureau."

"Don't you know your own body? You moan and groan over a little injury or pain, and others need to rest at night. You will affect others. Listen to me, go home and get better before coming back."

"But if I go back, my family won't hire a doctor for me. Steward Ling, I will endure it. I guarantee I won't make any sound at night and won't affect others."

Hua Changxi walked into the backyard and saw a female menial enduring pain, kneeling in front of Steward Ling Xiao, hugging her legs and pleading bitterly.

In the dormitory further away, similar situations were also happening in several places.

And in the dormitory where she lived, someone was also crying.

"Qingluo, why don't you go find your sister again and see if she can help Yunchu? You know Yunchu's family situation. If she goes home sick, her stepmother will definitely torment her."

Although Lu Qingluo was still very weak at this time, she was no longer sweating coldly, and her complexion had improved a lot.

Obviously, Lu Qingling had obtained medicine from the Apprentice Hall in the morning, reducing Lu Qingluo's pain.

Lu Qingluo looked troubled: "Steward Du, my sister and Yunchu know each other. If she could help, she definitely wouldn't ignore her."

Du Ruo sighed and looked at the others in the room: "You all bear with it more tonight. If Yunchu doesn't want to go home, don't force her."

As soon as the words fell, Wang Yunchu's crying grew louder, with suppressed sounds of enduring pain inside.

Hua Changxi frowned deeply. Driving the injured female menials home—was the Menial Hall not planning to treat them?

Hua Changxi was just about to enter the room when suddenly a scream came from the room next door.

"Sister Zhuang!"

"Come quickly, Sister Zhuang can't breathe!"

Hearing this, Hua Changxi immediately turned and ran toward the room next door.

"Move aside!"

Hua Changxi ran into the room and saw that Sister Zhuang was blue and purple from suffocation. She jumped directly onto the bed and began to implement emergency rescue.

The people in the room were already panicked. Seeing Hua Changxi appear suddenly, they didn't stop her. It wasn't until Sister Zhuang let out an "Ah" and her breathing cleared that they regained their senses.

Looking at this, they discovered that the person who saved her was actually Hua Changxi, who was covered in rumors. Their expressions couldn't help but become complex.

After Sister Zhuang could breathe, Hua Changxi checked her body again. After confirming the cause of her illness, she got off the bed, left the room, and returned to her own dormitory.

In the room, Du Ruo, Sister Shi, and the others saw Hua Changxi, and their expressions were also a bit unnatural.

They had also seen Hua Changxi saving Sister Zhuang outside the room just now.

Hua Changxi didn't care what they thought and looked at Du Ruo: "Steward Du, Lu Qingluo and the others were poisoned because they helped the First Bureau process medicinal materials. The First Bureau should be responsible."

Because Hua Changxi was mixed up with Eunuch Yu from the warehouse, Du Ruo didn't like her at all, but seeing her anxious look to save people just now, the dislike in her heart lessened a bit.

"The pills Qingluo and the others took last night were given by the First Bureau. The people in the First Bureau said that their menials often encounter this situation and all get better by taking these pills."

"It has nothing to do with them that our people took them and it was useless; it's their own body's problem."

Hua Changxi thought for a moment, took out pen, ink, paper, and inkstone from her cabinet, quickly wrote down three kinds of medicinal herbs, and handed them to Du Ruo: "Tell Steward Leng that these three medicines can detoxify the female menials. One dose, and the medicine will cure the illness."

Du Ruo took the prescription, hesitating a bit.

Hua Changxi: "Steward Du, if the First Bureau really often encounters this kind of thing, you just need to give the prescription to Steward Leng."

Du Ruo looked at Hua Changxi and walked out of the room with the prescription.

"The medicine will cure the illness?"

Steward Leng heard Du Ruo's words, her eyes flickered, and her expression changed from previous impatience to curiosity.

Du Ruo nodded: "That's what Hua Changxi said."

Steward Leng paused: "I remember now, this Hua Changxi seems to have been recruited into the Menial Hall by Eunuch Jia himself." As she said this, she stood up.

"I am the steward of the Sixth Bureau after all, and it doesn't look good to watch the people under me suffer. I'll make another trip for them."

Watching Steward Leng really go directly to find Eunuch Lu, Du Ruo felt a sense of relief. She was happy that Wang Yunchu and the others might be saved, but also felt a bit complex because the prescription was brought out by Hua Changxi.

Du Ruo originally wanted to wait for Steward Leng to return and get a definite result before going back, but after waiting for more than half an hour, Steward Leng didn't return, so she had to return to the Sixth Bureau first.

As soon as she returned to the Sixth Bureau, she saw Eunuch Lu and Steward Leng directing people to boil medicine, and Du Ruo couldn't help but be dumbfounded. ===== CHAPTER 38 =====