Chapter 88

After the medicine shop in Feng'an Ward was renovated, Hua Changxi prepared to open for business. Therefore, after taking in An Ze and An Ran, she entered Mount Wuzhi and collected quite a few medicinal herbs for refining martial artist pills.

After becoming more and more proficient with the Somersault Cloud, it now only took Hua Changxi one hour to return to the capital from Mount Wuzhi.

After collecting all the needed medicinal herbs, Hua Changxi played with Shan Ling and Xiao Song for a while, then left and returned to the Hua family before dark.

For the next two days, Hua Changxi stayed at home. Besides cultivating and reading, she would also guide her parents and two brothers. On the day before she returned to the Menial Hall for duty, all four of them successfully guided Qi into their bodies.

On the seventh day of the first lunar month, besides Hua Changxi having to report to the Menial Hall, Hua Silang, Hua Qiniang, and Hua Shi'erniang also had to go to the Count's Prefecture to cultivate.

When the four of them left in the morning, Old Master Hua and Old Madam Hua stood at the door with their sons and daughters-in-law, watching them leave. Everyone had a look of reluctance on their faces.

Seeing that Second Uncle Hua, Second Aunt Hua, Fourth Uncle Hua, and Fourth Aunt Hua all had red eyes, Old Master Hua couldn't help but say: "Alright, stop pulling long faces. Silang and the others are going to win glory for the family; we should be happy."

Upon hearing this, Old Madam Hua muttered: "Jiuniang didn't win glory for the family."

As soon as these words came out, Hua Minghe and Yao Shi's expressions immediately turned bad.

Old Master Hua saw this and glared at Old Madam Hua: "Jiuniang is a blessed one. With Dalang and Shiniang helping, her life won't be bad in the future. Let her do whatever she wants."

Old Madam Hua did not agree with this: "Dalang and Shiniang don't just have Jiuniang as a sibling. If everyone relies on them, won't they be exhausted to death?"

"Isn't Jiuniang very capable? She wouldn't listen to the family and insisted on entering the Medicine Division as a menial servant. If she really has backbone, she shouldn't benefit from the family."

Hearing this, Hua Liulang felt very irritable and couldn't help but say loudly: "Sun Pozi, Big Brother and Shiniang are Jiuniang's own siblings born of the same mother. Why can't Jiuniang benefit from them?"

"Isn't it just that you want Big Brother and Shiniang to help the brothers and sisters in the family? It makes no sense that they help even their cousins but ignore their own sister, right?"

"What kind of logic is that?"

Seeing that Hua Liulang actually dared to talk back openly, Old Madam Hua was stunned on the spot, and then she was furious, cursing Yao Shi:

"Yao Shi, look at the son and daughter you raised, one by one they are unfilial and disrespectful. Is this going to rebel against the heavens?"

If it were in the past, Yao Shi would have listened to Old Madam Hua's scolding in silence. But this time, Yao Shi glanced at Old Master Hua, who did not stop her, ignored Old Madam Hua, walked over, pulled Hua Liulang, and went straight back to their room.

This behavior not only stunned Old Master Hua and Old Madam Hua, but even Second Uncle Hua, Second Aunt Hua, and the others were shocked.

Hua Minghe and Hua Sanlang looked at each other helplessly. Out of filial piety, the father and son couldn't say anything to Old Master Hua and Old Madam Hua; as for Yao Shi and Hua Liulang, they couldn't bear to blame them. In the end, the father and son chose to escape.

"Father, Mother, I am going to duty."

"Grandfather, Sun Pozi, I am going to the medicine shop."

Watching Hua Minghe and Hua Sanlang leave in a hurry, the Hua family fell into silence again.

A look of obvious panic flashed in the eyes of Old Master Hua and Old Madam Hua. They had been able to control the entire Hua family for a long time, largely due to the cooperation of the first branch.

Now that the first branch was no longer cooperating...

Second Aunt Hua looked at the old couple and quickly gave Second Uncle Hua a wink.

Second Uncle Hua saw it. At first, he didn't move, but after being pinched by Second Aunt Hua, he smiled and said: "Father, Mother, don't be angry with Big Brother and Sister-in-law. You still have me and Fourth Brother; we will always be filial to you."

"Fourth Brother, Fourth Sister-in-law, what do you say?"

Fourth Uncle Hua looked at Second Uncle Hua: "Father, Mother, Big Brother, Sister-in-law, and we are all filial to you."

The words of Second Uncle Hua and Fourth Uncle Hua calmed the panic of Old Master Hua and Old Madam Hua.

Yes, they still had the second and fourth branches.

Old Master Hua was incomparably glad at this moment that he had forcibly taken the three portions of pills brought back by Shiniang and distributed one portion each to the second and fourth branches, not letting the first branch dominate.

It hadn't even been long, and the eldest couple already dared to give him and the old woman a cold shoulder. If he really let them dominate, the whole Hua family would probably have to look at their faces to act, and where would his position be?

"Second, Fourth, Father knows you are good. Don't worry too much about Silang, Qiniang, and the others. If you miss them, Father will take you to the Count's Prefecture to see them."

"Father, can we really go to the Count's Prefecture?"

"Last time when Father and the eldest went to the Count's Prefecture to pay respects to the Count, the Count said personally that he would let Father come to play anytime."

Hearing Old Master Hua say this, Second Uncle Hua immediately stepped forward to support Old Master Hua, and Second Aunt Hua also smiled and supported Old Madam Hua. The group returned to the courtyard just like that.

After returning to the main hall, Old Master Hua dismissed everyone. After only he and Old Madam Hua were left in the room, Old Master Hua spoke: "The eldest couple dotes on that girl Jiuniang, and Liulang is also in the same boat with that girl. In the future, you should stop criticizing Jiuniang in front of them."

Old Madam Hua was too lazy to care about Hua Changxi at this moment, but looked at Old Master Hua uneasily: "Has the eldest... really become estranged from us?"

Old Master Hua still understood Hua Minghe. Whether it was practicing martial arts or entering the Six Fan School, the family had fully supported him, and even when he later married Yao Shi, the family had made compromises.

The eldest knew all this in his heart. He knew that he owed the family.

The eldest probably had some misgivings about the distribution of the pills, but to say that he would ignore the family from now on, that would not happen.

On this point, Old Master Hua still had confidence in his son.

Old Madam Hua said with a face full of regret: "We shouldn't have let Yao Shi enter the door in the first place. The children of the second and fourth branches are all filial to us, but the ones born to Yao Shi are simply like they came to take revenge on our family."

Old Master Hua glanced at Old Madam Hua indifferently: "Dalang, Sanlang, and Shiniang are all good. Liulang was influenced by Jiuniang. Of the eldest's five children, the only one with a rebellious bone is Jiuniang."

"Actually, it's fine for Jiuniang to love to toss about. Isn't she trying to find her own way? Let her find it. As long as she doesn't ask the family for anything, let's not interfere in her affairs in the future. Don't let her affect our relationship with the eldest again."

Old Madam Hua hummed: "Yao Shi already dares to give me a cold shoulder, how would I dare to manage Jiuniang? In the future, I will just pretend I don't have this granddaughter."

Hua Changxi knew nothing about the turmoil in the Hua family. After returning to the Menial Hall, she wanted to quickly verify whether teaching others to process medicinal herbs could increase her cultivation speed.

Therefore, after returning from the New Year, the female menial servants of the Sixth Bureau could see Hua Changxi standing on the bank of the ditch, teaching the team members under her how to quickly wash medicinal herbs and the problems to pay attention to when washing them.

"This Hua Changxi is not as unsociable as you said. I see she is quite enthusiastic. Qiuyu also told me that this person is quite responsible."

Steward Zhou, Zhou Ran, returned after the New Year. Hua Changxi took her place as a steward, and she took Hua Changxi's place as a menial servant, working under Du Ruo.

Du Ruo looked at Hua Changxi, who was earnestly guiding Zhou Qiuyu and the others, and her expression was a bit confused. Seeing her good friend Zhou Ran cast a questioning look, she immediately said:

"I didn't lie to you. If you don't believe me, go ask Wang Yunchu and the others to see if Hua Changxi didn't like to talk to people before."

Zhou Ran smiled: "Don't be in a hurry. I didn't say you lied to me. I am just a bit curious about Hua Changxi."

Du Ruo was still thinking about Hua Changxi's change: "... Could it be because she became a steward that Hua Changxi is different from before?"

Zhou Ran smiled: "Of course, a steward will definitely be different. One of the duties of a steward is to urge the people under them to do their jobs well."

"Hua Changxi is an expert at washing medicinal herbs. Seeing that the people under her wash herbs so sluggishly, she might feel that this would make her lose face, so she wants to teach Qiuyu and the others a few tricks."

Du Ruo felt that this should be the reason. Hua Changxi was quite proud, and this sounded like something she would do.

Zhou Ran: "Do you think... we can go over and listen? Qiuyu told me that Hua Changxi's explanation of medicinal herbs is more comprehensive than any medical book she has ever read. Where she didn't understand in medical books, she understood after listening to Hua Changxi's explanation."

Du Ruo discovered that she really didn't understand Hua Changxi, and shook her head: "I don't know either."

Zhou Ran: "Skills learned are one's own. Next time Hua Changxi explains, I will thicken my face and go over to listen, to see if she will drive people away."

Du Ruo did not stop her. Even if Hua Changxi didn't want menial servants from other groups to listen, at most she would drive them away. Zhou Ran might lose face, but nothing else would happen, so she let her go.

There were quite a few people who had the same idea as Zhou Ran. When they saw that Zhou Ran went to listen and was not driven away, more and more people went to listen to Hua Changxi's explanation.

Time flew by, and it was February.

On the first day of February, Hua Changxi finished her own chores and taught Zhou Qiuyu and the others how to wash the medicinal herbs received today. After confirming that they could handle it, she returned to her residence.

As soon as she returned to her residence, Hua Changxi took a look at her cultivation data.

【Realm: Golden Core Realm 20.01 million/10 million】

The realm points had broken through 20 million!

Looking at the fact that her realm points had increased by 10 million in just over a month, Hua Changxi was undoubtedly happy.

The Fire Lotus Hall was put into use on the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month last year. From that day on, her cultivation speed had been increasing continuously.

By now, she could increase her cultivation by 40,000 points for every hour she cultivated.

One month after Mount Wuzhi was opened, the explosive influx of people at the beginning had disappeared. Now, the number of people entering and leaving Mount Wuzhi every day had stabilized, and the cultivation speed was no longer obviously increasing.

She was quite satisfied with this.

Although there were many resources in Mount Wuzhi, if too many people entered and left, it would definitely lead to the rapid consumption of resources. Now that the number of people had decreased, she felt it was quite good.

Although Mount Wuzhi could not bring a significant increase in cultivation speed, she had confirmed that teaching pharmacology could also increase cultivation speed.

At first, because she only taught the ten people under her, Hua Changxi didn't feel this obviously, but later, as more and more female menial servants came to listen, she confirmed that this could really increase cultivation speed.

"Opening Mount Wuzhi, teaching pharmacology..."

"Is the great trend of spiritual Qi recovery to let everyone participate?"

Through these two things, Hua Changxi discovered that she seemed to have found an incredible rule.

Only by doing things beneficial to the spiritual Qi recovery could one get benefits.

Hua Changxi thought through this point, and her heart was burning.

As long as her cultivation speed was fast enough, she could quickly improve her realm; as long as her realm was high enough, no one could bind or harm her, and she could live freely and unrestrainedly.

Hua Changxi was in a good mood and wanted to eat something delicious, so she went to the canteen kitchen.

"Sun Sun Pozi, I want to eat the tofu skin buns you made."

Last year, when Hua Changxi was punished and sent to the Three-Fork Medicine Farm, after Sun Sun Pozi talked to her once, after she returned, Sun Sun Pozi began to befriend her without any avoidance.

Hua Changxi did not feel any malice from Sun Sun Pozi and also wanted to see what she wanted to do, so she let her approach.

Now when she came to the canteen to eat, she ate the special meals Sun Sun Pozi made for her.

Seeing Hua Changxi smiling, Sun Sun Pozi asked with a smile: "What good thing happened today, so happy?"

Hua Changxi smiled: "Now many people in the Sixth Bureau come to listen to me teach the cleaning methods for medicinal herbs. I can feel their admiration for me, and they no longer point fingers at me behind my back like before. Of course, I am happy."

Sun Sun Pozi looked at her curiously while processing ingredients: "I thought you didn't care about these things."

Hua Changxi paused: "The feeling of being liked is naturally better than being hated. I am also a human. Although the opinions and views of outsiders cannot control me, I will also be happy to be recognized and liked."

Sun Sun Pozi smiled and was just about to say something when Steward Qin came in.

Seeing Hua Changxi there, Steward Qin hurriedly asked her to look at her wrist. She had fallen during the New Year, and her wrist started hurting again.

The lighting in the kitchen was poor, so Hua Changxi and Steward Qin went to the front hall.

"Hey, isn't that Steward Leng? Why did she come to the backyard?"

Hua Changxi was massaging Steward Qin's wrist when she suddenly heard the discussion of others in the canteen. She looked up and saw the back of Steward Leng walking away quickly.

Steward Leng suddenly came to the backyard of the Sixth Bureau. Although Hua Changxi also felt it was strange, she didn't think much about it. But a quarter of an hour later, the front yard of the Sixth Bureau suddenly became chaotic.

"It's bad, it's bad, the Embroidered Uniform Guard has surrounded the Sixth Bureau."

A woman in the canteen ran in with a panicked expression.

"Who surrounded the Sixth Bureau?"

"The Embroidered Uniform Guard!"

"What did the Embroidered Uniform Guard come to the Sixth Bureau for?"

"I don't know, they have watched everyone and are coming to the backyard."

Hearing this, Hua Changxi and the others in the canteen all changed their expressions greatly.

Hua Changxi thought of Steward Leng who had just come to the backyard, walked quickly out of the canteen, and returned to her residence.

As soon as she entered the room, she discovered something was wrong. She jumped up and quickly found a wooden box the size of a palm from the gap in the eaves.

Hua Changxi opened the wooden box and saw three pills inside. It was a pity that the sealing of the last step of pill refining was not done well, and the spiritual Qi of the pills leaked out, which made her notice it.

"The Embroidered Uniform Guard is investigating a case, everyone in the backyard come out and stand still!"

Hearing the commotion outside the room, Hua Changxi hurriedly put the wooden box into the Shennong Cauldron, checked that there were no other foreign objects in the room, and then left the house.