Chapter 40: Reversing the Heavenly Dipper
『Compendium of Processing（Perfection）: Processing Medicinal Herbs 6543/10000』
Hua Changxi glanced at the data, then at the more than thirty baskets of Ironwood Root piled up in the courtyard. She said to Steward Qin, who was still telling her, “The task is heavy, and all this Ironwood Root must be processed today,” “I’m going to work.”
It was obvious that she had returned to the Sixth Bureau to rest at 4:00 PM yesterday and had not worked overtime. Eunuch Bao felt that he hadn’t squeezed her dry yet, so he increased the workload today.
The apprentices from the Apprentice Hall in the same group looked at the even more Ironwood Root in the courtyard than yesterday with solemn expressions. However, considering that Hua Changxi had processed most of the Ironwood Root yesterday, they didn’t immediately show any emotions.
That day, Hua Changxi sped up the processing of Ironwood Root again. Yesterday, she had thought about leaving some Ironwood Root for the apprentices in the Apprentice Hall to process and had intentionally controlled her speed. Today, there was no need for that.
At 4:00 PM, the Ironwood Root in the courtyard was completely processed.
Under Steward Qin’s somewhat blank gaze, Hua Changxi clocked out on time and returned to the Sixth Bureau to eat and rest.
The expressions of the apprentices from the Apprentice Hall were also a bit stiff, but they still followed her sheepishly and quickly left the First Department.
“What, Hua Changxi’s group left early again?”
Eunuch Bao looked at Steward Qin with surprise. Even though it wasn’t the end of the year, the usual departure time for the First Department was around 9:00 PM.
This Hua Changxi was having too easy a time as a laborer.
“All thirty-odd baskets of Ironwood Root, over fifteen hundred plants, have been processed?”
“Did Hua Changxi and her group cut corners?”
Steward Qin shook his head. “They’ve all been processed, and every plant processed meets the standard.”
Eunuch Bao fell silent, then sighed, “Xiao Luzi is truly lucky to have such a capable laborer.”
Steward Qin said, “Your Highness, the Ironwood Root Hua Changxi has processed these past two days is nearly two thousand plants. Combined with what we’ve already processed, it’s enough to submit to the Heavenly Department.”
Eunuch Bao thought for a moment and asked, “How much Ironwood Root is left in the storeroom that hasn’t been processed?”
Steward Qin thought for a moment. “There are still about two thousand five hundred plants.”
Eunuch Bao smiled. “Send it all to Hua Changxi tomorrow. Tell her the same thing: you’re not allowed to leave until the work is done.”
“I want to see if she can increase her processing speed even further.”
“If she really finishes processing all the Ironwood Root tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, give her all the difficult medicinal herbs stored in the storeroom to process.”
Steward Qin quickly glanced at Eunuch Bao, understanding that Eunuch Bao intended to ‘use’ Hua Changxi to the fullest extent possible, ensuring she was utilized completely.
The next day, Hua Changxi arrived at the First Department at the usual time, just before dawn.
As soon as she stepped into the courtyard, she saw baskets of Ironwood Root piled up, almost blocking the path. She understood Eunuch Bao’s increasing demands and exploitative nature a little better.
『Compendium of Processing（Perfection）: Processing Medicinal Herbs 7892/10000』
After glancing at the data, Hua Changxi said nothing to Steward Qin and directly entered the room to start working.
The apprentices from the Apprentice Hall in the same group watched this scene with extremely complex expressions.
“This is what it means to be a laborer. When you show your skills, you’re not rewarded, but exploited to the fullest.”
“Didn’t they say this Hua Changxi has a bad temper? That she’ll beat anyone who provokes her? Eunuch Bao is clearly exploiting her by ordering her around like this, so why doesn’t she refuse?”
“Look at who Hua Changxi beat up before. They were all laborers with low status like her. Facing Eunuch Bao, who has a higher status, of course, she wouldn’t dare to say a word. Are there few people like that?”
Lu Qingling listened to her classmates’ idle chatter and looked at Hua Changxi, who was diligently working. Disappointment flashed in her eyes.
Most people in this world are like this; they only dare to lash out at those around them. Once they face someone of higher status, they immediately become spineless.
She had heard about Hua Changxi’s past incidents of disciplining people. Although she thought her actions were too impulsive, she secretly admired her courage. Now, it seemed she was just someone who bullied the weak and feared the strong.
『Compendium of Processing（Perfection）: Processing Medicinal Herbs 10000/10000』
At 4:00 PM, Hua Changxi placed the last processed Ironwood Root into a special wooden box. Seeing the data change on her vision, the corners of her mouth couldn’t help but turn up.
《Compendium of Processing》Finally, it’s completely inherited. Now, I have a thorough understanding of the pharmacology and methods for processing Mortal Plants, Spiritual Plants, Divine Plants, and Dao Plants.
Next, there are only:
『Meridian Chart Compendium（Perfection）: Dissecting and Grinding Medicinal Herbs 5511/10000』
『Fusion Technique（Perfection）: Modulating and Fusing Pills 4672/10000』
『Pill Condensation Technique（Perfection）: Condensing Pills 4672/10000』
『Pill Sealing Technique（Perfection）: Sealing Pills 4672/10000』
As long as these four are upgraded to Perfection, her Alchemy inheritance will be completely passed down.
While Hua Changxi was thinking about upgrading her data, she didn’t notice Eunuch Bao approaching.
Eunuch Bao looked at all the processed Ironwood Root and his gaze towards Hua Changxi brightened again. He said directly, “Hua Changxi, I have some medicinal herbs that need to be processed. Come with me.”
Since her first day helping out, Hua Changxi had always clocked out at 4:00 PM. Now that Eunuch Bao personally asked her to work overtime, the apprentices from the Apprentice Hall were curious about how Hua Changxi would react.
Hua Changxi looked at Eunuch Bao and said directly, “Eunuch Bao, I’m afraid I can’t help you.” As she spoke, she raised her hands.
“Today, in order to finish processing the Ironwood Root quickly, I couldn’t help but rush during the processing. As a result, I was pricked by the Ironwood Root.”
Everyone then saw that Hua Changxi’s hands were red. It was clear that she had been burned by the medicinal herbs due to improper processing.
However, when others are pricked by Ironwood Root, they break out in a cold sweat and shiver. Why was her ‘poisoning’ only causing her hands to turn red?
Compared to the confusion of the apprentices from the Apprentice Hall, Eunuch Bao directly saw Hua Changxi’s deliberate action. Hua Changxi had intentionally made her hands look like this.
Her previous compliance with every order was a lie. She wasn’t unwilling to resist him; she struck directly at his weakness, leaving him no excuse to order her around anymore.
What shocked Eunuch Bao the most was Hua Changxi’s precise control over the ‘toxins’ of the medicinal herbs, causing only her hands to turn red, with no effect above her wrists.
Having managed the First Department for many years, Eunuch Bao understood pharmacology, even better than those apprentices in the Apprentice Hall. Therefore, he could better appreciate Hua Changxi’s capabilities.
“How could you be so careless? You were injured in the First Department, and we will definitely take responsibility.”
Looking at Eunuch Bao, who was looking at her with concern, Hua Changxi was full of gratitude. Then, she unceremoniously listed several medicinal herbs.
“I know you’re a busy man, Eunuch Bao, so I won’t waste your time. Please have Steward Qin give me the medicinal herbs, and I’ll go back and brew them myself.”
Eunuch Bao’s mouth twitched. The First Department had all the medicinal herbs Hua Changxi requested, but those few herbs were all very valuable. Buying them at an apothecary shop outside would cost at least dozens of taels of silver per plant.
This Hua Changxi was black-hearted!
“Steward Qin, go and get the medicinal herbs Hua Changxi wants and give them to her.”
Once the words were spoken, Eunuch Bao couldn’t go back on his word, so he reluctantly told Steward Qin to fetch the medicinal herbs.
Seeing that Hua Changxi had actually gotten the medicinal herbs from Eunuch Bao, the apprentices from the Apprentice Hall were very impressed. Everyone knew that Eunuch Bao of the First Department was a stingy person.
Lu Qingling glanced at Hua Changxi, who had publicly extorted Eunuch Bao. She knew she had judged her too hastily before. This person’s boldness exceeded her imagination.
After giving Hua Changxi the medicine, Eunuch Bao naturally wanted to recoup his losses. “Hua Changxi, after you get the medicine, go back and rest quickly, and come back early tomorrow morning.”
Hua Changxi shook her head again. “Eunuch Bao, my hands are like this, I’m afraid they won’t recover in a few days.”
《Compendium of Processing》 is already Perfection. She no longer needs to process medicinal herbs.
Hearing this, Eunuch Bao’s expression changed instantly, and his face turned grim.
Hua Changxi didn’t want to offend Eunuch Bao to the death. She continued, “With my hands like this, it’s indeed inconvenient to process medicinal herbs. It’s fine for me, but I’m mainly afraid that if the medicinal herbs are not processed properly, it will cause trouble for you, Eunuch Bao.”
“If you think I can still be useful, perhaps you could assign me to cut medicinal herbs or grind them. I can still do these tasks with my hands bandaged.”
Hearing her say this, Eunuch Bao’s expression improved slightly. Cutting herbs was a skilled job, and grinding was physical labor. He wanted to teach Hua Changxi a lesson, so after thinking about it, he assigned Hua Changxi to cut herbs.
He thought that since Hua Changxi’s hands were injured, it would be inconvenient for her to move. He would assign her more tasks tomorrow and keep her busy all night.
Seeing that her goal was achieved, Hua Changxi smiled. “Eunuch Bao, I will definitely come early tomorrow.”
After receiving the medicinal herbs from Steward Qin, Hua Changxi returned directly to the Sixth Bureau.
The medicinal herbs Hua Changxi requested were all for strengthening qi and blood and replenishing vital energy. The Lunar New Year was approaching, and she wanted to refine some Strengthening Pills as a coming-of-age gift for her family.
The next day, Hua Changxi arrived at the First Department at the usual time, just before dawn. Steward Qin had been waiting for her for a while. “Let’s go, I’ll take you to the slicing room.” As he spoke, he glanced at Hua Changxi’s hands, which were tightly wrapped in bandages.
“Are your hands alright?”
“Thank you for your concern, Steward Qin. The medicine you gave me yesterday was very effective. My hands should be fine in a few days.”
Steward Qin was a little worried. “With your hands bandaged like this, can you cut medicinal herbs?”
Hua Changxi confidently replied, “No problem.”
As they spoke, Steward Qin led Hua Changxi to another courtyard. As soon as they entered, they could hear the ‘bang bang bang’ of chopping herbs.
Steward Qin directly led Hua Changxi into a side room. Inside the side room, there were only two middle-aged male laborers, and they were cutting herbs very quickly.
Steward Qin did not immediately assign Hua Changxi a task but let her watch the workflow of the two middle-aged male laborers for a while.
As soon as they finished cutting a basket of medicinal herbs, someone would come in to take it away, and then another laborer would bring in medicinal herbs that needed to be sliced. There was no idle time in between.
Hua Changxi looked at Steward Qin. “Steward Qin, how many medicinal herbs do I need to cut per day?”
Steward Qin knew that Eunuch Bao wanted to deal with Hua Changxi. After thinking about it, he said, “3000 plants.”
As soon as he said this, the two middle-aged laborers who were concentrating on cutting herbs all looked up simultaneously, their faces showing undisguised surprise.
They were the most skilled laborers in the herb-cutting room. Depending on the size of the medicinal herbs, they could cut 1000 to 2000 plants a day at most.
Steward Qin actually asked a young woman to cut 3000 plants. This was too much!
Hua Changxi did not bargain and directly agreed.
Her reaction, however, made Steward Qin hesitate. He couldn’t help it; Hua Changxi’s speed in processing medicinal herbs had shattered his previous understanding.
This young girl in front of him could not be judged by ordinary standards.
Worried about assigning too little work to Hua Changxi, Steward Qin called the laborer responsible for delivering herbs to the side room. “Send the herbs for that girl in large pieces.”
In the side room, not long after Hua Changxi sat down at the herb-cutting cleaver, the herb delivery laborer brought over a basket of medicinal herbs.
The herbs in the basket were all large, and they were also relatively hard root and stem medicinal herbs.
Seeing this, the two laborers in the same room gave Hua Changxi a sympathetic look. When they saw her bandaged hands, they directly shook their heads.
This girl, who knew how late she would be working today.
Hua Changxi had already started working. Although her hands were bandaged, it did not affect the movement of her fingers.
Hua Changxi stumbled a bit with the first basket of herbs, but from the second basket onwards, her speed in cutting herbs increased.
For other laborers, root and stem medicinal herbs were difficult to cut and required great effort. However, for Hua Changxi, whose Realm Points had exceeded 5000, she could crush even hard stones into powder with a gentle pinch. Root and stem medicinal herbs were even less of a problem.
The two middle-aged laborers in the same room were astonished to see Hua Changxi cutting root and stem medicinal herbs as if they were tofu, and her speed was increasing.
At noon, Steward Qin also secretly came to check on Hua Changxi’s progress. When he learned that Hua Changxi had already cut over a thousand plants, his jaw almost dropped in shock.
After repeatedly confirming that the herb delivery laborer had followed his instructions completely and had sent Hua Changxi only large and hard root and stem medicinal herbs, Steward Qin, with a stiff expression, went to see Eunuch Bao.
At 4:00 PM, under the somewhat dazed gazes of the two middle-aged male laborers, Hua Changxi clocked out on time and returned to the Sixth Bureau, a smile on her face.
『Meridian Chart Compendium（Perfection）: Dissecting and Grinding Medicinal Herbs 8511/10000』
Very good. After helping out at the First Department for a few days, 《Meridian Chart Compendium》 will also be upgraded to Perfection.
If I cut herbs for one more day tomorrow, 《Meridian Chart Compendium》 will be Perfection.
On the other side, Eunuch Bao, who learned that Hua Changxi had completed her task, was also somewhat stunned. He then sighed again, “Xiao Luzi is truly lucky. This Hua Changxi is naturally suited to be a laborer.”
On the twenty-eighth of the twelfth lunar month, Hua Changxi cut herb slices for another day, successfully and completely inheriting all the knowledge of 《Meridian Chart Compendium》.
At this moment, the meridian pathways of Mortal Plants and Mortal Beasts, Spiritual Plants and Spiritual Beasts, Divine Plants and Divine Beasts, and Dao Plants and Dao Beasts were all etched into Hua Changxi’s mind.
The twenty-ninth of the twelfth lunar month this year was Lunar New Year’s Eve. After waking up early, Hua Changxi came to the First Department again. She wasn’t here to help today, but to collect silver.
The apprentices from the Apprentice Hall who came to help lined up in one queue, and the laborers who came to help lined up in another.
The apprentices received ten taels of silver, while the laborers only received two taels.
After Hua Changxi received the silver, she saw that the person distributing it was Steward Qin. She couldn’t help but ask, “We’re all doing the same work, why is there such a big difference in the silver distributed?”
Steward Qin didn’t want to answer, but thinking that the First Department might need to borrow Hua Changxi in the future, he explained, “Apprentices have a higher status than laborers. Apprentices understand pharmacology and medical skills, and they also provide guidance to the laborers of the First Department when they help out.”
“As for laborers, they are for manual labor. During their assistance, they can also learn the techniques of processing medicinal herbs for free. It’s already a great kindness from the eunuchs above for the First Department to give laborers an extra two taels of silver.”
“People must learn to be content and not always compare themselves to others. You must work diligently and down-to-earth, do you understand?”
Seeing Hua Changxi looking at him with a blank expression, Steward Qin knew that she was doing no worse than the apprentices, perhaps even better. He could only lower his voice and say, “Eunuch Bao wants to see you.” As he spoke, he gave her a meaningful look.
Upon hearing this, Hua Changxi took her two taels of silver and went to find Eunuch Bao.
When Eunuch Bao saw Hua Changxi, he first praised her profusely, then, as if bestowing a favor, took out five taels of silver and threw it directly at Hua Changxi.
The angle of the throw was very tricky. Eunuch Bao’s intention was for Hua Changxi to bend down and pick up the silver from the ground.
Hua Changxi glanced at Eunuch Bao, hooked her foot, and with a slight lift of her leg, kicked the silver up like playing shuttlecock, then grasped it.
“Thank you, Your Highness. I have other matters to attend to, so I’ll be leaving now.”
Eunuch Bao was displeased that he didn’t achieve his goal, but what made him even angrier was Hua Changxi’s attitude.
Hua Changxi was also unhappy. She knew that laborers had a lower status than apprentices, but she didn’t expect the difference to be so great.
What she didn’t expect was that even more unpleasant things were yet to come.
As soon as Hua Changxi returned to the Sixth Bureau, Du Ruo asked her to see Steward Leng.
When Steward Leng saw Hua Changxi, he had a look of “Congratulations on earning some extra money.” “Eunuch Lu recommended you to help out at the First Department. It’s Lunar New Year today, shouldn’t you show some appreciation?”
Hua Changxi was speechless at their methods of exploitation. She took a deep breath, thinking that today was Lunar New Year’s Eve and she should go home with a good mood to celebrate. She tried to speak in a gentle tone:
“Steward Leng, if there are any more such good opportunities in the future, please be sure to inform Eunuch Lu and ask him not to think of me. I’m not worth it.”
Steward Leng was stunned and looked at Hua Changxi with disbelief. “What did you say?”
Hua Changxi smiled. “Steward Leng, I wish you a Happy New Year. I still need to go to the Internal Affairs Department to collect my monthly stipend, so I won’t disturb you.” With that, she left directly.
Steward Leng watched her retreating figure, unable to react for a long time. When he came to his senses, he was furious. “This Hua Changxi, is she trying to rebel?”
The Labor Department had a seven-day holiday for the New Year, from Lunar New Year’s Eve to the sixth day of the first lunar month.
Because Hua Changxi had gone to the First Department, by the time she returned after collecting her monthly stipend, most of her roommates had already left, leaving only Wang Yun Chu.
“Hua Changxi, Happy New Year. This is a Ruyi knot I made myself and a paper-cut window decoration. Please don’t dislike it.”
Hua Changxi looked at the Ruyi knot and window decoration that Wang Yun Chu handed her. After a few seconds of silence, she reached out and took them. “Thank you.” After thinking for a moment, she took out a porcelain bottle from her packed bundle and poured out two Strengthening Pills.
She had heard from Sister-in-law Shi and others chatting that Wang Yun Chu’s mother had died during childbirth when giving birth to her younger brother. Her father remarried, and after the stepmother had her own child, she treated Wang Yun Chu and her younger brother very poorly. The siblings had almost starved to death when they were young, and they had been hungry one day and full the next for years. Their situation only improved after Wang Yun Chu came to work as a laborer in the Labor Department.
“Happy New Year.”
Hua Changxi wrapped the Strengthening Pills in paper and handed them to Wang Yun Chu.
Wang Yun Chu knew how precious the pills were and didn’t want them. She had given Hua Changxi gifts out of gratitude for her previous help. However, looking at Hua Changxi’s calm eyes, she couldn’t refuse and took the pills.
“These are Strengthening Pills, for strengthening the body and building health.”
Hua Changxi said as she quickly packed her belongings. “Take good care of your and your brother’s health. You can make up for the deficiencies from your childhood.”
Hearing these words, Wang Yun Chu deeply regretted her previous judgment that Hua Changxi was not a good person.
Hua Changxi finished packing her things. Seeing Wang Yun Chu looking at her as if she had something to say, Hua Changxi had no intention of being a confidante. She picked up her bundle and said, “I’m going home. You should go back early too.”
