Chapter 15: Labor Department
After Hua Changxi arrived at the Medical Affairs Department, she prepared to enter through the main gate. The gate guard, upon learning she was to report to the Labor Department, told her in no pleasant tone that laborers were not allowed to use the main gate and could only enter and exit the Medical Affairs Department through the side gate.
Hua Changxi was stunned for a moment. She asked for the location of the side gate and, after taking a long detour, finally entered the Medical Affairs Department. She walked for half an hour before standing outside the Labor Department.
This time, Hua Changxi did not see Eunuch Jia. As soon as she entered the Labor Department, she was called over by Eunuch Xiao Luzi, the eunuch who had seen her off the previous day.
Xiao Luzi didn’t pay much attention to her either and summoned a young woman in her early twenties.
“Xiangru, this is a newly recruited laborer. Put her wherever there’s a shortage of people.”
Leng Xiangru sized up Hua Changxi and then told her to wait by the door.
Hua Changxi stood outside the door. Perhaps due to her cultivation, she found her senses had become much sharper, and the hushed whispers from inside the room kept reaching her ears.
“Eunuch Lu, it’s not the recruitment season for laborers now. What’s this one’s background?”
“Heh, what background? She just happened to help my godfather with a small favor, so she shamelessly begged for a job in the Labor Department.”
“Doesn’t that mean Hua Changxi has caught Eunuch Jia’s eye?”
“Heh, what nonsense are you spouting? Is my godfather’s eye that easy to catch?”
“Yes, yes, Xiangru misspoke. Eunuch Jia is a palace person; what important figures hasn’t he met? How could he possibly take notice of a young woman?”
“Hua Changxi is skilled at processing medicinal herbs. In the future, if she’s assigned to handle difficult medicinal herbs, you can use her. If she’s useless, I wouldn’t have given her to you.”
“I knew Eunuch Lu cared about me.”
“Mm, go on. We’ll talk more tonight.”
“You’re so mean! Then I’ll take her away now.”
Leng Xiangru came out of the room, still smiling. Seeing Hua Changxi standing obediently and not looking around, she smiled and said, “She seems honest. Come with me.”
Hua Changxi didn’t show any emotion on her face, but her heart was far from calm.
The tone of the two people inside just now was too intimate; one could tell their relationship was unusual.
“Du Ruo, come here for a moment.”
Leng Xiangru led Hua Changxi to a courtyard with a sign for the Sixth Bureau and beckoned a woman in her thirties over.
“Steward Leng.”
Du Ruo was leading some subordinates in washing a batch of medicinal herbs. Hearing Leng Xiangru call, she immediately put down her work and hurried over.
Leng Xiangru pointed at Hua Changxi and said, “This is a newcomer laborer. She’ll be with you from now on; you’re responsible for training her.”
Du Ruo immediately agreed, “Don’t worry, Steward Leng, I will train her well.”
Leng Xiangru surveyed the laborers working in the courtyard. Seeing no one slacking off, she turned and left.
As soon as she left, the laborers who had been diligently working moments before couldn’t help but size up Hua Changxi.
Hua Changxi was also secretly observing everything in the courtyard.
The courtyard was as large as a football field, with hundreds of female laborers inside. Each laborer had at least two carts of medicinal herbs waiting to be washed behind them.
“How old are you?”
Hua Changxi quickly withdrew her gaze and replied, “Thirteen.”
Du Ruo took off her apron and asked as she did so, “Listening to your accent, you’re from the Capital City, right?”
Hua Changxi nodded, “Mm.”
Du Ruo: “Is your family unable to make ends meet?”
Hua Changxi let out an “Ah” of confusion.
Seeing her like this, Du Ruo’s expression turned strange, “It’s not that your family can’t make ends meet, so why would they let a young woman like you come out to be a laborer?”
Hua Changxi vaguely replied, “I want to learn medical skills.”
Du Ruo smiled, “Learn medical skills? Then you’ve come to the wrong place. The Labor Department doesn’t teach medical skills. You should go to the Apprentice Hall and the Disciple Hall.”
Hua Changxi: “…I can’t get in.”
Du Ruo fell silent, having roughly understood the situation of her new subordinate.
Her family background was ordinary to lower-middle class; otherwise, she wouldn’t have thought of coming to the Labor Department to learn medicine.
Du Ruo noticed her subordinate beside her kept looking over and couldn’t help but scold, “What are you looking at? Don’t you want to sleep tonight? Get back to work!”
After speaking, she looked at Hua Changxi, “Let’s go, I’ll take you to the Internal Affairs Department to get your things.”
Hua Changxi quickly followed.
As the two walked out of the courtyard, male laborers were pulling carts of medicinal herbs over.
Du Ruo’s expression wasn’t good when she saw this, “Who knows when we’ll finish tonight.” She glanced at Hua Changxi.
“You’re unlucky. You’ve joined the Labor Department at the wrong time. September and October are the busiest months for the Labor Department every year.”
“According to the rules, for the first three months after a newcomer joins the Labor Department, washing and processing two hundred medicinal herbs a day is considered completing the task.”
“But in September and October, it’s different. Even if you’re a newcomer, you have to wash and process five hundred medicinal herbs a day.”
Hua Changxi tentatively asked, “What if I can’t finish washing them?”
Du Ruo looked at her with a half-smile, “You will. Because if you don’t finish washing them, you won’t be allowed to sleep.”
After that, she continued talking as they walked, not paying attention to Hua Changxi’s reaction.
“People outside all think the Medical Affairs Department is an imperial government office, and that even becoming a laborer here is an honorable thing.”
“But a laborer is just a laborer, no different from other places. In fact, because the Medical Affairs Department uses a large quantity of medicinal herbs, the work is even more demanding than elsewhere.”
“As soon as there’s news of recruitment for the Apprentice Hall or Disciple Hall, people all over the Capital City will be watching. But when the Labor Department recruits, families with any standing wouldn’t even glance at it.”
Du Ruo glanced back at Hua Changxi and asked with a smile, “Do you still want to join the Labor Department now?”
Hua Changxi quickly declared her resolve, “Of course. Steward Du, don’t worry, I will work hard in the Labor Department.”
Hearing her say this, Du Ruo raised her eyebrows, smiled, and continued walking, starting to explain other matters of the Labor Department.
“The Labor Department is jointly managed by Eunuch Jia, Eunuch Sun, and Eunuch Zhao, who came from the palace. The three eunuchs each manage one department, and each department is divided into ten bureaus, with about a hundred people per bureau.”
“We are in the Sixth Bureau under the jurisdiction of Eunuch Jia’s Third Department.”
“The highest-ranking person in the Third Department is Eunuch Jia, followed by Eunuch Fu, Eunuch Lu, and Eunuch Shou, who are the head stewards of the Third Department.”
“Of the ten bureaus in 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 steward, and below the second steward are ten third stewards, each managing ten people.”
“Steward Leng, who handed you over to me earlier, is a second steward under Eunuch Lu. And I am a third steward under Steward Leng.”
“If you encounter any difficult matters in the future, you can come to me. If I can’t handle it, I’ll go to Steward Leng. Remember, absolutely do not approach the wrong person.”
Seeing Hua Changxi remain silent, Du Ruo smiled, “Did you understand?”
Hua Changxi nodded, “I understood, Steward Du. Are all the other bureaus as large as our Sixth Bureau?”
Du Ruo: “Some bureaus are even larger than our Sixth Bureau.”
Hua Changxi exclaimed, “Then the Labor Department is truly vast.”
The Labor Department has three departments, each with ten bureaus, and each bureau is at least the size of a football field. No wonder they had walked for so long and still hadn’t left the Labor Department.
Du Ruo smiled, “The Labor Department’s only advantage is its large area. The Apprentice Hall and Disciple Hall combined are not as large as the Labor Department.”
Seeing that Du Ruo was easy to talk to, Hua Changxi dared to ask more questions, “Steward Du, besides washing medicinal herbs, do we do any other tasks?”
Du Ruo retorted, “What, you want to do other tasks?”
Hua Changxi smiled shyly, “I was just asking.”
Du Ruo, seeing her young age, didn’t say much, “Washing and processing medicinal herbs is not the most tiring or difficult task in the Labor Department. You saw those people pulling the medicinal herbs just now.”
“Those who pull the carts, and the laborers who go to the Medicine Farm, Medicine Mountain, and Medicine Valley to gather herbs are the most hardworking; those are all heavy manual labor jobs.”
Hua Changxi asked again, “Will we be assigned to gather herbs?”
Du Ruo looked at her, “Unless you make a mistake and are punished. Otherwise, generally speaking, heavy manual labor is done by male laborers, and female laborers only stay in the Labor Department to process medicinal herbs.”
As they spoke, the two finally exited the Labor Department. After leaving the Labor Department and walking for another quarter of an hour, they arrived at the Internal Affairs Department.
As a new laborer reporting for duty, Hua Changxi received a laborer’s waist token, two sets of laborer’s clothes, and a set of bedding.
Du Ruo: “The front of the Sixth Bureau is where medicinal herbs are processed. The row of side rooms at the back is where we eat and sleep, ten people to a room.”
Hua Changxi looked at the bedding, “Steward Du, do I have to live in the Labor Department?”
Du Ruo smiled, “You’re not still thinking of going home to sleep, are you? You’d better be prepared; you might have to work until midnight every day from now on.”
Hua Changxi was numb. Carrying her things, she followed Du Ruo back.
As they neared the entrance to the Sixth Bureau’s courtyard, Hua Changxi saw from afar a woman wearing a steward’s uniform, just like Du Ruo, laughing and talking intimately with a middle-aged man.
Soon, the two also noticed Hua Changxi and Du Ruo approaching and stopped their conversation.
“Steward Niu.”
Du Ruo took the initiative to greet the middle-aged man.
The man was the second steward of the Fifth Bureau. Although Du Ruo was not his subordinate, she still had to pay her respects to someone of a higher rank.
Before the man could speak, the woman standing beside him spoke first, “Steward Leng is truly biased, giving the newcomer to you, Sister Du, right away.”
Du Ruo glanced at her, “Ling Xiao, if you want a newcomer, you can go and speak to Steward Leng. I was truly short-handed, so Steward Leng assigned one to me.”
Ling Xiao chuckled and was about to make another sarcastic remark, but seeing Steward Niu glance at her, she could only turn her head away displeasedly and say no more.
Du Ruo looked at Steward Niu, “There’s still a lot of work left for today. I’ll go get busy.”
Hua Changxi quickly followed Du Ruo. After walking a few meters, she could still hear Ling Xiao’s cold snort from behind.
Du Ruo: “Steward Niu is the second steward of the Fifth Bureau. Ling Xiao, like me, is a third steward of the Sixth Bureau. She and I don’t get along. If you encounter her in the future, stay away from her.”
Hua Changxi: “I’ll listen to you, Steward Du.”
Soon, Du Ruo led Hua Changxi to a room.
“You’ll live here from now on. The people living inside are all under my management. Get along well with them in the future.”
Looking at the ten-person dormitory in front of her, Hua Changxi, who valued privacy, felt a sense of despair.
“You tidy up first. After you’re done, come find me. It’s your first day working, so washing and processing two hundred medicinal herbs is enough.”
After Du Ruo left, Hua Changxi sat on the bed and let out a sigh.
She had underestimated the Labor Department before. After Steward Du explained the structure of the Labor Department, she had already sensed that the interpersonal relationships within would be complicated.
As expected, on her first day, she first discovered that Eunuch Xiao Luzi and Steward Leng had an unusual relationship, and then she discovered that another third steward of the Sixth Bureau and the second steward of the Fifth Bureau were very close.
It was a complete mess!
She hoped these complex interpersonal relationships wouldn’t affect her.
