Chapter 12: Her Ex-husband

The Madam Dowager had always paid little attention to Hua Qiyue, but it didn't mean that others could bully her mercilessly. She hadn't expected that her negligence would cause her granddaughter such a miserable life. No one had told her! Nanny Wang, who worked for the Second Concubine, knelt down immediately when she heard this, saying, "Please forgive me… I was greedy. I saw the eldest miss being bullied by others, so I secretly took away her money… I kept it a secret from the Second Concubine. I didn't expect my crimes to be revealed today. I deserve to die…" The Second Concubine gave her a fierce slap on the face, "Damn servant! How could you treat her like this?" Hua Qiyue looked at all of this coldly. She knew the nanny only took her money because the Second Concubine told her to. The nanny was quite loyal — if Hua Qiyue wanted to get rid of the Second Concubine, she had to get rid of this nanny first, or make her work for her. "How dare she be so reckless! Since you have worked for our family for so many years, I will punish you with twenty lashes, and you will be deducted half a year's salary!" the Madam Dowager scolded. The Second Concubine heaved a sigh of relief. Hua Mengshi loosened her fingernail and looked at Hua Qiyue with hatred. Hua Xiaoyi was standing by the Third Concubine. She wanted to say something, but the Third Concubine held her down. The situation was already unfavorable to her. If Hua Xiaoyi stirred up trouble, she would also be involved. The Madam Dowager was so angry that all the servants did not dare to despise Hua Qiyue anymore. They felt that she had become totally different after she returned from the Hanyue Temple. Back in their yard, Lvxin began to vent her grievances, "Miss, that despicable nanny made our life miserable, and she only got twenty lashes. It's not fair!" "Miss, did you really find out that the Second Concubing was the one responsible? Lanzhu was almost beaten to death by the Second Miss. Maybe the Second Miss was the mastermind. She was afraid that she would tell the truth, so she decided to kill her!" Youshui was also unhappy. Hua Qiyue laughed lightly as she swirled the cup of Tie Guanyin in her hand, "We have to deal with them step by step. They won’t receive a quick death!" Youshui and Lvxin’s eyes shone in response. From that day on, Hua Qiyue practiced the Qi Arts in the green gourd at night, and in the daytime, she worked with her servants to reclaim the backyard space and planted some strange seeds. What made Lvxin and Youshui even more surprised was that she got a few bags of red soil, and the seeds germinated overnight and grew as tall as shallots in a short time, emitting a faint fragrance. Lvxin and Youshui had never seen any expensive medicinal herbs before. They did not know that it was a rare medicinal herb called Long Red. It was found only in the martial sects. The Long Red could nourish people’s faces and lungs and prolong their life. If cultivators drank Long Red soup, they could have their spirit energy increased and their cultivation level raised by two stages. It was one of the Qi Artist's divine medicines! She got the seeds from Tianpi. The red soil was taken from the green jade gourd. If she wanted to grow herbs to become rich in the future, she couldn't just grow them in a jade gourd. She had to show everyone that they were planting them in the backyard. With the Madam Dowager's permission, Hua Qiyue asked the servants to put up notices in the capital, and the news that Hua Qiyue was going to adopt a child caused a sensation in the city. She was scorned by the rich ladies. They thought she was just trying to change her bad reputation. In their eyes, sparrows were still sparrows, and they would not turn into beautiful peacocks just because they washed off the spots. However, the Hua family was extremely respectable. Hua Liting had been winning battles since he was twenty, which earned him the emperor’s appreciation and a great reputation. Although General Hua had been sent by the emperor to guard the frontier gates, every year, the emperor gave the Hua family a lot of rewards when there were banquets or other activities in the palace. If a child could become the foster son of the Hua family, he would have a promising future and make his family proud. People rushed to send their sons for selection. In ordinary families, illegitimate sons were not favored. If an illegitimate child could be adopted by Hua Qiyue, they would get the best of both worlds: the child would have a bright future and his family would feel proud. Once the Red Honor Roll was posted, three hundred boys had already registered in the morning. When the queen mother and the emperor heard about it, they thought Miss Hua was too high-profile, but it didn’t harm their interests, so there was no need to look into it. In the Donghai Restaurant in the south of the city, Rong Qiyue's ex-husband, Zhou Zhicheng, was looking at the account book, when he smelled a fragrance of flowers and heard familiar footsteps. The shop curtains were drawn and a stunning face appeared.