On the fifteen morning, the servants of Liu Residence began to flock back to Liu Residence. The housekeeper, butler, Zhou Yu, and Liu Residence house guards had arrived before dawn. By that time, Liu Tián Qǔ had passed out at her desk from exhaustion. No one woke her. In an unspoken agreement, everyone decided to let her rest.
Later on that morning, the guest of Liu Residence began returning as well.
As Liu Tián Qǔ took care of her morning ablutions and changed her clothes, she received an invitation to breakfast from Wēi Yǒng Měng. Wēi Wò Yàn, Jūn Zhōng Xīn, and Měng Tiān Cái were also present when Liu Tián Qǔentered the courtyard where Wēi Yǒng Měng was staying as a guest.
It was a very relaxed affair as everyone ate and made small talk. The men must have eaten very well at Wang Royal Manor over the past two weeks because they looked much better to Liu Tián Qǔ.
After finishing breakfast, tea was served. Wēi Yǒng Měng took that time to inform Liu Tián Qǔ that the doctors at Wang Royal Manor took care of him while he was there and declared that the poison was entirely gone from his body.
Wēi Yǒng Měng then thanked Liu Tián Qǔ for sending him the Mythical Beast Medicinal Pill, which saved his life, he also apologized for taking so long to thank her.
Liu Tián Qǔ waved away Wēi Yǒng Měng apology. When was he supposed to thank her? On the way to the memorial? Or when he passed out afterward? Liu Tián Qǔ didn't help him to receive gratitude from him. The main reason she helped him was because of Jiang Tài Píng and her undying curiosity.
Liu Tián Qǔ remained humble in the face of Wēi Yǒng Měng thanks. Shortly after, Liu Tián Qǔ bade the men farewell and hurried over to meet with Construction Manager Kuo.
As Liu Tián Qǔ walked through her Residence and greeted many of the returning servants, she couldn't help but smile. The atmosphere in the Residence had completely changed with the return of the servants.
The newly returned servants were very spirited, cheerful, and lively. The majority of them resembled people who had gone on a long enjoyable vacation and washed away the year's stress. It gladdened Liu Tián Qǔ's heart to see the newly returned servants looking all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.
Construction Manager Kuo and Liu Tián Qǔ had agreed that Construction Manager Kuo would immediately simultaneously start four major construction projects the following day. The main project would be the winery and winepress. The winery and winepress would be built on the hill not far from the vineyard.
The second big project was the horse stables. The stables in Liu Residence was massive and very well built. however, there was no drainage system. Liu Tián Qǔ wanted to fix that. She also wanted to build a horse track that would surround the massive stables. She didn't want to have to keep taking Wēi Guāng outside of the city to exercise her.
The third project, Liu Tián Qǔ, wanted to complete was an upgrade of the house guards' training area in the residence garrison. She also wanted to add a running track that would ring the training area. Next to the training field in a space, she discovered. A specially designed training area would be built for Liu Tián Qǔ.
The fourth major project would be to convert a big Pavillion not far from the Meeting Hall into a Clothes Making Pavillion. It would be Lady Wu Yǐn Rán residence clothing shop, where she would make clothes and uniforms for the Residence of Liu Garden Residence. On her two week vacation, Lady Wu Yǐn Rán and Liu Tián Qǔ had sketched out the plan and design for the Clothes Making Pavillion together.
Construction Manager Kuo would also work on three minor projects. The first minor project was to take care of the vault discovered during the search of Liu Residence. The second minor project was to build a tea processing pavilion next to the tea garden on the big hill. The final project was to convert one of the Larger Pavillions close to the hospital into an office Pavillion for Managers.
Neither Construction Manager Kuo nor his brother Agricultural Manager Kuo would be living in the Residence. Since they bought a residence not too far from Liu Residence, the men would return home each day. So she thought it would be fitting to have an office building in Residence. Each of them would be allotted and office in which they would be able to manage the affairs of her Residence.
Construction Manager Kuo and Liu Tián Qǔ spent the better part of the morning doing a final walking through on all the sites that would begin construction the following day.
Many small changes were made during the walkthrough. Liu Tián Qǔ had a timeline of three months. She wanted all of the major projects to be done by then. So she gave Construction Manager Kuo a substantial amount of gold and told him to hire as many people as possible to complete all of the major projects in the least amount of time as possible.
That was also the reason they met up with Hēi Tài Yáng in the work studio of his courtyard. Hēi Tài Yáng was residing in one of the Deputy Commanders courtyards in the Residence Garrison.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Everyone was aware that many people were currently investigating to identify the Lord of Liu Residence.
Therefore, Liu Tián Qǔ would not be surprised if she was to find out that many spies were hidden among the army of craftsmen that Construction Manager Kuo intended to bring in the following day to began construction.
Hēi Tài Yáng, Construction Manager Kuo, and Liu Tián Qǔ discussed the plan that Hēi Tài Yáng mapped out to take care of the issue.
Hēi Tài Yáng outlined the strategical plan he came up with to monitor all of the workers once they entered Liu Residence. He also explained the exact methods that would put in place to guard against spies and workers who would try to sneak into other parts of the Residence.
After his presentation, Hēi Tài Yáng assured them that he had all angles covered. Liu Tián Qǔ felt better after her meeting with Hēi Tài Yáng. Liu Tián Qǔ was not quite ready to allow her identity to be exposed. She was almost there. She needed just a bit more time.
Shortly before she left Hēi Tài Yáng work office, Hēi Tài Yáng informed her that her Shadow Warriors would be entering the Residence to begin their duties at noon the following day. He also asked her to see if she could provide accommodation that was closer to her courtyard for them. Until then they would be placed in the underground barracks.
Noon found Liu Tián Qǔ in the Kitchens giving pointers to her Head Chef and the Baker. After which she requested to speak to them alone for a moment.
Upon her request, Head Chef Yin led her and Baker Gui into an empty pantry. Once they were alone, Liu Tián Qǔ passed them a package each. These packages were numbered among the packages she spent the night preparing. The packages she passed the chef contained recipes and instructions on various styles of sauces, food preparation, and cooking, both traditional and nontraditional. The package she passed the baker were instructions and recipes on baked goods, and snacks traditional and nontraditional as well.
"In two or three years, I will be opening up restaurants and bakeries outside of the Imperial city. The project that I am starting would be catering to the rich and noble." Liu Tián Qǔ said, looking at the baker and the chef.
"Are any of you interested in owning or running a restaurant or bakery?" Liu Tián Qǔ asked the men.
For a moment, it was silent as both men gawked mouth wide open at her in deep shock.
"Youn...Young Master?!" The Head chef managed to gasp with wide eyes.
"If you wish to own a restaurant or bakery, it will fully belong to you," she assured the Head chef and baker.
"You may also use the recipes that I shared with you. The packages that I just gave you also contains many great recipes you may use those as well. I will also invest in the restaurant or bakery so you can get it up and running. If you chose not to, that's fine as well. You may stay and continue your duties. I may occasionally send you out to take care of a restaurant or bakery on my behalf, but after completing the task I send you to do, you may return."
The Head Chef and Baker continue to gawk at her with their mouths wide open. Their thoughts were scrambled. The poor baker had even started to tremble from the shock. They couldn't help but think, since when slaves were allowed to own businesses? It was illegal!
As if reading the men's mind, Liu Tián Qǔ said, "Two or three years is more then enough time for you to bought your freedom."
Meeting the eyes of both men who were obviously shocked speechless, Liu Tián Qǔ said, "I don't need an answer now, take your time and carefully think this through. I won't begin this project for another two or three years, so you have time. Whether you chose to stay or go, both of you will have my full support. There are two reasons why I am mentioning this to the both of you now."
Seeing that she had the men's undivided attention, Liu Tián Qǔ began to explain, "Whether you decided to stay or go. I need both of you to start working hard to improve your skills. Both of you are not bad in your crafts. However, you need just a bit more polishing. I want both of you to start working hard on the recipes and instructions in the packets I just gave you. That will help you tremendously."
"The second reason is, I need both of you to seriously began training three apprentices. I am aware that most people will hold things back when training an apprentice."
Liu Tián Qǔ shooked her head and said, "You must hold nothing back. Teach these three apprentices everything, including what is in the packets I gave you. You must pick these three apprentices carefully and train them diligently over the next two or three years. If you decided to go, these apprentices would be the ones to take up your duties. If you decided to stay, then they will be the one sent out. Full background checks will also be done on the apprentices you chose, and they must also sign a seven-year contract with Liu Residence. This task is too important to leave to chance. After you find your apprentices, report to Butler Zhou, and he will take it from there."
After confirming that the men understood her offer, and they finally were able to speak or stutter their promises to begin improving their skills immediately and finding three apprentices, Liu Tián Qǔ left them to their duties.
Liu Tián Qǔ was invited to have a small lunch with the Wu family, so she quickly made her way over to Lady Wu Yǐn Rán courtyard. Lady Wu Yǐn Rán and her daughter were very welcoming and friendly. Lady Wu Yǐn Rán looked much better. She was still scarily skinny, but it was visual to the naked eye that she was a bit more lively and in higher spirits.
The young girls were very happy to see Liu Tián Qǔ. They immediately started telling Liu Tián Qǔ all about the classes that they were taking at the Imperial Academy. There was a massive change in the eldest daughter's attitude towards Liu Tián Qǔ. Throughout lunch, the youngest daughter kept Liu Tián Qǔ entertained and highly amused.
Over tea, Liu Tián Qǔ had a long discussion with Lady Wu Yǐn Rán concerning Lady Wu Yǐn Rán upcoming duties.
Liu Tián Qǔ took a long sip of the rose tea she was served and savored the flavor of the tea. Only then did she turn her attention to Lady Wu Yǐn Rán, "Lady Wu Yǐn Rán I must inform you that, I recently negotiated with His Majesty, and was granted leave to build a bigger Army. You will no longer be outfitting twenty thousand warriors. The number of warriors you will be outfitting has increased to eighty thousand."
Lady Wu Yǐn Rán's eyes pop wide open in astonishment. There was an audible clatter as she hastily clunked her cup of tea down on the table. "His Majesty approved of you building an army that big on the doorsteps of the Imperial City?!" Lady Wu Yǐn Rán exclaimed and simultaneously questioned in shock.