"Eunuchs have arrived from the place. The Queen has summoned you to enter the palace." The housekeeper said baldly.
Liu Tián Qǔ blinked several times then stared incomprehensibly at the housekeeper for a moment. Then thinking she heard wrong, Liu Tián Qǔ almost poked herself in the eye with the chopsticks she was still holding in one hand when she jammed her fingers in her ears to make sure her ears were cleared.
After making sure her ears were cleared, Liu Tián Qǔ looked up at the housekeeper once more. Liu Tián Qǔ shooked her head, scolding herself for staying up all night. Now she was hearing random things. Looking over once more to the housekeeper, Liu Tián Qǔ said, "Yes aunty Gao, what was it you were saying? I think I misheard what you just said."
"You did not misunderstand Young Master, Eunuchs have arrived from the palace, they are now waiting for you in the outer receiving hall. Apparently, the Queen has summoned you to enter the palace." Housekeeper Gao said informing Liu Tián Qǔ that she did not hear her wrong.
Liu Tián Qǔ was suddenly like a pressure cooker that exploded. Unreasonably, she suddenly felt so full of rage, that she felt something stir and awaken in her.
Liu Tián Qǔ been up for more than twenty-four hours. She spent all day yesterday and all night to the breaking of dawn cursing Big Madam Chen and the Chen Family as she stored big Madam Chen's treasures into a transporter, so she already wasn't in the best of moods.
Liu Tián Qǔ had barely even got a belly full of food. She was also already pissed off, miserable, and exhausted from working hard all night. Now the Queen dared to come and provoke her.
Housekeeper Gao felt her heart tremble as she watched the Young Lord change right in front of her eyes. The Young Lord's eyes and face turned freezing ice cold. A frightening, menacing, mercilessness, and ruthlessness seemed to surround the Young Lord and fill his eyes.
Housekeeper Gao grew frightened and almost collapsed when the young Lord said in a cold hard menacing voice, "What is the Emperor doing? Instead of running over to my Residence every minute, he needs to control the women in his harem."
"Young Master Liu!" the housekeeper cried in shock as she clasped a hand over her pounding heart that threatened to jump out of her chest. Shocked, speechless, and frightened Housekeeper Gao's eyes almost burst out of her skull in shock as she looked at the young lady standing in front of her, perfectly disguised as a young man. Her breath had completely fled from her lungs, leaving her gasping for breath.
Suddenly the housekeeper's head whipped around, and she looked towards the opened door behind her. Breathing heavily, the housekeeper quickly raced over to the door and looked out to make sure no one was standing nearby.
After making sure no one was lurking nearby to overhear Liu Tián Qǔ treasonous words, she quickly closed the door.
The actions of the housekeeper didn't register on Liu Tián Qǔ. Liu Tián Qǔ was lost in a deep, terrifying rage, "If he can't control his women and they come provoking me, then I will take matters into my own hands. I don't have time for the games of scheming bored harem women."
It wasn't only the words of the young girl that scared the housekeeper almost to death. An unnatural callous viciousness and cruelty that borderline bloodthirstiness seemed to bleed from the young girl.
Terror exploded in the housekeeper. The trembling, scared housekeeper barely kept her wits about her when she had turned from closing the door and ran back over just in time to see a fearful smile that was unnatural creep on to the young girl's face as the young girl said, "I am going to put an end this game before it can begin."
Housekeeper Gao felt her stomach drop, and her heart fly away. She didn't recognize the furious cold, menacing, cruel vicious-looking person that stood in front of her. Somehow the young child standing before her no longer looked like a young child.
Housekeeper Gao's heart froze, and her mouth went dry as something else looked out of the child's eyes at her. The housekeeper never felt such terror in her life, but come what may, the Housekeeper knew that she had to stop her Young Master from doing something drastic.
Housekeeper Gao dropped to her knees in front of her Young Master and screamed in fear, "Young Master Please!"
The scream of the Housekeeper bought Liu Tián Qǔ back to her senses. All the dark plots and plans that were running through her head at the speed of light evaporated into thin air.
When Liu Tián Qǔ looked down to see her housekeeper, a woman who she considered family in her heart, kneeling before her trembling in terror. Liu Tián Qǔ felt as if she was doused with a bucket of cold water and her rage fled, Liu Tián Qǔ sudden felt shame and deep fear.
Liu Tián Qǔ had quickly grown so angry she never felt when she started to unravel. She didn't feel when the darkness hidden deep within her had stirred and began to emerge. 'Ah, I guess it really did follow me to this life as well. It wasn't my imagination when I thought I felt it stir when Elder Chen's prison was discovered under my Residence.' Liu Tián Qǔ briefly thought inwardly before shoving those thoughts out of her head and focusing on the housekeeper.
The clatter of her chopsticks and spoon as they fell to the floor never registered as Liu Tián Qǔ hurried over to the housekeeper and helped her off the floor. "I'm sorry, Aunty Gao, I'm sorry. I got too angry just now."
Liu Tián Qǔ helped the older woman over to an empty seat at the long low table where she was eating breakfast moments ago. She quickly poured the housekeeper a cup of water and passed it to her.
Before the cry of the Housekeeper had bought her back to her senses, Liu Tián Qǔ had fallen into old habits and immediately went into attack mode. Plans and thoughts had flown through her head at the speed of light as she selected and eliminated options, wasting no time in planning her course of action to quickly eliminate the threat to her.
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For a moment, Liu Tián Qǔ had gotten so angry she had momentarily lost sight of the fact that she was no longer in the 21st Century anymore. In the 21st Century, no one would have reacted as extreme as the housekeeper upon hearing the words that came from Liu Tián Qǔ's mouth. Similar words were spoken by many people every day in the 21st century, and it was never a problem, nor were there repercussions.
However, she was now in an era of ancient times. The words that came out of her mouth earlier were considered treasonous. Those words were enough for her to lose her head if the wrong ears had heard them.
Kneeling beside the housekeeper, Liu Tián Qǔ waited until the housekeeper finished drinking the water. The cup trembled in the Housekeeper's hands as she drank the water. When she finished drinking, Liu Tián Qǔ said, "I'm sorry, Aunty Gao, I was wrong." Liu Tián Qǔ apologized to the housekeeper who still trembled in shock and fright.
The housekeeper looked at the young girl in disguise who she had grown to feel deep affection for in such a short period of time. She shoved away the hair raising fear that had made her want to flee away from the young girl and said, "Young Master, never do things in anger. We are all human, so there will be times when we will get angry. However, when you get angry, take a step back and calm down before you proceeding, okay?"
"I promise Aunty Gao I will do so from now on," Liu Tián Qǔ quickly promised. She felt so embarrassed, she knew better than to get carried away in anger. However, after spending the whole night pissed off. When the Queen came along and gave her that final poke Liu Tián Qǔ unintentionally exploded and began to unravel.
"I promise I won't do anything drastic, Aunty Gao. I will probably just figure out a way to send her a slap without incurring the Emperor's wrath." Liu Tián Qǔ said in an attempt to assure the Housekeeper she was now in control of herself.
Trying to calm her self down, the still trembling housekeeper looked at Liu Tián Qǔ and asked, "What are you going to do? You're not going to answer the Queens summons?"
Instead of answering the housekeeper, Liu Tián Qǔ asked, "Aunty Gao, you've worked in the palace before. Do you know anything of the relationship between the Emperor and the Queen? Do they get along?"
"The relationship between the Emperor and the Queen?" The housekeeper asked in confusion. "Why do you ask?
Before Liu Tián Qǔ could answer, there was a knock on the door. The housekeeper held a finger in front of her lips, motioning for Liu Tián Qǔ to be quiet. Liu Tián Qǔ silently rose from the table where she was kneeling and walked over to a beautiful hand-painted cranes and pine Motif floor screen and stepped behind it.
The housekeeper had also risen from the table and walked over to the door and answered the door. Seeing that it was her husband, the housekeeper pulled her husband into the room. She then peeked out to make sure there was no one nearby outside of the door before closing the door once more.
The Butler took one look at his wife's face and knew something was wrong, "What's wrong, wife? What happened?"
Hearing the Butler's voice Liu Tián, Qǔ peek from behind the screen to make sure no one else came in with the butler before coming from behind the screen. When the butler saw Liu Tián Qǔ come from behind the screen, he said, "Ah, Young Master is here too. Young Master the Queen has sent a summons for you to enter the place. How will we handle this situation?"
Liu Tián Qǔ suddenly found herself laughing at the calm reaction of the butler. 'It's as expected, men surly do handle things differently. Here I am working myself up into a fine lather, and the butler is so so calm and imperturbable. Aiya, I have to learn how to be more like this.'
Liu Tián Qǔ walked over to where the butler stood and bowed, "Thank you, Uncle Zhou, I have learned much."
Liu Tián Qǔ smile up at the couple who wore confused expressions. Before they could ask Liu Tián Qǔ said, "I see you are dealing with this matter in a cool and rational way. When I heard of the Queens summons, I got carried away in anger a bit. However, seeing how you are responding to the matter, I have learned much."
Butler Zhao chuckled and said, "I could respond this way because it's not me being summoned. I am just a spectator."
"That maybe so, however, the fact remains that I have learned much this time." Liu Tián Qǔ responded before saying. "Uncle Zhao, I need you to buy me approximately thirty to forty minutes."
Liu Tián Qǔ paused a moment before gathering her thoughts before asking, "Have the craftsman entered the residence to began construction yet?"
"Yes, they have already simultaneously began construction in five areas," the butler answered.
"Perfect! I want you to make a big fanfare of 'looking' for the Lord of Liu Residence. Have some of the servants help you. You must make a big production of 'looking' for me in work areas. Go past the outer receiving hall where the Eunuchs are waiting, make as much of a commotion as possible of 'looking' for me as you pass the outer receiving hall." Liu Tián Qu commanded.
"However, do not go in to give the Eunuchs an explanation. Leave them waiting. Try not to take longer than forty minutes. When you have done this, then return, I will tell you what to do next." Liu Tián Qǔ said to the Butler, who stood next to his wife. Both the Butler and the Housekeeper stood staring at the young scheming girl.
"Yes, Young Master," the butler finally answered before hurrying to carry out Liu Tián Qǔ's orders.
Liu Tián Qǔ turned and retreated to her study/sitting room. Liu Tián Qǔ walked behind the desk and sat down at her desk. Liu Tián Qǔ calmed herself before diving into the memories of her predecessor to see what she could find on the Queen. After running through the memories of her predecessor, Liu Tián Qǔ finally made her decision on how she was going to send a slap to the queen, send a message to the Emperor, and still escape unscathed. There wasn't much to be found in the memories of her predecessor, but what she found was more than enough.
Housekeeper Gao had followed Liu Tián Qǔ into the study. She stood before the desk and waited on Liu Tián Qǔ who appeared to be lost deep in thought. A few moments later, Liu Tián Qǔ opened her eyes and looked up at the Housekeeper and said, "There is a divide in the Emperor's harem. Until the Emperor fixes it, I will have to remain sick for a little while."
The Housekeeper's eyes widened in alarm, " A Divide? You have to remain sick? What does Young Master mean?"
Liu Tián Qǔ shook her head and said, "There is no time for me to explain, so I will only say that when the emperor came to visit approximately two weeks ago. He and I came to an agreement on a certain matter, the first condition of the agreement was that the Imperial Family would help me to keep my identity a secret a bit longer." Liu Tián Qǔ disclosed to the housekeeper with a look of displeasure on her face.
"Now for the Queen to summon me after the Emperor gave me his promise of protection, this shows that there is definitely a lack of communication or a fight between a tiger and a dragon has begun." Liu Tián Qǔ explained to the housekeeper who very quickly understood.
"They can do whatever they want to do to each other I couldn't care less, but I refuse to be dragged into whatever is going on in the palace. Therefore I have two choices I could either play possum. Or I could quickly put a permanent end to whatever this game is that the queen is playing." The housekeeper gasped in fright, but before she could even say anything.
Liu Tián Qǔ looked up at the housekeeper and quickly said, "Since I already promised Aunty Gao, then the only choice I am left with now is to play possum."