Liu Tián Qǔ opened the large bottom drawer of her desk. Using the opened desk drawer as a cover, Liu Tián Qǔ leaned over as if to retrieve something from the large opened bottom drawer. Instead, she stuck her hand into the empty drawer and secretly retrieved two items from one of the transporters on her wrist, causing the two items to appear in the desk drawer.

Liu Tián Qǔ then retrieved the two items from the drawer and set them in on the top of the desk in front of her. One was a tallish rectangular money box. Inside of the box was one thousand gold certificates. Each certificate was the equivalence of one thousand gold. The other item was the first potion of the Black Blossom Dual Potion.

A heavy frown covered the housekeeper's face upon sight of the Black Blossom Potion. She looked up at Liu Tián Qǔ while gesturing to the potion and asked, "Young Master, this is...?"

Liu Tián Qǔ nodded, confirming the housekeeper's thoughts, "It's the first potion of the Black Blossom Dual Potion."

With a face full of concern and worry, carefully choosing her words, the housekeeper said, "Young Master, you have been working very hard lately and have lost weight. Should you be taking the potion in this condition?"

Liu Tián Qǔ laughed darkly and said, "I originally bought this potion with the intention to take it to get stronger and to gain other benefits. Ironically I am now taking it to get sick."

Liu Tián Qǔ felt anger rising in her once again. She closed her eyes for a moment and cleared her thoughts to focus on the matters at hand. It's seemed she and the Black Blossom Potion was ill-fated. Every time she made plans to take it, her plans got ruined.

First, it was the nobles with their nonsense that destroyed her timeline. Then Elder Chen's prison discovered underneath her Residence completely ruined everything. Now the Queen decided to join the party and came along to provoke her.

After clearing her thought and calming her mind, Liu Tián Qǔ opened her eyes and looked up at the housekeeper and said, "Aunty Gao, you are fully aware of how the schemers of the Imperial Palace work. When the Eunuchs carry the message back to the Queen that the Lord of Liu Residence is too sick in bed to answer her summons, what do you think she would do next?"

Liu Tián Qǔ saw the exact moment when understanding lit the beautiful eyes of the housekeeper. The housekeeper nodded and said, "I think that the Queen will send Imperial Physicians to confirm your condition, on the pretense of treating your illness. If the Queen is feeling spiteful enough, she may even go as far as sending a Litter to fetch you and bring you to the Imperial Palace.

Liu Tián Qǔ nodded in agreement and said, "Exactly."

Leaning forward in her seat Liu Tián Qǔ rest her elbows on her desk and folded her hands in front of her face, "I am aware that my body is in the worse kind of condition to be taking the Black Blossom Potion. I was told that after taking the Black Blossom potion, I could expect to be very sick for three to seven days. But that is the estimate given for a healthy person whose body is in excellent condition. My body wasn't very healthy, to begin with, and I haven't been taking care of my body lately, so I am going to estimate my recovery time to be somewhere in between one to three months." The poor worried housekeeper carefully listened to Liu Tián Qǔ's explanation, but the more she heard, the more concerned she got.

"Right now, I am hoping that the Black Blossom Potion would make me sick enough that if the Queen sends Imperial Physicians to confirm my illness, then it can truthfully be said that I am very ill. This is the best decision I can make right now other than to deliberately poison myself using poison that would show the typical symptoms of illness." The worried housekeeper's eyes widened in shock at the thought of her Young Master deliberately poisoning herself.

Liu Tián Qǔ shook her head and held up a hand to forestall the housekeeper from speaking as the housekeeper open her mouth to protest the idea. "There is no need to worry, Aunty Gao. I am not going to use poison. It's too risky to use right now. Who's to say that the Imperial Physician who examines me won't discover what poison I use and report it back to the Queen? Since the Black Blossom Potion will render the same result of making me very ill. Then I prefer to use the Black Blossom instead. At least I will gain benefits from it after I finally get better."

A ghost of a smile crossed Liu Tián Qǔ's face as she watched the poor housekeeper try to decide if she should be relieved that Liu Tián Qǔ wasn't going to use poison to make herself ill. Or if she should still be worried that Liu Tián Qǔ was going to use the Black Blossom Potion to intentionally make herself very sick for an extended period of time.

With her mind made up about the situation, Liu Tián Qǔ turned her attention to the other matters at hand.

Liu Tián Qǔ looked down at the money box that sat before her, resting her hands on the side of the money box, Liu Tián Qǔ up at the housekeeper and said, "In this money, box is one million gold, in gold certificates. Many projects are ongoing right now. Commander Jiang is getting started on the Garrison City as well as building our army. Construction Manager Kuo will be overseeing a total of seven, possibly eight, construction projects in the Residence, with more to begin after he completes those seven or eight projects. Agricultural Manager Kuo is overseeing the harvesting of our fruits. The Emperor will be granting us a large piece of fertile land for farming any day now. In three months, we will have five hundred horses coming in along with new stablehands. Then autumn would bring about winemaking season." Releasing a big sigh, Liu Tián Qǔ suddenly felt very, very tired. Suddenly she just wanted to rest for a while. However, she had much to do and less than thirty minutes to get it done.

"I will leave you and your husband in charge of this money box. Although I am estimating one to three months of illness, I would like to make preparation in the event that I am ill longer than three months. It's really not wise for me to take the Black Blossom potion right now with the condition my body is in. However, that matter has already been decided."

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

"If Commander Jiang or Construction Manager Kuo or anyone else run out of gold and need more gold. They are to give you a written estimate, in a detailed report, explaining their needs. You don't need to bother reading the report. The report will be for me to review when I am back in good health," Liu Tián Qǔ informed the housekeeper. After the housekeeper voiced her understanding, she continued.

"If for some odd reason the gold should run out, and I am incapacitated, then don't worry. In the letter that I will write to Wang Fèn Yǒng, I will ask him to help oversee things and replace the gold as you need it, until I am able to resume my duties once more. At that time, I will reimburse him." Liu Tián Qǔ told the housekeeper as she replaced the money box into the opened bottom drawer of the desk and then closed the drawer.

At Liu Tián Qǔ behest, Housekeeper Gao quickly began grinding ink. Liu Tián Qǔ immediately began writing detailed letters of instructions as quickly as she could.

These letters were to Jiang Tài Píng, Construction Manager Kuo, Hēi Tài Yáng, Agricultural Manager Kuo, Lady Wu Yǐn Rán, Doctor Ru, Wēi Yǒng Měng who seemed to be the spokesperson for her guest. Liu Tián Qǔ even wrote letters of instruction for the Butler and Housekeeper to follow as she multitasked by simultaneously instructing the housekeeper on the things that she could. However, because time was short and she didn't have time to explain everything she wanted to explain, the rest she wrote down.

Liu Tián Qǔ also took a moment to write letters to Wang Fèn Yǒng and Little Dumpling. That last letter was to the Emperor. On a blank piece of paper with deep dissatisfaction. Liu Tián Qǔ drew several characters and sealed the letter.

Liu Tián Qǔ then began adding packages to almost all the letters. She thanked her lucky stars that she had the foresight to create the packages. With the inclusion of the packages, the ball would keep on rolling, and things wouldn't come to a halt just because she was sick.

Next to Doctor Ru's letter and package, Liu Tián Qǔ added a small Jade snuff bottle and gave Housekeeper Gao specific instructions regarding Doctor Ru's Letter.

Liu Tián Qǔ also took out several additional packages of sketches, designs, plans, and instructions. She gave the housekeeper special instructions for each package. To be on the safe side, Liu Tián Qǔ attached individual notes to each package, so Housekeeper Gao wouldn't mix them up or forget her instructions.

Liu Tián Qǔ breathed a sigh of relief after she sealed the last letter closed and attached the last package.

Liu Tián Qǔ leaned back in her seat and looked up at the housekeeper and said, "Aunty Gao, I am quickly running out of time. There are several things that I had wished to tell you, and Butler Zhou that I never got around to, it will take to long to write it down, and I think it's better if I verbally inform you anyway."

Housekeeper Gao met Liu Tián Qǔ's gaze and said, "I'm listening, Young Master. Please go ahead and tell me."

Liu Tián Qǔ took a moment to collect her thoughts before she began, "First off, we have quite a few enormous charmed underground storage spaces sitting empty. I want each charmed underground storage spaces to be stacked from floor to ceiling with food. Those spaces are massive, so it will take a long time to do so. Starting tomorrow, I want you to slowly begin filling two of the biggest charmed underground storages with food."

Liu Tián Qǔ held the housekeepers' gaze and repeated the word "Slowly." Laying heavy emphasis on the word.

"I do not want people to become aware that we are buying food for storage purposes, so do it little by little. In the event of a food shortage or famine, I want the residence of Liu Residence to be able to eat well. However, if everyone is aware that Liu Residence has stored food in a time when everyone is starving, that will only bring us trouble. Do you understand?"

"Yes, I understand Young Master. I will carefully take care of this matter." The housekeeper answered.

"Good, the next thing is, no more slaves are to be purchased in the Imperial City. The next time you purchase slaves for the Residence, it must be from a city outside of the Imperial City. Skip the cities that are closest to the Imperial City. I don't care if we must travel for a month or more to do so. However, that is my command."

"When you go out to carry out this matter, try to be as discreet as possible. Make sure to disguise the residence you are purchasing slaves for as well as the guards who will be selected to escort you. Do you understand?"

The wise housekeeper understood everything immediately and said, "I understand, Young Master. Later, I will speak with my husband and the Deputy Commander of the house guards regarding this matter. When it is time we will need to plan each trip carefully."

"Many malevolent eyes are now on Liu Residence. I am quite sure that many are already plotting all kinds of ways to get spies in our Residence. Therefore, I want to close this avenue of possibility. For now, no one knows of our intention to travel outside of the Imperial City to purchase slaves. That won't always be that case, but for now, let's do it this way."

The wise housekeeper immediately understood and said, "I will do so, Young Master.

Liu Tián Qǔ had briefly pause before saying with a thoughtful look on her face, "Another idea to keep in mind is when you go outside of the Imperial city to buy slaves, you can also buy food in other cities outside of the Imperial city, or at small farms, you pass along the way. However, once again, I will remind you to disguise what residence you are buying for, and have the guards that travel with you disguise themselves as well."

The housekeeper fully understood Liu Tián Qǔ concern and looked Liu Tián Qǔ with eyes wide with admiration. Truthfully she would have never thought to do things in this manner. She listened carefully and occasionally nodded her understanding, "Okay, Young Master, the butler, and I will carefully take care of this matter.

"I want you to also see about having several covered travel wagons made especially for this purpose. I'm quite sure they will come in handy for transporting newly purchased slaves and food discreetly. One thing I want you to be mindful of is if you use more than one covered travel wagon, when you are reentering the Imperial city, do not enter all at once. It would draw too much attention." Liu Tián Qǔ ignored the admiration she saw in the housekeeper's eyes. She didn't think that she was a genius. To her, it was all common sense. If you knew that people were planning to get spies into your house. Then don't go the route where you know that they are waiting, instead, try taking a detour.

Liu Tián Qǔ seen so many dramas and read many web novels and stories about famines and food shortages in ancient history so why begin digging a well only when everyone is thirsty?

Releasing a deep sigh Liu Tián Qǔ said, "Good. I don't know how sick I will get, if things get too bad then I asked that you and Zhou Yu personally look after me. I rather Sōng Hé Píng not know my gender. However, if it proves impossible to keep it hidden from her. Then there is nothing to be done for it but to let her know."

"I will first try my best to keep her out of the way to keep her from finding out." The housekeeper promised.

Liu Tián Qǔ nodded and continued, "At noon my Shadow Guards will be arriving. Once I take the potion, other than the doctor, Hòu Dao, Lì Qiáng, Commander Jiang, you, Uncle Zhao, Zhou Yu, Sōng Hé Píng, and Wang Royal Manor. No one else is to be allowed entry into my quarters for any reason. The Emperor or Queen may send Imperial Physicians, they are not to be obstructed. However, Doctor Ru, Hòu Dao, or Lì Qiáng must be present if Imperial physicians come, they are allowed to see me unless Doctor Ru, Hòu Dao, or Lì Qiáng are present."

"I understand, Young Master," The housekeeper responded.