Li Zhihao, deep in thought, concluded that either option could put his niece in danger. Naturally, he did not want his niece to travel so far; the journey was not a matter of a single day but could take days or even months.
Ye Shiqi persuaded Li Zhihao that she would disguise herself in n’s clothing for the trip.
With persuasion proving fruitless, Li Zhihao could only wait for the old housekeeper to return before making further plans.
Ye Shiqi began to prepare for her trip to the border city.
In the distant border, among the soldiers, those regions likely lacked herbal dicines—areas with frequent battles or constant harassnt by foreign enemies tend to use a substantial amount of wound dicine.
Ye Shiqi recalled her previous life, where dical equipnt was advanced and a greater variety of dications was needed. dicines with Chinese herbal ingredients were also made into granules, which the injured or sick absorbed more quickly.
Consider, for example, so anti-inflammatory drugs, anesthetics, antibiotics, and dicines for significant diseases—all these needed prescriptions.
The recipes for anesthetics, healing dicines, and anti-inflammatory drugs were among those Ye Shiqi had obtained from the Great King, along with so recipes for plague dicines, but with no herbs provided.
Due to the harsh sandstorms in the desert, the skin of both n and won was more prone to cracking.
She needed to develop so skincare products to send exclusively to the soldiers and their families.
For instance, "nourishing fat" could create skincare products that resembled lard and had so protective functions against splitting skin.
In places with intense sandstorms, the cold weather beca especially severe. People there might stay indoors or huddle in pits during the winter.
But the soldiers could not do so; they needed to patrol, as enemies might take advantage of sandstorms or heavy snow to cross the border.
The soldiers might even have to lie in ambush in the snow. They had to endure the extre cold and hunger, not just the cold.
Ye Shiqi instructed Li Zhihao to arrange the purchase of cotton and to buy various dicinal herbs from each pharmacy indiscriminately, which would make it harder for anyone to guess their intentions.
She suspected that her family’s every move was surely under surveillance. If one were to cease all activities for fear of being watched, that was unacceptable.
Would people cease observation simply because they stayed quietly at ho?
Not necessarily. The old housekeeper had already inford them that there had always been soone spying on the household, sneaking in to see what they were up to at night.
The concealed guards within the Ye Residence were aware of this but did not alert the intruders. They intended to see what these people were up to by pretending to be unaware and letting their guard down.
Ye Shiqi directed her elder sisters to process the purchased cotton, and ordered all the maids and old won skilled in needlework to focus on making cotton clothes, shoes, and socks, in addition to their regular chores and laundry.
Ye Luoqi, who was supposed to be making her bridal clothes, also set aside her tasks and, along with her younger sisters, led these individuals in making clothing, shoes, gloves, socks, and hats.
They even made quilts, not just one per quilt, and bought not only cotton but also ordinary coarse cloth in large quantities to make quilt covers.
Buying cotton, fabric, and herbal dicines involved a considerable expenditure.
Ye Shiqi felt the money was being spent too quickly. She hadn’t started earning yet, and so much money was already gone.
At this mont, Ye Shiqi was not worried about repaying the twenty thousand taels of silver; she was concerned that her space wouldn’t be able to hold so many quilts and items. If she used carriages for transport, that would surely attract attention.
If they stored the many produced items at ho, others would still monitor and wonder about the purpose of these items—whether they were ant to be sold or used for sothing else.
After producing a large number of quilts, Ye Shiqi offered Li Zhihao a suggestion: their warehouse was full of furniture, and a furniture shop shouldn’t rely sell furniture.
They could also sell bedding there, place so quilts for sale, and perhaps people would be less suspicious of them.
...
Inside the resplendent great hall, the Emperor’s study and living quarters were the most luxurious, where he sat reviewing morials in his study.
A spy entered the study from outside and knelt down as soon as he was in, saying to the Emperor:
"Your Majesty, there has been significant activity at the Ye Residence recently."
"Speak, what have they done?" the Emperor said without even looking up.
"Your Majesty, they have purchased a large amount of dicinal herbs, and they’ve also bought a lot of cotton and fabric. Strangely enough, these activities were carried out during the two days the old housekeeper escorted the new master back to his hotown."
The words of the spy caused the Emperor to pause in his writing, "Continue monitoring them, and see what tricks they’re up to!"
"Yes," the spy exited the room.
While the Emperor was revising docunts, his mind had already thought of sothing; over the years, that old housekeeper had not been inactive, secretly transporting grain and so supplies to the border city.
How could an Emperor be unaware? Yet, he turned a blind eye, wary of General Ye’s power but also relying on this man and those soldiers to maintain peace at the border.
An invasion by foreign enemies was no joke; one small oversight could lead to a disaster.
The border wasn’t just in one place; it was surrounded by enemies on all sides.
The Emperor felt greater pressure after his sons grew up. As he started aging, his vigor waned, and he needed the loyalty of his subjects even more.
...
"Prince 13, there has been movent at the Ye family again!"
Zhao Yufei was practicing his swordsmanship in the garden when a guard brought Ye Haohuan in from outside.
Once Prince 13 paused his sword practice, the guard saluted and reported.
Zhao Yufei gestured for Ye Haohuan and went with the guard into the study.
His Prince Residence also had future spies, just as other Princes’ residences had spies he had dispatched.
Having entered the study, Zhao Yufei and Ye Haohuan took their seats and listened to the spy’s report.
"Could it be that soone at the Ye Mansion has dical skills?"
Zhao Yufei asked this question.
The spy shook his head, "According to what I have found out, there are no doctors at the Ye Mansion, and none of the Ye family daughters are skilled in dicine."
"Then why did they buy so much cotton and fabric? Are they planning to make quilts?" Ye Haohuan also asked.
"For now, all I know is that the dicinal herbs they bought have been stored in the warehouse. As for the cotton and fabric, it seems like the won of the house are all busy making clothes and quilts."
After hearing the spy’s words, Zhao Yufei was already guessing at sothing.
"Are they taking advantage of the approach of winter to send supplies to the distant border city?"
Ye Haohuan nodded, "That’s possible. A good housekeeper wasn’t in charge of this; it was indeed the housekeepers who were brought down to do it. Could it be that he wants to make a fortune?"
Zhao Yufei nodded, "Likely, they’ve bought houses and shops and incurred debts, perhaps to pay off these debts within the next three months with this business venture."
Ye Haohuan nodded in agreent, "With so many eyes in the Capital watching, so also with intentions to win them over, what do you think, Prince 13?"
"It’s not difficult to influence those who can be swayed with money, and besides, tens of thousands of taels of silver are just a trifle to us!"
Having said this, Zhao Yufei gave a look to the guard, signaling the intention to spend money to help the Ye family gather supplies.
Reviews
All reviews (0)