Alex felt a small surge of satisfaction. Progress. Visible, measurable progress.
"Good. Tell him I'm pleased." He moved to the window and looked out. The sun was starting to set, painting the sky orange and pink. In his old life, this would have been the middle of his workday. He usually didn't leave the office until nine or ten at night.
Here, the palace seemed to operate on a different schedule. Everything slowed down after dark. Candles were expensive, lamp oil was rationed, and most people just went to sleep when the sun set.
Inefficient, but he would have to adapt.
"Bring me dinner," he said. "And then I want to work on producing more perfume. We need inventory."
"But mistress, you should rest! You've been working all day!"
"I've been working for maybe six hours total, with a three-hour nap in the middle. That's not all day." Alex turned back to her. "Xiao Cui, I appreciate your concern, but I need you to understand something. We are in a race. Every day that passes, Consort Su gets more established and we stay weak. Every day we wait, we lose opportunities. I can't afford to rest just because this body is fragile. I need to push through until I'm strong enough that rest is a luxury I can afford."
She looked worried but nodded. "I understand. I'll bring dinner."
While he waited for food, Alex did some mental calculations. If he could sell even one bottle of perfume per week at eight to ten taels, that would double his monthly income. Two bottles per week would triple it. That would give him a budget for better food, better clothes, small bribes to build relationships, and funding for other business ventures.
But he couldn't just rely on perfume. He needed diversification. Multiple income streams to ensure stability.
The board game idea from his original plan was still viable. Strategy games would appeal to nobles and officials who fancied themselves clever. He could create something like chess but more complex, with territorial control elements. Call it something appropriately ancient-sounding. Market it as a thinking man's entertainment.
He would need someone to manufacture the game pieces and boards. That meant finding a craftsman willing to work with him, which meant either money for commission or a profit-sharing arrangement.
Add that to the list of problems to solve.
Dinner arrived. More rice porridge, but this time with some meat in it and actual seasoning. Auntie Chen was apparently taking his challenge seriously.
While he ate, Xiao Cui returned with the supplies for perfume making. They spent the next two hours producing six more bottles in three different scent profiles. Alex was getting faster at the process, and the quality was more consistent.
By the time they finished, it was fully dark outside and his hands were cramping from the repetitive work.
"That's twelve taels worth of inventory," he said, carefully storing the bottles. "If we can move all of this within two weeks, we'll have enough capital to expand operations."
"Should I give one to that maid tomorrow? The one who wanted to buy?"
"Yes. Ten taels, firm price. If she haggles, tell her the perfume maker has other interested buyers." Which was technically true. There were other maids who would want it once word spread. "And Xiao Cui? After you make that sale, I want you to do something else. I want you to approach Consort Chen's household."
"Consort Chen? The pregnant one?"
"Yes. Tell her personal maid that you serve Consort Yan, and that your mistress heard about the happy news and wants to send congratulations. Give her one of the fresh-scent perfumes as a gift. No charge. Just a friendly gesture between consorts."
Xiao Cui looked confused. "But why? You don't know Consort Chen."
"Because pregnant women are vulnerable, and Consort Chen is probably scared about being a target. If I reach out with a genuine-seeming gesture of support, she'll remember it. And if she ever needs an ally, she'll think of me." Alex had used similar tactics in business. Identify people who needed help, offer it before they asked, and build goodwill that could be leveraged later. "Plus, if she accepts the gift and likes the perfume, she'll tell other people about it. That's free marketing."
"You think of everything, don't you?"
"I think of survival first and profit second. Everything else is details." Alex stood up and stretched. His back ached, his legs were tired, and he could feel the exhaustion in his bones. But it was productive exhaustion. The kind that came from building something instead of just existing.
"Go rest," he told Xiao Cui. "Tomorrow is going to be busy."
After she left, Alex changed back into sleeping clothes with some difficulty and then lay down on the bed. The room was dark except for one small lamp that cast flickering shadows on the walls.
Three days ago, he had been Alex Sterling, billionaire CEO and underground assassin. Now he was Yan Lingxi, a forgotten consort in ancient China.
The situation was absurd. It should have been depressing.
But Alex found himself smiling in the darkness.
Because for the first time in years, he felt like he was building something that mattered. His tech empire had been successful, but it had also been cold and impersonal. His assassination network had been efficient, but it had been built on death and fear.
This? This was different. He was building from absolute zero. Every small victory, every recruited ally, every silver tael earned felt significant.
And there was something darkly satisfying about taking someone else's failure and turning it into success. The original Yan Lingxi had been weak, passive, and had let herself be crushed by the system.
Alex was going to take that same broken position and forge it into power.
The harem had tried to destroy Consort Yan.
Instead, they had created something much worse.
They just didn't know it yet.
Alex closed his eyes and let sleep take him. Tomorrow would bring new challenges, new opportunities, and hopefully the first real revenue from the perfume sales.
Tomorrow, the empire building continued.
One small step at a time.
Until the day came when he stood at the top instead of the bottom.
And everyone who had tried to crush him would look up in shock and realize their mistake far too late to fix it.
He could wait.
Alex Sterling had always been very good at playing the long game.