If you happen to know the names of your advisors by now, then you can pretty safely complete hidden reward quests offered by everyone except for Rinbin, the jester. He likes to prank you sometimes with those quests, but they usually pay off like the others. Just pay attention to the requirements! There's one quest in the Future that asks for gold and copper (EMA goods) and rewards you with Future goods, immediately followed by a quest that asks for those goods and rewards you with the gold and copper you spent on the last quest. You don't really lose anything in this exchange, but it's an example of how paying attention to the quest text can clue you in to what the rewards may be!
As a rule, one-time quests that ask a rather steep payment generally offer a comparable reward to what you're giving up.
