The wives of the concubines are empresses

The young master smiled gently: "Your Majesty is wise, I do come from a humble family."

"Master, have you ever irrigated your family's farmland?" The candidates looked at him.

The young master seemed to be recalling the past, his expression was sad.

"I have indeed irrigated the fields. My family was very poor when I was young. My father was a scholar, but he was killed by bandits on his way to Beijing for the imperial examination. My mother was so heartbroken that she cried until she went blind. I only have a frail three-year-old sister at home. I had no choice but to put aside my studies and take on the responsibility of supporting my family by planting rice, weeding, and irrigating the fields.

I remember my fifth year of farming. The autumn harvest was only half a month away, but that year there was a severe drought. The people were destitute and almost dying of thirst. I watched as the once vibrant rice, before it had even reached full strength, slowly withered.

I was counting on that little bit of food to support my family, but things did not go as I wished. The fields became dry and cracked, and many villagers had to reluctantly cut down the rice. However, the harvest was only one-third of that in previous years. I had to wait and fetch water every day to water the roots of the rice so that it could absorb some water.

Some people followed suit, and after two weeks of repeated watering, our autumn harvest was a full 50% higher than others. I remember that year the county magistrate even visited our village to inspect it. He then went back and instructed the other people who hadn't harvested yet to find ways to water the rice to make it fuller. As a result, that county's harvest was 20% to 30% higher than others.

Originally, this measure benefited the country and the people, but some people put the blame on the county magistrate, causing him to be stripped of his official position, demoted to a commoner, and his descendants were barred from taking the imperial examinations.

After hearing his story, Shangguan Wanjun's face turned slightly cold.

"How many years have passed now? Is the county magistrate still alive?"

The young master recollected carefully, "About twenty years ago. The county magistrate must be over forty now. I wonder if he's married or has children. But considering the situation at the time, no one would have been willing or dared to marry him, fearing they would be implicated."

Shangguan Wanjun lowered her head in thought, "Twenty years ago? The county magistrate should have been in his twenties at the time."

The young master nodded: "Yes."

Originally, he wanted to wait until he was stronger before finding out more about it, but he had been busy with his career and official duties over the years and had never had time to find out about what happened back then.

Moreover, they could make a county magistrate a scapegoat, as the background of the magistrate might be very powerful. At that time, he did not have the ability to redress his grievances, and could not even help.

Shangguan Wanjun had an idea in her mind, but she had to deal with the current matter first.

"My dear, this is a solution, but it's too tiring. However, under the circumstances, it was the only solution. After all, we were almost out of water."

The young master was moved by the emperor's words. Finally, someone understood him, and it was the current empress.

"What the Emperor said is absolutely true."

Shangguan Wanjun looked down at a candidate's answer, muttering to herself.

"You have given me some inspiration." In this era, farmland is truly the life of all the people.

She raised her eyes to look at the four concubines and said, "My four beloved concubines, let's take a look at the candidates' answers together."

The four of them bowed respectfully: "Yes, Your Majesty."

Each person picked up one test paper and looked at it, followed by the second one.

Shangguan Wanjun saw the familiar name and suddenly read it out loud.

"Sun Yufei, that's a good name." Then she looked up at the owner of the test paper. The candidate had a handsome face and a bookish air, and looked very cultured.

"He has considerable talent, and his literary skills are not frivolous or flamboyant. I think Mr. Sun is also a man who seeks truth from facts."

Sun Yufei bowed respectfully and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your praise. I do not deserve it."

Shangguan Wanjun was slightly satisfied with his modesty.

"Appropriate humility is the foundation of being a human being, that's right." When she turned around, a candidate's eyes widened in shock, and Shangguan Wanjun happened to see it.

"Does this candidate have anything to say?"

The examinee bowed and said: "I have been disrespectful in front of the emperor. Please punish me, Your Majesty."

Shangguan Wanjun smiled and said, "If you have something to say, just say it. I will forgive you."

"I seem to have seen the emperor." But he remembered that it was an invigilator at that time, but he was a bit handsome, with a noble and cold temperament.

Hearing his words, Concubine Wen and others were stunned.

Shangguan Wanjun smiled again: "You have indeed seen me, and so has Mr. Sun."

Sun Yufei was stunned, looking puzzled.

"I don't know where I've seen the emperor before."

Concubine Shu and other concubines felt a sense of crisis. Could it be that the emperor took a fancy to these two candidates?

"I served as an invigilator for a day and experienced the daily duties of an invigilator."

The second candidate suddenly realized, "So it's the emperor. I said he looks a little familiar."

But I never thought I'd actually seen it.

"The answers from the three of you did not disappoint me."

Sun Yufei and the examinee looked at each other, and Shangguan Wanjun looked at a examinee who was standing quietly.

"He looks so frail, this candidate should take care of his health. It would be a shame if he studied so hard for so many years but his health was not good enough."

The examinee looked slightly embarrassed and said, "I will remember the emperor's words. Thank you for the reminder."

Shangguan Wanjun smiled faintly and said, "You're welcome."

Huifei-Fengjinghan kept looking at the test paper in her hand, as if she was obsessed with it.

"What are you looking at, concubine?"

Hearing this, Hui Fei-Feng Jinghan walked over with the test paper tilted.

"Your Majesty, this examinee's handwriting is very neat. While his answers are not outstanding, they are above the passing level."

Shangguan Wanjun leaned over slightly to take a look and finished reading it after a quarter of an hour.

"It's quite good. I think this candidate is just being low-key."

Looking at the name above, Shangguan Wanjun smiled slightly.

"Thank you for your hard work, candidates. Now that you are here, let's have lunch together."

The candidates were shocked. Could they dine with the emperor?

It was not until they arrived in the dining hall that everyone realized that this was reality and not a dream.

The palace maids and eunuchs brought water with perilla, and everyone sat quietly, not daring to look around.

"This is perilla water. I guess you're all thirsty too. Try it."

Shangguan Wanjun was the first to pick up the glass cup and drink, and then everyone else picked up the cup to taste the perilla water.

"how?"

Sun Yufei cupped his hands and said, "It's sweet, perfect for summer."

Shangguan Wanjun nodded: "Yes, if you add some ice water or ice cubes, the effect will be better."

Sun Yufei remained silent, and Shangguan Wanjun looked at the other two.

"I remember your name is Zhang Zhengyang, and your name is Liu Qingshu, right?"

The two candidates stood up and replied, "Your Majesty, yes."

"Sure enough, scholars are more particular about their names, but they are all good."

Concubine Wu - Propaganda Feng and Concubine De - Mu Wennian arrived late.

"Your Majesty, your humble servant."

"Come on, please sit down!"

The two men sat down at the lower seats of the main table. The candidates looked at the two elegant men with a gentle demeanor and a graceful demeanor, and were filled with surprise.

It turns out that these two are also the emperor's husbands, but they look like officials in the court.