The wives of the concubines are empresses

The officials of the Dali Temple did not expect the empress to make a sudden visit. The Dali Temple Minister Song Yunshuo hurriedly dressed himself and went to the gate of the government office to welcome Shangguan Wanjun.

"Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you and wish you the best of luck."

"My dear, you came running here, didn't you? I'm sorry, I just came to check on you on a whim. I hope I didn't disturb you."

Song Yunshuo, the Minister of Justice of the Dali Temple, said in a very respectful tone: "It does not affect us, Your Majesty, please come in!"

Concubine Wen - Bai Xuanyi carefully helped Shangguan Wanjun into the government office, and Shangguan Wanjun took in all the flowers and plants along the way. As an empress, she was also a woman, and her thoughts were so delicate that she noticed every detail.

"Your government office is quite clean."

The sudden praise made Song Yunshuo, the Minister of Dali Temple, a little flattered. Over the years, the empress rarely praised others seriously, especially in public.

Seeing files on some desks, Shangguan Wanjun picked them up curiously and took a look.

"case?"

An official said, "Your Majesty, yes, this is true. It happened twenty years ago." When he raised his eyes, he found that Shangguan Wanjun was looking at it very seriously.

"Loyal and Brave Marquis? How come I haven't heard of him?"

Concubine Wen - Bai Xuanyi took it from Shangguan Wanjun and looked at it, and finally found that it seemed somewhat familiar.

"Could it be the family that was exiled?"

Hearing the word "exile", Hui Fei-Feng Jinghan also looked over.

"Isn't this the once-famous Marquis of Loyalty and Bravery? I heard his family suffered quite a lot back then."

Shangguan Wanjun raised her eyebrows slightly: "It's quite miserable? How miserable?"

"Your Majesty, I only remember beheadings, exiles, and many suicides, mostly women in their families."

Shangguan Wanjun had already imagined the scene in her mind, and she couldn't help but shake her head and sigh.

"Alas, women have always had a difficult life since ancient times. By the way, Dali Temple Minister, please tell me about this matter in detail." After she finished speaking, Shangguan Wanjun sat down directly at the desk. After reading the contents of the file, she always felt that there were many doubts in it.

"Yes, Your Majesty," said Song Yunshuo, the Minister of Justice, recalling the past. "At that time, I had just passed the imperial examination and the Marquis of Zhongyong had returned victorious from battle, beloved by the people. The Marquis's mansion was extremely favored. When I officially became an official, I wanted to make some friends. As soon as I reached the mansion, I saw court officials and soldiers surrounding the Marquis's mansion. The men were arrested and imprisoned, and the women were exiled. Within half a month, all the men in the Marquis's mansion were beheaded, leaving only a frail second-born grandson alive. Whether he survived after that, I have no idea."

Shangguan Wanjun frowned as she looked at the file, thinking, "Twenty years ago. Wouldn't that mean I was just born?"

Dali Temple Minister Song Yunshuo pursed his lips and said, "If I were to speculate, it would be true."

Shangguan Wanjun looked at other files again, and finally had dinner at the Dali Temple. She frowned at the simple meal.

"Is this your usual meal?"

Song Yunshuo, the Minister of Justice, quickly explained, "Your Majesty, we usually have two meat dishes, but the price of pork has increased recently, so we've bought less these past two days."

Shangguan Wanjun asked curiously, "How much is one pound?"

"Twenty-five cents."

Shangguan Wanjun was shocked: "That's quite expensive. I remember when it was cheap, it was ten or fifteen cents."

Dali Temple Minister Song Yunshuo nodded: "Indeed."

The emperor knows a lot, even the prices of goods among the people.

As an emperor, he always thinks more. Thinking of the sudden increase in pork prices, Shangguan Wanjun frowned slightly, and Concubine Hui - Feng Jinghan felt that something was wrong with her.

"Your Majesty, is there something wrong?"

“Could this price increase be related to the floods in other states?”

Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment. As someone who had lived among the common people, Minglan was quite sensitive to this matter.

"Your Majesty, this is indeed possible."

Shangguan Wanjun propped up her head and pondered, "Pork prices are going up. Will vegetables, grains, and oil be next?"

Dali Temple Minister Song Yunshuo looked up in shock: "Your Majesty, this..."

"If this isn't handled properly, a lot of things will happen, and you guys will have to wait for new people to enter the cells."

Shangguan Wanjun's words came true. Three days later, there was a huge quarrel in the court. She watched quietly as the civil officials criticized her verbally, and were almost slamming her with their pens.

General Xuanwei, General Huaiyuan and other quiet military generals looked up at the empress who was calm and composed on the dragon throne, only to see her watching the civil servants quarreling quietly like an outsider.

Concubine Lu - Liu Haiming and Concubine Xuan - Song Xuanyi looked at each other. They were almost going crazy with anxiety, but the emperor was still so calm, not even frowning.

"Sir, do you think the Emperor has any tricks up his sleeve?"

Concubine Lu - Liu Haiming looked at his wife who had slept in the same bed with him for many years. He saw that she was looking down at her beautiful hands. Her delicate hands, like white onions, were so charming that people couldn't let go of them.

Tutor Li looked at the empress who was admiring his delicate hands with a puzzled look on his face. Listening to the noisy court, he almost wanted to roll his eyes.

After the court became quiet, Shangguan Wanjun raised her head slightly and looked around the entire court. Her gaze lingered on the faces of the rows of officials for a moment, then quickly scanned the other officials.

"Have you had enough of the quarrel? Are you tired? Do you want some water? Do you want to sit down?"

Four questions were asked in succession, which made the court officials feel ashamed and embarrassed. The officials who had been arguing before looked at each other and finally shook their heads.

Seeing how cowardly they were, Shangguan Wanjun couldn't help but curl her lips and smile. She stood up and walked step by step to the steps, looking down at the whole place.

"I've been listening for a long time, and all your arguments and debates are useless." The ministers' faces froze. They had made a mistake. The emperor was too calm.

Shangguan Wanjun walked down the stairs step by step. The unique fragrance of a girl on her body and the fragrance of her hair gradually approached. The ministers held their breath and dared not breathe heavily.

"I remember that the runner-up is from a poor family, right?"

Liu Qingshu, the editor of the Hanlin Academy, was stunned. "Your Majesty, that's right."

He didn't realize just now that Bangyanlang was the name the empress gave him.

"Back to the emperor, exactly."

"Tell me what you think." Just listening to a bunch of officials who have no worries in life arguing will not be of much use. It is better to listen to the officials who are truly the sons of poor families.

Liu Qingshu bowed respectfully and said, "Yes, Your Majesty. I believe that the price increase must be controlled by law and force to avoid further accidents and riots."

General Xuanwei bowed and said, "Your Majesty, I agree with Lord Liu's proposal to use force to control the situation. I heard that the Dali Temple and Jingzhao Yin are extremely busy, and even the Ministry of Justice has been called in."

When the ministers heard this, they were shocked.

"What? Someone from the Ministry of Justice has gone in?"

Shangguan Wanjun had long anticipated this happening. After all, in her previous life, society had seen people going on a shopping spree, especially for things like salt, rice, and vegetables.

Minister of Revenue Mu Qinghai frowned and said, "Pork has now risen to thirty coins per catty."

Shangguan Wanjun was shocked: "It's only been a few days, and the price has increased by another five cents. There's definitely something wrong with this. Investigate it for me."

Those damn good-for-nothings who are restless every day and always want to get rich overnight, just look at how I, the man at the top of power, will teach you a good lesson.