The wives of the concubines are empresses

Chapter 471 The Empress Dislikes the Lack of Female Officials in the Ministry of Agriculture

On the fourth step, the sacrificial official shouted: "Step by step, higher and higher, may our dynasty become more and more prosperous."

After walking up the stairs, Shangguan Wanjun felt tired and sweaty, but she had to hold on. After all, this was the first ceremony of personally farming and raising silkworms, and it represented extraordinary significance.

"Mother, are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Fortunately, she went to the hunting ground and walked much more than in the palace, which helped her to improve her physical condition.

After the offerings to heaven and earth, it is the turn of the centerpiece of the ceremony.

Gao Xinghua, the Minister of Rites, said respectfully, "Your Majesty, it's time to start going to the Ministry of Agriculture."

Shangguan Wanjun nodded slightly, and at this time the Grand Minister of Agriculture in charge of the Sinong Temple came forward respectfully.

"Your Majesty, I will lead the way."

"Set off."

"According to the order."

In order to make the journey more convenient and quick, the Minister of Agriculture chose to lead the way on horseback today.

After the carriage had traveled for an hour, the Ministry of Agriculture arrived.

At the signal of the Grand Minister of Agriculture, the officers and soldiers of the Ministry of Agriculture opened the gate and the carriage continued to move forward.

This time, the emperor was accompanied by his wife, the Emperor Wenwu, and his companions.

While in the carriage, Shangguan Wanjun closed her eyes and pretended to take a nap to rest, after all, she had a lot of things to do soon.

The carriage stopped and Shangguan Wanjun opened her eyes slightly.

From behind the curtain came Liu Cheng's respectful announcement: "Your Majesty, we've arrived."

"Okay, let's go, my two royal husbands."

This time, it was the Imperial Noble Consort Wu - Chuan Chuan Feng who supported Shangguan Wanjun, while the Imperial Noble Consort Wen - Bai Xuanyi left first.

The Grand Minister of Agriculture led the empress and others to rest for two quarters of an hour, and according to regulations, he ordered people to bring boiling hot water to make tea for everyone on the spot.

During the ploughing ceremony, the empress needed to wear special formal attire to show her emphasis on agriculture.

Lianhua and officials from the Ministry of Rites were personally responsible for the Empress's formal attire.

The official from the Ministry of Rites first told Lianhua that the time was almost up. Lianhua nodded slightly, then walked up to Shangguan Wanjun to report.

"Your Majesty, you and the two concubines should change into formal attire for farming and silkworm rearing."

"Okay, let's go, my two royal husbands."

The civil and military officials all stood up and bowed, "Yes, Your Majesty."

Shangguan Wanjun put on the bright yellow dragon robe prepared by Lianhua and others to represent the imperial power. Because of her status as an empress, she wore a bright yellow shawl with phoenix embroidery patterns on her wrists.

In order to facilitate her own farming and silkworm rearing, the empress chose a simple bun and wore a bright yellow headband with a delicate bamboo pole and bamboo leaf pattern on it, which symbolized continuous growth.

The earrings are long fish-shaped, which symbolizes abundance every year.

Because she had to personally farm and raise silkworms, the empress did not wear any bracelets or other accessories on her fair wrists.

The two imperial husbands had to personally farm and raise silkworms together, but they could not wear the same clothes as the empress during the sacrificial ceremony, so the clothes customized for them were noble brocade robes.

When the three of them came out together, everyone's eyes lit up, especially the empress who looked even more majestic and domineering against the backdrop of her two husbands. She had fair skin, delicate hands, and was gentle, dignified, generous, and upright.

Emperor Wen's noble husband, Bai Xuanyi, reached out his hand to help her step by step to the front of the crowd. Since agricultural rituals such as mulberry cultivation were all under the Ministry of Agriculture, the entire process was under the full responsibility of the Grand Minister of Agriculture and his officials, while the officials of the Ministry of Rites were responsible for shouting and singing the rituals at each stage.

The ministers who accompanied the emperor to personally participate in the "farming and silkworm rearing" ceremony were the Right Prime Minister and his wife, Lady Anguo, and General Xuanwei and his wife, Lady Huguo.

Two elderly couples followed the emperor, and behind them followed representatives of loving couples from the shops and among the common people.

Led by the Grand Minister of Agriculture, they came to the sweet potato field. The skin color of the sweet potatoes here was not all the same, some were white, so they were also called sweet potatoes.

The Grand Minister of Agriculture respectfully said to the Empress, "Your Majesty, let's start by digging sweet potatoes."

"Okay, give me the hoe."

A Shaoqing of the Ministry of Agriculture personally handed a hoe to Shangguan Wanjun. Looking at the hoe that was similar to the one in another world, Shangguan Wanjun reached out to take it and walked directly towards the sweet potato field.

The Grand Minister of Agriculture was shocked, Shangguan Wanjun's hoe had already dug down, and everyone was even more shocked.

Shangguan Wanjun didn't pay attention to everyone's gaze and kept digging there. Several vines full of sweet potatoes emerged one by one, some big and some small.

"This one looks okay."

Liu Cheng was frightened when he saw her continue to dig with the hoe.

"Oh, Your Majesty, please slow down."

The civil and military officials had already started digging sweet potatoes. The right prime minister was stunned for a moment, then reacted, took the hoe from the hand of a minor official next to him, and quickly ran to the field.

Mrs. Anguo was startled when she saw it: "Master, please slow down."

General Xuanwei and his wife Lady Huguo looked at each other in bewilderment.

"Ma'am, let's go up quickly."

As they came forward, the two couples behind them also came forward one by one, took the hoes and went to the fields.

Lianhua, Ouhe, Muxiang and Sun Yuewei were all stunned. Why did their master seem to have endless energy?

Ou He was a little worried about her master who had never done housework, so she hurried forward to wipe the sweat off her face.

"Your Majesty, can you still hold on?"

Mu Xiang also stepped forward and asked with concern: "Your Majesty, would you like some water?"

"Don't worry, drink it later."

Looking at the sweet potatoes she dug out, Shangguan Wanjun felt a sense of accomplishment.

"Fortunately, I had the foresight to not wear any head ornaments or jewelry. Otherwise, I would be exhausted to death wearing such a heavy head ornament."

No one dared to respond casually, and Shi Qingxue just laughed.

"The emperor said so."

Looking at her still heavy clothes, Shangguan Wanjun fell into trouble.

"Should I change the dress code? Wearing such fancy clothes to do farm work looks ridiculous no matter how you look at it."

Liu Cheng hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, you are the supreme ruler. This formal dress is perfect for you. Other clothes won't suit you."

Shangguan Wanjun looked at the peasant couple and found that their work seemed quite easy.

"Do you have clothes as plain and simple as that sister-in-law's?"

The Grand Minister of Agriculture was stunned, his expression a little awkward: "Your Majesty, this... this... is not suitable for you either."

Shangguan Wanjun rolled her eyes at him and said, "What's wrong with working? I see they have it pretty easy."

The Minister of Agriculture was in a dilemma: "Your Majesty, we are all male officials here, and we don't have any women's clothes."

A junior minister of agriculture looked at Lianhua's four personal female officials.

"I wonder if the adults are prepared?"

The four of them looked at each other.

They didn't know that the emperor would actually come to dig sweet potatoes, and they became more and more excited as they dug.

Liu Cheng said, "Your Majesty, how about I send someone back to the palace to get it?"

"It's too late."

"Well, why don't you take a break?" This was really awkward.

The Empress Dowager of the Eastern Palace kept looking ahead and found that Shangguan Wanjun was standing there, surrounded by several officials and eunuchs, and she didn't know what they were talking about, which made her even more confused.

"Madame Li, go and take a look."

"Yes, Queen Mother."

Nanny Li hurried to the path beside the sweet potato field and just heard the sound of the Minister of Agriculture almost crying.

"Why don't you, the Minister of Agriculture, recruit a few female officials? You're all men. Don't you think it's tiring to work with both men and women?"