Rebirth of the Phoenix Princess novel Chapter 818

The madam hurriedly said, "I've inquired about it from the bosses of the grain stores. They said that the business is good recently, so the supply is not adequate to the demand. The whole city is short of grain, so they have to raise the price."

Yun Shang narrowed her eyes. The supply is not adequate to the demand? The number of people in each city was relatively fixed, and the consumption of food and oil was also fixed. Besides, no huge event had transpired recently, so it was abnormal that there was such an increase in demand. There must be some conspiracy behind this. If it had happened in other cities, Yun Shang would've suspect if there were a large number of soldiers hiding here. But Jin City was different as it was the Imperial City which had been heavily guarded within dozens of miles. Unless it was allowed by Xia Huanyu, a group of soldiers couldn't be able to hide there.

But why?

Yun Shang kept silent for a while. Then she looked up and asked, "You just said that many people have disappeared in Jin City recently. What's going on?"

Another elderly maid said in a hurry, "Indeed, a lot of people have disappeared. My family lives in the west of the city, which is a poor area. Recently, many of my neighbors have suddenly disappeared for no reason and they are all young men and young women. Their family have no idea where they have gone. They all suspected that they have been kidnapped. But they are from rich families. What's the point of kidnapping them?" "Have they notify the authorities?" Yun Shang asked in a low voice.

"Yes. It has been almost a month, but there is still no clue. As the offices can't find anything, they reported it to the Ministry of Revenue, the leader of which then ordered to block the city gate. People in the city could go out of the gate while no one is allowed to enter. The woman answered softly.

Yun Shang frowned and shook her head. There must be something wrong. If there had been a lot of people missing in the city, Yamen would've reported it to both the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Justice. However, Yun Shang hadn't received any message from Li Qianmo. Moreover, if that was the case, they should've prohibited everyone from leaving the city to prevent the missing people from being taken out of the city.

Yun Shang turned to Qin Yi, "Who is the Deputy Minister of Revenue?"

Qin Yi hurriedly replied, "The Deputy Minister of Revenue is called Qian Rujun.

Yun Shang nodded. It suddenly occurred to her that Deputy Minister of Revenue had visited Prince Rui's Mansion during the Spring Festival. But she didn't pay much attention to him because the seventh Prince had brought someone to investigate the case of Liu Chuchu. Now she even couldn't remember his appearance.

Yun Shang nodded slightly. She thought that she could ask Luo Qingyan about it when he came back.

Thinking of this, Yun Shang didn't want to show too much concern on this matter in front of the elderly maids, so she changed the topic, "Since the price of grains has increased, just ask the remote mansions to send some grains and vegetables from the farms, as you just said. You send someone to receive the food at the city gate as people outside the city aren't allowed to enter the city recently. I will send someone to inform the guard of the city gate."

The maid quickly responded and stepped aside. The next one said in a hurry, "The yard Your Highness lived was burnt down before, and His Highness ordered to restore it. Now it's almost completed. I've made a list of furniture that might be needed. Your Highness, please have a look and see if there is anything that needs to be added or canceled?"

Yun Shang took it and flipped it over carefully. She picked up a writing brush and lined out some items casually. "The amphora vase won't look good at the door. Replace it with a blue and white porcelain vase. Eight screens are too much for the bedchamber, six would be fine. Choose those with galloping horse patterns. Buy some ambergris. His Highness likes the scent of it. I have also deleted some other things..."

Then she handed the list back to the maid.

After all of them finished reporting, it was already dark.

Yun Shang asked them to leave, and then asked Qin Yi to prepare dinner. After dinner was prepared for a while, Luo Qingyan returned home. Seeing his tired face, Yun Shang poured him a cup of tea and handed it to him.

"The dinner is ready. I have ordered the Mandarin Fish you like. Your Highness has been working hard these days. You gotta eat more later." Yun Shang said with a smile.

Luo Qingyan nodded gently and looked at Yun Shang with tenderness in his eyes.

"Shang'er, what have you done today?" Luo Qingyan took a sip of tea and put down the cup. He turned to look at Yun Shang, all smiles. Yun Shang smiled and said, "There are a lot of things I have to deal with since we have been away for three months. I've spent the whole afternoon to check the account books of the mansion and dealt with some trivial things. As for the account books of shops and remote mansions, I'll deal with them later.

"Thank you for your hard work." Luo Qingyan smiled.

Then they had dinner together. After dinner, Luo Qingyan took a walk with Yun Shang in the yard. The yard was lit up with lanterns under the eaves. Looking at the blooming lotus in the lake, Yun Shang turned to Luo Qingyan and said, "I heard from some elderly maids that the price of grains in Jin City has increased a lot recently, and many people in Jin City have disappeared?"

Standing next to Yun Shang, Luo Qingyan nodded slightly and frowned. "It's a little tricky. I think it has something to do with the Su clan, but there is no evidence."

That was exactly the same as what Yun Shang thought. She had also been suspicious of Su Qi.

"What are you going to do, Your Highness?" Yun Shang blinked and looked at Luo Qingyan.

Luo Qingyan thought for a long time and said softly, "Ask someone to disguise as commoners..."

Yun Shang smiled and said, "I could do some help. I've planted my people all around Jin City since I came to the State of Xia. Although there are few in the poor area in the west of the city, there are still some."