Chapter 818 Something Usual

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

Drugged one night by her ex-boyfriend, a mysterious man took advantage of her in an ecstatic night filled with sex.

To take her revenge, she married the man, and used him.

"As long as I'm alive, I'm still his legal wife, while all of you are just his mistresses."

She remained adamant even when he was involved in scandals with other women.

Eventually she stormed off after she learned that he had betrayed her again.But life brought her back to him a few years later, to his astonishment.

It's said that the Emperor's been deeply loved Empress Hua. When Empress Hua was in the palace, she was the only one in his harem..."

Yun Shang had knew everything she said. She kept silent for a moment and asked, "Do you feel anything unusual in the Palace recently?"

Seeing the serious look on Yun Shang's face, Lin Youran meditated for a while and said gently, "Something unusual... I haven't heard of anything unusual. But a few days ago, three servants in Xiangzhu Palace suddenly disappeared..."

"Have you sent someone to look for them?" Yun Shang asked hurriedly.

"Yes, they've searched everywhere, but didn't find them." Lin Youran replied softly.

Again, someone missing?

Yun Shang frowned and a strange look flashed through her eyes. It was normal for someone to disappear outside the Palace, but in the Palace...

It was not easy to take action in the Palace as it had always been heavily guarded.

"Have you heard of such situation in the other palaces?" Yun Shang asked hurriedly.

"I don't know whether or not it has happened in the other palaces. But I heard that some servants from the Treasure House and Shangyi Bureau have disappeared. But now His Majesty is not in the palace. Although Lady Shu was in charge of the imperial household, she seems not be responsible. She is afraid that it might make people in the Palace panic, so she suppressed it and asked the Neishi Bureau to investigate it secretly. But they've been investigating for a long time, and I haven't heard any result." Lin Youran said in a low voice.

Yun Shang nodded slightly, "Have you heard that many people have bought a lot of jewelries from outside the Palace?"

"Jewelries?" Lin Youran shook her head and said, "No Lady Shu said that considerable money was needed to supply the soldiers on the front with food. So she asked everyone in the imperial household to save money, and we haven't bought any jewelry for several months. Almost every palace is like this. Knowing that Empress Hua is going back to the Palace, no one wants to stir up trouble at this moment."

Yun Shang frowned. It was weird, but she couldn't figure it out.