Chapter 758: In Short Supply

　　Without a proper wife, Qian’er’s status as a concubine would rise, and no noble family could object strongly to it.

　　“Yes.”

　　Gu Bailu relaxed and closed her eyes.

　　Not long after that, she opened her eyes again and shook Feng Qingtian awake. “My lord, my lord, do you think Lu Fenying did this for Qian’er?”

　　Otherwise, why wouldn’t he marry? That didn’t make sense.

　　Feng Qingtian hugged her. “It’s getting late. Go to sleep.”

　　Gu Bailu, on the other hand, couldn’t fall asleep at all. She tried to fathom Lu Fenying’s thoughts, but couldn’t figure it out.

　　“If you continue thinking of another man, I’ll make sure you can’t get out of bed tomorrow,” said Feng Qingtian hoarsely.

　　Gu Bailu closed her eyes obediently. “I’m not, I’m not, I’m only thinking about my Qingqing.”

　　“Really? What are you thinking?” Feng Qingtian turned her around and hugged her from behind.

　　Gu Bailu shivered. “My lord, not tonight. Go to sleep.”

　　“Since you can’t sleep, why don’t we do something together?”

　　She was still thinking about Lu Fenying while they were in bed – Feng Qingtian was steeped in jealousy.

　　In the middle of the night, the princess begged for mercy in the pink cottage until dawn.

　　Naturally, Feng Qingtian didn’t attend morning court the next day.

　　He also missed how many officials reported at morning court that many goods in Pale Emperor City had been in short supply recently; in particular, there were fewer entertainment establishments.

　　What they didn’t dare report was that even the girls in the brothels were no longer as pretty.

　　The emperor lived in the royal palace and didn’t know that supply was so scarce outside. However, he had heard his concubine complain twice that the food in the palace wasn’t as good as before.

　　“What’s going on? Investigate it now.”

　　In short supply?

　　It was colder this year, and travel was inconvenient, but there had never been a shortage of goods.

　　There had been no natural disasters in summer either. What was the reason for this shortage?

　　The emperor wasn’t the only one who couldn’t figure it out. None of the court officials could.

　　Even Feng Qingtian was confused after he received Ye Huai’s report.

　　Ye Huai was even more bewildered. “How did Princess Zi make Pale Emperor City fall into such dire straits in just two or three months after taking in tradespeople with low spiritual power?”

　　Feng Qingtian glanced at him coldly. “The city hasn’t fallen into dire straits. It’s the noble families who don’t feel comfortable.”

　　The common people still lived their lives as usual, and weren’t eating any less.

　　Bluntly speaking, those who had nothing better to do but stroll around the streets looking for entertainment were from noble families and their branches. While the actual commoners went to the low-grade brothels, these scions went to the teahouses to listen to the storytellers, or went out to buy exotics delicacies before going home.

　　“That’s true. The so-called shortage of goods is just a lack of fine food. There’s still plenty of regular food to go around.”

　　There were no natural disasters, and there was no problem with regular food supplies.

　　There was no lack of daily necessities.

　　“Put together a detailed report on exactly what is in short supply.”

　　“Hm, how are you going to do that? Go to the Gu house and take a look at who’s living there. We’ll know what’s missing then.” Gu Bailu came in with two bowls of bird’s nest and gave them one each.

　　Ye Huai looked at the bird’s nest. He normally wouldn’t think this thing was rare at all.

　　But to be able to drink this bowl right now, he felt that he was better than everyone else.

　　Because he could have it when other people couldn’t.

　　But he didn’t understand why bird’s nest was out of stock on the market.

　　Confused, he asked, “Princess, how did you taking in some people cause all the fine food on the market to disappear?”