Dressed as a concubine instead of a concubine

It's not just the three of them. There are many people present who haven't stockpiled food.

Even if it is not for business, it is for the sake of preventing one's family from starving.

Xie Junyi continued, "The Chief Clerk Sun Weicai has been in office for 20 years and has received a total of 5,000 taels of silver in bribes; the Minister of War Jiang Jin has abducted three women and seized several acres of good farmland; the County Magistrate Jie Yuan conspired with his brother-in-law to kill a student in order to seize a place in the imperial examination. Do you want me to explain all these things one by one?"

"My lord, it's an injustice, my lord."

"Your Excellency is wronged."

The three of them were so frightened that their faces turned pale as death. During that period of time, they felt as if the sky was falling.

"Whether there is injustice or not, you know it in your hearts. Take them all away."

Xie Junyi has always been decisive and was too lazy to get entangled with them.

As the three adults who were crying out for justice were dragged away, the entire banquet fell silent again.

Everyone lowered their heads, fearing that the new governor would take action against them.

Xie Junyi's gaze swept across everyone and only stayed on Meng Xiyue for a moment.

"Don't be nervous, everyone, let's eat."

As soon as he finished speaking, a maid came in carrying a plate.

When the plate was placed in front of them, everyone could see clearly what was inside. It turned out to be a steamed corn bread, made of black flour.

They looked unhappy, and the huge governor's mansion had to use this to entertain them.

Meng Xiyue's eyes moved slightly, she picked up the steamed bread and started to eat it, and gave Meng Qingxiang a wink.

Meng Qingxiang understood and quickly asked the people in the Meng family to eat.

Someone started eating, and everyone was stared at by Xie Junyi. Even though they were reluctant, they still started eating.

For the sake of their own future and lives, those adults ate the food with gusto even if it was hard to swallow.

But the young ladies, who had always been spoiled by the young masters, could not stand it anymore and could not even swallow a mouthful.

Someone said, "Why is it so unpalatable?"

Xie Junyi didn't say anything, just waved his hand and asked the servants to continue serving the dishes.

This time it was even worse, as the food served were wild vegetables that they had never seen before.

No one dared to look at Xie Junyi and could only look at the Governor.

The governor said in a deep voice, "Eat."

With a frown, he finally swallowed the wild vegetables, but then another plate of tree bark was served.

This time, no one could eat anymore.

"Governor, what is the meaning of asking us to eat this?"

At this time, the one who dared to speak was the newly crowned top scholar Jiang Chubai.

Xie Junyi glanced at him lightly, "Jiang Chubai?"

"It is me, Governor. If you have anything to say, just speak up. Why make things so difficult for us?"

Jiang Chubai was arrogant and showed an attitude of not fearing power.

Xie Junyi snorted coldly, "What's the problem? Isn't this officer treating everyone to a meal?"

"Eat? Steamed buns are fine, but how can humans eat wild grass and tree bark?"

"How can it be eaten by humans?" Xie Junyi's eyes turned cold, "But the refugees outside the city can't even eat tree bark now."

"The unpalatable steamed bread in your eyes is a delicacy to them. The hard-to-swallow wild vegetables are their most common meals. And this tree bark is their life-saving straw."

"They have almost eaten all the bark and are starving to death, but you think this is making things difficult for them."

These words made Jiang Chubai blush. Although his family was not wealthy, after all, Jiang Xiucai opened an academy, so they had no worries about food and drink.

Besides, the refugees affected by the disaster were basically from the countryside, so as a city dweller he naturally had no idea what kind of life the refugees were living.

I just thought that at most they had no harvest this year and couldn't earn any money.

"Mr. Jiang, you should go out and spend more time with the people. If you don't understand the hardships of the people, it would be the misfortune of the people if you were an official."

"I…"

Jiang Chubai wanted to refute, but found that he could not find any reason to refute.

Besides, Xie Junyi's pressure was so great that he couldn't breathe, and he didn't dare to really resist.

His imperial edict of appointment is still in his hand.

"Yes, I understand."

Seeing that even the newly crowned number one scholar was speechless after being rebuked by a few words, everyone lowered their heads and remained silent.

"More than 200,000 people in Qingyun City are suffering from the disaster. The second batch of disaster relief grain from the imperial court will not arrive in Qingyun City for more than two months. During these two months, the entire Qingyun City must unite and overcome the difficulties. You are all the masters of Qingyun City. Do you have any solution?"

The solution? How to solve the problem of food supply for so many people for more than two months? Everyone remained silent.

"Sir Governor, what do you think?"

Xie Junyi looked at Li Youtian with a smile.

"My Lord, there are too many people affected by the disaster this time. We in Qingyun City really have no way to solve the problem by ourselves."

"Yes, didn't your Excellency come to Qingyun City to solve the disaster? Why do you let us solve it ourselves?"

A fat middle-aged man spoke up. He was the richest man in Qingyun City.

Naturally, he was unwilling to do such things as helping the poor.

Xie Junyi glanced at the others and saw that they all agreed, so he curled the corners of his lips.

"Okay, then that won't be resolved."

He was not in a hurry and returned to his seat. A man dressed as a guard immediately handed him a stack of account books.

He looked slowly, from day to night.

They only ate steamed corn bread and wild vegetables for the whole day, without even a sip of water. They were also not allowed to sit still. Some of the weak ladies could not hold on any longer.

Some of them did not understand what this handsome young man wanted to do.

"Father, you are the county magistrate, you should take the lead in this matter."

Meng Xiyue knew that Xie Junyi would not give up until he achieved his goal.

"What nonsense are you talking about? There is the governor and the richest man. It is not my turn to take care of this matter."

Meng Qingxiang shook his head firmly. He would never be the first to take action.

Meng Xiyue looked at Cui, then at Meng Fan and Meng Qingge.

She sighed, wondering how unlucky she was. It was not her turn to attend the banquet, but the governor had inexplicably asked her to come.

I thought it was a good thing, but ended up starving and freezing here.

She hadn't eaten in the morning, and now she hadn't even sipped a saliva in the whole day.

Her sanity completely collapsed when the servant brought Xie Junyi a piece of peach blossom pastry.

"grown ups."

A crisp sound exploded throughout the hall.

When Xie Junyi saw the woman standing up, he smiled gently for the first time.

"you say?"

"I don't have much money, but I am willing to donate all my gold and silver jewelry to help Qingyun City overcome its difficulties."

Amid the angry gazes of the crowd, Meng Xiyue gritted her teeth and finished what she said.

"Okay, Miss Meng, what you did today will not only be remembered by the people of Qingyun City, but also by the imperial court. When I return to the capital, I will definitely ask for a reward for you."

Admiration flashed in Xie Junyi's eyes.

"No need for rewards. Can I go back now?"

Meng Xiyue just wanted to leave this damn place as soon as possible.