"Oh! That's really difficult. I didn't expect it! I'm actually reduced to drinking porridge. What will I eat at the Jie Feng Banquet tonight?"
Fang Zheng shook his head helplessly, which made Wei Shan secretly despise him.
What the hell! A phoenix that has lost its feathers is not as good as a chicken, so let's just pretend... Are you so greedy?
"This... villain has never eaten, so he is not qualified to participate in the Fengfeng Banquet."
Fang Zheng sighed and said, "Oh! You are so pitiful. I am a man of all kinds. I didn't eat well along the way. I only ate some dry food."
"Let's go, let's keep looking."
This stroll lasted until the afternoon.
The government office had two dine-in meals a day, and Fang Zhengyi caught up with this meal in the afternoon.
In the room, Fang Zheng smiled when he looked at the bowl of green porridge and the plate of pickles brought by Wei Shan.
This porridge is obviously thicker than the porridge in the porridge shed outside.
A few pitiful little pickles looked unappetizing.
Fang Zheng took a sip and then sprayed it out, leaving a mess all over the table.
Then he sat in his seat and started to be in a daze.
Thinking back to when I was in Taoyuan County, during the most difficult time, I didn’t even bother to get a few patches on my official uniform.
You can also eat something dry.
Now the magistrate shows his timidity when he comes up. It is unlikely that the parents and officials of the same government will not be able to eat dry food.
I really thought I, Fang Zhengyi, had never been hungry. How fooling me.
This drama was a little too fake.
Then Wei Shan was called to remove the things and clear the table.
After cleaning up, Fang Zheng sat on a chair and closed his eyes to relax.
After Weishan went out, he looked back with disdain and hurriedly ran back to the mansion with the porridge in hand.
When Liu Xun saw Wei Shan, he immediately said, "What? The meal hasn't been delivered yet?"
Wei Shan whispered: "Sir! I gave it away! I vomited it out after one bite and thought the food was unpalatable! I left the remaining bite untouched."
"This master is not an ordinary person. Look at what he is wearing. He must not be able to eat such coarse things."
"You told me at noon that you can have fun with anything but meat!"
Hearing this, Liu Xun stroked his beard and laughed: "Okay...Okay, I thought this person was sent from Beijing and thought he was very capable."
"It looks like he's just a guy who doesn't know how to distinguish his body and grain. You can continue to follow him and keep an eye on him. Don't let this person ruin something big."
"In the evening, I will take a look at Feng Feng Banquet and see for myself how good he is!"
.............
When it was time to get off duty, Liu Xun led a group of government officials to the reserved restaurant.
Fang Zhengyi in the crowd carefully looked at everyone's situation.
Many official uniforms are patched.
This is not surprising, after all, Liu Xun takes the lead in wearing patchwork clothes, and it is normal for the ups and downs to work.
It doesn't explain much.
But the looks in many people's eyes speak volumes.
A small group of people saw him dressed luxuriously and looked at him with unabashed disdain.
Fang Zhengyi also laughed it off.
It is a foregone conclusion that there is huge corruption in the government office, but we don’t know who is the accomplice.
Liu Xun is of course the most suspect. As a prefect, it is unlikely that he would not even know that the rice in the official warehouse was moldy.
For such a big thing, there should be many accomplices.
When they arrived at the table, Liu Xun took Fang Zhengyi's arm and began to introduce them one by one.
"Come, let me introduce you to him. This is Yuan Shangxun, a colleague in the mansion."
"I've met Mr. Yuan!"
"This is the experience of Si Ji, Li..."
After the introduction from top to bottom, Fang Zhengyi saluted and toasted one by one.
After everyone got acquainted, the restaurant started serving food.
Plate after plate of dishes are all vegetables with clear soup and little water.
But this time there was a little more dry rice.
Liu Xun greeted warmly: "Come! Master Fang, please use it! It's because of you that we can have this meal today."
"It is indeed a bit difficult on weekdays, but at this time of disaster, we should work with the people to overcome the difficulties!"
"Please use your chopsticks."
Suddenly, Fang Zhengyi felt that his lines had been robbed.
Is your kid also getting involved with the crowd?
Fang Zheng immediately replied with a smile: "Master Liu is so righteous! Then I'm not welcome!"
After speaking, he picked a green leafy vegetable and put it in his mouth, chewing it slowly.
The expression on his face is a little subtle.
Seeing someone starting to move their chopsticks, everyone also started eating while talking.
Fang Zhengyi kept talking while secretly observing everyone's performance, occasionally choosing a dish to eat with chopsticks.
At least half of the people inside were not interested in the food. They only took a few bites of the food and drank a lot of wine, including Liu Xun!
Logically speaking, if there is no family member to send food, these people should only dine in and drink a bowl of porridge in the afternoon.
But it's impossible to deliver meals. Everyone is eating porridge. You've eaten well. Are you sorry? Aren't you afraid of being known?
It can be seen that...these people do not eat these things on daily basis.
Seeing that Fang Zhengyi had no appetite, Liu Xun asked, "Master Fang, why don't you eat? Isn't this food delicious? Come and try this."
Without waiting for Fang Zheng to reply, Liu Xun gave him a chopstick of green vegetables.
Fang Zheng chewed it for a long time without expression before swallowing it.
Then he smiled bitterly and said: "Master Liu, I am satisfied with today's meal. I just ate some dry food not long ago, so I am not too hungry!"
Liu Xun suddenly realized it and said regretfully: "That's it! Tsk, that's such a pity. We usually don't eat much of this kind of food and wine."
"Master Fang has come all the way from the capital. I'm afraid it will be difficult for him to adapt to the environment here!"
Fang Zhengyi said humbly: "With Mr. Liu as an example, even a low-ranking official would enjoy porridge as if it were glutinous rice."
"Now that His Majesty has sent me to Jianjiang to serve as a judge, how can I back down just because I can't eat well?"
"Wouldn't that be a betrayal of the divine grace?"
"Speaking of which..." Fang Zheng took a large piece of vegetables with chopsticks and ate it into his mouth, and muttered: "Thinking of Your Majesty, my food tastes a little sweeter!"
Oh, damn it!
All the officials at the table were dumbfounded!
Why did you start acting? Who is this acting for? The emperor isn't here either?
No wonder you are so good at it! It turns out that it all depends on gliding my beard and patting me right away!
Everyone couldn't help but have a flash of contempt in their eyes.
Liu Xun smiled and said: "Master Fang's patriotism is admirable!"
"I wonder, has Mr. Fang arranged his residence? Is there anyone around to wait on you?"
Fang Zheng shook his head and said, "Well, in order to live up to His Majesty, I came here on horseback as soon as the palace ordered me to do so!"
"He left in a hurry. He only brought money and bought a house after entering the city. The maids and servants didn't even have time to buy it!"
Liu Xun's eyes lit up: "It doesn't matter! It doesn't matter! Although the government is short of money and food right now, there is no shortage of people at all!"
"After you finish eating, I will send you some maids and servants!"
"Then... I would be disrespectful if I refused!"
............
