Seeing that Xuan Yuanzhan was standing alone, Zhu Ji came over and bowed, saying, "Your Highness, has someone arranged accommodations for you? Would you like to stay at my residence?"

Xuanyuan Zhan glanced at the prefectural government office: "There should be a place to stay in this government office, right? I'll stay here for the time being."

The porridge and grain distribution stalls are set up right in front of the government office, and there are many people who want to seek justice, so the case will definitely need to be investigated and clarified. Therefore, staying at the government office is quite convenient.

Zhu Ji's attempt to get close to the prince failed, and he was somewhat disappointed. However, he thought that if the prince lived in the Beian Prefecture government office, he could still visit him every day, which was better than living in other cities.

Thinking this through, Zhu Ji quickly and respectfully said, "Then this humble official will send someone to clean it for you."

Xuanyuan Zhan didn't object: "Clean up all the rooms in the government office."

There are many of them, so one or two rooms are definitely not enough.

"yes."

Zhu Ji agreed and immediately called a few people to clean the room.

The distribution of porridge and grain, and the inquiry into grievances, took a whole day.

As a result, officials from the five northern cities spent an entire day in Beian City.

As darkness fell, Xuan Yuanzhan looked at the weary officials and said, "You've all worked hard today. Since you're all here, let's have a meal together."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Ji quickly flattered, "It was our oversight; it should have been us who invited Your Highness to dinner."

Sigh, they're so busy they've forgotten to invite the prince to dinner.

It's been a whole day, the prince has been standing here all day, and they haven't even offered him a sip of water!

Upon hearing this, the other officials hurriedly chimed in, "Yes, yes, it should be us who invite Your Highness to dinner."

“The food at Chenxianglou up ahead is quite good. Why don’t you go there, Your Highness, and try some of our northern specialties?” an official suggested.

Xuanyuan Zhan smiled wickedly: "Why bother with all that? There's food right here."

Xuanyuan Zhan glanced at the soldiers beside him, and the soldiers understood. They immediately brought over a few small tables and stools, and served them the leftover porridge and steamed buns that the refugees had eaten earlier.

The refugees had been queuing since dawn until dusk, and even now there were still refugees who hadn't eaten and were queuing to drink porridge and receive steamed buns.

"This..." The officials looked at the bowls of porridge that were almost empty and the few coarse grain buns on the table, and they felt their throats were getting sore even before they had eaten.

Xuan Yuanzhan sat down directly and called out to Mu Lingchen, who was almost finished, "Come over when you're done. We're waiting for you to eat!"

"knew."

After quickly recording the last person's grievances, Mu Lingchen ran over and said, "Finally, we can eat! I'm starving!"

Mu Lingchen sat down without ceremony, picked up the bowl of porridge and gulped down several mouthfuls, then went to get some steamed buns to eat.

Xuanyuan Zhan also lowered his head to eat. He ate a bowl of plain porridge and a steamed bun, without any side dishes. The porridge was so dry that it was hard to see his face, and because the north was short of water, the water used to cook the porridge was not very clean. The steamed bun was even drier and harder, and one bite could choke a person to death.

But the two of them seemed completely oblivious to how unpalatable the porridge and steamed buns were. One wolfed them down, while the other ate slowly and deliberately. However, whether they were wolfing down their food or eating slowly and deliberately, they both exuded elegance in their eating habits.

Even if they ate very quickly, the dining etiquette of that wealthy family was not broken in the slightest.

The Holy King was even more so, his posture upright and his movements elegant, as if he were eating not congee and steamed buns, but some exquisite dish from the palace.

Not only were the officials dumbfounded, but the ordinary people who were squatting on both sides of the street eating or resting after finishing their meals were also stunned.

The prince and that marquis actually ate the same thing as them.

Such a precious person, yet he drinks this porridge and eats this steamed bun. He could clearly eat better things, even if they weren't as luxurious as the delicacies from the palace and the capital, but the officials could certainly arrange for him to have ordinary fish and meat.

But instead of eating those things, they stayed with them, drinking porridge and eating steamed buns.

Those are princes and marquises, they really...

The people, holding their bowls of porridge and steamed buns, suddenly felt their eyes and noses sting with tears again.

Mu Lingchen quickly finished a bowl of porridge and a steamed bun. Although he was still a little hungry, he asked the soldiers to bring him more food.

Xuanyuan Zhan finished his own portion and put down his chopsticks.

Xuanyuan Zhan looked at the officials who were still standing there dumbfounded and smiled coldly: "What? These things don't suit your taste?"

"No, no." The officials quickly waved their hands and sat down immediately.

Just kidding. If even princes and marquises can eat this, would they dare say it doesn't suit their taste?

No one dared to sit at the same table as Xuan Yuanzhan and Mu Lingchen. They sat at several tables by themselves, each receiving a bowl of porridge and a steamed bun.

Although everyone tried their best to appear calm, some even tried to show that the porridge and steamed buns were very much to their liking.

But the taste of this porridge and steamed bun was simply unpalatable.

If it weren't for the prince and marquis sitting here watching them eat, they might not have been able to finish the porridge and steamed buns.

Xuanyuan Zhan looked at their faces contorted as they desperately swallowed, and chuckled wickedly, "Is it bad? You all seem to have trouble swallowing it."

"No, no, no, it tastes great." The officials all forced smiles, trying their best to show that they could eat these things.

Xuanyuan Zhan was too lazy to expose them: "The food you find hard to swallow is the very food that the people of the North use to survive. I do not want to see the frozen corpses on the roads and the rich feasting on meat and wine in the North. Now that the North is in a famine and the people are suffering, shouldn't you officials also donate some supplies? Should you donate rice or silver? You decide."

Mu Lingchen secretly gave Xuan Yuanzhan an admiring look.

He's really something else; he's already eyeing the wealth of these officials as soon as he arrives in the north.

It's really worth thoroughly plundering the wealth of these officials. Perhaps the wealth from just one official could feed the people of the north for a month!

The officials were quite taken aback by Xuan Yuanzhan's words.

"Then I will donate some rice and grain."

"My family doesn't have much rice or grain at home, so please donate some silver."

"May I donate some clothing fabric?"

Seeing that they were quite enthusiastic, Xuanyuan Zhan smiled and said, "You can donate anything, as long as it can be exchanged for silver or rice."

Xuanyuan Zhan then looked at the official who had just suggested going to Chenxianglou: "You must go to Chenxianglou often, which means you have a good family background, so you should donate more."

The official was filled with remorse, but dared not refute, and could only stammer, "Yes."