Disguised as a man, she became the biggest villain in the book.

Chapter 81 I've never seen a scene like this before.

After saying that, Zheng Luoqi left, leaving behind a group of young masters and ladies from wealthy families who looked both angry and helpless.

Although they harbored resentment, they could only suppress their anger. After all, Zheng Luoqi's status and position made it difficult for them to act rashly.

Seeing this, Wen Yixuan quickly followed Zheng Luoqi and asked in confusion, "Where will we put these people? We don't have enough courtyards for them to live in."

Upon hearing this, Zheng Luoqi stopped and turned to look at Wen Yixuan, her tone revealing impatience as she said, "Are you out of your mind? They are criminals, of course they should be put in jail, or do you expect me to serve them?" Zheng Luoqi's eyes showed a hint of looking at an idiot.

Wen Yixuan was somewhat embarrassed by Zheng Luoqi's question and explained, "That's not what I meant... What I meant was, they are all from prominent families with special status, so it wouldn't be appropriate to lock them up in prison directly. Besides, the conditions in the prison aren't good either, wouldn't that cause dissatisfaction from their families?"

"Ha! If I cared whether those aristocratic families were satisfied or not, I wouldn't have arrested them. Don't let me hear such stupid questions next time. Remember to get your head checked out when you have time." Zheng Luoqi said this and left, leaving Wen Yixuan completely bewildered by the scolding.

............

In prison

"Let us out! How dare you lock us up in jail! Let us out!" He Yizhou shouted frantically in the cell, his voice hoarse, but no one responded.

“Brother He, stop shouting. He won’t let us out. The new prefect is not like the previous ones. We’ve run into a tough one this time. We can only wait for Father and the others to rescue us,” Zhu Bin said helplessly, shaking his head.

"What are we going to do? How long are we going to have to wait? Are we really going to have to spend the night here?" He Yizhou said, looking annoyed.

"There's nothing we can do but wait now," Zhu Bin sighed, wondering why he was so unlucky.

Just then, a piercing scream came from the next women's cell: "Ah!!!!"

"Rat!! Rat!!! It's a rat!!!" The young ladies from noble families panicked and hid in the corner.

"Don't come any closer!! Don't come any closer!! Brother Yizhou, please save me!" Qi Yun'er cried out in the prison.

"Yun'er, don't be afraid!!!" Lü Junrong shouted to comfort her.

"Go and comfort Yun'er! Didn't you hear her calling you?" Lu Junrong said angrily to He Yizhou, his tone tinged with reproach.

He Yizhou frowned, somewhat displeased, and said, "I'd love to know how to save her, but there's a prison cell between us!"

"Speaking of which, Father clearly came today, so why didn't he take us away?" Kong Yan'an, the young master of the Kong family who had always been very low-key, suddenly spoke up.

As one of the five great families, the Kong family's strength should not be underestimated, but they have always maintained a low profile, adhering to the principle of avoiding trouble whenever possible. Therefore, the other four families often consider them cowardly and timid, like a bunch of cowards.

Upon hearing Kong Yan'an's words, He Yizhou scoffed with disdain, "Oh ho, you coward, you finally reacted? I thought you were just going to accept it silently."

Faced with He Yizhou's ridicule, Kong Yan'an shook his head helplessly and explained, "We're not officials. Even scholars have to take the imperial examinations. How dare we go against the government? Besides, the other party is the dignified prefect. As the saying goes, 'The common people don't fight with officials.' It's better to avoid trouble!"

In truth, Kong Yan'an knew very well that his father had previously warned him to be careful. They were still investigating the background of the newly appointed prefect, and no news had yet been received.

As they were talking, soldiers came to bring them food, one cornbread bun for each person.

He Yizhou looked at the dark, unappetizing cornbread in his hand and asked in confusion, "What is this? Is this all you're going to give me, young master, to eat?"

He Yizhou angrily threw the cornbread aside and shouted, "How dare you mistreat us?" Before he could finish speaking, he was interrupted by the soldiers.

"Go away! Get out of here. Take it or leave it. You're mistreating us. We're already being generous by giving you food. Don't be so picky! Bah!" The soldiers quickly left after delivering the food.

He Yirou is the eldest daughter of the He family and He Yizhou's older sister. At this moment, she just stood there silently. When she saw that there was only a cornbread bun for dinner, she felt like the sky had fallen.

He Yirou hesitated for a moment, then tentatively took a bite of the cornbread and spat it out.

Seeing He Yirou like this, Qi Yun'er, who was standing next to her, dared not eat anymore.

Not only her, but the other young men and women also took a bite and then threw it away.

"Pah! Pah! Pah! What rubbish! It tastes awful! I want to eat meat!" Zhu Bin cursed wildly after taking a bite.

...............

Zheng Luoqi, who was also aware of the aristocratic families' actions, instructed his shops not to sell any grain to the government and not to supply Zheng Luoqi with any property related to these aristocratic families.

Zheng Luoqi ordered his men to purchase grain from other places, only to discover that those powerful families had already made arrangements with others, warning that anyone who dared to sell grain to the government would be banned from staying in Xuzhou.

"What should we do? We have money but can't spend it or buy food. Are we going to starve to death in Xuzhou?" Wen Yixuan said anxiously from the side.

"What's the panic? You're supposed to be the Grand Commandant's nephew, can't you be a little more composed? If he won't give it to you, why don't you just grab it?" Zheng Luoqi said nonchalantly.

"Rob? Rob what? Grain? Just rob us like that? We're officials!" Wen Yixuan exclaimed in shock.

"I'm just telling you to be tougher. If you rob it and then just leave the money there, it won't be considered robbery, right? Don't you understand such a simple principle? Special cases require special treatment, understand?" Zheng Luoqi said disdainfully.

"Are all those guards and soldiers in our government office just there to freeload? With so many people, I really don't know how the previous prefect managed Xuzhou. He let these aristocratic families get so bold that they can hardly distinguish between officials and commoners."

"Take what you want, as long as you don't hurt innocent people. I'll entrust this important task to you, Young Master Wen. If you handle it well, I'll praise you highly to the Grand Commandant later," Zheng Luoqi added.

"You're sick!" Wen Yixuan disagreed verbally, but his actions betrayed him. He led his men directly to the grain shop under the Qi family's name and robbed it.

The shop assistants at the grain store were stunned when they saw a group of soldiers storming in.

They had never seen anything like this before. At least previous prefects would have considered saving face and wouldn't have done such a thing.

The owner of the grain shop turned pale; he realized that things were out of his control.

He quickly sent someone to inform the Qi family that their grain shop had been looted by government troops.