The former commandery governor had been reassigned to the frontier.
For a time, this caused panic among the commoners of Heyin Commandery.
Compared with Shen Tang, their "abnormal" commandery governor, the commoners knew all too well what a "normal" commandery governor was like.
The previous governors who tried to keep themselves out of things were mostly harmed; those who chose to collude with local strongmen and flatter them would bare their teeth and squeeze every last drop of oil from the commoners, who were already skin and bones.
Their lives were hard.
After finally getting to live like human beings for two years under Lord Shen... who could have guessed Shen Tang would be reassigned! A real bolt from the blue!
Many commoners secretly wiped away their tears, wanting to pack up their belongings and flee, but they feared that life on the road would be even harder.
In the end, all they could do was hope their new governor would be a decent person!
The officials at the government offices knew what the commoners were worried about.
They were worried, too.
They worried the new superior wouldn't be as easy to get along with as Lord Shen, worried he'd arrive and immediately start a new official's three fires, tearing down the foundations Shen Tang had laid to proclaim his authority, worried... But, fortunately, the successor was Xu Xie, handpicked by Lord Shen.
Though his ancestors had made their fortune in business, there wasn't a trace of the sharp, petty, calculating merchant about him. On the contrary, he was modest and gentle, open and generous in his dealings. He told them himself that things would carry on as before, and there was no need to worry.
Before long, the commoners also realized that the new commandery governor hadn't brought the