I had no choice but to answer truthfully.
"The town leaders have also ordered me to deal with this matter as soon as possible. It's really inappropriate to keep the ancestral tablets in the village office!"
"The town leaders put pressure on me, so now I have to put pressure on you all!"
Today I have just one question: do we want to restore the ancestral shrine or not? If we're going to restore it, every household needs to contribute money. We'll organize the efforts from the village office and hire people to rebuild the big shrine. If we're not restoring it, then take advantage of everyone being here today and take your respective family's ancestral tablets back home to worship!"
As the village chief's words ended, the originally relatively quiet village committee courtyard became noisy again.
Everyone was whispering and discussing.