I had spent a lot of effort to defeat Lao Ba back then, and I knew he hadn't given up yet. But I never expected him to target Hong Shi. I should have eliminated him completely back then.

The Emperor sat in the carriage, which stopped at the gate of the Jingzhao Prefecture government office. The guard said to the yamen runner at the gate, "Go in and announce that someone is looking for Prefect Li Wan of the Jingzhao Prefecture. Tell Prefect Li to come out and greet him immediately."

The constable, seeing his distinguished attire, assumed he was a guard from an official's household and assumed it might be another official visiting Lord Li. He quickly went to report to Li Wan. Upon hearing that someone was coming to see him, Li Wan thought, "Who is this! Making such a grand entrance and expecting me to greet them at the gate!" Li Wan initially didn't want to go, but after thinking it over, he decided to go anyway. Who knows, maybe some important figure had come.

Li Wan arrived at the main gate and saw the guards beside the emperor. He immediately understood and was about to kneel down to pay his respects and shout "Long live the emperor!" but the guards interrupted, saying, "Lord Li, our master has been waiting for you for a long time. Let my master go in first so you can talk!"

Li Wan understood his meaning, knowing that the emperor's incognito visit must be for Ruan Dafeng.

Li Wan led them into the government office, dismissed the others, and bowed to the Emperor, saying, "Your Majesty, may you be well! I have failed to greet you properly."

The emperor waved his hand at him and said, "Get up, take me to the prison."

Li Wan stood up and said, "Yes." Then he pointed and said, "Your Majesty, this way please."

Ruan Dafeng had given up hope while he was in prison. When he heard that someone had come to visit him, he was curious and wondered who it could be.

Seeing that the visitor was a stranger, Ruan Dafeng originally didn't want to pay attention to him, but to his surprise, the man asked him about Geshan Village.

The Emperor asked Hongshi, "Do you know that the person you accused is the current Second Prince, the Emperor's own son?"

Ruan Dafeng said, "This humble subject understands."

The Emperor then asked, "Since you knew that, why did you still file a complaint?"

Ruan Dafeng replied, "To avenge my father and the villagers of Geshan Village, I can't care about anything else."

He then added, "Even with an emperor, the Qing Dynasty is still like this among those corrupt officials. If the second prince, Hongshi, were to become emperor in the future, the Qing Dynasty would perish!"

Li Wan stopped him, shouting, "How dare you! Do you want to die?!"

Ruan Dafeng said, "I've already sued the prince, but I'm not going to live anyway, so I might as well say what's on my mind."

The Emperor said to Li Wan, "Don't stop him, let him finish speaking." Then he said to Ruan Dafeng, "Why do you say that?"

Ruan Dafeng said with a sneer, "Those people break the law and disregard human life. They are willing to do anything for their own career advancement, causing ordinary people to lose their homes and lives. How can such people be good officials?"

The emperor was deeply moved by his words and said, "Tell me everything that happened in Geshan Village, and maybe I can help you!"

Seeing that Li Wan was bowing and scraping to him, Ruan Dafeng knew that he was definitely not an ordinary person. With the idea of ​​trying anything, he told the emperor everything. The emperor was shocked to hear this. He did not expect that these people would be so outrageous and simply did not take him seriously. It seemed that he had to deal with them properly.