Meanwhile, Zhui Feng and his trusted men had been traveling at breakneck speed these past few days. They arrived in Kaifeng Prefecture without stopping. This time, instead of asking around in the streets and alleys like last time, they went directly to Geshan Village.
Upon arriving at Geshan Village, the group wanted to go directly to the village chief's house, because Zhui Feng had learned from the letter the emperor had given him that the village chief should know the whole story.
It turned out that when Ruan Dafeng was talking to the Emperor in prison, he mentioned that if the Emperor did not believe him, he could go to Geshan Village to find the village chief. The Emperor kept this in mind. He felt that the villagers must have been deceived as well. However, Ruan Dafeng told the village chief about Hongshi's scheme, so this time he asked Zhuifeng and the others to go directly to the village chief.
Upon arriving at Geshan Village, Zhuifeng asked a villager, "Excuse me, sir, where does the village chief live?"
Seeing that they were strangers, the villager asked, "Who are you? What do you need the village chief for?"
Zhui Feng replied with a smile, "We are distant relatives of the village chief. We came to Kaifeng Prefecture on business. We heard that Geshan Village suffered from drought before, and our family was worried, so we came to see him."
The villager said, "Oh! Is that so? Our village chief lives at the far east end of the village. Just follow the direction I'm pointing, and you'll see a courtyard with three tiled houses." He then raised his finger and pointed eastward.
Upon seeing this, Zhui Feng smiled and cupped his hands in thanks, saying, "Thank you, fellow villager."
The person smiled and replied, "It's nothing, it's nothing," and then walked away.
Zhui Feng and the others followed the direction he was pointing.
Before long, they saw the three tiled houses the villager had mentioned, and inside they saw an elderly woman feeding chickens.
Zhui Feng stepped forward and asked, "Excuse me, is this the village chief's house?"
The woman was the village chief's wife. She put down the chicken feeder, clapped her hands, and said, "This is the village chief's house. I am his wife. Who are you?"
Zhui Feng said, "Is the village chief home? We have something we'd like to discuss with him."
The village chief's wife looked at them and said, "Okay, wait a moment." Then she turned and went into the house.
The village chief was lying in bed when his wife came in and said, "Husband, there are some strangers outside who say they want to see you."
When the village chief heard that someone was looking for him, he stood up and went outside. Seeing Zhui Feng and the others, he asked, "Do you need something from me?"
Zhui Feng said, "You are the village chief. We are from the capital. Can we come in and talk to you?"
The village chief looked them over and thought they didn't seem like bad people, so he opened the door and let them into the house.
After entering the house, Zhui Feng got straight to the point: "We came here today to inquire about the drought situation in Geshan Village."
When the village chief heard that they had come to inquire about the drought, he assumed they were sent by Guan Bin, so he vaguely replied, "The disaster situation here is under control very well, all thanks to the Imperial Envoy!"
Upon hearing this, Zhuifeng knew that the village chief did not trust him and was unwilling to tell him the truth. So Zhuifeng said, "I am not here to ask you about the imperial envoy. I want to ask you about what Ruan Dafeng told you."
Upon hearing them mention Ruan Dafeng, the village chief's expression changed in surprise, and he asked, "You know Ruan Dafeng? Who exactly are you people?"
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