Soon even the people in the town noticed that the wind direction in the city seemed to have changed.

First, those profitable shops are now closed, and those brothels are no longer full of customers like before.

All of a sudden, all the places frequented by wealthy businessmen were deserted.

But during this period, the people found that there were no more officials who came out to bully people, and there were fewer bullies who did evil.

For a while, the people were still somewhat tentative, but now that they found that the environment had really changed, they were all overjoyed.

"I don't know why, but now it can be said that I am living a life of wonder. It's still good this way!"

"That's right, but I haven't seen the governor in the past few days, and I haven't seen him go to brothels or restaurants!"

The common people were discussing this quietly among themselves; of course they could not feel the shock from the upper echelons.

In the past few days, those wealthy businessmen have been taken away for interrogation one after another.

The officers and soldiers raided their homes one after another, and in just three days, they seized enough silver to cover the town's expenses for five years.

The emperor was shocked when he learned the number.

"How could they embezzle so much money in such a small town?"

The emperor looked at the official in charge of counting the numbers with a look of shock.

"Your Majesty, I have been doing this inventory work for more than ten years, and I am sure there are no mistakes in this account book!"

The emperor stared at the account book for a while, then said to Zhao Ji, who was sitting next to him and savoring the food, "Prince Regent, if I confiscate a few more wealthy merchants, will the treasury be full?"

Zhao Ji put down his teacup with a smile: "It's not impossible, but if the tax is too harsh, these people will no longer do business, and there will be no more tax revenue from this part!"

Zhao Ji always had a thorough understanding of things. After the emperor realized this problem, he stopped saying such things.

Soon, all the events in the town were almost counted. In addition to the collusion between officials and businessmen, there was solid evidence of corruption in mines and subsidies for exploitation of miners.

The emperor waved his hand and said directly: "Let this governor be beheaded. There is no need to keep the head of such a man!"

Zhao Ji frowned slightly and said nothing. However, in the last period before the execution, Zhao Ji arranged a group of secret guards to investigate some things.

After finishing the affairs of this town, the emperor still wanted to continue his inspection tour in the south.

Therefore, Zhao Ji arranged a strategy similar to the previous one, letting the large army remain in this town for the time being, so as to give the outside world the impression that the emperor was still investigating the case at that time.

But in fact, Zhao Ji and the emperor had already traveled light and headed straight for the next place.

However, halfway through the journey, Zhao Ji saw two familiar people.

It was none other than Wang Wanru and Xiao Xiazi.

The last time these two met, Zhao Ji used some tricks to make them stay in the town at that time, just to prevent them from continuing to cause trouble around the emperor.

I didn't expect these two people to be so quick and catch up so quickly.

The emperor was unaware of these secrets and was surprised to see the girl he loved and the eunuch who had once been very close to him appear.

There was some joy for a moment.

"It's as if you came here..."

After not seeing her for such a long time, Wang Wanru looked even more beautiful than before. Moreover, she had learned the etiquette from the nanny, and now her every move had some of the air of a lady from a noble family.

This attracted the emperor even more.

The emperor felt that the little deer in his heart was running around again.

Moreover, Wang Wanru had obviously studied the emperor's preferences carefully and knew that he liked simple and delicate things, so she dressed very lightly today and put on a pitiful look in her makeup.

As expected, it touched the emperor's heart.

Xiao Xia Zi, who was standing by, observed the emperor's expressions and returned to the emperor's side very naturally. She put clothes on the emperor and asked him whether he had eaten and slept well during this period. In short, she was very thoughtful. Zhao Ji just watched their performance quietly on the side.

After watching for a long time, I felt a little bored and even yawned.

Xiao Xiazi at the side said quickly: "Look at how ignorant I am. The young master's friend is yawning. Let's hurry up and go to the inn in the next town to rest!"

Only then did the emperor barely regain some rationality from the temptation of beauty.

"It's getting late, let's hurry up and get on with our journey!" said the emperor with some regret.

Zhao Ji didn't care anyway. After all, this journey would only take a short while for him.

The reason why the speed is so slow now is just to accommodate the emperor. But after Wang Wanru joined, the speed became even slower.

Because Wang Wanru didn't know how to ride a horse, she and Xiao Xiazi had to travel half the distance by carriage and half on foot.

There was no carriage now, so Wang Wanru had no choice but to ride on the same horse with the emperor.

As a result, the two of them walked slower and slower.

Zhao Ji sighed helplessly.

It was almost dark when we finally reached the next town. After asking around, we found out that all the inns in the town were full.

"It's not that we don't want to entertain you, it's mainly because there are too many of you. Another thing is that our town is going to hold a dragon boat race soon, and many people from other places will come. We really don't have any extra rooms!"

After asking several inns, Zhao Ji got the same response and felt helpless.

We can't let these people sleep on the streets, can we?

At this moment, Wang Wanru said shyly, "Actually, my uncle's house is in this town. If you don't mind, why don't you stay at my uncle's house for a few days?"

The emperor thought it was a good idea after hearing it, but Zhao Ji frowned out of habit.

This seems too much of a coincidence.

Wang Wanru's identity itself is questionable, and the forces behind her have not been identified yet, and now an uncle suddenly appears.

This is such an amazing coincidence.

Zhao Ji didn't say anything at first, he just followed Wang Wanru to his uncle's house.

At first, Zhao Ji and the others thought that Wang Wanru’s uncle should at least be a wealthy businessman, but when they went in, they found that it was just an ordinary two-courtyard house.

"My uncle's ancestors were businessmen, but they fell into poverty and now only this ancestral house remains. Although it is a bit shabby, I hope you young masters will not dislike it..."

Wang Wanru's face was flushed with two blushes at the right time, as if she was ashamed and embarrassed.

Instead, it further piqued the emperor's desire to protect.

"It's okay, it's much better than sleeping on the streets. Besides, your uncle's courtyard is elegant and has a unique charm!"

Zhao Ji observed that Wang Wanru's uncle was hunched over and never made eye contact with the emperor and Zhao Ji, seeming to be very reserved.

On the contrary, Wang Wanru, who was standing next to her uncle, looked more like the owner of this yard than it did.

Zhao Ji quietly kept all these doubts in mind and remained calm.