Disguised as a man, she became the biggest villain in the book.

The people surrounded the government office, discussing the matter animatedly.

The person who came to plead for justice was a very young child, who looked to be seven or eight years old. He stood in front of the grievance drum in the government office, holding the drumsticks in both hands and striking the drum with all his might. Because he was so small, it looked like he was having a lot of effort to strike the drum.

Soon after, Zheng Luoqi arrived and began the court proceedings. Zheng Luoqi slammed the gavel and shouted, "Who goes there? What grievance do you have?"

"Greetings, Your Honor. My name is Ping An, and I am a beggar. I wish to file a lawsuit against the Kong family of Xuzhou." Ping An knelt down in the courtroom of the government office and said loudly.

Zheng Luoqi glanced at Ping An kneeling on the ground and asked, "The Kong family you mentioned, is it that aristocratic family, the Kong family?"

“Yes, sir,” Ping An replied respectfully.

"Speak, what are you going to sue them for?" Zheng Luoqi's face remained expressionless, but she was secretly overjoyed, thinking to herself: I was just thinking about how to make my move, and now someone has delivered the knife to my hand.

"I want to sue them for kidnapping my sister," Ping An said, his voice tinged with anger and sadness.

"You kidnapped your sister?" Zheng Luoqi asked, frowning slightly.

"Yes, sir. They kidnapped my sister for no reason. I went to their door many times to no avail, and was even beaten and thrown out! I beg you, sir, to do justice for me!" Ping An said, tears streaming down his face and dripping onto the floor. He then kowtowed heavily to the ground.

“My sister’s name is Zhizi. Originally, I didn’t have a name. The name Ping’an was given to me by my sister. My sister and I are not biologically related. It was Zhizi who took pity on me and saved me when I was about to starve to death. Zhizi has always been very good to me, and I have always regarded her as my own sister.”

"That day, I went to the place where Sister Gardenia made a living, Chunhua Courtyard, as usual, and waited for her in an alley in front of the gate. But I waited for a long time and Sister Gardenia did not appear. I thought she was too busy, so I thought I would wait for her on her way back. Who knew that after that day, Sister Gardenia never appeared again."

"That's when I realized something was wrong, so I thought I'd find out where Sister Zhizi was. That's when I found out that someone had seen Sister Zhizi being kidnapped by the Kong family's servants. As you know, sir, we beggars are the best at getting information."

"Later, I waited around the Confucius Mansion for Sister Gardenia, and then I found the purse that Sister Gardenia always carried around the Confucius Mansion."

Ping An took out the purse and handed it to Zheng Luoqi, saying, "This is the purse that Sister Zhizi always carries with her. I won't mistake it. Sister Zhizi must know that if she disappeared, I would definitely go looking for her. That's why she deliberately left this purse as a clue for me to find her."

Zheng Luoqi looked at the purse in her hand, which was embroidered with a gardenia. Inside the purse were some spices and a small strip of cloth with the words "Save!" written in blood.

Zheng Luoqi frowned and asked, "Do you know what's written on this strip of cloth?"

Ping An shook his head and said, "This humble one doesn't know, this humble one is illiterate, but this humble one feels that this must be a distress message left to me by Sister Zhi Zi."

"Have you shown this strip of cloth to anyone else?" Zheng Luoqi asked.

Ping An shook his head: "No, sir. You are the first one. I also know that this is very important, so I have been holding it carefully."

Zheng Luoqi pondered for a moment, then asked, "Have you seen any other suspicious people or things?"

Ping An thought for a moment and said, "I once saw a man dressed in strange clothes. He often came and went from the Kong residence, and always at night. Moreover, the people in the Kong residence treated him very politely. But I am not sure if he is related to Sister Zhizi's disappearance."

Zheng Luoqi asked in confusion, "Wearing strange clothes, what exactly is so strange about them? Can you explain in detail?"

Ping An pondered for a while and said, "His clothes don't look like what ordinary people wear. There are strange patterns on the clothes, and they are black, blue, and red. Especially the red, those red patterns on his clothes, after looking at them for a while, I feel a little creepy."

"Where do you usually live?" Zheng Luoqi asked, looking at Ping An.

“I have no home; I just stay wherever I can sleep,” Ping An said slowly.

"You'll stay at the government office for the next few days. Don't worry about food. I'll send people to protect you. You're an important figure in this case, so nothing can happen to you. You'll stay at the government office until I find out the truth, then you can leave," Zheng Luoqi said expressionlessly.

"Someone, take him away," Zheng Luoqi ordered.

Then a guard took Ping An away. Ping An was overjoyed when he got up and quickly thanked Zheng Luoqi, saying, "Thank you, sir, thank you, sir."

................

The Confucius family also learned that someone had filed a lawsuit against them.

At this moment, the head of the Kong family sat in the main seat of the Kong residence with a sinister expression: "Didn't I tell you to be careful? How did the prefect find out about this?"

“Brother, the prefect has no evidence, so what can he do to us? Besides, we have others behind us…” Master Kong interrupted Kong Zhao.

He then glanced around, dismissed all the servants, and whispered, "Be careful, walls have ears."

"As long as things go smoothly this year, there can't be any mistakes. Counting the years, this is already the eighteenth year," Master Kong continued.

“Nothing has happened all these years, and nothing will happen this year either,” Kong Zhao said from the side.

“Yes, that would be best,” said Master Kong.

"Brother, what should we do if that prefect really attacks us?" Kong Zhao asked.

"No matter how arrogant he is, the Prime Minister's influence can't reach here. Besides, if we can make him die mysteriously in Xuzhou, the Emperor and the Master might even thank us," Master Kong said.

"Brother, what do you mean by that?" Kong Zhao asked, looking puzzled.

Master Kong smiled slightly and explained, "The fact that the He family was released is the best proof, isn't it? Why would Prefect Zheng release the He family out of the blue? And who do you think would have the authority to make the prefect release them? Besides his father and the Emperor, who else could it be? His father is unlikely to have that power, so it must be..."

Kong Zhao nodded in sudden understanding, then asked, "Why did His Majesty do this?"

Master Kong smiled and said, "His Majesty is sending a message to the He family and our families: we can take action against the Prefect of Xuzhou, and he will definitely not investigate this matter."

Kong Zhao asked thoughtfully, "So, does His Majesty want to win us over?"

Master Kong nodded in agreement: "As I understand it, His Majesty does indeed have this intention."