This chapter opens with the governor of the square city and a junior officer from the frontier army arriving at the city. The governor tells the officer that he has been slandered and that the officer has extorted 10,000 taels. The officer tells the governor that he is a "token individual" who has been wronged by the local government and that he will find justice for the wronged man. The young officer tells him that the man who extorted the money was a "dirty money grabber" and the officer apologizes for the trouble he has caused the man.