The emperor's mother tells the prime minister that no one has proposed to her daughter because of her two canceled engagement. The prime minister says that it's a joke, and the emperor says that he'll tell his daughter about it in person. The emperor says he's going to marry the daughter of the emperor himself. The mother says that the emperor is the emperor, and he should be respected by all of his people. He says that if he couldn't protect the woman he loves, he'd rather give the throne to someone else. He tells his mother that he came to ask for her permission to marry his daughter, and that he doesn't want her to marry him because he wants her to be a farmer. He wants her only because she's his daughter. The empress says that she'll grant the marriage if the prince agrees.