This chapter's epigraph comes from a conversation between the Governess and her servant. The Governess tells the servant that she and her father are both in love with each other, and that they both want the country back. She tells him that he is the only person in the world who matters to her father, and she is sure that he cares more about her than he cares about her father. He tells her that he checked his background before he dared to tell him the truth about him, and he realizes that his hatred for him is as much as his own. He asks the servant if he is jealous of Su Manhe, and the servant replies that she is. He says that if he hadn't told her what happened between him and her, he would have killed her, too. He adds that he thinks that the two of them must be cousins, because they must be in the same imperial family. He then asks the man to write his name on a piece of paper, in case he should need to betray him.