As the scene opens, Min Min tells the audience that she is to blame for all of the misinformation that has been spread about her family. She blames herself for the fact that she did not inform the Ming family of the situation. She says that if she had known that the Mings had summoned the benefactors, she would have made necessary arrangements. She also blames her aunt for the incense that is being sold at the temple. The incense is made of premium sandalwood, which she says she has worked very hard to make. She tells the Ming that the incense is also made of hallucinogen herbs and human ashes. Min Min's aunt tells her that she has been wronged, but she is afraid of killing a chicken because she remembers that this incense was imported from Jingyang Hill. The Ming family asks the Ming to investigate the incense master, who is called "li zhun." Min Min explains that she came to thank the Ming for saving her life, and that they will not fail her. She will be leaving the palace. She asks her father what else he can write. He says that she can write to the residin palace, which is where she is staying. She wonders who she is writing to, and he says that it is her father. She then asks if she writes home often, and her father replies that she writes to her humble daughter, "mu yao." She asks if this is different from the letters she has written to her siblings, and she says that they do not miss her.