The generals discuss the poetry challenge they're about to perform. They're going to use cold blades and hot coals as their weapons. Liefeng is the one who's going to judge, and he's got a plan: he'll pick the topic and pick the verses randomly, so that no one will cheat. This way, he says, they'll avoid the "conventional patterns" that cheaters usually use to cheat on poetry contests. He also points out that this way, no one is going to cheat because they won't be able to pick the subject and verses randomly. This is the only way to avoid cheating, Liefeng says, because it'll make it impossible for anyone to cheat. The lieutenant agrees, and the generals go off on a rant about how unfair it is that they can't watch the whole thing, since there's no entertainment in it. They also point out that there are two sides to the coin: one is the "cold glimmering weapons" and the other is "hot coals." They decide to use the cold blade and the hot coal as the weapons, so they can pick the topics randomly. They say that it's better than using the traditional method because it prevents cheating. They then go on to say that this method is also fairer since it prevents people from picking the subject