The chapter opens with the general of the army, the military adviser minister, the vice military supervisor, and the magistrate of Jiming County. The general greets the magistrate and the eunuch, and tells them that they are safe from the enemy. The magistrate explains that he has been killed in the war, so he has to assume the position of the temporary magistrate. He tells the couple that it is their first new year as husband and wife, and they are happy to be together. They are both surprised that the general has thrown them out of the county just to please the general.