The scene opens with the general, who has just returned from the battlefield. He's been wounded in battle, and the emperor has sent him back to fight again. The general asks what makes him think he's worthy of submitting to the emperor? The general tells him that the emperor turned up on his wedding day, and he couldn't help but think that the general was in love with him. He also tells the general that he doesn't want him to be a concubine in his mansion, because there are plenty of other men there. But the general says he'll just stay with him, and that's it. He then asks the general if he likes his tactic of using the thief to bait the king. The General says he has long heard that the king is a brilliant general, but he'd like to know why he hasn't released him yet. He tells the General that he has lost his "martial arts" , and now he feels like "you have lost your invincible" . He asks the General why he feels so familiar with him now, and asks him if he is playing with fire. He says it's because he has been kissed by one of the bandit leaders, and even though it should have been him acting "frivolously" towards other men, he says it looks like the leader has succeeded, just in "the nick of time." The General agrees to let the general go.