The next morning, the emperor tells his son that he has failed to find evidence of the conspiracy between Hu Jin and the traitorous yuan yi. The emperor says that he will lead the troops to investigate the situation in the two states, and that he is willing to spare Hu Jin one day of the punishment if he will spare the traitor one day too. Hu Jin asks if the emperor will spare him one more day of punishment, and the emperor replies that he already has a deep love for the traitor, and he will not spare him any more. He then tells Hu Jin that he must stay at the palace for the time being because of news that the emperor's son, zhen, wants to appoint a queen.