The elder sister tells her father that her mother has passed away and that the Empress is trying to thank her for saving the life of her father. She also tells him that the Emperor has established a pavilion to provide services for large banquets, and that she is just doing what she has to do after she has been paid. She says that she has brought gifts to each court, and then sends someone else to bring them to the respective courts. She asks her father not to drop the hairpins that the empress has given her, but to take good care of them. He says that he must go to a lantern festival banquet, and the elder sister asks him to take charge of the forest army stationed at the prince's manor. She tells him not to pin all of her sins on him, and to go find a reason for his absence.