The next morning, Ren tells the boy that the fourth prince will be banished from the royal court for a month. The boy is surprised, since he thinks Ren is more suitable for the position than he is. The next day, the boy goes for a walk, and Ren tells him that the owner of the restaurant is the vice minister's partner, a man named "zhou jin" . The man's name is "xiao yuan" , and he is a friend of Ren's. Ren asks the boy to guess who owns the restaurant, and the boy guesses that it is the owner. He then asks about the rumors about "the fourth prince" and how he plans to win over the prince. He says that he heard that the prince likes to eat "human flesh" and that he has "human hearts" for desserts. He also says that the rumors are "so bizarre" that they can't be trusted. He tells Ren that he received "fresh sashimi" earlier this year, but he didn't think the rumors would be spread. The fourth prince, he says, is "clearly being sarcastic" when he says that "the fresh sashimi" is clearly being sarcastic. He thinks that the emperor had expected this to happen when he discussed the matter with his brother.