The next morning, the two men discuss their plan to rescue the song tao. Mo says he'll buy the tao from the government for free. He'll give the government the East and West districts for free if they're willing to pay. Mo asks if the woman is worth so much to him. She's worth more to him than she is to her father, he says, because he doesn't want Songtao to hurt her again. Mo tells Manzhen that he's been in love with her for three years now. He says that if she's sentenced to death and he refuses to marry her for life, he won't have any reason to reject her.