This chapter opens with a flashback to the previous chapter, in which we learn that the eunuch tried to persuade Hu Jintao to go to Jiangnan alone with little protection. Hu's sister tries to convince us that Hu is faking it, but Hu is not fooled. He tells us that he was wrong to punish him, and that he is glad that Hu has grown up, because if his brother were still there, he'd be happy. He plans to use all the silver that has been brought to him by the temple to help him overthrow the useless king.