In this chapter, the narrator explains that jiuniang will have to go through six stages to be admitted into the palace. He also explains that the selection of female officials is much more difficult than the palace's selection of maids. He has a friend from his hometown who applied for a position as a female official. She passed through ten stages of the process. The narrator then explains that if he meets a woman with the same name from the same place, he should select her and give her the position of head maid to the noble consort.