This chapter opens with a flashback to the previous chapter, in which xi yuan, an 18 year old girl, is being wooed by a man named Hu, a member of the royal family. Hu is a bachelor, and Hu is the heir to the throne of China. Hu's father is a powerful and wealthy man, who has ruled China for generations. Hu and his father have been married for twenty years, and they have two children, a daughter and a son-in-law. Hu says that his father's marriage to Hu will be the most important event of his life, because it will cement his position as the heir of the throne.