The Governess arrives at the house of the Governess's daughter, Ming-Ling, and tells her that her son, Ren, has asked her to come to his house to ask him to marry his daughter. Ming, however, is not interested in Ren's request for a marriage, and he angrily tells his wife that her daughter is a "shrew" and a "fraud" who has just "signed the certificate" to marry Ren. Furious at his wife's refusal to allow Ren to marry a woman who has not yet been married, Ming storms out of the room.