In the palace of the Empress of the Yuqi, Fang tells the Empress that he has persuaded the empress to allow two of her men, the minister general and the general's wife, to defect to Fang's side. The empress has been using Fang as a cover for her treachery, Fang says, because she knows that the ministers of the court will not worship her as emperor of Yuqi. Fang says that the new emperor has been chosen by the si family, and that the Empress is planning to kill him tonight. He tells her that he can take advantage of the corpse to tell the Empress the news of the new Emperor. He says that if the Empress does not kill him immediately, she will have to wait until the next day to elect a new emperor.