The spirit queen, Fuqiu, tells the empress that the emperor has asked all of his servants to leave the palace. Fuqiu tells the emperor that she is sending her to get the money from the emperor's wife, consort huan, so that she can pay back the emperor for the money he stole from her. The empress tells Fuqiu that she will be promoted to the rank of empress when she finds the antidote for black viper poison. The two women argue about whether or not the snow king really meant to say that they should fight each other, and Fuqiu says that he did not mean to say so. She says that she and huan have been friends since they trusted each other and that they have been fighting together to survive the harem. She tells him that he is right, that whoever wants her to confront consort huangyin is the one that is trying to make her a scapegoat. She also says that since there is a conflict between her highness and her sister ling, she will act as a mediator and deliver all of their yess and their nos. She wonders who is behind the "silly girl" who wants both of them to lose, and she says that it is a pity that Fuqiu has helped her so much, but betrayal is common in the palace