Linyuan's reaction to the note is one of anger and bewilderment. He asks why he is not allowed to see the body of the man who has betrayed him. He also asks why Linyuan has asked him to take off his clothes. Linyuan tells the audience that he is a prime minister's servant, not a slave with a contract to die. He explains that he gave the slave medicine that causes impotence to prove that Mistress Wu has had an affair with Linyuan, and that Linyuan then gave the medicine to Mistress Wu to prove her affair with the man. He says that he did not expect Linyuan to use the medicine on his wife, but that someone has set him up.