The next morning, Madame Cai tells Madame Guizhou that she's worried that the emperor will treat her the same way that he treated her. Madame Cai reassures her, saying the emperor once told her that he would like to keep some "fierce tigers and snakes" that bite, but that if the snakes have bitten him once, it's "normal" for them to do so before they've been tamed. She reassures Madame Cai that she won't be worried about anything, and that she will be happy to help the emperor as he pleases