In the meantime, the father of the girl who has just eloped tries to convince his daughter to apologize to her lover. The girl, however, refuses, saying that the concubine has already told her that she has been unfaithful and disobedient. The father then accuses his daughter of being an immoral person. He also accuses her of being a member of the "peng family," a family of functionaries with a "literacy reputation" . The mother, meanwhile, tries to defend her daughter, but the girl refuses to listen to her father's arguments. She says that the reason she rejected the engagement was because the young master of the family, the peng, likes her.