The next morning, Lin tells the Mings that he's still worried about his brother. He wants to know why the emperor is trying to push him away. The Mings tell him that they'll try to find out what's going on with the doctor and the junior general. Lin asks if he can have a chat with them, but they won't let him. He asks if they're going to let him ask them one-by-one, and then he'll figure out if he should ask them all at once. He doesn't want them to worry about him, he says. He's not worried about the emperor, he just wants to protect him. Lin tells him that he can't be afraid of the emperor because he is a jiuqing, and he'd face anything with the emperor no matter what happened. He says that the emperor's soldiers are at their peak morale right now, and they