When the emperor asks about the southern kingdom that was captured by the northern emperor, the king says that he's not far away from the day he'll be "slashed to death" . The king is referring to the northern kingdom, which was taken hostage and robbed by the southern emperor. The northern emperor went home to live a life of "promiscuity" like his father, and never cared about the affairs of his state. He seems to have defeated the southern king, and the source of the tragedy was already "rooted deeply within" , as the king points out. He says that the king's eyes are "full of coldness and indifference and resolution" and that if he doesn't kill the northern king today, he will kill him in the future. He's done with killing anyone, he says, but he can't do it himself. The emperor tells him to release the northern prince from prison and send him to an imperial physician for treatment of his wounds.