The next day, Fang's mother comes to visit the three chilterns. She tells Fang that she wants to find a suitable family for her daughter-in-law to marry. Fang thinks that it's a shame that the daughter of a prime minister should be married to a businessman, since he's the one who's supposed to be running the country. Fang points out that the only reason that a businessman would want to marry a woman of such low social rank is because the woman is also a criminal and concubine. Fang says that he doesn't know whether Fang is innocent or not, but that he'd rather see her become a nun than marry a rich man. The next morning, Fang tells his mother that he wants to marry off Fang. The two of them discuss how they're going to survive now that Fang is no longer the head of the family. Fang also says that lin and ningxiang are blaming each other for the whole mess. They're blaming one another because lin promised them the jade house. Fang is worried that the old woman will think that he betrayed her so that she could take over the house.