The first lady of the Ming family is late for her meeting with the regent, and the second lady is also late. The regent orders the first lady to be present because he wants to discuss the marriage alliance between the prince and the princess of the south. The second lady protests that she is already engaged to the regent's highness, and that she has no precedent for such a regent to form such a marriage alliance. She tells the regent that he must change the word yue in the imperial edict to "fang" because she is a daughter of a "sinister mother" .