In this chapter, Cai Ming tells the story of how he came to be the father of Ming-ling. He tells Cai Ming that he was the illegitimate child of pei, who was the mistress of the emperor's concubine, and fang-yizhi. Cai Ming was sent to the clothing alley to be a maid, and when pei recovered from her illness, she and the emperor rekindled their romance. When pei became pregnant with another man's child, she gave birth to the child of another man, and Cai Ming took her back to the East Palace to give birth to his own son. He asks Cai Ming why he is bringing him here to see the truth, and he tells him that he has been sent by the emperor to deliver food and water to Cai Ming's highness, and they have a token that Cai Ming can use to prove the truth