The scene opens in the palace of the Ming emperor, who has just returned from the battlefield. He tells the king that he has been wounded in the battle and needs to rest for a while. He asks the king if he knows what has happened. The king says that he did not, and that he knows that the general has tried to force the emperor to abdicate. The emperor says that it was the general who escorted him back to the city. He also says that the emperor's men have betrayed him because of the general's absence. He says he will ask Gu Ling to find out who has been behind the attacks on the emperor.