The emperor tells the minister that he wants to punish him because the minister is trying to trick him. The emperor says that he has already told the minister about the truth, and that it is wrong for him to hide the truth from his majesty. He asks the minister to take the remaining 61 floggings and double the amount of punishment. The minister tells the emperor that he is doing this to protect Ruan, but the emperor says he is just his minister. He says that if he cannot make the minister be honest to him even by coming in person, then he can only ask for the justice ministry to investigate. The king says that the minister misunderstood him, and he is afraid that someone will take action against Ruan because of her being friends with the emperor. When the king asks where Ruan's horse is, the emperor replies that he did not tell the king because he was afraid someone would take early action. He then asks the king if he can pick up Ruan and take her to the capital