As the scene opens, Zhang is in the middle of a soliloquy when the ghost of Madame Hariti appears on the scene. She tells him that he is doomed to die, and that she will be his successor after he is gone. He asks her to go and wash his face, but she refuses, saying that she is afraid of the ghosts and that they are not scary. She says that ghosts are dangerous because they are unable to communicate. When the groom approaches her, she says that she cannot be his groom, because she is a woman. She asks him to drop her betrothal present, but he says that it is a "forced deal" and that he will have to return it if he wants to break the engagement