The poem opens with a soliloquy in which Ching-yuan tells his son-in-law that he has come to see the ice field for the first time. He says that he is so absorbed in the beauty of the ice that he does not notice his father, who has already left the world. He tells his father that it is time for him to leave the world, and he invites his father to join him in a toast to the ice. He then reveals that he himself is a part of the conspiracy to kill the emperor. He explains that killing the emperor was a way of drawing his attention away from the wrong place, and his real purpose in life is to lead the northern minority to become a powerful empire.