At the same time, the nomads are suffering from a plague that has severely reduced their cattle. The nomads have lost their livelihood, and the plague seems to be waning. The southern barbarians, the narrator tells us, have "an old saying, "Where there is life, There is hope. Marriage for peace is a wise policy. This time around, he says, they must give in to the plague. He believes that the family behind the plague is trying to destroy his fighting heart. He says that tu xie realizes that he did not intend to surrender, and he tortured him until he died. He adds that he is aware that hardships are necessary for taking revenge. The narrator says that raising a child will age you, "explosive your lungs, Break your back, Go bald, And make you stupid. He wonders if the emperor is going to send an army to guard their house. He also wonders whether the emperor wants to seal the evil he has done. He asks his father what he thinks of the mission to the Qing. His father says that the imperial army does not mean anything to the nomads, but that he has detained all those who betrayed him. The prime minister says that his son is not his biological son.