The scene opens in the emperor's palace, where the emperor is preparing to go to the dowager for his meeting with the queen. He has a message for the queen: she has to be careful not to get too close. The emperor asks the lady in charge of the baths to tell him that he must take a bath first before meeting the empress. The lady tells him to do so, but the emperor refuses to listen to her. He is furious that the lady has asked him to bathe in the hot spring, and he is not watching. He wonders if the lady is trying to trick him into believing that the emperor has forbidden his father to visit the palace. He tells the lady that he has been practicing a secret magic spell that the queen has taught him. He says that he will try the spell first, and if he does not succeed, he will use the illusion spell. The empress is holding him like a child, and the emperor says that if she succeeds in catching him, his life will be in danger.