The next morning, the narrator wakes up in the brothel where he had slept the night before. He has the feeling that he has done something "indescribable" to the emperor. He wishes that he had not done it. He hopes that the emperor will forgive him and that he will not blame himself for everything. He tells the emperor that the time has come for him to go to work at the palace. He says that the ancient time is yi time, but the modern time is 9 a.m. The narrator says that this is not his control and that it is out of his hands. He wants to serve the emperor a bath and breakfast, but he has to rush to the palace because the time is now 9:00 am in the modern world. He asks the emperor to forgive him. He wonders if the emperor already has a thousand ways of getting revenge on him. The man says that he looks like his father, and the narrator wonders why he can look just like him when he was younger. He then says that even though the prime minister is the head of the government, he cannot save his daughter. He also says that if she hears him, he will be done. He goes on to say that there are factions in the government that want the su family to fall. In one night, the rumor has spread to everyone.