In this chapter, the young woman who works as a lowly maid at a brothel in Ming-era China is introduced. She explains that she has come to the brothel to greet the "sexiest beauty" in the brothel, a girl named "chen yuanyuan" , who is rumored to be in love with a man named "tian" . Although she has no formal education, she knows that the man she works for is from the Ming dynasty and that he is a famous opera singer, dancer, poet, painter, and chess player. She also knows that he has written a poem for her, which she recites on the spot.