As the scene opens, the young master of the house, black lotus, is furious with his servants for littering the yard. He tells them that they are all "uneducated kids" who "know nothing about propriety" . The young master tells his servant to go back to his room and report to Mistress Zillao, who will take care of the matter for him. The master tells the servants to fetch the emperor's physician, who has gone on his way to fetch a doctor for the emperor. He asks the servant to tell him what the heck is going on, and the master tells him that he has a "really unique way" of feigning sickness. He says that he gave him medicine and then fell asleep, and he smells blood, but he doesn't know what it is. He feels uneasy when he first saw the young lady, and when he met her, he already felt uneasy