The story line returns to Yu-cun, who has received the reinstatement to his post as a minister with the help of the Jia household. He is now working in Nanking, in the same district where Xue Pan faces manslaughter accusations. Yu-cun is deeply upset when he learns that the family of the murdered man, Feng-Yuan, has not received justice. An usher Yu-cun knew from his early days at Bottlegourd Temple pulls him aside to explain the complicated nature of the situation.

Xue Pan is related to the wealthy Jia and Wang families, and no minister has been willing to bring him up on charges of manslaughter. The usher scolds Yu-cun for not having his “Mandarin Life-Preserver [...] [which] list[s] those families which are so powerful that if you were ever to run up against one of them your life might be in danger” (111). The usher explains that Feng-Yuan was a young, gay man from a small estate who fell in love with a slave girl and bought her. The girl was going to arrive at his house in three days, but the kidnapper of the slave girl sold her to another man, Xue Pan, to make more money.