Emperor Xiao Chengzhao smells a burnt scent before the soup, suspecting that "always rascals want to harm me", but female official Shen Zhiwei points out that what is burnt is his black sleeve cuff. A fake token at the bottom of the plate, a broken clothes rack, and premature news of illness lead the small scare toward Imperial Uncle Wei Heng, who withholds wages and manufactures the illusion of the emperor's paranoia and instability, attempting to force the handover of the imperial seal to take over the inner treasury. The noble consort helps cross-examine, the empress dowager shifts from shielding to verifying, and the emperor finally admits that specific actions should be investigated, not letting suspicion judge the case for him.