Qieluo visits a bedridden Zetian in her guarded room, accompanied by a soldier per Qin Zheng's order forbidding anyone capable of killing Zetian from being alone with her. Qieluo updates Zetian on the political fallout: Qin Zheng has publicly reclaimed the throne via livestream, summoned remnants of the central government, and installed nine new Sages as advisors under the old pilot-ruler system, with the Gao Estate's banquet hall serving as their assembly chamber. Recovery teams have found only crushed remains in the Palace of Sages ruins.

Wracked with guilt over the deaths she caused, Zetian asks that the victims' families—including Xiuying and Zhu Yuanzhang's children—be compensated. Qieluo explains that Qin Zheng now demands strict paper trails and accountability from officials, and expresses cautious approval of his rule, believing he can win the war and reform the broken pilot system, including conditions for women.

Qieluo reveals that officials are pressuring Qin Zheng to execute Zetian, claiming she misled him into destroying the Palace of Sages. Their goal is to give him a face-saving way to abandon his radical reforms (including limiting property rights). However, Qin Zheng has refused; making Zetian empress has become a symbolic test of his unquestionable judgment. Qieluo urges Zetian to lie low and pretend Qin Zheng has "mellowed" her, showing a viral image of him carrying her unconscious body—reminiscent of Yang Guang's corpse—as the narrative she must lean into.

Qieluo apologizes for her earlier hostility and reveals Shimin's Xianbei name, Daye Tengri, deepening Zetian's grief since Qieluo doesn't know he may still be alive within Qin Zheng. Zetian asks about Yizhi: he has nationalized the Gao family fortune, handing it to the state treasury, which explains Qin Zheng's trust in him.

Zetian realizes her impulsive empress declaration is actually leverage—Qin Zheng cannot disavow it without admitting he wasn't fully in control during the coup, so he must defend the marriage as his own plan. Resolving to use this leverage to demand things like her spirit armor back, she asks Qieluo to tell Yizhi not to worry. Qieluo replies that Yizhi sent her the same message.