The officials hastened to disperse. One of them, Minister of the Interior Wang Yun, who had witnessed all this, returned to his palace very pensive and much distressed. The same evening, a bright moonlight night, he took his staff and went strolling in his private garden. Standing near one of the creeper trellises, he gazed up at the sky and the tears rolled down his cheeks. Suddenly he heard a rustle in the Peony Pavilion and someone sighing deeply. Stealthily creeping near, he saw there one of the household singing girls named Diao Chan. This maiden had been brought up in his palace, where she had been taught to sing and dance. At twenty-one, she was a pretty and clever girl whom Wang Yun regarded more as a daughter than a dependant.After listening for some time, Wang Yun suddenly called out, "What mischief are you up to there, you naughty girl?" The maiden dropped on her knees in terror, saying, "Would thy unworthy handmaid dare to do anything wrong?"

"Then what are you sighing about out here in the darkness?"
"May thy handmaid speak from the bottom of her heart?"
"Tell me the whole truth. Do not conceal anything."

And the girl said, "Thy handmaid has been the recipient of bountiful kindness. She has been taught to sing and dance and been treated so kindly that were she torn in pieces for her lord's sake, it would not repay a thousandth part. She has noticed lately that her lord's brows have been knit in distress and knows it is on account of the state troubles. But she has not dared to ask. This evening he seemed sadder than ever, and she was miserable on her lord's account. But she did not know she would be seen. Could she be of any use, she would not shrink from a myriad deaths."

A sudden idea came to Wang Yun, and he stuck the ground with his staff. And he said, "Who would think that the fate of Han lay in your palm? Come with me!"
The girl followed him into the house. There he dismissed all the waiting attendants, placed Diao Chan on a chair, and bowed before her. She was frightened and threw herself on the ground, asking in terror what it all meant. Said Wang Yun, "You can sympathize with the people of Han!"
And the fount of his tears opened afresh.
"My lord, as thy handmaid said just now, use her in any way: Thy handmaid will never shrink," said the girl.