Confidant Gaojun awakens from a nightmare about Ding Lan and his mother appearing infront of him in his bedroom. When Wei Qing suggested he should ask Shouxue about it, he tells him not to. Gaojun comes to Ye Ming Palace, anyway, and asks Shouxue about a ghost with silver hair haunting the inner palace, under the willow tree south of Huaniang's palace. Shouxue thinks it is Luan Bingyue, the grandson of the previous emperor known for his skills in sorcery. It is around this time that Qing snapped at Shouxue for how she speaks with Gaojun, even going as far as warning her that he also knows of her secret. The next day, Dan Hai reports to Gaojun about Luan Bingyue's adopted father Feng Yixing, a sorcerer. Qing volunteers to help look into the matter. Meanwhile, Shouxue finds out that the ghost under the willow tree is not that of Bingyue, but that of a woman with an agate ornament. Gaojun granted her permission to check the storehouse for something similar, and in secret, as only eunuchs and the Emperor are allowed inside it. Qing found himself in the red-light district looking for Yixing, where he faced his past. He runs away from the place and eventually going back to Gaojun's palace, where he sees him facing the ghosts of Ding Lan and his mother. After Gaojun asks him to make some tea, he reports that he was unable to find the sorcerer. Gaojun says he's done enough. The next day Qing comes to apologize to Shouxue, though she apologizes herself. It is here that Qing asks for help about the apparitions haunting Gaojun in his bedroom. And on her way to the storehouse in Ningguang Palace, she smells something familiar.