After the plum blossom tree in the palace suddenly withered, word gets around, and rumor has it that the late EMPEROR EMERITUS died of a suspicious death. JIAQING goes in person to check it out, surprisingly, HESHEN also shows up. JIAQING then goes in person to make an audience with NOBLE CONSORT DOWAGER YING and enquires about the Qianqing Palace fire, but to no avail. On the day when the mercy release ritual takes place, the pigeons that are released out of the blue all dive to the ground and die. Seeing the abnormal phenomena, people quiver with bloodcurdling screams that it’s an omen. At night, when the princes pay tribute to the late QIANLONG, PRINCE YONGXING mentions the rumor about the misconduct of the Emperor. Eagerly to protect his elder brother, PRINCE YONGLIN angrily refutes the allegation. HESHEN runs into JIAQING, who notices that HESHEN intends to take away QIANLONG’s favorite tea cup as a souvenir.