A Master trains a young woman to win the King's favor by implanting a lotus of fertility and promising rapid rise if she bears the first child. He puts her through staged trials: find a hidden bean under ten quilts, perform seductive postures, and hold an egg between her thighs while folding a silk fan—each passed. For the third trial he tests her will, pressing her to resist his touch so she can later lure the King. He praises her, then announces another round of testing, leaving her ability to resist—and her fate—unsettled.