le, the painter Yang, who had introduced the two lovers, sees the blood stains on the fan and compares the stains with peach blossoms, painting in leaves and petals to enhance the picture. Fragrant Princess then sends her fan to Hou as a token of her love while she is forced to enter the palace in the acting troupe, where she is given yet another peach blossom fan from Prince Fu. At the, end, when the southern kingdom is being destroyed, both Fragrant Princess and Hou Fang-Yu find their way to the mountains, where they are reunited briefly before both realize the transitory nature of physical love and decide to join the Taoist monks.
This scene, Part 1, Scene 1, The Storyteller, is not quite the beginning of the play, being only preceded by the Prologue. While the prologue advises the audience of where the play exists in reality - whether it is a history or fantasy and what time period it is in - Scene 1 advises the audience of the precise nature of the play. Scene 1 lays down for the audience what the expectations should be for the rest of the story. For example, it establishes the time of year that the play opens - the second month of 1643, which is springtime - and it introduces the hero of the tale - Hou Fang-y
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