Third watch, in Zhang Yang Palace
Princess Zhao Yang is lying on a pear-wood bed with carved flowers, her face deathly pale and breathing barely perceptible. In just three days, this once shining, bright, and lively Little Princess has become a haggard, emaciated woman. What tortured her into this state was not the deprivation of food and water over three days, but her own foolish acts and grave mistakes.
She lies there in silence, her inner turmoil twisted with regret and guilt. Although her heart is still aching as if it's been tossed into boiling oil, she no longer thrash and wail for death as she did when she first got back. Neither does she sob through the night as she did initially. She has quieted down and is able to think rationally now.