The Empress tells her sister not to touch her, and she tells her to hurry to the palace the next morning. She tells her that the eunuch is a fool, and that she is covered in blood. The Empress tries to calm her down, telling her that she has to get dressed quickly, and to get away from the palace immediately. She then tells her story, telling how she and the Empress once met when they were young. The empress was mourning the death of her son, and her father sent the Empress to fetch her. The guards broke into the palace and searched for her, but she told them what she had seen. They carried the Empress and the princess out of the room, and they looked like porcelain dolls. She says that the Empress saved her life, too, when she and her sister nearly died at the hand of the empress's dowager, who was jealous of the Empress's son. She will never forget this.