Time had passed, though just how long Shangguan Linlang couldn't say. She lay in a deep sleep within the Living Tomb that Han Ziye had painstakingly prepared for her, unaware of the passing days and nights. Her Highness knew she hadn't died, yet she found herself wishing she could just hurry up and die. Lying there day after day was truly unbearable, and not a single breathing creature had ever visited the Underground Palace.
Shangguan Linlang even seriously suspected at one point that maybe she had actually died long ago, and Han Ziye was just fooling her, deceiving her into believing she was still alive. Amidst the struggle between life and death, Her Highness lay there year after year.
In those initial years, she worried constantly about her family, wondering whether her poor father and mother had been cruelly sent to the Pure Land by Han Ziye. At the same time, she was incredibly angry at her own foolishness; it was not easy for her to fall for a man, and yet, how could she have gambled away her own life? Of course, what she hated even more was that faithless jerk Han Ziye, damn him, who never bothered with her again after casting her into the Underground Palace. Since the day they had fallen out and Han Ziye personally sent her on her way, he had never shown his face in the Underground Palace again.
Han Ziye's finality infuriated Shangguan Linlang. What Her Highness found hard to accept was that the Underground Palace was right within the confines of the Imperial Palace. Couldn't Han Ziye spare a moment to visit her after dealing with state affairs? Even coming to mock her would have sufficed. Did he have any idea how painful it was for her to lay there like a corpse all alone?
Sometimes Shangguan Linlang darkly thought that Han Ziye must have chosen such a cruel method as revenge against her. Damn it, there's a saying that a beheaded man only has a scar the size of a bowl; after eighteen years, he becomes a hero again. But what about her? Who knew how long she would have to lie there, likely until her parents had reincarnated several times over, while she could do nothing but continue this death-like slumber.
Her Highness wondered if she could only wait quietly for Han Ziye to eventually meet her again in this Underground Palace after a hundred years had passed. She was prepared to grind his old bones to dust to vent her anger.
Don't ask why Her Highness wouldn't maintain her fury and hatred—such foolish questions! Shangguan Linlang's bitter circumstances, placed upon anyone, would eventually turn rage into goo. Try sleeping day in and day out, and slowly you'll see what remains in your memory. Love, hate, all those emotions are too ethereal. When a person ceases to exist, why persist in chasing after those illusory things? What's the point in keeping the memories alive? Once a person dies, all grievances return to dust.
Of course, this doesn't mean Her Highness had no grievances. She was filled with bitterness but had no one to share it with. Living alone for so long had made her temperament even more eccentric. She was always harboring a strong desire, and that was the moment she saw the light of day again, she would ensure there would be no peace in the world.
During the endless days spent in the Living Tomb, Shangguan Linlang developed an obsession, perhaps even a grudge, against the master who had carelessly cast spells, that satiated, idling bald donkey. Because of him, during her Rebirth years, whenever Her Highness saw a bald man, whether he was robed as a monk or not, she wanted to give him a good thrashing, reminding her of the dark, endless days of her imprisonment.
In the Underground Palace, with nothing to do but sleep or be asleep, Her Highness was initially concerned that her beauty might fade. She also thought she might one day die in her sleep from not eating or drinking. Unfortunately, that lovely wish never came true, because each day she would have moments of lucidity, despite being unable to move.
Her Highness didn't know how many years had passed in the Living Tomb, but each day felt like an eternity. She quietly waited for Han Ziye's corpse, believing at least then someone would enter the Underground Palace. If she could take that opportunity just to hear a human voice, she felt it would be enough. For she feared if she continued to sleep like this, even if she were fortunate enough to leave the Underground Palace, she'd become a mute, unable to speak. Just thinking about that scenario brought her to the verge of tears. She truly felt too aggrieved. This half-dead existence was just too damn miserable; it was sheer torture to live like this.