Chapter 357: the women who returned from the forest
The imperial garden remained under heavy guard.
The fifty bodies had already been respectfully covered with white cloth and were being carried away one by one for identification.
Imperial physicians, coroners, and investigators carefully examined every body, hoping to find even the smallest clue.
The Emperor stood with his hands behind his back, his expression as cold as ice.
Beside him stood the Empress, Princess Zhi, Prince Liang, the Dowager Empress, Lady Chen, and several trusted officials.
No one spoke.
The only sounds were the footsteps of guards and the rustling of the morning wind.
A palace investigator approached and bowed.
"Your Majesty."
"We have searched several of the victims."
The Emperor looked at him.
"Report."
"There are no palace identity tokens."
"They appear to be merchants, laborers, and common citizens from different districts of the capital."
The investigator hesitated.
"And..."
"No signs suggest they entered through the palace gates."
The Emperor frowned.
"Continue investigating."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Meanwhile another captain hurried over.
"We have searched Shin Gu’s courtyard."
Prince Liang immediately asked,
"And?"
"It is empty."
"Her personal belongings remain inside, but Lady Shin Gu herself is nowhere to be found."
The Dowager Empress’s face darkened.
"Search every corner of the palace."
"Yes, Your Highness."
Just then—
A cry echoed from beyond the outer gate.
"...Help..."
The voice was weak.
Broken.
Everyone turned at once.
Several guards rushed toward the sound.
Moments later they returned—
Supporting a woman who could barely stand.
Everyone’s eyes widened.
"Shin Gu!"
Her usually elegant robes were ripped and stained with mud.
Her hair was completely disheveled, tangled with dry leaves and twigs.
Her face was pale.
There were scratches along her arms.
Her feet were bare and bleeding from walking over rough ground.
She looked as though she had wandered through the wilderness all night.
Princess Zhi whispered,
"...Heavens..."
Even Lady Chen stared in disbelief.
This was nothing like the composed Shin Gu she knew.
Prince Liang immediately stepped forward.
"Bring her a chair."
The guards carefully helped Shin Gu sit.
A maid hurried over with water.
Shin Gu’s hands trembled so violently that she could barely hold the cup.
The Emperor watched her silently.
Then he spoke.
"What happened?"
Shin Gu looked around with frightened eyes.
She seemed genuinely confused by everyone’s expressions.
Finally she whispered,
"I... I don’t know..."
Prince Liang knelt slightly so his voice would sound gentler.
"Tell us everything you remember."
She closed her eyes tightly.
"I was reading scriptures in my courtyard last night..."
"Then..."
"I heard chanting."
The Empress and Lady Chen exchanged a quick glance.
The same chanting.
Shin Gu continued,
"It sounded... distant."
"But it became louder."
"I wanted to find where it came from."
"I walked outside..."
Her breathing became uneven.
"After that..."
She pressed a hand against her forehead.
"...I don’t remember anything."
Silence.
Everyone listened carefully.
"When did you wake up?" Prince Liang asked.
"In... in a forest."
She looked completely shaken.
"I didn’t know where I was."
"There were trees everywhere."
"It was still dark."
"I kept calling for help."
"No one answered."
"I walked until sunrise before I found a road."
The physician examining her interrupted respectfully.
"Your Majesty."
"The scratches on Lady Shin Gu’s arms are fresh."
"So are the cuts on her feet."
"It is consistent with walking through dense woodland."
The Dowager Empress stared at Shin Gu.
"You truly remember nothing?"
Tears rolled down Shin Gu’s face.
"I swear I don’t."
"I don’t know how I ended up there."
"I don’t even know how I returned."
She looked around the garden.
Only then did she notice the white-covered bodies being carried away.
Her face turned completely white.
"W-what happened?"
Lady Chen watched her carefully.
Every movement.
Every expression.
She had been convinced only moments ago that Shin Gu might be responsible.
But now...
Looking at her frightened eyes...
Her shaking hands...
Her torn clothes...
Nothing seemed staged.
Even the Empress remained silent.
Her instincts, sharpened by everything she had experienced, searched for any sign of deception.
She found none.
Prince Liang slowly stood.
"It doesn’t look like she’s pretending."
The Dowager Empress nodded reluctantly.
"I agree."
The Emperor remained expressionless.
His gaze never left Shin Gu.
"Whether you are a victim or a suspect..."
"...will be determined after a full investigation."
Shin Gu lowered her head.
"I understand, Your Majesty."
"I will cooperate."
The Emperor turned toward the captain of the guards.
"Escort Lady Shin Gu back to her courtyard."
"No one enters or leaves without permission."
"Assign physicians to examine her."
"And question everyone who saw her yesterday."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
As the guards carefully helped Shin Gu away, the atmosphere in the garden grew even heavier.
Princess Zhi spoke softly.
"Yesterday we believed Shin Gu might be behind this."
"Now..."
"I don’t know what to believe."
Lady Chen folded her hands tightly.
"If she is telling the truth..."
"...then someone wanted us to suspect her."
The Empress looked toward the distant palace roofs.
"Or someone wanted to make all of us chase the wrong person."
The Emperor’s eyes darkened.
"The enemy planned this well."
"They left bodies inside the palace."
"They made Shin Gu disappear."
"And now she returns with no memory."
He paused.
"They are several steps ahead."
A cold breeze swept through the garden.
None of them noticed—
Far beyond the palace walls, hidden in the shadow of an abandoned shrine—
A lone figure watched a black candle burn with an eerie blue flame.
A faint smile appeared beneath the figure’s hood.
"The game..."
"...has only just begun."
The Imperial Palace had fallen into chaos.
At dawn, a palace gardener had entered the western imperial garden to trim the ancient plum trees.
Moments later—
His terrified scream shattered the morning silence.
Guards rushed toward the sound.
Maids abandoned their duties.
Officials hurried from every direction.
When they arrived...
Every face turned pale.
Scattered among the flower beds and beneath the towering trees lay fifty lifeless bodies.
Commoners.
Traveling merchants.
Laborers.
People who had no reason to be inside the palace.
There were no pools of blood.
No obvious wounds.
No broken branches suggesting a struggle.
It was as though every one of them had simply... collapsed where they stood.
The Emperor immediately ordered the western garden sealed.
No one was allowed near it.
The Ministry of Justice had not yet begun its investigation.
Rumors, however, spread much faster than any official report.
Some servants whispered of ghosts.
Others believed an assassin had entered the palace.
Some even claimed Heaven itself was angry.
---
Meanwhile...
In the eastern Imperial Garden...
The Emperor, Empress, Dowager Empress, Princess Zhi, Prince Liang, and Lady Chen walked together beneath rows of flowering peach trees.
No one spoke for several moments.
The cheerful atmosphere that had returned after the Empress’s recovery had disappeared completely.
Princess Zhi finally broke the silence.
"Fifty people..."
"How could fifty strangers enter the palace without anyone noticing?"
Prince Liang frowned.
"That’s exactly what troubles me."
"The palace is guarded day and night."
"No ordinary person could simply walk inside."
The Dowager Empress slowly looked toward the distant western garden.
"This palace has stood for generations."
"I have never witnessed anything like this."
The Emperor’s expression remained cold.
"Until the investigation begins..."
"No one leaves the palace."
Everyone nodded.
---
Lady Chen had barely listened.
Her thoughts had returned to yesterday.
She stopped walking.
The others turned toward her.
The Empress noticed the hesitation on her face.
"Lady Chen?"
Lady Chen took a slow breath.
"There is... something I have not told everyone."
The Emperor looked at her.
"Speak."
Lady Chen looked toward the Empress.
"Yesterday..."
"You and I were together."
The Empress nodded slowly.
"Yes."
Lady Chen continued,
"When we walked near your residence..."
"...we both heard it."
The Empress’s expression became serious.
"The chanting."
Princess Zhi looked confused.
"Chanting?"
Lady Chen nodded.
"It was faint."
"But unmistakable."
"It sounded like someone reciting an ancient ritual."
The Emperor frowned.
"You never mentioned this."
The Empress answered quietly,
"I wasn’t sure if I had imagined it."
Lady Chen shook her head.
"You didn’t."
"I heard it too."
Prince Liang’s expression darkened.
"Then what happened?"
Lady Chen continued,
"We followed the sound together."
The Empress remembered every step.
The strange cold wind.
The unnatural silence.
The rhythmic chanting growing clearer with every moment.
Princess Zhi listened carefully.
"You searched for the source?"
"We did."
Lady Chen nodded.
"It led us toward..."
She paused.
"...Shin Gu’s courtyard."
The Emperor’s eyes narrowed.
"And?"
Lady Chen looked troubled.
"When we arrived..."
"...the chanting stopped."
The Empress slowly nodded.
"Instead..."
"We heard Shin Gu speaking calmly with one of her maids."
"It was as though nothing unusual had happened."
Silence filled the garden.
Prince Liang folded his arms.
"Could someone else have been chanting?"
Lady Chen slowly shook her head.
"I don’t know."
"But..."
Her voice became quieter.
"...I no longer know if I can trust Shin Gu."
Those words surprised everyone.
Even the Dowager Empress looked at her in disbelief.
"You trusted her greatly."
Lady Chen gave a bitter smile.
"I did."
"But every answer she gives creates more questions."
The Emperor remained silent.
His thoughts were already racing.
---
Prince Liang looked at Lady Chen before speaking again.
"There is also something I owe you."
Lady Chen looked at him.
"When the Empress nearly drowned..."
"I suspected you."
His voice carried genuine regret.
"I believed you wanted to harm Her Majesty."
Lady Chen remained quiet.
Prince Liang lowered his head.
"If those suspicions had caused harm to come to you..."
"I would never have forgiven myself."
Lady Chen smiled gently.
"You were trying to protect the palace."
Prince Liang shook his head.
"No."
"I judged without evidence."
"I was wrong."
The Dowager Empress nodded slowly.
"It is good that you admit it."
The Empress looked at Lady Chen thoughtfully.
For the first time...
She sensed genuine uncertainty in the woman standing before her.
---
At that same moment...
Inside Shin Gu’s courtyard...
Steam drifted through the private bathing chamber.
Shin Gu rested inside a stone bathtub filled with fragrant herbs.
Her eyes remained closed.
Completely still.
Then...
A smile slowly appeared.
"So..."
"They’ve begun doubting."
She remembered the Emperor’s watchful eyes.
The Empress’s suspicion.
Prince Liang’s questions.
Lady Chen following the chanting.
She knew every one of them had begun looking at her differently.
Her smile widened.
"They searched together."
"They followed the voice."
"And still..."
"They found nothing."
A soft laugh escaped her lips.
Then another.
Longer.
Colder.
"They think suspicion hurts me."
"They’re mistaken."
"It helps me."
Her fingers disturbed the bathwater, sending ripples across her reflection.
"They found fifty corpses."
"They’re frightened."
"They’re confused."
"They don’t know where to look."
Her laughter grew louder.
Outside the chamber, two frightened maids exchanged glances.
One whispered,
"Lady Shin has been laughing for a long time."
The older maid shivered.
"Don’t go inside."
"Something about her today..."
"...doesn’t feel right."
Inside...
Shin Gu opened her eyes.
Dark.
Calm.
Filled with dangerous certainty.
"They’ll regret every suspicious glance they gave me."
"Because while they’re searching for answers..."
"...I’ve already prepared my next move."
Her laughter echoed through the courtyard like the cry of someone standing at the edge of madness.
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