Night had settled over the palace.
Lady Chen’s courtyard was quiet, but the atmosphere inside the private pavilion was anything but peaceful.
A single lantern burned on the table between Lady Chen and Princess Zhi.
Neither woman was drinking her tea.
Both were thinking about the same thing.
The strange investigation.
The black altar.
The talismans.
And, most importantly—
Shin Gu’s courtyard.
Princess Zhi finally broke the silence.
"Lady Chen, something about that day still bothers me."
Lady Chen looked up.
"You mean Shin Gu’s courtyard?"
Princess Zhi nodded.
"Yes."
Lady Chen sighed.
"I’ve been thinking about it too."
They exchanged a troubled glance.
The details were becoming clearer now that they were looking back without the confusion and fear that had surrounded them at the time.
They had gone to Shin Gu’s courtyard together.
The Emperor had been there.
Prince Liang had been there.
The Dowager Empress had been there.
The Empress had been there.
Lady Chen and Princess Zhi had been there.
Guards had surrounded the residence.
Everyone had expected that something would be found.
But Shin Gu’s courtyard had been completely clean.
Not one suspicious talisman.
Not one strange object.
Not even the smallest indication that forbidden magic had been performed there.
Yet talismans had been discovered elsewhere.
Lady Chen’s chamber.
Princess Zhi’s chamber.
The Dowager Empress’s courtyard.
And, most disturbingly—
The Empress’s chamber.
And then there was the black altar.
Inside the Empress’s courtyard.
Princess Zhi slowly shook her head.
"That is what doesn’t make sense."
Lady Chen’s fingers tightened around her teacup.
"If the Empress were truly behind everything..."
She stopped.
Princess Zhi finished the thought.
"Why wouldn’t she place a talisman in Shin Gu’s courtyard?"
Lady Chen stared at her.
Exactly.
That was the question neither of them could answer.
"If the Empress wanted to frame Shin Gu," Lady Chen said carefully, "placing one talisman there would have been the easiest thing in the world."
Princess Zhi nodded.
"Especially because everyone already suspected Shin Gu."
"Exactly."
"And yet there was nothing."
"Nothing."
Lady Chen looked toward the window.
"It was almost as though someone deliberately avoided putting evidence there."
Princess Zhi’s expression changed.
"That’s what I was thinking."
A long silence followed.
The thought was disturbing.
Because the absence of a talisman in Shin Gu’s courtyard was not proof of innocence.
But it was certainly strange.
Especially when talismans had appeared everywhere else.
---
Princess Zhi leaned forward.
"Think about the pattern."
Lady Chen looked at her.
Princess Zhi began counting quietly.
"Lady Chen’s chamber."
She raised one finger.
"My chamber."
A second finger.
"The Dowager Empress’s courtyard."
A third.
"The Empress’s chamber."
A fourth.
"And the black altar was found in the Empress’s courtyard."
Lady Chen nodded.
"But Shin Gu’s courtyard?"
Princess Zhi shook her head.
"Nothing."
Lady Chen’s eyes narrowed.
"Not even one."
Princess Zhi looked down at the table.
"Why?"
Neither had an answer.
Then Lady Chen suddenly whispered,
"Perhaps because Shin Gu wasn’t supposed to be blamed."
Princess Zhi looked up sharply.
"What?"
"Think about it."
Lady Chen spoke slowly.
"Perhaps the purpose of the talismans was never to accuse Shin Gu."
"Then what was the purpose?"
"To make us look at everyone else."
Princess Zhi’s expression grew serious.
"Especially the Empress."
Lady Chen nodded.
"Yes."
The black altar had changed everything.
Before that discovery, there had been suspicion.
Afterward, there was something far more dangerous.
Certainty.
Or at least what people believed was certainty.
A black altar in the Empress’s courtyard was powerful evidence in the eyes of frightened people.
They didn’t care that nobody had seen the Empress place it.
They didn’t care that the circumstances were suspicious.
They saw the altar.
They saw the talisman.
And they made their conclusion.
The Empress was responsible.
Princess Zhi’s voice became bitter.
"And now everyone believes it."
Lady Chen nodded.
"Yes."
---
Princess Zhi stood and began pacing.
"That’s what frightens me."
Lady Chen watched her.
"If something happens tomorrow..."
Princess Zhi stopped.
"Anything."
"Someone becomes ill."
"A guard disappears."
"Another strange incident occurs."
She looked directly at Lady Chen.
"Everyone will blame the Empress."
Lady Chen’s expression became grim.
"Before investigating."
"Before asking questions."
"Before checking evidence."
"They’ll blame her."
Lady Chen slowly nodded.
"Because the palace already has a story."
Princess Zhi sighed.
"And someone has worked very hard to create that story."
---
The lantern flame flickered.
Lady Chen stared at it.
"Do you remember when the Empress told us about her strange experience?"
Princess Zhi nodded.
"Her body moving toward the lake."
"She said she didn’t control herself."
"Yes."
"At the time, people thought perhaps she was hiding something."
Princess Zhi’s face hardened.
"But now I wonder if she was telling the truth."
Lady Chen looked at her.
"You believe she was controlled?"
"I don’t know."
Princess Zhi sat down again.
"But I believe something happened to her."
Lady Chen nodded slowly.
"Me too."
The Empress had nearly died.
She had awakened after everyone believed she was gone.
Her survival alone had already been strange.
Then the talismans appeared.
Then the black altar.
Too many things were happening.
And all of them seemed to lead back to the same person.
The Empress.
That was precisely why Princess Zhi no longer trusted the evidence.
It was too convenient.
---
Lady Chen suddenly remembered another detail.
"Where was Shin Gu?"
Princess Zhi looked at her.
"During the search?"
"Yes."
Princess Zhi’s brows furrowed.
"She wasn’t there."
"Exactly."
Lady Chen’s voice lowered.
"Everyone was searching her courtyard."
"The Emperor was there."
"Prince Liang was there."
"The Dowager Empress was there."
"We were there."
"The Empress was there."
"And the guards were there."
Princess Zhi nodded.
"But Shin Gu wasn’t."
Lady Chen stared at the table.
"She came later."
Princess Zhi’s eyes narrowed.
"From outside."
"Alone."
"At night."
Lady Chen nodded.
"That’s strange."
"Very."
Neither woman accused Shin Gu.
They knew they couldn’t.
But the timing disturbed them.
Why had she been outside?
Where had she gone?
And why had she returned only after everyone had already searched her courtyard?
Princess Zhi whispered,
"What if she knew we were going to search?"
Lady Chen looked at her.
"You think someone warned her?"
"I don’t know."
Princess Zhi shook her head.
"We cannot assume that."
"True."
"But the timing..."
Lady Chen sighed.
"Yes."
The timing was troubling.
---
Princess Zhi suddenly looked up.
"Wait."
Lady Chen turned.
"If Shin Gu knew we were coming..."
She paused.
"Then she could have made sure nothing was found."
Lady Chen’s eyes widened.
"Before we arrived."
"Yes."
"But that means..."
Princess Zhi stopped herself.
"We need proof before thinking further."
Lady Chen nodded.
"You’re right."
They couldn’t allow suspicion to become another weapon.
They had seen what rumors could do.
They had seen how quickly people turned against the Empress.
They couldn’t repeat the same mistake.
---
Lady Chen leaned back.
"Still, there is one thing we can agree on."
Princess Zhi waited.
"The evidence does not make sense."
Princess Zhi nodded.
"The talismans were found in too many places."
"Yet not Shin Gu’s."
"And the black altar appeared in the Empress’s courtyard."
"Which makes everyone suspect her."
Lady Chen’s voice became quiet.
"Almost as though someone wanted the entire palace to reach exactly that conclusion."
Princess Zhi stared at her.
"Yes."
The words hung heavily between them.
Neither woman spoke for several moments.
Finally, Princess Zhi whispered,
"Someone may be using the Empress as a shield."
Lady Chen’s expression hardened.
"A shield?"
"Yes."
"Someone is hiding behind the suspicion surrounding her."
Lady Chen slowly nodded.
"That would explain why another talisman hasn’t appeared in Shin Gu’s courtyard."
Princess Zhi looked toward the dark corridor.
"And it would explain why the evidence keeps pointing toward the Empress."
---
A servant quietly entered and refreshed the tea.
Neither woman spoke until the servant left.
Once the door closed, Lady Chen lowered her voice.
"We must be careful."
Princess Zhi nodded.
"Very careful."
"We cannot tell anyone what we discussed tonight."
"Not yet."
"Especially not the palace servants."
Princess Zhi agreed.
"Rumors would spread before sunrise."
Lady Chen sighed.
"And by tomorrow afternoon, people would say we accused Shin Gu of black magic."
Princess Zhi shook her head.
"No."
"We will observe."
"Quietly."
"And if another incident happens..."
"We investigate ourselves."
Lady Chen nodded.
"Before anyone points at the Empress."
Princess Zhi looked determined.
"Especially then."
---
Outside, the palace remained silent.
But inside Lady Chen’s courtyard, two friends had reached a conclusion that frightened them both.
They did not know who was responsible.
They did not know why Shin Gu’s courtyard had remained untouched.
They did not know who had placed the talismans.
And they certainly did not know who had created the black altar.
But they knew one thing.
The evidence was not telling the whole story.
And if the next incident occurred, the Empress would be the first person everyone blamed.
Princess Zhi looked toward the distant Phoenix Courtyard.
Her voice was barely a whisper.
"We cannot let that happen."
Lady Chen followed her gaze.
"No."
She paused.
"Not without the truth."
The two women exchanged a solemn look.
Neither knew that somewhere inside the palace, another pair of eyes was watching the same darkness.
And while the palace slept peacefully—
The real game had only just begun.
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