Volume One, Chapter 14: The Phantom of the Cold Palace

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The eunuch beside Madam Zhou pushed open the worn vermilion wooden door. The creaking hinge groaned as it turned, sending down a flurry of dust and wood shavings.

Before them lay only desolation.

“Your Highness, be careful...”

Sang Zhi steadied Ye Yuntang as they stepped inside. The courtyard was overrun with wild grass, cobwebs stretched across the space, and the stone pathway to the main chamber was swallowed by moss and weeds, rendering the path invisible.

Looking further ahead, several carved windows were broken, fluttering in the wind with a haunting flapping sound.

“Your Highness, ah...”

Sang Zhi had barely taken a few steps when a few scrawny black rats darted through, kicking up clouds of dust.

“Snakes! Snakes!”

With a sharp scream from Sang Zhi, Ye Yuntang’s legs went weak, unable to move another step.

Madam Zhou chuckled lightly. “Close the main gate.”

Still shaken, the two were guided to sit in the nearby corridor.

Sang Zhi pulled a silk handkerchief from her bosom and wiped the cold sweat from Ye Yuntang’s brow. Looking around, she said, “Your Highness, this place is truly unfit for anyone to dwell.”

She had been terrified just now!

Ye Yuntang calmed herself slightly and comforted her, “Don’t be afraid. It’s only because no one has lived here for so long that there are snakes, rats, insects, and ants. Take this packet of medicinal powder and scatter it in every corner of the courtyard to drive them away.”

Sang Zhi stared at the packet Ye Yuntang pulled from her bundle, hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

“You’re always so thoughtful, Your Highness.”

Ye Yuntang pondered for a moment. “If I remember correctly, there should be another palace concubine here, but we’ve been here a while and have yet to see her…”

Sang Zhi looked around warily; the wind howled through the wild grass, but there was no other movement.

Ye Yuntang stood up. “Let’s go check the rooms first.”

Sang Zhi nodded. “Your Highness, please wait a moment. I’ll clear the weeds in the courtyard.”

“I’ll help you.”

Sang Zhi waved her off repeatedly. “Your Highness, please rest. I have plenty of strength and will be done soon.”

“I’ll take a look around outside.”

Although confined in this cold palace, Ye Yuntang knew well she must be intimately familiar with her surroundings. She had no trusted palace attendants to guide her, so she had to figure everything out on her own.

The cold palace was small; the two side chambers beside the main hall had collapsed from neglect.

Just as Ye Yuntang was about to turn back, she suddenly heard a piercing scream from Sang Zhi.

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Ye Yuntang’s heart tightened as she called out anxiously, “Sang Zhi, what’s wrong?”

Sang Zhi came running desperately from the back courtyard, face pale and legs trembling, almost stumbling as she approached.

She grabbed Ye Yuntang’s hands tightly, trembling as she whispered, “Your Highness, it’s terrible... there’s a dead body! It’s soaking in the well water in the back courtyard. The sight... it’s horrifying!”

Fear filled Sang Zhi’s eyes, her body shaking uncontrollably from the shock.

Ye Yuntang’s expression darkened as she patted Sang Zhi’s shoulder. “I’ll go see.”

“N-no, don’t go... it’s swollen from soaking... ugh...”

Sang Zhi suddenly vomited, clearly overwhelmed by the fright.

Ye Yuntang gently comforted her, urging her to sit and calm down.

Then, with a serious expression, she approached the heavy, weathered door of the cold palace and loudly addressed the guards stationed outside:

“Please report to His Majesty at once! Someone has died in the well here in the cold palace!”

The guards exchanged glances before erupting into laughter.

One sneered with disdain, “Dead is dead. It’s just some abandoned woman in the cold palace. Is it really worth disturbing the Emperor?”

“People die here all the time. Do we have to trouble the Emperor over every death?” another scoffed.

“Exactly. And telling the Emperor? Ha! He has far more important matters to attend to. I say we just bury the body somewhere tomorrow and stop making a fuss.”

Ye Yuntang clenched her fists, scolding them, “How can you neglect your duties so shamelessly? Everyone in the palace, no matter their rank, belongs to the Emperor. Now that a consort has died without cause, how can you be so dismissive? If you don’t report this today and the Emperor later holds you accountable, can you bear that responsibility?”

The guards were momentarily cowed by Ye Yuntang’s fierce resolve but quickly resumed their indifferent attitudes.

The leader sneered, “Oh? The abandoned Empress of the cold palace dares threaten us? Look at your own situation—you can barely protect yourself, yet you want to stand up for a dead woman. Brothers, ignore her and carry on.”

With that, the guards dispersed, chatting idly as if nothing had happened.

Ye Yuntang watched their retreating backs through the door crack, frustrated.

But she knew these cold palace guards, left to their own devices, were used to acting with impunity. Arguing further was futile.

She took a deep breath and returned to Sang Zhi’s side.

“Don’t be afraid. Let’s go back inside.”

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Dark clouds thickened overhead, threatening rain. They needed to find shelter quickly.

Sang Zhi raised her tear-streaked face to meet Ye Yuntang’s determined gaze and nodded slightly. Though still fearful, a newfound resolve glimmered in both their eyes.

They had barely entered the room when heavy rain began to fall, and dusk deepened.

Inside, the room was pitch black, lit only by the faint flicker of a candle.

“Your Highness, are you hungry?”

“You must be hungry.”

Ye Yuntang took a packet of pastries from her bundle and handed it to her. “I hid these away. Eat quickly.”

“Your Highness, you should eat first.”

Ye Yuntang shook her head. “I’m not hungry. You eat.”

Since entering the palace, not a moment’s peace had come. Though she knew the corpse still soaked in the back courtyard’s well, she had somehow drifted into a restless sleep.

Back to back, the two sat in the silent darkness.

Suddenly, an eerie song rang out from outside the window, without warning. The tune was sinister and haunting, piercing the still night with chilling intensity.

The voice drifted, near and far, like a wronged woman softly pouring out her sorrow, then twisting into the strange, unnatural cries of some unknown creature—distorted and bone-chilling.

Sang Zhi and Ye Yuntang were startled awake by the ghostly singing.

On the old, weathered windowpane appeared faint, fleeting shadows.

Sang Zhi’s eyes widened in terror as she trembled, whispering, “Your Highness, did you see that? What... what was that?”

Ye Yuntang’s heart leapt in fright, a cold shiver running down her spine.

But she refused to believe in ghosts.

Straightening her back, she took a deep breath and shouted boldly, “Who dares play these tricks? Show yourself at once! Don’t think such cowardly schemes will scare me.”

“...I’m dead, and you will die too... all of you will die...”

The window echoed with another strange, eerie wail.

Yet Ye Yuntang was more certain than ever this was a deliberate ploy—someone trying to unsettle her with ghostly tricks.

Gritting her teeth, she strode boldly to the door.

The shadows vanished instantly, but in the next moment, something cold and slimy seemed to coil around her neck...