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Ghost in the palace

Chapter 346: The Dowager’s Doubt · Nov 02, 2026

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Chapter List (462)

Page number / 10

301 Chapter 301: Prayers Beneath the Shadow of the North 2026-11-02
302 Chapter 302: The Dowager’s Fear 2026-11-02
303 Chapter 303: the weight of the throne 2026-11-02
304 Chapter 304: The Dowager’s Quiet Thoughts 2026-11-02
305 Chapter 305: Forgotten Memories and Hidden Fear 2026-11-02
306 Chapter 306: Whispers of Fear in the Imperial Court 2026-11-02
307 Chapter 307: Questions Buried in History 2026-11-02
308 Chapter 308: Villages Filled With Grief 2026-11-02
309 Chapter 309: — The Promise He Never Intended to Keep 2026-11-02
310 Chapter 310: The Dowager Empress’s Thoughts 2026-11-02
311 Chapter 311: A Mother’s Advice 2026-11-02
312 Chapter 312: The Return of the Lost 2026-11-02
313 Chapter 313: The Three Mischievous Ghosts 2026-11-02
314 Chapter 314: The Strange Weakness 2026-11-02
315 Chapter 315: The Cry in the Night 2026-11-02
316 Chapter 316: The Dowager’s Concerns 2026-11-02
317 Chapter 317: — A New Market for the Common People 2026-11-02
318 Chapter 318: The Emperor’s Decree 2026-11-02
319 Chapter 319: The Whisper Bowl Festival Meeting 2026-11-02
320 Chapter 320: The Kingdom Awaits the Festival 2026-11-02
321 Chapter 321: The First Day of the Festival Market 2026-11-02
322 Chapter 322: Smiles Across the Empire 2026-11-02
323 Chapter 323: — The Festival Beyond the Palace 2026-11-02
324 Chapter 324: The Festival of Prosperity 2026-11-02
325 Chapter 325: The Festival’s Great Success 2026-11-02
326 Chapter 326: The Scroll in the Night 2026-11-02
327 Chapter 327: The Dowager’s Fear 2026-11-02
328 Chapter 328: The Cry That Shook the Kingdom 2026-11-02
329 Chapter 329: The Morning After the Cry 2026-11-02
330 Chapter 330: The Boundary of Light 2026-11-02
331 Chapter 331: The Emperor’s Promise 2026-11-02
332 Chapter 332: Someone Among Us 2026-11-02
333 Chapter 333: The Courtyard of Too Much Silence 2026-11-02
334 Chapter 334: The First Report 2026-11-02
335 Chapter 335: Lunch Beneath Smiling Masks 2026-11-02
336 Chapter 336: An Unexpected Request 2026-11-02
337 Chapter 337: The Empress’s Feast 2026-11-02
338 Chapter 338: The Feast in the Empress’s Courtyard 2026-11-02
339 Chapter 339: Shadows Behind a Smile 2026-11-02
340 Chapter 340: Whispers in the Servants’ Courtyard 2026-11-02
341 Chapter 341: Cracks in the Story 2026-11-02
342 Chapter 342: The Ghosts’ Early Morning Hunger 2026-11-02
343 Chapter 343: A Heart That Beat Differently 2026-11-02
344 Chapter 344: The Monk’s Protection 2026-11-02
345 Chapter 345: Blood in Prince Liang’s Courtyard 2026-11-02
346 Chapter 346: The Dowager’s Doubt 2026-11-02
347 Chapter 347: The Palace of Wandering Spirits 2026-11-02
348 Chapter 348: Tea Beneath the Pearl Blossoms 2026-11-02
349 Chapter 349: An Invitation for Afternoon Tea 2026-11-02
350 Chapter 350: storm before storm 2026-11-02

The morning sun bathed the Imperial Palace in warm light, yet inside the Dowager Empress’s private courtyard, the atmosphere was unusually solemn.

A maid finished pouring fragrant tea before quietly withdrawing.

Only two people remained.

The Dowager Empress.

And Lady Chen.

For several moments, neither of them spoke.

The silence was broken by Lady Chen.

”Your Majesty...”

”I heard Shin Gu has recovered.”

The Dowager nodded slowly.

”So I heard.”

”The Imperial Healer says she is no longer in danger.”

Lady Chen sighed with relief.

”Fortunately, it was only because she inhaled some strange powder.”

The words had barely left her lips when the Dowager’s hand froze around her teacup.

”...Powder?”

Lady Chen nodded innocently.

”That is what the Imperial Healer concluded.”

The Dowager’s expression gradually changed.

Her gaze drifted toward the courtyard outside.

A memory surfaced.

Several days earlier...

An elderly monk had visited the palace.

At his request, the Emperor had secretly ordered the Imperial General to purchase a special protective powder and quietly scatter it around certain parts of the palace.

The matter had been handled with absolute secrecy.

Only four people knew.

The Emperor.

The General.

The monk.

And herself.

No minister.

No servant.

No concubine.

No one else.

Her fingers tightened slightly around the porcelain cup.

”If the healer truly believes it was powder...”

She murmured to herself.

”...then what powder?”

Lady Chen blinked.

”Your Majesty?”

The Dowager did not answer immediately.

Instead, she continued thinking.

The protective powder had been scattered discreetly.

No announcement had been made.

No records had been written.

It was impossible for ordinary palace servants to know of its existence.

Then...

Why had Shin Gu immediately claimed she had inhaled a strange powder?

Coincidence?

Or something else?

The Dowager’s brows slowly furrowed.

”It doesn’t make sense...”

Lady Chen watched her carefully.

”Is something wrong?”

The Dowager looked toward her.

”Tell me honestly.”

”What do you think of Shin Gu?”

Lady Chen lowered her eyes for a moment before answering carefully.

”I have always respected her.”

”But...”

She hesitated.

”Lately...”

”There have been too many strange coincidences.”

The Dowager remained silent.

Lady Chen continued quietly.

”When something unusual happens...”

”She is often nowhere to be found.”

”And when everything ends...”

”She reappears.”

”I’m not accusing anyone.”

”But...”

”It feels... strange.”

The Dowager slowly nodded.

Those words matched thoughts she herself had tried to dismiss.

The strange lake incident.

The Empress’s collapse.

The mysterious attack outside the palace.

Now Shin Gu’s sudden illness.

Too many unusual events.

Too many unanswered questions.

Yet...

Something still refused to fit.

The Dowager closed her eyes briefly.

”No...”

”It cannot be that simple.”

Lady Chen looked puzzled.

”What do you mean?”

The Dowager opened her eyes again.

”Shin Gu is a princess of a neighboring kingdom.”

”She was raised with the finest education.”

”She has always shown kindness.”

”If she truly intended harm...”

”Why would she remain here so openly?”

Lady Chen remained quiet.

The Dowager continued thinking aloud.

”And if she were involved...”

”What could possibly be her purpose?”

Her voice became softer.

”There are too many missing pieces.”

She remembered another old matter.

The noblewoman whose husband had unexpectedly disappeared years ago.

The unresolved rumors.

The punishment that had followed.

Nothing had ever been fully explained.

Now, as more strange events unfolded, old memories returned one after another.

Everything seemed connected.

Yet nothing formed a complete picture.

Lady Chen finally spoke.

”Perhaps...”

”We should simply observe.”

”Without making accusations.”

The Dowager nodded slowly.

”Yes.”

”Suspicion without proof only creates more chaos.”

She looked out toward the palace gardens.

The flowers swayed gently in the breeze.

Everything appeared peaceful.

But beneath that peace...

Questions continued to multiply.

She quietly whispered,

”Every answer only brings another mystery.”

Then, after a long silence, she added,

”From now on...”

”We watch everyone.”

”No exceptions.”

Lady Chen bowed her head.

”Yes, Your Majesty.”

Neither woman noticed the maid outside the hall.

She quietly lowered her gaze after hearing only fragments of the conversation.

Within the palace walls, rumors were already growing.

And while no one yet knew the truth—

The palace itself had become a place where trust was slowly giving way to doubt

Questions That Would Not Rest

The doors of the Dowager Empress’s chamber closed softly behind Lady Chen.

Silence settled over the room.

The servants noticed their mistress had fallen into deep thought and quietly withdrew, leaving only one trusted maid standing outside the entrance.

The Dowager Empress remained seated, her untouched tea slowly growing cold.

Her fingers lightly tapped the armrest.

Her mind refused to be still.

”...It doesn’t make sense.”

She whispered the words to herself.

She replayed every strange incident from the past few months.

The Empress had nearly died.

The mysterious happenings inside the palace.

The attack outside the capital.

Now Shin Gu’s sudden illness.

Individually, each event could be explained away.

Together...

They formed a pattern.

She closed her eyes.

A memory surfaced.

Years ago.

Before her husband’s death.

There had been another scandal that shook the palace.

A nothern woman had forced herself upon the late Emperor after secretly entering his chambers.

The scandal spread like wildfire.

Soon afterward, the woman was discovered to be carrying a child.

No one knew whether the child truly belonged to the Emperor.

The court erupted into chaos.

The late Emperor had ordered a full investigation.

When the truth could not be established and political factions began using the incident against the throne, the woman was sentenced to death.

She was hanged according to the laws of the time.

The matter had been buried.

Or so everyone believed.

The Dowager slowly opened her eyes.

”...But what does that have to do with Shin Gu?”

That was the question she could not answer.

Shin Gu had arrived years later as a royal princess from a neighboring kingdom.

Educated.

Refined.

Gentle.

Everything about her background had been verified.

There had never been any obvious connection between her and that long-forgotten woman.

Yet...

Her instincts refused to let the thought go.

She stood and slowly walked toward the open window.

Outside, servants carefully swept the stone paths.

The palace looked peaceful.

Deceptively peaceful.

”If there is no connection...”

”Why does my heart keep returning to it?”

She frowned.

Could someone have manipulated old events?

Could there be people working in the shadows whose names had never appeared in the official records?

Or...

Was she simply allowing suspicion to cloud her judgment?

She disliked the feeling.

For many years she had prided herself on making decisions based on evidence rather than rumors.

Now she found herself doing exactly what she always criticized in others.

She sighed quietly.

”No.”

”I cannot condemn anyone without proof.”

Shin Gu might simply be an unfortunate young woman caught in circumstances beyond her control.

Or she might know more than she admitted.

Those were two very different things.

A gentle knock came at the door.

”Your Majesty?”

Her trusted maid stepped inside after receiving permission.

”The evening meal has been prepared.”

The Dowager nodded absentmindedly.

”Leave it there.”

The maid hesitated.

”Is something troubling Your Majesty?”

The Dowager looked toward the tray but made no move to eat.

”Tell me.”

”In recent months...”

”Have you noticed anything unusual about Shin Gu?”

The maid thought carefully before answering.

”Miss Shin Gu is always respectful.”

”But...”

She hesitated.

”There are times when she disappears for hours.”

”When we ask where she has been, she simply says she was praying or walking in the gardens.”

The Dowager’s expression remained unreadable.

”Nothing more?”

The maid shook her head.

”No, Your Majesty.”

”She has never behaved disrespectfully.”

”Nor have I ever seen her harm anyone.”

The Dowager nodded slowly.

”Very well.”

The maid bowed and quietly left.

Once alone again, the Dowager looked up at the darkening sky.

”Perhaps Lady Chen is right...”

”There are too many coincidences.”

”But coincidence alone is not guilt.”

She folded her hands behind her back.

”Until I know the truth...”

”I will watch.”

”Everyone.”

”The Empress.”

”Lady Chen.”

”And Shin Gu.”

Her voice was calm but resolute.

”No more assumptions.”

”No more prejudice.”

”I will uncover the truth with my own eyes.”

Outside, the palace bells echoed through the evening.

The Dowager Empress stood silently by the window.

The mystery had only grown deeper.

And for the first time in many years, she realized that the greatest danger to the palace might not be an army beyond its walls—

But secrets that had remained hidden within them for far too long.

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