Fengyu gazed coldly at the small Buddhist chapel before her. The palace grounds outside were desolate, silent, and untouched. As Imperial Concubine Miao had described, this location was rather remote, a considerable distance from Weiyang Palace. Generally, small chapels within the palace were situated far from the main halls. The Emperor's Guards hesitated to let Fengyu step inside the chapel, so they entered first, with Fengyu following closely behind.
The small chapel had long been abandoned, its courtyard overgrown with weeds, though there was a faint lingering scent of incense. When the guards entered the main hall of the chapel, they found a woman dressed in plain robes lying on the ground, her condition unknown. Her disheveled hair masked her face, her body ragged, covered in bloodstains as if subjected to severe torture, her broken fingernails caked with dried blood.
