Edward Harris grew angry and hurried over, wanting to teach her a lesson, but as she got closer, she realized that Grace Baker didn’t seem to be looking at her, but rather at something behind her.

She whipped around, only to find nothing but emptiness behind her.

When she turned back, she saw Grace Baker shrinking back in fear, her large eyes still fixed on the spot behind her, showing undisguised terror.

A sudden chill crept up Edward Harris’s back, cold sweat breaking out all over her, sending shivers down her spine.

Rose noticed too, and mustered her courage to call out loudly, “Fifth Princess, what are you looking at?”

This time, Grace Baker didn’t answer her. She seemed utterly terrified, grabbed Charles Baker’s hand, and ran back to the side hall without looking back, slamming the door shut behind her.

Edward Harris’s legs went weak. There was clearly nothing behind her, but she didn’t dare look back again. Supported by Rose, she returned to the main hall, and as soon as she entered, she collapsed onto the bed.

Rose bit her lip, trying to steady her trembling voice. “My lady, that girl is truly strange. Just ignore her.”

Edward Harris’s face was pale. Even after entering the room, she still felt a chill on her back, as if someone was blowing cold air on her neck. Goosebumps rose wave after wave, and she broke out in a cold sweat from sheer fright.

She knew this couldn’t go on. Since the eminent monk in Jingpin Palace hadn’t left yet, she resolved to ask him for help tomorrow!

After nightfall, the weather, which had been bright and sunny during the day, suddenly changed. After a rumble of thunder, heavy rain began to pour down, drumming noisily on the eaves and leaves, making it impossible to relax.

Already on edge, Edward Harris found it even harder to sleep with the thunder and lightning.

She didn’t know how long she tossed and turned in bed before she suddenly heard a knocking at the door amid the sound of rain. The knocks came one after another, unhurried and intermittent, echoing through the rainy night.

At first, she thought she’d misheard, but soon Rose came in with a lamp and told her, “My lady, it sounds like someone is knocking at the door outside.”

So late at night, and with such heavy rain—could something urgent have happened with the Noble Consort?

It wasn’t the first time something like this had happened. Edward Harris didn’t dare delay and immediately ordered Rose to open the door. Another palace maid, Jade, helped her get up and dress. She was only halfway dressed when a sudden scream rang out from outside—it was Rose’s voice.

Edward Harris’s fingers froze. She said to Jade, “Go check it out, quickly!”

Jade obeyed and ran out, but soon after, another scream pierced the air.

The young eunuch on night duty woke up as well. Edward Harris, her face ashen, forced herself to suppress her fear and said to the eunuch, “Come with me to take a look.”

The two of them hurried to the main hall entrance.

Rose was passed out on the ground, and Jade was half-kneeling beside her, looking utterly terrified. Edward Harris’s gaze was fixed on them, not noticing what was outside, until the eunuch beside her trembled and whispered, “My lady... look outside...”

Edward Harris looked up.

A bolt of lightning split the sky, illuminating the bare pomegranate tree at the entrance to the main hall.

Hanging from a branch was a noose, swaying in the wind and rain, as if something invisible was swinging back and forth in midair.

Edward Harris felt her heart stop and screamed, “Close the door! Close the door!”

With a bang, the main hall doors slammed shut, and wailing and sobbing echoed from within.

No one knew how much time passed before the side hall door silently opened. Grace Baker carried a stool, walked nonchalantly through the pouring rain to the pomegranate tree, stood on the stool to take down the noose, and then walked back as if nothing had happened.

The rain continued to fall.

Hazel and Lillian Reed were as close as sisters to Violet Morgan. Over the years, they had depended on each other, and Violet Morgan never treated them as mere maids, so she didn’t make them keep night watch like the other palace maids. Grace Baker slept alone in one room, and the sound of rain masked her movements in and out. After returning to her room, she changed clothes and went back to bed as if nothing had happened.

Early the next morning, things became lively across the way.

First the eminent monk, then the imperial physician—if the mistress was feverish and rambling, that was one thing, but even all the servants were so frightened they fell ill, leaving no one to attend to her. Usually, Edward Harris’s lackeys were very attentive, so when Lady Margaret heard about it, she even sent two people over to help.

With the main hall’s mistress ill, the concubines in the side hall couldn’t just ignore it. Violet Morgan brought Hazel to visit, and Grace Baker came along. As soon as the half-reclining, medicine-drinking Edward Harris saw her, chills ran down her back again.

She had been badly frightened, looking much more haggard after just one night. After finishing her medicine, she went back to sleep.

People came and went in the hall, bringing water and medicine, and no one noticed when Grace Baker poured a bowl of sugar water on the floor in front of Edward Harris’s bed. Because Edward Harris felt cold, there was a brazier burning in the room, making it very warm. The sugar water dried quickly, leaving no trace.

Around noon, Lady Margaret sent someone to ask about Edward Harris’s condition.

As soon as the palace maid by Lady Margaret’s side opened the door and approached, she screamed in terror.

Everyone outside rushed over.

The palace maid’s face was drained of color. “Bugs! So many bugs!”

Only then did everyone see that the floor in front of Edward Harris’s bed was crawling with ants and insects, packed so densely that it made everyone’s skin crawl.

The onlookers were both nervous and frightened, whispering among themselves.

“Didn’t Edward Harris really encounter something evil?”

“Didn’t the eminent monk already chant scriptures?”