However, just a few days before the foreign prince completely withdrew his troops,
the Empress Dowager returned to the palace with a grim expression and sat motionless in Jingren Palace for half a day. During that time, she dismissed everyone and forbade any interruptions.
When she finally emerged, a calligraphy note remained on the desk. In clerical script, she had written a Buddhist verse: "If the mind does not depart from illusion, where lies the true within the false?" Followed by four characters: "Truth and falsehood are hard to discern."
Suxin initially did not think much of the note. After all, the Empress Dowager was well-read in Buddhist Scriptures, and this solitary note likely reflected a moment of insight into the Buddhist Law.
But afterward… the Empress Dowager claimed to have fallen ill with hysteria. She first summoned the imperial physicians, but when their consultations were fruitless, suspecting spiritual disturbances, she called upon the palace Taoists.
