Spooky Stories by Tanushree Podder

Author:Tanushree Podder
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: null
Publisher: Harper Children's
Published: 2021-10-15T00:00:00+00:00

All of a sudden, I heard loud wailing and everyone began running in different directions. One of them gestured for me to follow. Her lips spelled out a silent warning. By now, I was surrounded by a thick crowd of wailing women and I began running. Soon, I was caught in the midst of the throng. Looking behind me, I noticed a troop of sword-wielding soldiers who slashed at them with their swords.

What madness was this?

We ran amok around the courtyard, trying to save our lives from the murderous soldiers. Minutes later, the place was covered with blood and bodies. Bodies piled up as the surviving women fled from one side to the other. It didn’t take long for us to be cornered by the soldiers.

A sword flashed in the moonlight and I fell with a deep sigh as it pierced my heart. There was a hush around me. I felt no pain as I collapsed into a heap.

I don’t know how long I lay unconscious. It was still dark when I woke up. My head throbbed painfully as I looked around. For several minutes, I had no idea where I was or how I had landed there. There was a lump at the back of my head, where it had hit the floor.

Then, I caught sight of my camera and the night’s happenings came to my mind. Thankfully, the camera had not been damaged by my fall.

Frantically, I began looking through the photographs. I had shot at least fifty photographs of the dancing women and the slaughtering that followed. Not a single one remained. There were pictures of the palaces and gardens that I had shot, but none of the women I had seen dancing.

I felt dizzy as I realized that the encounter had been a ghostly one. Those women were the ghosts that haunted that specific part of the Forbidden City.

Then I remembered reading a strange story. According to the story, Emperor Yongle of the Ming Dynasty had committed a drastic act during his reign. The tyrannical emperor was known to be a dreaded ruler. The emperor’s name was enough to strike terror through the hearts of his subjects.

It is rumoured that in 1421, the emperor ordered the execution of about three thousand servants, ladies-in-waiting and concubines. That terrible night, thousands of bodies were torn to shreds by the merciless imperial soldiers, even as weeping and screaming rent the air.

The massacre was ordered by the tyrant because he believed that his beloved concubine had been poisoned by jealous women. It is said that the place is haunted by the weeping and screaming women even today. People of ancient times have claimed to have seen pools of blood, dead bodies and the ghosts of vicious soldiers. I am sure I had been treated to the spectacle that night.

A few years after that cruel night, a fire raged through the Forbidden City. It turned more than 250 buildings to ashes, killing many people. Many believe that it was the curse of the slain women that caused the devastation.

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