AWB Chapter 233 Return to Chang'an
Chapter 233 Return to Chang'an
When the smoke cleared, Hu Bugui pushed through the crowd and held Wu Tao in his arms. He hugged her tightly, as if he wanted to rub her into his body. Wu Tao could feel the rise and fall of his chest, and could also feel the worry and fear that could not be concealed in his tone.
"Are you okay? Are you injured?"
Wu Tao shook her head and said softly, "I'm fine. Why did you suddenly appear?"
"We received an anonymous letter..." Hu Bugui simply told Wu Tao what happened, "The letter said something happened in the palace and asked us to come back as soon as possible."
Wu Tao's heart sank. It seemed that a lot of things had happened in Chang'an City during the time they were away.
"Let's go into the palace!"
However, when they arrived at the gate of the palace, they were stunned by the scene before them. The originally solemn and dignified gate of the palace was now tightly closed, and the guards in front of the gate were strict, with swords flashing and sabers flying, and the atmosphere was so tense that it was suffocating.
"What's going on?" Hu Bugui jumped off his horse and grabbed a guard by the collar. "Why are the palace gates closed?"
The guard obviously knew Hu Bugui. When he saw him, he immediately knelt on the ground and said in a trembling voice, "Your Majesty, please forgive me. I am only following orders. No one is allowed to enter or leave!"
"By order? Whose order?"
"This..." The guard stammered, not daring to speak.
"Speak!" Hu Bugui shouted sternly.
"It's...it's the Queen's order!" the guard blurted out, trembling with fear.
"Queen?" Hu Bugui and Wu Tao looked at each other, both of them were shocked. Why did the queen close the palace gates? Could it be that the changes in the palace were related to her?
"Your Highness, what should we do now?" asked the guard at the side.
Hu Bugui pondered for a moment. He knew that breaking into the palace was a serious crime, but the situation was urgent and he had to find out what had happened. Moreover, Wu Tao was proficient in medicine, so perhaps something really happened in the palace that needed her help.
He turned to look at Wu Tao, only to see that she was frowning, obviously thinking about a solution. After a moment, Wu Tao seemed to suddenly think of something, and a meaningful smile appeared on the corner of her mouth.
"Bugui, I have a solution." She leaned close to Hu Bugui's ear and whispered a few words.
After hearing this, Hu Bugui was stunned at first, then nodded and said, "Okay, I'll do as you say!"
At night, outside the palace, a young woman in plain clothes shuttled through the night. She walked lightly and nimbly, and soon disappeared into the palace walls...
Wu Tao followed her plan and used the makeup skills she learned in modern times to dress herself up as an ordinary palace maid. She tied up her long hair and fixed it with a wooden hairpin, and changed into a simple and elegant palace maid's dress, covering up her original appearance and temperament. After doing all this, she looked carefully at the bronze mirror, and even she could hardly recognize the woman in the mirror.
She took a deep breath, opened the door, and quietly blended into the night.
Although the palace was heavily guarded, it was not an insurmountable fortress for Wu Tao. With her agility and extraordinary courage, she avoided the patrolling guards and shuttled between pavilions and towers. The moonlight fell on her, making her slender figure look particularly slender, as if she had merged into the quiet night.
Meanwhile, outside the palace, Hu Bugui was not idle either. He used the connections he had accumulated over the years to secretly gather an army loyal to him and lurk outside the city. He knew very well that if the queen really wanted to usurp the throne, then they must be fully prepared to launch a coup when necessary to protect the safety of the Tang Dynasty.
"Your Majesty, do we really want to do this?" A general looked troubled. "If this is exposed, the consequences will be disastrous!"
Hu Bugui looked determined and said in a deep voice: "I know what you are worried about, but the queen is already crazy and we can't just sit there and wait for death! What's more, Wu Tao is still in the palace, I must ensure her safety!"
When the generals heard this, they were all silent. They knew Hu Bugui's feelings for Wu Tao and the importance of this matter, so they finally chose to obey the order.
As the night deepened, Wu Tao had been searching the palace for a long time, but still could not find any valuable clues. She could not help but feel anxious. Was she wrong? Was the queen not involved in this conspiracy?
Just when she was about to give up, she suddenly heard a burst of voices coming from not far away. She was moved and walked cautiously in the direction of the voice.
"Are you sure everything is hidden?" a gloomy voice asked.
"Don't worry, sir, everything has been done according to your instructions, and no one will find out!" another voice replied flatteringly.
Wu Tao hid behind the rockery, held his breath, and listened carefully to their conversation.
"That's good. As long as we get that thing, we can..."
The gloomy voice suddenly stopped talking here. Wu Tao's heart tightened. Was she discovered? She was about to turn around and leave, but she heard the voice again, with a hint of cruelty in her tone:
"Who is there?!"
"Who's there?!" The gloomy voice exploded like thunder, and Wu Tao's heart skipped a beat. She knew she was exposed, and without the slightest hesitation, she turned and ran.
"Catch her! Don't let her run away!" There was a flurry of footsteps behind her. Wu Tao knew they had caught up with her, so she ran forward even harder. She was agile and could move freely in the intricate palaces, but the number of pursuers was so large that she was gradually forced into a dead end.
In desperation, Wu Tao discovered that there seemed to be a depression in the wall, like a secret passage. Without thinking too much, she reached out and pressed it. With a "boom", the wall slowly opened, revealing a deep secret passage. Wu Tao did not hesitate at all and dodged in. The secret passage immediately closed, separating her from the pursuers.
The secret passage was pitch black, and Wu Tao felt the wall and walked forward cautiously. After walking for an unknown period of time, a faint light finally appeared in front of her. She was delighted and quickened her pace.
When Wu Tao walked out of the secret passage, he found himself in a secret room. The secret room was not big, but it was filled with various books and files, as well as a locked box. Wu Tao's heart moved. Could this be the place where those people hid their secrets?
She walked forward and tried to open the box with force, only to find that it was filled with gold, silver, jewelry and some papers with dense writing. Wu Tao picked up a piece of paper and carefully identified it with the weak light, and found that it recorded some secret transactions and conspiracies within the palace, including the detailed plan of how the queen colluded with court officials, framed loyal officials, and attempted to usurp the throne.
Wu Tao was shocked. It turned out that all this was true! The queen was really plotting a rebellion! She had to hand over the evidence to Hu Bugui as soon as possible to expose the queen's true face!
At this moment, footsteps suddenly sounded at the entrance of the secret room. Wu Tao's heart tightened, knowing that she had been discovered. She quickly stuffed the evidence in her arms and turned to hide behind the bookshelf.
"Are you sure the thing is hidden here?" A familiar voice sounded, it was the gloomy voice heard behind the rockery before.
"It's absolutely true, sir. We saw with our own eyes that palace maid enter the secret passage. This must be where they hide their secrets!" another voice replied.
Wu Tao thought to herself that this was not good. It seemed that they had discovered her whereabouts and knew that she had taken the evidence. She had to find a way to escape as soon as possible, otherwise she would be really desperate.
"Search for me! Dig deep into the ground and find what's there!"
Wu Tao held her breath, listening to the footsteps of those people getting closer and closer, her heart almost jumping out of her throat. Suddenly, a hand stretched out from behind the bookshelf and covered her mouth. A deep voice sounded in her ear: "Don't make a sound, it's me."
Wu Tao's eyes widened in surprise. After seeing who was coming, she was surprised and delighted. Just as she was about to speak, she was stopped by the person who came. He put his finger on his lips, signaling her to keep quiet. Then, he slowly pulled out a dagger and stared coldly at the enemy who was getting closer and closer, like a cheetah ready to strike, ready to give the enemy a fatal blow at any time...
In the dim secret room, Wu Tao's heart beat like a drum. Hu Bugui's sudden appearance surprised and delighted her. Hu Bugui covered her mouth with one hand, tightly grasped the dagger with the other hand, and scanned the approaching enemy with sharp eyes.
"Who?!" With a loud shout, the door of the secret room was pushed open suddenly, and several guards holding torches rushed in. The dazzling firelight illuminated the cramped space and also illuminated Hu Bugui's stern face.
"Protect the prince!" Before Wu Tao could react, Hu Bugui pulled him behind him. Then, a fierce fight broke out in the small secret room. Hu Bugui was agile and fierce, and several guards were quickly knocked to the ground.
"Taotao, are you okay?" After Hu Bugui dealt with the enemy, he turned around and nervously checked Wu Tao's condition.
"I'm fine." Wu Tao shook his head and took out the stack of evidence from his arms, "Look, this is what I found."
Hu Bugui took the evidence, quickly glanced through it, and his face suddenly darkened: "Damn it, they are so bold!"
"Your Highness, what happened outside?" Wu Tao felt uneasy when he heard the sounds of fighting outside.
"I led the troops to surround the imperial palace. They put up a desperate resistance, but don't worry, everything is under my control." Hu Bugui protected Wu Tao behind him with a firm tone.
At this moment, the wall of the secret room suddenly collapsed, and several guards rushed in waving swords and surrounded them.
"It seems that we have to fight our way out." Hu Bugui's eyes flashed. He protected Wu Tao behind him and fought a desperate battle with the guards who rushed up.
Wu Tao knew she couldn't just sit there and wait for death. She looked around and her eyes fell on a pile of messy bottles and jars. These were all materials used for alchemy in ancient times. If used properly...
"Taotao, be careful!" Hu Bugui was entangled by several guards and was unable to spare any time. Seeing a guard raising a knife to chop at Wu Tao, his eyes were bloodshot.
At the critical moment, Wu Tao grabbed a handful of powder and threw it at the guard, shouting, "Get out of the way!"
"What is that?!" Before the guard could react, the powder blinded him. He immediately covered his eyes in pain and screamed.
"Boom!" There was a loud noise, flames shot up into the sky, and the entire secret room shook violently. Wu Tao took advantage of the chaos to grab Hu Bugui's hand, rushed out of the secret room, and ran out of the palace.
"Quick! Catch them!" The roar of the pursuers came from behind, but it was soon drowned out by the deafening explosion.
Under the night sky, the flames illuminated half the sky red. The palace was crumbling in the raging fire. The sounds of shouting, screaming, and explosions were intertwined together, like hell on earth.
Wu Tao and Hu Bugui stood side by side on the palace wall. Looking at the chaotic scene before them, Hu Bugui clenched the sword in his hand, with a determined light flashing in his eyes.
"Taotao," he turned to look at Wu Tao, his tone heavy, "Next, we have another tough battle to fight..."