Prince! The political conspiracy is not a play, the show is real

Chapter 229: Face to face (Part )

The walls of the Chu Palace were even higher than Tao Yao had imagined - stretching for thousands of miles from west to east, like a mountain range painted cinnabar red.

Before the carriage entered the palace gate, Tao Yao looked at the endless palace walls and couldn't help wondering, did Chu Huanjun grow up in a place like this when he was a child?

What an incredible thing this was—the palace wall was so high and so long, trapping everyone in the palace. If the capital city was a huge besieged city, then the Chu Palace was a cage in the center of this besieged city.

Chu Huanjun grew up in a cage like this. A caged bird can eat, sing, and have beautiful feathers, making it a great place for people to admire, but it is also vulnerable to attack.

But obviously, Chu Huanjun is not a bird in a cage.

The carriage entered the palace gates and passed through a long corridor before finally opening up. Tao Yao leaned out of the carriage window to see what was happening outside, but was pulled back into the carriage by the yamen runner beside her.

The yamen runner had a worried look on his face and whispered to Tao Yao, "Miss Tao Yao, you must be careful in everything you do in the palace."

Tao Yao nodded thoughtfully, sat down obediently in her seat, and no longer dared to stick her head out of the window.

After an unknown amount of time, the carriage finally came to a stop. The yamen runner gave Tao Yao a look and whispered, "Young lady, please wait in the carriage for a while."

Tao Yao nodded, and the yamen runner quickly jumped off the carriage and left. A moment later, the curtain of the carriage door was lifted again, but the person standing behind the curtain was not the yamen runner from before, but Song Zhishou.

As soon as the two met, their eyes lit up. Song Zhishou hurried over to help Tao Yao get out of the carriage, saying anxiously, "There are so many things to say, but wait until Miss Tao Yao sees the prince before you say them."

Tao Yao was also very anxious and had no mood to say anything. She just followed Song Zhishou's hurried footsteps and moved forward.

After walking a short distance, Tao Yao followed the others into a small courtyard. The courtyard was overgrown with weeds, and the flowers and plants in the original flowerbed had withered. It was obvious that this place was rarely visited and had not been taken care of for a long time.

There is a small building in the middle of the courtyard, with a plaque hanging on the door, with three exquisite characters written on it - Tingxuezhai.

Several people, all dressed in palace attire, were guarding the door. They were probably maids and eunuchs from the palace. When they saw Song Zhishou, the leading eunuch, who looked slightly older, stepped forward without a salute. He simply said, "Sir Song, the imperial physicians are working tirelessly to treat His Highness Prince Yi. They cannot be disturbed by outsiders. Please return."

As soon as the leading eunuch finished speaking, the other eunuchs gathered around and blocked Song Zhishou and his group in front.

For a moment, Song Zhishou stood there, unsure of how to respond. Tao Yao was eager to see Chu Huanjun, and like a newborn calf fearless of a tiger, she was unafraid of this group of palace servants. She simply rushed forward and said bluntly, "How is the prince? Let us in to take a look."

When these palace maids saw that Tao Yao was a stranger, they all showed contempt on their faces.

Song Zhishou bowed respectfully to the leading eunuch and said, "I am deeply concerned about the prince, and I have brought with me some blood-ganoderma that can save his life. I beg the eunuch to be flexible and allow me to go in and take a look."

The leading eunuch, known as Eunuch Wang, glanced at Song Zhishou nonchalantly and said calmly, "Sir Song, it's not that I won't let you in, but the Emperor has ordered that no one outside the court be allowed to approach the prince..."

Eunuch Wang was halfway through his words when his gaze shifted to Tao Yao, sizing her up from head to toe. His gaze seemed to want to peel off a layer of skin from Tao Yao's body, causing her to break out in goose bumps.

"Besides, Lord Song brought an outsider with him. If the Emperor knew about this, it would be a dereliction of duty on my part, and I would be beheaded."

Eunuch Wang's words were full of threats, but Song Zhishou still wanted to convince him with reason. However, Tao Yao couldn't bear it anymore and wanted to force her way in.

But she used one hand to push away the arms of the eunuchs blocking her way, and her body rushed forward like an arrow.

It turned out that those weak and frail eunuchs were not as strong as Tao Yao, a woman. Tao Yao rushed forward and knocked them all to the ground.

Seeing this, Eunuch Wang was so anxious that he could only stamp his feet and shouted angrily: "A bunch of useless people, get up now!"

While this group of useless eunuchs were still lying on the ground groaning in pain, Tao Yao rushed into the house like a flash of lightning.

Song Zhishou followed closely behind, not forgetting to bow to Eunuch Wang and said, "Eunuch Wang, I'm sorry for my rudeness. I'm really worried about His Majesty. Please don't blame me."

Tao Yao no longer cared about anything else and walked as fast as the wind. Many people passed by her and looked at her with strange eyes - she ignored them all and just anxiously looked for Chu Huanjun's figure in this huge room.

Many palace maids and eunuchs ran forward to stop her, but she kicked them all aside with just a few punches and three kicks.

There were so many people in the room, all trying to stop her from moving forward. Tao Yao simply pulled out the golden hairpin from her head, pressed the knob, and the sharp blade sprang out from the hairpin.

Tao Yao held the sharp blade across her chest, ready to slash anyone who dared to stop her.

After passing through layer upon layer of gauze curtains, a screen appeared at the end. Outside the screen, many imperial physicians gathered, whispering about something. When Tao Yao rushed in front of them, they seemed to have not expected a strange woman to barge in. They all looked surprised and looked at each other.

Tao Yao was too lazy to talk nonsense with them. She raised the golden hairpin in her hand, pointed at them, and said coldly: "I want to see Prince Yi."

At this time, a tall man squeezed out from the crowd. He walked towards Tao Yao, glanced at her condescendingly, and whispered, "Hello again, Shi Tao Yao."

Tao Yao looked up when she heard the voice, and a familiar face came into her sight. Her heart skipped a beat.

She would never forget this face—it was Zuo Qiu. He looked at Tao Yao, his eyes curved with a smile. The fire in Tao Yao's heart was instantly extinguished as if by a basin of water.

Zuoqiu, why is he here?

In an instant, all the confusing clues melted away like hot water melting ice. This might be another conspiracy of Zuo Tang. He was so sinister that he dared to murder the prince in front of the emperor. He was really audacious.

Tao Yao raised her eyes, glanced at Zuo Qiu calmly, and said, "I told you, I want to see Prince Yi."

Zuo Qiu raised the corner of his mouth, a contemptuous smile appearing on his childish face. He approached her and reached out to snatch the golden hairpin from her hand, but Tao Yao dodged quickly and he missed.

"Shi Taoyao, this is the imperial palace, not a place where any Tom, Dick or Harry can come in and make trouble." Zuoqiu threatened.