Chapter 1522

He saw two women dressed as palace maids fleeing toward him in a sorry state.

Behind them, a large group of Imperial Guards was in pursuit.

One woman was in her thirties, possessing a bit of charm.

The heroic and resolute look between her brows added quite a bit of allure to her charm.

The other woman was vastly different; even though her expression was panicked, she remained alluring and beautiful.

Her figure was graceful and lithe as she ran.

The palace maid attire looked very out of place on her.

This woman was none other than Su Quan.

Gu Hanyuan's surprise stemmed from this.

He had naturally discovered her being besieged by the "Evil-Warding Guards" at the Ciren Palace.

It was just that later, the Nine Heavens Mysterious Maiden appeared, and he had no leisure to continue paying attention to her.

By the time everything settled, Su Quan's figure was gone from the Ciren Palace, leaving only the furious Mao Dongzhu directing the "Evil-Warding Guards" to search everywhere.

He had not expected to run into her at this moment.

At that time, the Nine Heavens Mysterious Maiden appeared, and the pressure of her shattering the void was incomparably terrifying.

Everyone in the imperial palace was pressed down and unable to move, and the "Evil-Warding Guards" besieging Su Quan were also forced to stop.

Once the Nine Heavens Mysterious Maiden was schemed against by Gu Hanyuan and driven out of Wu Xingyun's body, the pressure of shattering the void dissipated, and Su Quan took the opportunity to escape.

Logically speaking, Su Quan, who was unfamiliar with the palace layout, should not have been able to escape the tracking of the "Evil-Warding Guards."

However, another woman, Tao Hongying, saved her at this time.

Tao Hongying was Zhu Meichuo's maid, having been an undercover agent in the Qing Guo imperial palace for over ten years.

The development of this world was different, so the fates of the characters naturally changed as well.

Before the Chongzhen reign was destroyed, Tao Hongying was one of the maids who took care of the young Zhu Meichuo.

Unlike the other maids who either fled or followed the main forces to relocate, she chose to stay in the imperial palace as an undercover agent.

Empress Zhou, the wife of the Chongzhen Emperor, had shown her great kindness.

Back then, when Li Zicheng attacked Yanjing City, the Chongzhen Emperor hanged himself on Coal Hill, and Empress Zhou also hanged herself in her own bedchamber to die for the country under the Chongzhen Emperor's orders.

The Chongzhen Emperor was one of the few emperors in history whose harem was not humiliated when the country was destroyed.

All the consorts below the Empress were ordered to hang themselves, and those unwilling to die were killed by him personally, preserving the dignity of the Han dynasty.

No matter how muddled the Chongzhen Emperor was, at least his backbone was beyond reproach.

Tao Hongying stayed in the palace as an undercover agent; although it was unknown who she learned from, her Wu Gong was not weak, and she was not inferior to Hai Dafu.

That was why she could safely lurk in the palace for over ten years.

It could be said that there were no secrets in the palace that she did not know.

Whether it was the secret affair between Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang and Dorgon, or the fake Empress Dowager Mao Dongzhu killing Consort Dong E, she knew them like the back of her hand.

She was even one of the few people who knew the true secret of the "Sutra of Forty-Two Chapters."

In terms of undercover ability alone, Tao Hongying was far stronger than Mao Dongzhu.

It was a pity that she still failed to obtain any volume of the "Sutra of Forty-Two Chapters."

Mao Dongzhu obtained the "Sutra of Forty-Two Chapters" hidden in the Imperial Study from Wei Xiaobao, which immediately caught Tao Hongying's attention.

She prepared to wait for an opportunity to steal it from the Ciren Palace.

However, because of Wutian, Mao Dongzhu had dismissed the eunuchs and maids for a long time.

As a result, Tao Hongying could never find an opportunity to sneak into the Ciren Palace.

She finally snuck into the Ciren Palace today, taking advantage of the palace chaos caused by Gu Hanyuan, only to accidentally discover Su Quan being besieged by the "Evil-Warding Guards."

Although she did not hear the conversation between Su Quan and Mao Dongzhu because she arrived too late, she did not know Su Quan's background.

But based on the idea that the enemy of an enemy is a friend, and Su Quan clearly knew Mao Dongzhu's identity as a fake Empress Dowager.

Tao Hongying had long harbored the idea of exposing the fake Empress Dowager and causing chaos in Qing Guo.

It was just that she had always suffered from a lack of evidence and no one to help pass the message.

Therefore, she took action to help Su Quan escape.

Tao Hongying naturally had no intention of engaging the "Evil-Warding Guards."

Instead, relying on her greater familiarity with the palace layout, she led Su Quan away to avoid the tracking of the "Evil-Warding Guards."

Su Quan did not know Tao Hongying's purpose, but she followed along and escaped as well.

To facilitate their movement, Tao Hongying had Su Quan change into palace maid clothes.

The two waited for an opportunity to leave the palace, but they ran into a large group of Imperial Guards led by the late-arriving Imperial Guard Commander Duolong.

At this time, there were countless maids and eunuchs fleeing in the palace.

Tao Hongying and Su Quan looked like just another pair.

However, Su Quan's overly stunning beauty aroused Duolong's suspicion.

He even guessed whether it might be some consort trying to take the opportunity to escape the palace.

He stepped forward to interrogate them.

Su Quan was not a real palace maid, so how could she answer?

Coupled with her guilty conscience and the fear of being caught by the "Evil-Warding Guards" if the time dragged on, she killed several Imperial Guards to break through.

Seeing that things had come to this, Tao Hongying had no choice but to run away with Su Quan.

As a result, they coincidentally ran into Gu Hanyuan, who was preparing to take Luo Bing out of the palace.

Seeing Gu Hanyuan, Su Quan had a flash of inspiration and shouted:

"Young Master, save me!" ===== CHAPTER 1524 =====