246 Caught in the Act
After leaving Old Sun’s house, Yu Niaoniao and the others returned to the carriage.
Shen Xu asked where he was going to wait.
Yu Niaoniao said in distress, “There has been no news from Duke Lang and Prince Min. I’m very worried about them. I want to enter the military camp to look for them, but the back of the military camp is tightly guarded. We can’t enter. If only there was a secret passage that could let us sneak into the military camp.”
Dang Gui immediately said, “I know a secret passage that leads directly to the military camp.”
Everyone immediately perked up and hurriedly asked where the entrance to the secret passage was.
Dang Gui said, “It’s in the small courtyard opposite the back door of the Wan Family’s bun shop in the west of the city.”
The carriage headed west into the city and stopped near the back door of Wan’s Bun Shop.
They got out of the car and found the small courtyard Dang Gui had mentioned.
Dang Gui was stunned when she saw the courtyard door. “Why isn’t this door locked?”
Seeing that everyone was looking at her, she took the initiative to explain.
“This small courtyard is under my father’s name. To prevent the secret entrance in the courtyard from being discovered, this small courtyard is usually locked. Only my father and I have a key. No one else can enter.”
Shen Xu asked, “Could your father be inside?”
Dang Gui was delighted when she heard this. She raised her hand to push the door open, but Lo Pingsha stopped her.
“Wait a minute. There are people in this courtyard, and there are a lot of them.”
Dang Gui’s joy immediately subsided.
She frowned and said, “My father never brings outsiders here.”
Yu Niaoniao said in a low voice, “This can only mean that the person in the courtyard is probably not your father.”
She instructed Lo Pingsha, “Go see who’s in the courtyard.”
Lo Pingsha nodded in agreement.
He mustered his qinggong and sprang up onto a nearby tree. He looked into the small courtyard through the gaps in the leaves.
The others stood under the tree and waited.
A moment later, Lo Pingsha jumped down from the tree and landed firmly on the ground.
Yu Niaoniao asked impatiently, “What’s the situation inside?”
Lo Pingsha said in a low voice, “There are many people in the courtyard. From the looks of it, there are at least a dozen of them. They’re all from the Eastern Expedition Army. Someone just walked out of the house. From the looks of it, he should be the leader of this group.”
Yu Niaoniao asked, “Do you know who that person is?”
“I don’t know the man. When the others saw him, they called him General Du.”
A name immediately popped up in Yu Niaoniao’s mind, and she blurted out, “Du Tao!”
To verify if that person was Du Tao, Lo Pingsha flew up the tree with Dang Gui again. The two of them hid behind the leaves and peeked through a gap.
Dang Gui saw many people standing in the courtyard, and the leader was Du Tao.
After three years, she finally saw him again!
Lo Pingsha led her back to the ground.
Dang Gui said without hesitation, “That person is Du Tao!”
She clenched her fists, hatred bursting from her eyes.
“I’ll go in and kill him now!”
Lo Pingsha hurriedly pulled her back. “There are more than ten people in the courtyard, and all are experts. There should be many more hiding in the dark. If you rush in openly, you’ll be courting death!”
Dang Gui said hatefully, “So what do we do now? Are we just going to let him go?”
Yu Niaoniao thought for a moment and had an idea.
“The fact that Du Tao is here means he probably already knows about the secret passage. He must have just come out of it.”
Shen Xu said, “So what?”
Yu Niaoniao recounted her plan.
“This is a good opportunity for us. We would find a way to lure Du Tao away and then sneak into the military camp through the secret passage.”
“While Du Tao is not in the military camp, we could spread the news that Tang Guixi has returned. Let everyone in the army know that their Eldest Miss Tang is back!”
“At that time, Dang Gui would definitely be able to obtain the support of a large number of people. By the time Du Tao finds out what Dang Gui did, it will be too late.”
Shen Xu touched his chin and said, “It’s indeed a good idea, but I have a question.”
Yu Niaoniao asked, “What question?”
Shen Xu said, “Who’s going to lure Du Tao away?”
Yu Niaoniao’s gaze swept across the few of them before finally landing on Shen Xu.
Shen Xu immediately felt his scalp tingle and all the hair on his body stand up.
He crossed his arms and asked warily.
“What do you want? Let me make it clear to you first. I don’t know martial arts and I can’t run fast. If you want me to distract Du Tao, it’s impossible.”
Yu Niaoniao put a hand on his shoulder and smiled maliciously.
“It doesn’t matter if you don’t know martial arts. It doesn’t matter if you can’t run fast. You just have to do what I say. I guarantee you’ll lure the person away. Hehehe.”
Shen Xu rubbed his arms. “Stop smiling. I’m afraid.”
Yu Niaoniao lowered her voice and explained to him.
After hearing this, Shen Xu was still a little hesitant.
“Will this work?”
Yu Niaoniao patted his shoulder. “If it were anyone else doing this, they might not be able to do it, but if it were you, you would definitely be able to do it. I have high hopes for you.”
Shen Xu had never been trusted so much before. He could not help but feel a little smug.
He felt a power rising in his chest, so much so that he temporarily forgot to be afraid.
“Leave this to me!”
Yu Niaoniao, Lo Pingsha, and Dang Gui walked out of the alley and walked around the small courtyard. They found a remote area and squatted under the wall.
Shen Xu cleared his throat and pointed at the courtyard door.
“Smash the door!”
The two guards following him immediately rushed forward and began pounding on the door.
The courtyard door rattled against its frame. It was so loud that only a deaf person could have missed it. Not only did the people in the courtyard hear it, but even the commoners living nearby heard it.
The lady boss of the bun shop pushed open the door and walked out.
“What are you guys doing?”
Shen Xu deliberately raised his voice and said, “My concubine ran away. I chased after her with my men and saw her run into this courtyard with my own eyes!”
The commoners loved to hear gossip, especially when it came to a melodramatic scene of catching an adulterer in the act. They would never get tired of it!
The surrounding residents gathered around, enjoying the show.
Shen Xu placed his hands on his hips and shouted.
“If you have the ability to snatch women, open the door! What was the point of hiding inside?”
“You coward. If you don’t have the ability, why did you seduce a married woman? Shameless bastard!”
“If you don’t come out, I’ll get someone to smash the door! No matter what, I’m going to arrest you adulterous couple today. I want everyone to see your shameless acts!”
In the courtyard, Du Tao frowned and his face darkened.
“What’s going on out there?”
The guard spoke carefully.
“I don’t know why, but a man suddenly came outside. He insisted that his concubine had come to us and wanted to break in to catch her in the act. Now there are many onlookers gathered outside. General, what do we do now? Do we open the door?”