Peach Blossoms in Chang'an

Chapter 170 Deep in Memory

The visitor did not finish his words, but the information revealed in his words was enough to shock Hu Bugui. He never thought that the prime minister he had always respected was actually the murderer of his mother, and that he was not the biological son of the current emperor!

"What did you say?! You said that I am not the biological son of the current emperor?!" Hu Bugui stood up suddenly and asked in disbelief, his tone full of shock and disbelief.

"It's absolutely true!" The man took out a sachet from his bosom and handed it to Hu Bugui. "This is what your mother left behind. She said that if one day you doubt your own life experience, take out this sachet and you will understand everything."

Hu Bugui took the sachet with trembling hands, and a faint familiar fragrance came to his nose. It was the smell of his mother deep in his memory. He slowly opened the sachet, and inside was a letter and a jade pendant. The letter was written by his mother, and it detailed what happened that year. It turned out that his mother was a maid in the palace and fell in love with the prince at that time, who was the current emperor. Later, the emperor ascended the throne, but in order to weigh the pros and cons, he had to marry the daughter of the prime minister as his queen, and his mother was secretly sent out of the palace to live in anonymity.

Hu Bugui tightly grasped the letter in his hand, his heart aching. It turned out that he was not the emperor's biological son, but an abandoned child! And his mother was eventually killed because of this relationship!

"Who is it? Who killed my mother?!" Hu Bugui suddenly raised his head, his eyes filled with anger and hatred.

"It was the Prime Minister! He sent someone to kill your mother!" The visitor gnashed his teeth and said, "Back then, when the Prime Minister learned that your mother was pregnant, he became malicious. He was afraid that your mother's existence would threaten his daughter's status, so he sent people to hunt her down secretly, and eventually..."

The visitor did not continue, but Hu Bugui already understood what he meant. His mother was killed by the prime minister! And he, because of the prime minister's selfishness and cruelty, lost the happiness he should have had!

Hu Bugui clenched his fists, his heart filled with anger and hatred. He swore that he would avenge his mother and make the prime minister pay with blood!

"Your Highness, please accept my condolences." The visitor looked at Hu Bugui with sympathy in his eyes. "I know you must be in pain now, but I hope you can stay calm and don't act impulsively. The Prime Minister is in a high position and has great power. It will not be easy to bring him down. You need to think long and hard."

Hu Bugui took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down. He knew that the visitor was right. If he wanted revenge, he couldn't act impulsively. He needed a careful plan.

"I understand. Thank you for telling me all this." Hu Bugui looked at the person who came and said in a deep voice, "Don't worry, I will definitely avenge my mother and find out all the truth!"

The visitor nodded and turned away. Hu Bugui was the only one left in the study. He looked at the letter and jade pendant in his hand, feeling mixed emotions. He didn't know what to do next, nor did he know where to go...

Hu Bugui paced back and forth in the study, the letter in his hand was already crumpled. He couldn't believe that he was not his father's biological son, but the product of a conspiracy. What made it even harder for him to accept was that his mother's death was also caused by the prime minister.

"Your Highness..." Wu Tao walked into the study room carrying a cup of ginseng tea. Seeing Hu Bugui's serious expression, she called out worriedly.

Hu Bugui looked up and saw Wu Tao's concerned eyes. He felt warm in his heart and suppressed his anger, forcing out a smile: "I'm fine, I just have a headache."

"Your Highness, are you worried about the affairs of the court?" Wu Tao put the ginseng tea on the table, walked to Hu Bugui, and gently rubbed his temples.

Hu Bugui held her hand, sighed, and told her the whole story. After hearing this, Wu Tao covered her mouth in shock and was speechless for a long time. She couldn't imagine that the prime minister, who was usually kind and amiable, was such a cruel person.

"Your Highness, what are you going to do?" Wu Tao asked worriedly.

A cold light flashed in Hu Bugui's eyes: "How can I not avenge such a deep blood feud! I must make the Prime Minister pay the price!"

"Your Highness, please do not act rashly!" Li Xiaoyao, who had been secretly protecting Hu Bugui, suddenly appeared and stopped him, "The Prime Minister holds great power. We do not have solid evidence yet. Any rash action will only alert the enemy."

Wu Tao also echoed, "Yes, Your Majesty, Brother Li is right, we can't be impulsive. You are the new crown prince now, your status is noble, and you must put the overall situation first."

Hu Bugui took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down. He knew that Li Xiaoyao and Wu Tao were right and he should not act impulsively. He wanted revenge, but he also wanted to find out the truth and give his mother justice.

"You are right, I was too impulsive." Hu Bugui said in a deep voice, "I decided to keep quiet for now and continue investigating the conspiracy in the court while looking for evidence to prove my identity."

"Your Highness is wise." Li Xiaoyao and Wu Tao breathed a sigh of relief at the same time.

In the following days, Hu Bugui pretended to know nothing, but secretly stepped up his investigation. He secretly contacted some confidants and began to secretly collect evidence of the prime minister's crimes.

However, the prime minister was extremely cunning and did everything perfectly, and Hu Bugui could not find any flaws in him.

Everything seems to be at a stalemate...

As the days passed, Hu Bugui became increasingly anxious. The prime minister was very powerful and acted cautiously, so finding evidence of his guilt was like looking for a needle in a haystack.

That day, Hu Bugui came to the Imperial Garden alone, feeling very upset. He walked aimlessly and unknowingly came to a secluded corner. There was an abandoned pavilion, which was already covered with vines and looked particularly desolate.

Hu Bugui sighed and walked into the pavilion, intending to take a short rest. He casually brushed away the fallen leaves on the stone bench, and unexpectedly found a beautifully carved jade pendant. The jade pendant was warm to the touch, and was obviously worn by someone. Hu Bugui curiously flipped through it and found a small word engraved on the back of the jade pendant - "An".

"An"... Whose could it be? Hu Bugui was puzzled. He felt vaguely that the word looked familiar, but he couldn't remember where he had seen it. He put the jade pendant away and planned to study it carefully after returning.

Just as Hu Bugui was about to leave, he suddenly heard a burst of voices coming from outside the pavilion. He was moved and hid in the shadow of the pavilion.

"Are you sure the thing is here?" asked a deep voice.

"It is absolutely true. I saw with my own eyes the Prime Minister hiding a package under the stone bench in this pavilion." Another shrill voice replied.

Prime Minister? Hu Bugui was shocked. Could there be some secret hidden in this pavilion?

He held his breath and listened carefully to the noise outside. He heard the deep voice saying, "Very good, you did a good job. Remember, this matter must not be leaked, otherwise..."

The following words were deliberately lowered so Hu Bugui couldn't hear clearly, but from the cold tone, it was not difficult to imagine what the consequences would be.

The two voices gradually faded away, and Hu Bugui finally walked out of the pavilion. He walked to the stone bench, reached under it and fumbled for a while, and indeed found an oil-paper package.

Hu Bugui carefully opened the package and found a letter and some gold and silver jewelry inside. He unfolded the letter and read it carefully in the dim light, his face becoming more and more ugly as he read the contents.

This letter turned out to be evidence of the prime minister's collusion with foreign enemies! In the letter, the prime minister detailed his plan on how to overthrow the Tang Dynasty by colluding with foreign forces from inside and outside, and even wrote down the time and place of the uprising.

Hu Bugui clenched the letter in his hand, his heart burning with anger. He finally found the evidence of the prime minister's crime, and he could finally avenge his mother and eliminate this scourge for the Tang Dynasty!

However, before Hu Bugui could be happy for long, a terrible thought suddenly came to his mind: How could the prime minister, who is so cautious, hide such an important thing in such a place where it is easy to be discovered? Could it be... this is a trap?

Hu Bugui suddenly had an ominous premonition in his heart. He immediately realized that he might have alerted the enemy, and the prime minister might have noticed his actions and was secretly plotting something...

Hu Bugui hid the letter and walked out of the pavilion quickly. He knew that this letter was a hot potato and that if he was not careful, it would lead to trouble. He had to find a reliable person as soon as possible to inform the emperor.

After returning to the mansion, Hu Bugui immediately summoned his confidant Li Xiaoyao and the general and told them everything that happened in the pavilion and the contents of the letter.

"This... this is really outrageous!" After hearing this, the general was furious and slammed the table and stood up, "How dare the old thief, the Prime Minister, do such a treasonous thing!"

Li Xiaoyao was always calm, but he couldn't help but frown at this moment: "Your Majesty, this matter is of great importance, we need to make a long-term plan."

Hu Bugui naturally understood the seriousness of the matter. He suppressed his anger and said in a deep voice: "The only way now is to report this matter to the emperor as soon as possible to stop the prime minister's conspiracy."

However, the development of the matter far exceeded their expectations. Just as Hu Bugui was about to enter the palace to meet the emperor, a piece of news exploded in Chang'an City like thunder: the new crown prince Hu Bugui was not the son of the previous queen, but the son of the emperor and a commoner woman!

For a time, rumors spread everywhere, and the government and the public were shaken. The people were talking about it, and those who had originally placed high hopes on Hu Bugui began to doubt his identity and motives.

"This...how is this possible?" When Wu Tao heard the rumor, his face turned pale and he muttered to himself in disbelief.

Hu Bugui held Wu Tao's hand tightly, his eyes full of anxiety and uneasiness: "Tao'er, believe me, I..."

"I believe you." Wu Tao interrupted Hu Bugui without hesitation and looked into his eyes firmly. "I believe you will never betray the Tang Dynasty."

However, the doubts from the people and the pressure from the court were like an invisible boulder, which made Hu Bugui breathless. What made him even more heartbroken was that the prime minister, who had always regarded him as a thorn in his side, took this opportunity to fan the flames in front of the emperor, constantly slandering his reputation and trying to overthrow him completely.

Hu Bugui fell into an unprecedented predicament, and the real crisis had just begun...