When he poked his head out of the waterway, he found himself in a courtyard.
It was already dark, and the courtyard was still lit by lamps. A group of palace maids were washing something in the distance. In the faint light, they looked like wooden barrels.
Motorola cautiously climbed out of the waterway, afraid that any sudden movement would alert the palace maids.
Creeping along the wall, he quietly slipped out of the courtyard. A eunuch pushing a cart came towards him. The cart was loaded with wooden barrels, and the smell could be detected from a long distance.
Seeing the palace maids pour the water used to wash the wooden barrels into the waterway, Motorola's face turned green.
This was the sewer!
His throat churned, and he almost threw up on the spot.
However, seeing the eunuch getting closer, he suddenly had an idea. Was it considered harm to knock someone out?
He hid around the corner. When the eunuch pushed the cart past him, he punched the eunuch on the back of his neck. The eunuch collapsed to the ground without even a cry of surprise.
Ignoring the cart laden with toilets, Motorola stripped the eunuch of his clothes at top speed and put them on himself.
Fearing that his disguise might be noticed, he threw the eunuch onto the cart, piling him back into the small courtyard with the toilets.
Once inside the courtyard, he dumped the eunuch behind the main gate. In the darkness, he was not afraid of being discovered. After delivering the toilets to the palace maids, he turned and left.
The palace maids said nothing; few people were willing to speak in such an environment.
With the disguise, Motorola moved freely within the imperial palace. He brushed past several patrols on the way and was ignored, which made him secretly delighted.
Following the system's guidance, half an hour later, he finally reached his final destination.
Before him stood a pagoda, with torches burning brightly around its base. The first floor bore a plaque: Treasure Pavilion!
There was also a group of guards at the base of the pagoda. Motorola hid behind a large water vat, his mind racing as he pondered how to get in.
Killing was not an option; the system forbade it.
Breaking in was impossible; he couldn't defeat them.
Therefore, he had to lure them away.
A flash of inspiration struck Motorola. Two grenades appeared in his hand. He grinned wryly at the grenades and quietly retreated.
After moving a safe distance away, he took out eight more.
He placed the ten grenades together near a palace wall, pulled the safety pins, and quickly left.
Before long, a series of violent explosions shook the entire city of Chang'an.
In the Zhujing Hall, Emperor Taizong, who had just taken two small pills, was struggling to perform his duties when the sudden explosion startled him, causing him to finish prematurely.
He angrily put on his clothes, got off the dragon couch, and walked out wearing a robe.
"Your Majesty, has something happened?" Consort Yin asked worriedly, covering herself with the quilt.
"Rest here, I will go and see!"
As soon as he stepped out, he saw a team of guards rushing towards him, led by Cheng Chumo.
"Your Majesty, are you alright?" Cheng Chumo asked, looking at him nervously.
"I am fine. Where did that explosion come from?" Emperor Taizong asked, furious. At such a time, with such an incident, and after his recent scare, he worried about potential lingering health issues.
"Reporting to Your Majesty, it seems to have come from the Western Academy of Learning. Baolin has already taken troops to investigate," Cheng Chumo said, pointing westward.
Emperor Taizong nodded slightly and then gave instructions.
"I am fine here. Leave a squad of men, and you, Cheng Chumo, quickly go and check on Chengqian in the Eastern Palace!"
"Yes!"
Cheng Chumo left half his men and hurried towards the Eastern Palace with the rest.
At a corner outside the Western Academy of Learning, Motorola saw people rushing out from the Treasure Pavilion and was instantly overjoyed. He quietly crept towards the Treasure Pavilion.
However, to his disappointment, there were still four guards at the main entrance of the Treasure Pavilion.
He circled the Treasure Pavilion, a nine-story pagoda with each floor covering an area of over a thousand square feet.
He stood at the back of the pagoda, where the guards could not see him. Looking up at the second floor, he saw a window directly facing him.
Motorola quickly searched the warehouse for anything useful. In a short while, he retrieved a retractable ladder. After propping it up on the wooden eaves extending from the first floor, he smugly began to climb.
Upon reaching the top, he placed his hand on the ladder and immediately retracted it into the warehouse.
Pushing open the second-floor window and climbing in, he was completely stunned.
The various ancient artifacts and treasures dazzled him.
Rows of ancient books, chests full of scrolls – these items, if taken to Sotheby's in later generations, could probably fetch astronomical prices.
"I'm rich!"
Motorola's mouth watered as he looked at the treasures, but he had not forgotten his purpose for being there.
He quickly and quietly searched the Treasure Pavilion for his mission objective.
The explosion in the palace also alerted Fang Er, who was guarding Guanghua Gate.
"My Lord! Something has happened!" Wang Xuance said, looking in the direction of the imperial palace.
"Gather all the brothers and follow me into the palace!" Fang Er got up and walked towards the city gate.
Wang Xuance and the special forces quickly followed.
They hurried to Anfu Gate, the palace gate closest to the explosion site. A team of guards stood alert, scanning their surroundings. Upon seeing Fang Er, they immediately raised their Yunyi-model rifles.
One of them called out from a distance, seeing Fang Er and his men, "Who goes there? State your names!"
"Duke Anguo, Fang Anzhi, here to protect His Majesty!"
Fang Er did not pause, and Wang Xuance loudly replied to the guard.
The imperial palace had sixteen guards, including the Left and Right Jianmen Guards and the Left and Right Qianniu Guards, who were responsible for the security of the imperial palace and the personal protection of the emperor, also known as the Imperial Guard.
These were often the ones responsible for the palace's security at night.
Upon hearing Wang Xuance's reply, the guard shouted again, "Halt! Throw over your waist tokens!"
The darkness was such that the torchlight could not reach that far.
Hearing this, Wang Xuance raised his hand and threw a token straight at the guard.
The guard caught it with quick reflexes. Seeing the inscription on it, he said to the others, "Put away your guns, it's Duke Anguo!"
Then, he cupped his hands in a salute to Fang Er, "Qianniu Guard Commander Ximen Xue, greetings, Duke Anguo!"
Fang Er instinctively asked, "Where's Chui?"
Ximen Xue: "..."
"I am truly the commander. Here is my waist token."
"Is this because I checked the Duke's waist token earlier? Now he doubts my identity. Is this considered personal revenge?"
Fang Er smiled awkwardly and waved his hand, "I didn't mean that."
"Right, did that explosion just now come from inside the palace?"
"Do you know what happened?"