Peach Blossoms in Chang'an

Wu Tao's heart almost skipped a beat, but she suppressed the fear in her heart and shouted, "Who are you? How dare you commit murder in broad daylight!"

The leader of the men in black sneered and waved his hand without answering. The other men in black immediately drew their swords and approached Wu Tao. Wu Tao instinctively wanted to retreat, but found that she was surrounded. She gritted her teeth, pulled out a dagger from her waist, and prepared to fight to the death.

"Princess, there is no need to struggle," the leader of the men in black said sinisterly, "We have been ordered to capture you. If you surrender obediently, we can still spare your life."

"Arrest me? What crime have I committed?" Wu Tao asked angrily, "Who sent you?"

"Princess, stop playing dumb," the leader of the men in black sneered, "You are colluding with the enemy and plotting rebellion. The evidence is irrefutable. The emperor has ordered your arrest!"

"What?!" Wu Tao was suddenly struck by lightning, and her mind went blank. Collaborating with the enemy and plotting rebellion? This was clearly nonsense! How could she do such a thing?

"Princess, I'm sorry." The leader of the men in black stopped talking nonsense and waved his hand. Several men in black immediately stepped forward and subdued Wu Tao.

"Let me go! You are framing me! I want to see the prince!" Wu Tao struggled desperately, but to no avail.

The men in black escorted Wu Tao all the way back to the capital. Wu Tao was imprisoned in the cold palace of the imperial palace, which was dark and damp, a far cry from the magnificent palace where she lived before.

Wu Tao was filled with fear and despair. She didn't know who was framing her, nor what fate she would face. She only knew that she had to find a way to inform Hu Bugui as soon as possible, otherwise it would be the end.

At the same time, Hu Bugui was anxiously waiting for news from Wu Tao in the palace. They had agreed to meet at a ruined temple outside the city today, but now the agreed time had passed and Wu Tao had not shown up.

"Someone come!" Hu Bugui had an ominous premonition in his heart, and immediately summoned the palace guards, "Hurry to the ruined temple outside the city and see if the princess is there!"

The guard took the order and left. Not long after, he hurried back and reported to Hu Bugui: "Your Majesty, I found traces of a fight near the ruined temple. The princess and her maid are missing!"

"What?!" Hu Bugui's face suddenly changed. "Immediately send people to search the whole city. We must find the princess!"

Just then, a palace guard hurried over and read the imperial edict to Hu Bugui.

"The Emperor, in compliance with the Will of Heaven, proclaims: Princess Wu has colluded with the enemy and plotted rebellion. Her crimes are extremely serious and she is to be banished to the cold palace and await her fate! This is my decree!"

After hearing the imperial edict, Hu Bugui was struck by lightning and the edict in his hand fell to the ground. He could not believe that his beloved wife would be accused of such a false charge!

"No! This is impossible!" Hu Bugui roared, and rushed out of the palace regardless of everything, heading straight for the imperial palace. He must see the emperor and plead for Wu Tao!

 Stormy Waves (Continued)

Hu Bugui galloped all the way, with Wu Tao's figure constantly appearing in his mind. He absolutely did not believe that Wu Tao would do such a thing, there must be a huge conspiracy behind it! He swore that no matter who framed Wu Tao, he would never let him go!

In the imperial study, the emperor looked at Hu Bugui kneeling in front of him with a frown. He saw Hu Bugui's anger and anxiety, but as the king of a country, he could not make judgments based on personal emotions alone.

"Your Majesty! My wife Wu would never do anything to collude with an enemy country. There must be a misunderstanding!" Hu Bugui kowtowed and said firmly, "Your Majesty, please look into this!"

"Misunderstanding?" The prime minister, who had been silent all this time, suddenly spoke up, his tone carrying a hint of sarcasm, "Your Highness, the evidence is irrefutable. Are you still trying to quibble?"

"Evidence? What evidence?!" Hu Bugui raised his head abruptly and glared at the prime minister. "It's obvious that you were the one who planned this and wanted to kill my wife and me!"

"How dare you!" the prime minister shouted angrily, "How dare you slander an official appointed by the imperial court?!"

"You know whether I have slandered you or not!" Hu Bugui did not back down, his eyes were like torches, "You have always regarded me as a thorn in your side, and have been plotting to get rid of me. Now you are even reaching out to my wife. You deserve to be killed!"

The two of them were on edge, and the atmosphere in the imperial study was extremely tense. The emperor remained silent and just watched everything quietly.

At this moment, the empress who had been standing behind the emperor suddenly spoke up: "Your Majesty, I have something to say."

The emperor was slightly startled and motioned for the queen to continue.

The queen stepped forward, took out a letter from her sleeve, and presented it to the emperor with both hands: "Your Majesty, this is something I got by chance, please take a look."

The emperor took the letter and read it carefully. The content of the letter was the correspondence between the prime minister and the envoys of the enemy country, which clearly revealed the prime minister's plan to collude with the enemy country and intend to rebel, and clearly pointed out that he wanted to put the blame on Hu Bugui and Wu Tao.

The emperor's expression became increasingly ugly. He slammed the letter on the table and glared at the prime minister: "How dare you, prime minister, do such a treasonous thing!"

The prime minister's face turned pale. He never expected that the queen would have such evidence. He opened his mouth and wanted to defend himself, but found that he had nothing to say.

"Your Majesty, this is all the Prime Minister's conspiracy!" Hu Bugui took the opportunity to say, "My wife is innocent, Your Majesty, please investigate!"

The emperor took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down. He looked at Hu Bugui, then at the letter in his hand, and had already made up his mind. In the imperial study, the air seemed to freeze. The emperor's chest rose and fell violently. He had never thought that the minister who had accompanied him for many years would have such a wolfish ambition! He stood up suddenly, pointed at the prime minister and roared: "Come here! Take down this traitor!"

The prime minister knew that the situation was hopeless, but his years of power made him unwilling to surrender. He suddenly jumped up, drew the sword from the guard's waist, held the queen hostage, and roared, "Whoever dares to take a step forward, I will kill her!"

The queen was terrified and struggled palely, but she didn't dare to shout for help. The situation was reversed in an instant, and the imperial study was in chaos.

"Let go of the queen!" Hu Bugui's eyes were red with anger. He had never seen such a crazy prime minister, and an ominous premonition arose in his heart.

“Hahaha, Hu Bugui, you have come to this day!” The prime minister looked like a madman, holding the queen hostage and retreating step by step, “You can never get what I can’t get! Today, I will drag all of you to be buried with me!”

After saying that, he rushed out of the imperial study holding the queen hostage. The imperial guards, who had long been secretly bribed by the prime minister, immediately surrounded them and escorted the prime minister all the way out of the palace.

"Protect the emperor!" Hu Bugui made a prompt decision and commanded the few remaining guards around him to fight desperately against the rebels' attack. Between the flashes of swords and shadows, blood dyed the magnificent palace red, and the former tranquility and peace was replaced by a strong smell of blood.

"Your Highness, we will cover you, you go and chase them!" A guard desperately blocked the incoming rebels and shouted to Hu Bugui anxiously.

Hu Bugui understood that now was not the time to hesitate, he had to stop the prime minister as soon as possible, otherwise the consequences would be disastrous. He took a deep look at the emperor who was surrounded by the rebels, and resolutely rushed in the direction where the prime minister fled.

Chasing and fighting all the way, Hu Bugui led his cronies to engage in fierce street fighting with the rebels. Shouts of killing and the sound of weapons clashing resounded throughout the palace. The originally solemn and dignified palace had now turned into a living hell.

Wu Tao, who was under house arrest in a side hall, had no idea what was happening in the palace. She paced back and forth anxiously, feeling uneasy. Suddenly, she heard the sound of fighting in the distance, and her heart suddenly sank, with an ominous premonition coming over her...

Wu Tao's heart was beating so fast that it seemed to burst out of her chest. She tried hard to distinguish more information from the chaotic sounds, but she found nothing except the shouting and killing sounds that were getting closer and closer. Fear was wrapped around her heart like a vine. She knew that something big must have happened in the palace, but she was trapped there and could do nothing.

"No, I can't just sit there and wait for death!" Wu Tao bit her lower lip, her eyes flashing with determination. She looked around, trying to find a way to escape. This side hall was already remote and not heavily guarded, and the chaos in the palace at the moment gave her an opportunity to take advantage of.

With the wit and courage of a modern person, as well as her familiarity with the layout of the palace, Wu Tao successfully avoided the panicked palace servants and scattered guards, and ran all the way to the place where the fighting was the most intense. She didn't know what was waiting for her, but she had only one thought in her mind: find Hu Bugui and fight alongside him!

When Wu Tao finally broke through the obstacles and saw the tragic battle scene in front of her, she couldn't help but gasp. The bluestone tiles of the palace were covered with corpses, blood dyed the ground red, and the air was filled with a strong smell of blood.

"Bugui!" Wu Tao anxiously looked for Hu Bugui, and finally saw the familiar figure in the crowd. He was wearing armor and holding a long sword, like a god of war, bravely repelling every enemy who tried to approach.

"Bugui, here I come!" Wu Tao shouted and rushed into the melee. Her appearance shocked Hu Bugui. He never thought that Wu Tao could escape from the heavily guarded side hall and come to this dangerous battlefield alone.

Without time to think, Hu Bugui swung his sword to block the sharp blade that was attacking Wu Tao and protected her behind him. "Why are you here? It's too dangerous!" His tone was full of worry and blame.

"If I don't come, you'll be in greater danger!" Wu Tao looked straight into his eyes without fear, "We are husband and wife, we live together and die together!"

Hu Bugui's heart warmed, and he stopped trying to stop Wu Tao, but fought side by side with her to resist the enemy's attack. Although Wu Tao had no martial arts skills, she was resourceful and brave, and she used the terrain and surrounding objects to resolve Hu Bugui's crises time and time again.

The couple cooperated tacitly and fought their way out of the chaos. Under their leadership, the morale of the imperial army, which had been retreating step by step, was greatly boosted, and the situation was gradually reversed. However, just when the balance of victory was about to tilt, a greater crisis was quietly approaching...

Wu Tao and Hu Bugui fought side by side, their figures shuttled through the swords and shadows, like a dragon and a phoenix, unstoppable. Hu Bugui's swordsmanship was sharp, and every move hit the vital points directly. Wu Tao, relying on the wisdom of modern people, used the terrain and surrounding objects to cleverly resolve the crisis for him.

"Bugui, be careful!" Wu Tao noticed with her sharp eyes that an archer hiding behind a pillar was aiming at Hu Bugui. She rushed forward without thinking and blocked the fatal arrow with her body.

"Tao'er!" Hu Bugui's eyes were red with anger. He swung his sword and killed the archer. Then he ran to Wu Tao and hugged her tightly in his arms. "How are you? Where are you injured?"

Wu Tao's face was pale, with a trace of blood seeping from the corner of her mouth, but she still endured the pain and smiled to comfort Hu Bugui: "I'm fine, I just got a little scrape, don't worry."

"Silly girl, why did you do this?" Hu Bugui caressed Wu Tao's cheek with heartache, his eyes full of self-blame and fear.

"Because you are my husband, if I don't protect you, who will?" Wu Tao's eyes were firm and gentle, "I said, we will live together and die together."

Hu Bugui's heart was deeply moved. He lowered his head and kissed Wu Tao's lips, pouring all his love and gratitude into this kiss.

At this moment, the situation on the war took a turn for the worse. The prime minister's conspiracy was completely exposed, the rebels he brought were defeated one by one, and finally, he himself was captured by Hu Bugui in one fell swoop.

"The Emperor has arrived!" With a loud shout, Emperor Tang came over surrounded by a group of guards. His face showed a bit of fatigue, but more of the joy of victory.

"Brother Emperor!" Hu Bugui supported Wu Tao and walked in front of Emperor Tang, kneeling on one knee to salute.

"Thank you for your hard work, uncle. It was thanks to you that we were able to put down the rebellion." The Tang Emperor personally helped Hu Bugui up, his eyes full of admiration.

However, just when everyone thought that the storm had finally subsided and they could breathe a sigh of relief, a palace servant ran over in a panic, his face full of fear, and said in a trembling voice: "Your Majesty, it's bad... The Queen... The Queen..."

"What's wrong with the Queen? Tell me quickly!" Emperor Tang's heart sank suddenly, and an ominous premonition came to his mind.

The palace servant took a deep breath and shouted with all his strength: "The Queen...she...she committed suicide by taking poison!"