Peach Blossoms in Chang'an

A ray of moonlight penetrated the clouds and gently sprinkled on Wu Tao's face. She did not dodge, letting the moonlight illuminate the sadness and determination in her eyes. Hu Bugui looked at her with mixed feelings. He knew that Wu Tao, like him, could not easily let go of the departure of the miracle doctor and the knight.

For several days, they locked themselves in the hut, silent. The warm spring sun shone into the house through the window, but it could not dispel the haze that shrouded their hearts. Occasionally, Hu Bugui would hold Wu Tao's hand, trying to give her a little warmth, but Wu Tao would just hold him back, with sadness in her eyes.

Until one day, the arrival of an unexpected guest broke the silence. The visitor was dressed in coarse linen, but his heroic spirit could not be concealed. When he saw Hu Bugui, he knelt on one knee and said respectfully: "I am Li Yi, who was blessed by the late emperor. I learned that the prince is here, so I came to see you."

Hu Bugui and Wu Tao looked at each other in surprise. Li Yi? They were familiar with this name. It was said that he was one of the most capable generals during the previous emperor's reign. Later, because he refused to participate in the current emperor's struggle for the throne, he was demoted to a commoner and disappeared for many years.

"General Li, please stand up quickly," Hu Bugui hurriedly helped Li Yi up, "I wonder what brings you here this time?"

Li Yi stood up, his eyes firm: "I know that the prince and Miss Wu have been tracking down the mysterious organization. I came here to provide information about them."

Li Yi's words were like a flash of lightning in the dark night, illuminating the only hope left in Hu Bugui and Wu Tao's hearts. They quickly invited Li Yi to take a seat and carefully asked about the situation of the mysterious organization. Li Yi did not hide anything and revealed all the information he had secretly investigated for many years.

It turns out that this mysterious organization is called "Shadow Pavilion", and its influence is all over the country, and even has spies in the palace. They act secretly and cruelly, and their purpose seems to be to overthrow the rule of the Tang Dynasty, but no one knows the specific plan.

"The leader of the Shadow Pavilion is extremely mysterious, and no one has ever seen his true face," Li Yi said in a low voice, "I only know that he calls himself 'Tianshu', is proficient in the art of Qimen Dunjia, and has unfathomable martial arts skills."

After listening to Li Yi's story, Wu Tao fell into deep thought. Tianshu, Shadow Pavilion, Qimen Dunjia, these words kept interweaving in her mind, as if she had touched something. She tried hard to recall the history books and online novels she had read, trying to find some clues from them.

"Maybe I can find a way to find their lair," Wu Tao suddenly raised his head, his eyes gleaming, "General Li, do you know where the Shadow Pavilion's last activity was?"

Li Yi recalled for a moment and replied: "It is in an abandoned temple thirty miles outside the city. The location there is remote and easy to defend but difficult to attack."

Wu Tao nodded, took out a map from his arms, spread it out on the table, pointed to a mark and said, "This is the lair of the Shadow Pavilion!"

Li Yi and Hu Bugui looked at the marks on the map with puzzled expressions. Wu Tao drew this map based on the information provided by Li Yi, combined with modern geographical knowledge and reasoning. She found that the locations of each Shadow Pavilion activity seemed unrelated, but if they were connected, a strange pattern would be formed, and the center of this pattern was the abandoned temple outside the city.

"Okay, let's do it according to your plan!" Hu Bugui looked at Wu Tao's determined eyes, his heart full of confidence.

However, they didn't know that danger was quietly approaching. While they were making plans, a dark shadow lurked outside the cabin, watching their every move.

"The plan has changed," the shadow whispered, "Notify Lord Tianshu, they are about to take action." It was a dark and windy night, and Wu Tao and Hu Bugui and his group hid outside the abandoned temple under the cover of night. It was quiet all around, with only the rustling of leaves in the wind, which added a bit of tension to the atmosphere.

"Remember, our people are already lurking around the temple," Li Yi said to Hu Bugui and Wu Tao in a low voice, "As soon as we send out a signal, they will join forces inside and outside to kill them by surprise."

Hu Bugui nodded and tightened his grip on the sword. Although Wu Tao had no martial arts skills, he followed him closely, his eyes full of determination.

However, just as they were about to act, the temple gate suddenly opened, and a group of men in black holding swords rushed out and surrounded them.

"Oh no, we've fallen into a trap!" Li Yi's face changed, and he drew the sword from his waist, "Protect the prince and princess!"

The shouts of killing shook the sky, and the originally quiet night sky was instantly broken. Hu Bugui and Wu Tao were surrounded in the center, back to back, struggling to resist the attacks of the men in black. However, the other side had a large number of people and each of them was highly skilled in martial arts, so they soon fell behind.

“Hahaha, Hu Bugui, I didn’t expect that you would have such a day!” A cold voice came from behind the man in black. A tall man in black slowly walked out with a sneer on his face. “If you know what’s good for you, surrender yourself and avoid physical pain!”

"Who are you? Why do you want to be our enemy?" Hu Bugui asked sternly.

"Want to know who I am? Go to hell and ask the King of Hell!" The man in black sneered, waving the sword in his hand and attacking Hu Buhui.

Hu Bugui swung his sword to block, but the opponent's force was so strong that his palm went numb. Just as the black-clothed man's sword was about to pierce Hu Bugui, Li Yi suddenly rushed forward and blocked the sword with his body.

"General Li!" Hu Buqi and Wu Tao exclaimed and hurried forward to support Li Yi.

Li Yi's chest was pierced, and blood stained his clothes red, but he endured the pain and said to Hu Buwei: "Your Highness, go quickly... Don't worry about me..."

"Want to leave? Not that easy!" The leader of the men in black sneered and waved his hand. More men in black rushed up and surrounded them.

"What should I do?" Wu Tao looked at the densely packed men in black, his heart filled with despair.

Hu Buwei tightly grasped the sword in his hand, his eyes filled with anger and unwillingness. He knew that he would not be able to escape today.

At this moment, a black shadow suddenly fell from the sky and landed in front of the leader of the men in black.

"Who are you?" The leader of the men in black looked at the stranger in front of him warily.

The black shadow did not speak, but slowly took off the hat on his head, revealing a familiar face.

"It's you?!" The leader of the men in black was shocked when he saw the person coming.

"It's you? It's actually you!" The leader of the men in black was terrified, and the sword in his hand fell to the ground with a clang. He never thought that the seemingly ordinary "black shadow" in front of him was actually the crown prince!

The prince smiled coldly, with an arrogant contempt, "Why, are you surprised? You traitors, you dare to rebel against the emperor, do you really think that I don't know?"

Hu Bugui and Wu Tao looked at each other and saw shock in each other's eyes. They had always thought that the prince was their enemy, but they didn't expect that he would appear here and save them.

"Impossible, how could you..." The leader of the men in black shook his head in disbelief, "You are not..."

Before he could finish his words, the prince interrupted him impatiently, "It's not your turn to comment on what I do!" He looked around, his eyes as sharp as a knife, "Catch me!"

The guards brought by the prince were all skilled in martial arts, and the black-clad men were outnumbered and quickly subdued. Li Yiqiang held on to his last breath, looked at the prince with relief, and then fainted.

The prince ordered his men to carry Li Yi away for treatment, then turned to look at Hu Bugui and Wu Tao, "Are you all right?"

Hu Bugui shook his head and said, "Thank you, Prince, for saving my life."

The prince waved his hand, "No need to be polite. Speaking of which, I should thank you. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have known that this group of traitors had infiltrated to this extent." His eyes fell on the leader of the men in black, his eyes cold, "Tell me, who are you? Why are you rebelling?"

The leader of the men in black gritted his teeth and refused to speak.

"You are stubborn!" The prince snorted coldly and ignored him. He turned to Hu Bugui and Wu Tao and said, "The matter here is over. You can follow me back to the palace."

Although Hu Bugui and Wu Tao were full of doubts, they could only follow the prince and leave. However, what they didn't know was that what was waiting for them would be a more complicated conspiracy and struggle...