Peach Blossoms in Chang'an

"What?!" Qian Xu stood up suddenly, his face livid. "How could the city gate be lost? Where are the soldiers guarding the city?"

The soldier fell to his knees in panic, "General, Huang Chao used some kind of evil magic, and the city gate suddenly opened by itself. The brothers defending the city fought hard, but still..."

"Waste!" Qian Xu was so angry that he punched the table, causing the teacup to jump.

"General, calm down!" General Li on the side advised, "Now that things have come to this, the most urgent task is to retake the city gate as soon as possible, otherwise the consequences will be disastrous!"

Qian Xu took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down. "General Li is right. Pass on my order. Gather all the troops and follow me to fight back!"

At the city gate, shouts of killing shook the sky. Huang Chao's army poured into the city like a tide, and the Tang army defending the city retreated step by step. When Qian Xu led the reinforcements to the city gate, the city gate had been completely controlled by Huang Chao's army.

"Kill! Don't leave any alive!" Huang Chao, wearing golden armor and holding a long sword, commanded the army to attack the city.

"Huang Chao, stop being so arrogant!" Qian Xu roared and led the Tang army to attack head-on. The two sides immediately started a fierce fight.

Qian Xu led the charge, wielding a spear and charging into the enemy formation like a tiger descending from a mountain. Wherever he passed, people and horses fell to the ground. General Li commanded the archers to launch long-range strikes against the enemy troops on the tower to cover the infantry attack.

Just when the battle between the two sides was at a stalemate, a woman in red armor, riding a white horse, came galloping from a distance.

"Brother Qian!" A woman's clear voice rang out on the battlefield. Qian Xu looked over when he heard the voice and a look of surprise immediately appeared on his face.

"Qing'er, why are you here?" Qian Xu asked while resisting the enemy's attack.

The person who came was Dou Qing. She rode her horse to Qian Xu and said with concern: "I heard that the city gate was lost. I was worried about your safety, so I came to help you."

"I'm naturally happy that you can come, but it's too dangerous here..."

"Brother Qian, you don't have to worry about me. I have been practicing martial arts since I was young, so I am more than capable of dealing with these bandits." Dou Qing said, waving the sword in his hand and joining the battle.

With Dou Qing's joining, the battle gradually tilted towards the Tang army. Dou Qing was highly skilled in martial arts and swordsmanship, and he shuttled back and forth in the enemy's formation as if he was in an empty space, killing Huang Chao's army in fear.

Qian Xu was relieved when he saw this, and he commanded the Tang army to launch a more fierce attack on Huang Chao's army. Huang Chao's army could not resist, gradually retreated, and was finally driven out of the city.

Qian Xu was about to breathe a sigh of relief when a dark figure flashed by and appeared silently behind him. The man was dressed in black and had his face covered, revealing only a pair of bright eyes.

"The general is brave and admirable." The man in black bowed and said with a low and hoarse voice that made it impossible to guess his age.

Qian Xu turned around alertly and looked at the person calmly, "Who are you? Why are you here?"

The man in black smiled and said, "General, don't be nervous. I have no ill intentions. I am only here to show you a way forward."

"A clear path?" Qian Xu was even more confused. "Tell me about it."

"Now Huang Chao's army is besieging the city. The city is short of food and grass, and we don't know when the reinforcements will arrive. If the general continues to defend, I'm afraid..." The man in black did not continue speaking, but the meaning was self-evident.

Qian Xu remained silent. He knew that what the man in black said was true and the current situation was indeed not optimistic.

"I have a plan that can help you break out of the siege." The man in black took out a sheepskin map from his arms and handed it to Qian Xu. "There is a secret passage in the west of the city that leads directly to the outside of the city. You can lead your elite troops to break out of the siege through the secret passage under the cover of night."

Qian Xu took the map and looked at it carefully, but he was even more confused. He had never heard of this secret passage before. Even the old man who was most familiar with the terrain in the city might not know about it. How did the man in black know about it?

"General, do you not trust me?" The man in black seemed to see through Qian Xu's thoughts. "I have no ill intentions. I just can't stand Huang Chao's atrocities, so I risked my life to come and help."

Qian Xu stared into the eyes of the man in black, trying to see something from his expression, but those eyes were as deep as a pool and hard to fathom.

"Okay, I'll follow your plan!" Qian Xu finally decided to trust the man in black. After all, he had no other choice now.

That night, Qian Xu led 500 elite soldiers and quietly came to the west of the city according to the map, and found the hidden secret passage.

However, soon after they entered the secret passage, Qian Xu suddenly found something wrong. Although the secret passage was hidden, it was built too wide and flat. It was more like a secret passage than an escape passage.

"Wait!" Qian Xu suddenly stopped the team, "We might have fallen into a trap!"

"What's wrong, General?" General Li asked puzzledly.

Qian Xu did not answer, but walked quickly to the wall and observed it carefully. Soon, he found some subtle marks on the wall. These marks were very hidden and difficult to find if not carefully observed.

"It is true!" Qian Xu's eyes flashed with a cold light, "This secret passage is not for escape at all, but..."

He turned around abruptly, stared at the soldier behind him, and said word by word: "It's used to transport food and grass!"

The soldiers looked at each other, not understanding what Qian Xu meant.

Qian Xu ignored them and continued, "This secret passage was built so secretly and leads directly to the outside of the city. The only explanation is that someone used this secret passage to secretly transport food and grass outside the city, and this person..."

At this point, he suddenly looked towards the back of the team, where a thin figure wearing ordinary soldier uniforms said through gritted teeth: "It's you! Tell me, who are you?!"

The soldier was frightened by Qian Xu's momentum and subconsciously wanted to escape, but was caught by General Li.

"Tell me! Who are you? Why do you want to harm us?!" General Li roared.

The soldier struggled for a few times, but seeing that he couldn't get away, he simply tore off the disguise on his face, revealing a familiar face.

"Qian Xu, long time no see!" the man sneered, "I didn't expect that you would have this day!"

"It's you?! Butler Wang?!" Qian Xu never thought that this seemingly honest butler who had always been by his side was actually a traitor! Qian Xu was furious. He never thought that this butler Wang, who was usually taciturn and seemed honest, was the culprit who led him into a desperate situation! "Why did you do this?!" Qian Xu asked with gritted teeth, as if fire was about to burst out of his eyes.

Steward Wang sneered, with no regrets on his face: "Why? Of course it's for wealth and glory! Huang Chao promised me that after the success, he would make me the lord of a city and let me enjoy all the wealth and glory!"

"You are a cowardly traitor!" General Li was furious and drew his sword to kill him.

"Wait!" Qian Xu stopped General Li, a gleam in his eyes, "Since he was able to transport the food and grass out, he must have accomplices! I want to catch them all in one fell swoop!"

Qian Xu came up with a plan. He deliberately let Wang Guanjia go and sent someone to follow him secretly. As planned, Wang Guanjia went to meet Huang Chao's army outside the city with the false information deliberately leaked by Qian Xu.

Huang Chao believed the news and immediately mobilized his army to attack according to the false intelligence. However, when Huang Chao's army arrived at the designated location, what was waiting for them was not an empty city, but an ambush set by Qian Xu!

It turned out that Qian Xu had already anticipated that Steward Wang would spread false information, so he took advantage of the situation and set up an ambush in advance, waiting for Huang Chao's army to fall into the trap.

For a time, the shouts of killing shook the sky. Huang Chao's army was caught off guard and suffered heavy casualties. Qian Xu led the soldiers to fight bravely and unstoppably.

Qian Xu won a great victory in this battle, not only crushing Huang Chao's conspiracy, but also lifting the siege of Chang'an. When the news reached the capital, the emperor was delighted and immediately issued an edict to reward Qian Xu and personally went to the front line to express his condolences.

When Qian Xu stood before the emperor in armor and with a dusty face, the emperor could not help but be moved. He patted Qian Xu on the shoulder and exclaimed: "What a young hero! I am very pleased!"

Qian Xu's reputation reached its peak. People lined the streets to welcome him, shouting his name and regarding him as a savior hero.

"General Qian is young and promising. He is truly a pillar of our Tang Dynasty! Now that the Huang Chao bandits are badly damaged, it is a good opportunity to wipe out the rebels and recover the lost territory!" The emperor said excitedly, with a glimmer of hope in his eyes.

Qian Xu clasped his fists and said, "Your Majesty, rest assured. I will do my best to live up to your high expectations!"

After the emperor left, Qian Xu immediately summoned all the generals to discuss the marching strategy.

"Although Huang Chao suffered a defeat, he still has strength. We must not take it lightly." General Li said in a deep voice.

Dou Qing also agreed: "General Li is right. We should act cautiously and take every step carefully."

Qian Xu nodded in agreement. At this moment, a soldier came to report: "Report! There is a mysterious man outside the city who wants to see you, saying that he can help the general!"

Qian Xu was puzzled, but he still ordered someone to bring the mysterious man up. He was wearing a black cloak and a mask on his face, so his appearance could not be seen clearly.

"Who are you? Why are you helping me?" Qian Xu asked.

The mysterious man's deep voice came from under the mask: "General, you don't need to ask who I am. I came here only to help you put down the rebellion as soon as possible."

After that, the mysterious man took out a sheepskin map from his arms and handed it to Qian Xu: "This is the deployment map of Huang Chao's army. General, as long as you follow the map, you can wipe out Huang Chao in one fell swoop!"

Qian Xu took the map and looked at it carefully, but he was even more confused. This map detailed the deployment of Huang Chao's troops, the location of food and supplies, and even the patrol routes. If this map was real, it would be easy to capture Huang Chao!

But why would this mysterious person hand over such an important thing to him so easily? What is his purpose? Qian Xu was full of doubts, but his intuition told him that this mysterious person was not simple at all. The information he provided might be the key to turning the tide of the battle, or it might be a deadly trap...