Peach Blossoms in Chang'an

"Wangyue Slope?" Several generals looked at each other, puzzled. Wangyue Slope was flat and had no shelter. If they fought with the enemy here, wouldn't they have no chance of winning?

"I know you all have doubts in your heart." Hu Bugui glanced at everyone and said in a deep voice, "But I am sure that after the enemy receives the news that our army has set up camp at Wangyue Slope, they will come out in full force to encircle and suppress us!"

"What the general means is..." A general seemed to have thought of something, and there was a hint of disbelief in his tone.

"That's right," Hu Bugui raised his confident smile, "We are going to lure the enemy into Wangyue Slope with a trick, and then..." He paused deliberately, a gleam of light flashed in his eyes, "catch the turtle in the jar!"

Wu Tao was very excited when she heard this. Although she didn't understand military affairs, she understood the danger and wisdom of Hu Bugui's move. If the enemy army did not move, they could occupy the advantageous terrain and wait for an opportunity to move; if the enemy army came out in full force, it would be exactly what Hu Bugui wanted and he could annihilate them in one fell swoop.

The army marched overnight and rushed to Wangyue Slope. In order to confuse the enemy, Hu Bugui specially sent a small force to operate near Luofeng Slope to create the illusion that the army was still stationed there.

The enemy general was named Li Xiong, a veteran who had fought many battles. He received news from his scouts that the main force of the Tang army was still waiting at Luofengpo, and he couldn't help but sneer in his heart: "Is Hu Bugui afraid? He dares not to fight?"

However, when he learned that the Tang army had suddenly broken camp and headed for Wangyue Slope, his face suddenly changed. He stood up abruptly, pointed at Wangyue Slope on the map, and said angrily: "What a cunning Hu Bugui, he actually wanted to use this trick to deceive our army!"

Seeing this, the military advisor beside him hurriedly advised: "General, calm down. The Tang army's move must be to lure our army to attack, and then fight a decisive battle with our army at Wangyue Slope. We just need to hold our ground and wait for the Tang army's food and grass to run out, and then we can win without fighting."

Li Xiong took a deep breath, suppressed his anger, and said thoughtfully: "What the military advisor said makes sense, but..." His eyes flickered, as if he had thought of something, "Pass the order down, send an elite force to bypass Luofeng Slope and go straight to the rear of the Tang army to find out the truth!"

"General, you are wise!" The military advisor's eyes lit up and he exclaimed in praise.

The night enveloped the earth, and a dark shadow quietly shuttled through the mountains and forests, heading towards the Tang army camp. They were Li Xiong's elite troops, all of them were experienced fighters, and they were ordered to sneak attack the Tang army camp, so they were determined to win.

However, they didn't know that all this was within Hu Bugui's expectations...

On the Moon-Watching Slope, Hu Bugui was discussing military situation with several generals. Suddenly, a scout ran in hurriedly, knelt on one knee, and reported: "Report! General, an elite force of the enemy has bypassed Luofeng Slope and is heading towards our camp!"

A gleam of light flashed in Hu Bugui's eyes, and he said in a deep voice: "Pass the order, the entire army will quickly return to support!"

After saying this, he jumped on his horse and galloped towards the camp with his personal guards.

"drive!"

War horses neighed, dust rose, and Hu Bugui led the army and rushed to the camp.

However, when they were less than ten miles away from the camp, a burst of shouting and killing suddenly came from the front.

"No, there's an ambush!"

Hu Bugui's heart sank and he quickly reined in his horse. He saw countless enemy troops densely swarming on the hillsides on both sides of the road ahead, all holding bows and arrows and full of murderous intent.

"kill!"

With a command, a rain of arrows shot towards the Tang army like an overwhelming force... The rain of arrows whistled in, and the Tang army was caught off guard, suffering heavy casualties. Hu Bugui roared, swung his spear, and shot down all the arrows shot at him, while shouting loudly: "Form a formation! Shield defense!"

However, the enemy was clearly well prepared and the ambush was cleverly set, trapping the Tang army in a narrow valley, with no way forward or backward. To make matters worse, the rockets fired by the enemy ignited the woods on both sides of the valley, and the raging fire blocked the Tang army's retreat.

"General, we've been tricked!" the deputy general shouted in panic, "What should we do now?"

Hu Bugui's face turned pale. He knew that he had fallen into Li Xiong's trap, but now was not the time to pursue responsibility. The most urgent task was to find a way to break out.

"Pass the order down, break out of the encirclement at all costs!"

Hu Bugui gave an order and led his guards to fight bravely, trying to carve out a bloody path. However, the enemy was numerous and the offensive was fierce, so the Tang army had to pay a heavy price for every step forward.

At this time, the Tang army camp, ten miles away, was also in chaos.

When the enemy's sneak attack horn sounded, Wu Tao was patrolling the camp. Hearing the shouting and killing, she was startled and immediately realized that something was wrong.

"Enemy attack! Quick! Prepare to fight!"

Wu Tao drew the dagger from his waist without hesitation and shouted a warning. However, the enemy came with such force that the defenders in the camp were unprepared and were soon dispersed.

"Chun Tao! Chun Tao!"

Wu Tao waved his dagger to resist the enemy's attack while anxiously looking for Chun Tao. However, when he looked around, the camp was in chaos, with swords and sabers everywhere, people shouting and horses neighing, but where was Chun Tao?

Wu Tao was extremely anxious, for she knew Chuntao was powerless and if she fell into the enemy's hands, the consequences would be disastrous.

"Girl, be careful!"

A Tang army soldier saw Wu Tao in danger and rushed over without hesitation to block an attack from an enemy soldier for her, but he himself was chopped to the ground by another enemy soldier.

"Thank you……"

Wu Tao was extremely sad, but she also knew that now was not the time to be sad, so she held back her tears and continued to swing her sword to kill the enemy.

In order to resist the enemy's attack, Wu Tao led the women, children, the elderly and the young in the camp, using everything they could to set up roadblocks and traps, and even poured boiling water and hot oil on the enemy.

Under Wu Tao's command, although there was chaos in the Tang army camp, they stubbornly resisted wave after wave of enemy attacks.

However, Wu Tao knew clearly in his heart that they were just holding on, and if Hu Bugui's reinforcements failed to arrive in time, the camp would be breached sooner or later.

"Chun Tao, where are you?"

Wu Tao looked around anxiously, her heart filled with worry and uneasiness. She felt vaguely that there seemed to be an invisible giant net quietly covering them...

 Undercurrent

Hu Bugui led the exhausted army and marched towards the camp with difficulty. He knew that Wu Tao and the people in the camp were in danger, and he was extremely anxious. However, fate seemed to be playing a joke on him. A rugged mountain road lay in front of them, slowing down their pace of returning to the rescue.

"Report——"

A scout stumbled to Hu Bugui's horse, covered in blood, and said, "General! We have found a large number of assassins ahead! Our brothers have suffered heavy casualties!"

Hu Bugui's heart sank, and an ominous premonition came to his mind. He dismounted, helped the scout up, and asked anxiously, "Assassin? Do you know who did it?"

The scout panted weakly and said intermittently: "It was...it was sent by the imperial concubine..."

Before he could finish his words, the scout's head tilted and he died.

"Royal Concubine!" Hu Bugui gritted his teeth and spat out these two words, his eyes almost spitting fire. He knew that the Royal Concubine was stabbing him in the back and wanted to kill him.

Hu Bugui quickly calmed down and ordered, "Pass the order down, the whole army is on alert! Prepare to meet the enemy!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a dense rain of arrows shot out from the dense forest, catching the Tang army off guard and causing heavy casualties. Hu Bugui wielded his spear and shot down all the arrows shot at him, while shouting loudly: "Form a battle array! Shield defense!"

However, these assassins were obviously well-trained warriors, and they were fearless and rushed towards the Tang army one after another. The Tang army was already exhausted, and with the attack from both sides, they soon fell into a disadvantage.

"Kill! Leave no one behind!"

A cold voice came from the dense forest, and then a burly figure wearing black armor and holding a long sword slowly walked out of the dense forest.

"Li Xiong!"

Hu Bugui recognized the man at a glance. It was the enemy's main general Li Xiong.

“Hahaha, Hu Bugui, you didn’t expect this, did you? You’ll also have this day!” Li Xiong laughed loudly, his eyes full of resentment, “Today is the day you die!”

"Hmph, just you?" Hu Bugui snorted coldly and walked forward without fear.

Both of them were veterans of the battlefield with great martial arts skills. For a moment, it was difficult to tell the winner with swords flashing and sabers flying.

However, Hu Bugui had been in the battlefield for a long time and his physical strength was exhausted, so he gradually lost the upper hand. Li Xiong seized the opportunity and slashed his left arm with a knife, and blood gushed out immediately.

"General!"

Seeing this, the surrounding Tang army soldiers cried out in surprise and wanted to rush forward to rescue, but were blocked by Li Xiong's personal soldiers.

"Hahaha, Hu Bugui, you now have your day!" Li Xiong laughed wildly, raised the long knife in his hand, and stabbed towards Hu Bugui's chest.

At the critical moment, a black shadow flashed by, stood in front of Hu Bugui, and took Li Xiong's knife head-on.

"puff!"

Blood gushed out and the black shadow fell to the ground.

"General Zhang!"

Hu Bugui took a closer look and his eyes suddenly became bloodshot.

The one lying in a pool of blood was none other than General Zhang, one of his generals!

"Hahaha, Hu Bugui, all your subordinates died for you, how can you have the face to live in this world?" Li Xiong laughed wildly, his eyes full of sarcasm.

"Li Xiong! I will never forgive you!"

Hu Bugui roared angrily and rushed towards Li Xiong like a mad tiger without hesitation.

However, he was already seriously injured and exhausted, how could he be a match for Li Xiong?

Seeing that Li Xiong's blade was about to fall, Hu Bugui's heart was filled with despair.

Am I really going to die here today?

...Hu Bugui closed his eyes in despair, waiting for death to come. But the expected severe pain did not come, and he opened his eyes, only to see a red figure like a ball of fire, blocking him and Li Xiong.

"Tao'er!" Hu Bugui exclaimed, with a storm in his heart.

"General Hu, are you okay?" Wu Tao turned around and gave him a reassuring smile, but his tone was extremely firm, "Everyone, come with me to protect the general and our homeland!"

It turned out that after learning that the situation on the front line was critical, Wu Tao organized the young and middle-aged men in the camp, armed them with bamboo poles and wooden sticks, formed a simple but high-spirited volunteer team, and rushed towards the battlefield.

"Go! Protect our home!"

Although the people had not received formal training, their will to survive was extremely strong. They waved simple weapons, issued deafening shouts, and rushed towards the enemy like a flood breaking through a dam.

Although Li Xiong's army was well-trained, they were still somewhat timid in the face of this group of fearless civilians. For a time, the battle situation came to a stalemate.

Wu Tao's appearance undoubtedly gave Hu Bugui and his army a shot of confidence. Hu Bugui endured the pain and shouted: "Soldiers and civilians are fighting for us. What reason do we have to retreat? Kill!"

The morale of the Tang army was greatly boosted, and they fought bravely, finally opening a gap. Hu Bugui took the opportunity to break out and ran towards the camp.

However, when he rushed back to the camp, the scene before him made him feel like he was falling into an icy cave.

The originally peaceful and tranquil camp had now turned into a sea of fire. The raging flames shot up into the sky, illuminating the night sky in red. There were ruins everywhere, and cries and screams could be heard everywhere.

Hu Bugui's heart seemed to be tightly grasped by an invisible hand. He searched frantically for Wu Tao, but could not find her anywhere.

"Tao'er! Tao'er, where are you!"

Hu Bugui roared in despair, his voice filled with grief and self-blame.

At this moment, a faint voice came from not far away: "General... I'm here..."

Hu Bugui looked in the direction of the sound and saw Wu Tao, covered in dust and tattered clothes, struggling to crawl out of a pile of rubble. There were scars on her face and blood at the corners of her mouth, but her eyes were still firm and bright.

Seeing that Wu Tao was safe and sound, Hu Bugui finally let go of his worries. He rushed to Wu Tao in two steps and hugged her tightly.

"Tao'er, I'm glad you're okay, I'm glad you're okay..."

Hu Bugui's voice was a little choked. This was the first time he showed his vulnerability in front of Wu Tao.

Wu Tao gently stroked Hu Bugui's back and comforted him softly, "I'm fine, General. We are all fine."

Even though the camp had been destroyed, as long as they were still alive, there was still hope.

"Li Xiong, I will make you pay for your blood with blood!" Hu Bugui raised his head and looked at the burning camp, his eyes filled with flames of hatred.

"General, what should we do now?" Wu Tao asked, with a hint of worry in his eyes.

Hu Bugui was silent for a moment, looked around, and finally set his eyes on the dense forest in the distance.

"Let's go hide there first and then think of a solution."

After saying that, he supported Wu Tao and walked towards the forest.

It was a dark night and the forest was utterly silent, with only the occasional chirping of insects making the surroundings seem even more dead silent.

What they didn't know was that the danger had just begun.

Hu Bugui hugged Wu Tao tightly, as if he wanted to rub her into his own bones and blood. The joy of surviving the disaster was like a bonfire, warming the cold hearts of the two.

"Tao'er," Hu Bugui's voice was trembling, "Why are you here? It's too dangerous!"

Wu Tao gently pushed him away, and glanced at the devastated camp, eyes full of regret, "I heard that the situation on the front line was critical, so I thought about organizing people to come to support, but I didn't expect..."

She didn't continue, but her unfinished words revealed a deep sense of powerlessness and self-blame. If she hadn't brought everyone here, perhaps the camp wouldn't have been attacked, and the people wouldn't have suffered such a disaster.

"This is not your fault," Hu Bugui held her hand and said firmly, "Li Xiong is a ruthless person who doesn't care about the lives of the people. I will not be a human being if I don't avenge him!"

Wu Tao held his hand, interlocking their fingers, conveying silent strength, "General, we will definitely get through this difficult time."

The two men stood facing each other, with the flickering flames reflected in their eyes, as if they were a pair of soldiers fighting side by side, who found each other in the ruins and found the courage to move on.

"Cough, cough," a weak cough came from behind. Hu Bugui and Wu Tao turned around at the same time, only to see Chuntao covered in dust, staggering out of the ruins.

"Chun Tao!" Wu Tao rushed forward to support her, "I'm so glad you're okay!"

Chun Tao's face was pale, and there was blood at the corner of her mouth. She was obviously seriously injured, but she still managed to hold on. "Miss, I'm fine, it's just... just..."

She hesitated to speak, her eyes flickering, as if she had something to hide.

“Just what?” Wu Tao was confused.

Chun Tao bit her lip, as if she had made up her mind, "It's just that when I was escaping, I seemed to... seemed to see..."

Her voice suddenly stopped, but her gaze fell on Hu Bugui, her eyes full of fear and disbelief.

"What did you see?" Hu Bugui felt an ominous premonition in his heart.

Chun Tao took a deep breath and slowly uttered two words: "Royal Concubine..."

These two words were like thunder, exploding in the ears of Hu Bugui and Wu Tao, instantly pulling them into an even more dangerous vortex.

How did the imperial concubine appear here? Why did she kill the camp? Was all this a coincidence, or was there something else going on?