Peach Blossoms in Chang'an

Chapter 199 Tonight, I can really get what I want

The palace banquet arrived as scheduled. In the magnificent palace, there was singing and dancing, and the scene was lively. Wu Tao, dressed in a simple and elegant palace dress, shuttled among the crowd, seemingly blending in with the laughter around her. However, only she knew how nervous she was at the moment.

The Queen's plan seemed perfect, but Wu Tao always felt a little uneasy. How could the Prime Minister, who had been in high position and power for many years, not be on guard? She couldn't help but worry, could she really get what she wanted tonight?

After the singing and dancing performance, the atmosphere of the banquet reached its climax. At this moment, the queen suddenly stood up, picked up a glass of wine, faced the emperor, and said loudly: "Your Majesty, I have something to report. It concerns the safety of the country and I have to speak!"

The Queen's words were so powerful that the originally noisy hall suddenly became quiet, and everyone's eyes were focused on her. The Emperor put down his wine glass and frowned slightly: "Queen, please feel free to speak up if you have anything to say."

The queen took a deep breath, turned her gaze to the prime minister, and her tone became sharp: "Prime Minister, you have been corrupt and perverted the law for many years, forming cliques for personal gain, and even colluding with foreign enemies with the intention of rebellion. Is this true?!"

As soon as the queen finished speaking, there was an uproar in the hall. The ministers looked at each other and whispered to each other. No one expected that the queen would say such a shocking thing in such an occasion and in front of so many people.

The prime minister's face turned pale, he stood up suddenly, pointed at the queen and shouted angrily: "Queen! You are slandering me! I am loyal to the emperor, and the sun and the moon can testify to that. How dare you slander me for treason? It is absolutely ridiculous!"

"You know whether I have slandered you or not!" The queen sneered and winked at the maid beside her, who immediately presented her with an exquisite wooden box.

The queen opened the wooden box, took out an account book from it, threw it in front of the prime minister, and said sternly: "This account book records every amount of money you have embezzled and accepted in bribes over the years, as well as evidence of your collusion with foreign enemies. What else do you have to say?!"

The prime minister was not flustered at all. He picked up the account book slowly, flipped through a few pages, and suddenly laughed out loud: "Empress, do you think you can overthrow me by forging an account book? You are too naive!"

After that, the Prime Minister took out a letter from his sleeve, held it high, and said in a loud voice: "Your Majesty, this letter is evidence of the Queen's affair with the prince of a neighboring country. Please read it carefully!"

As soon as these words came out, it was like dropping a huge rock into a calm lake, causing a huge wave. Everyone was stunned and looked at the queen in disbelief, their eyes full of doubt and shock.

The emperor's face turned very ugly, he snatched the letter from the prime minister and read it carefully. The handwriting on the letter was indeed the queen's handwriting, and the content was very explicit and full of ambiguous feelings.

"Queen, how do you explain this letter?" The emperor's voice was low and cold, revealing suppressed anger.

Wu Tao's heart sank suddenly. She never expected that the Prime Minister had been prepared and used such a despicable method. Now, what should she do?

The queen's face was pale, her lips trembled slightly, but she couldn't say a word. She never thought that everything she had carefully planned would turn out like this. This letter was clearly forged, but she had no evidence to prove her innocence.

At this moment, something strange happened! The guards standing on both sides of the hall suddenly drew their swords and slashed at the guests around them! The banquet hall was in chaos, with screams, the sound of weapons colliding, and the sound of tables and chairs overturning. The originally peaceful scene instantly turned into a hell on earth.

"Protect the Emperor! Protect the Empress!" The commander of the imperial guards reacted quickly and immediately organized people to surround the Emperor and Empress, fighting desperately to resist the aggressive assassin.

Wu Tao then realized that all this was a trick played by the prime minister. From the moment the queen accused him of treason, this farce turned into a life-and-death struggle for power.

"Your Majesty, hurry up!" Wu Tao protected the queen and tried to break out, but they were surrounded by the prime minister's men and had no way to escape.

"Want to leave? Not that easy!" A cold voice came from the crowd. The prime minister, wearing armor, holding a sword, and accompanied by a group of soldiers, slowly walked into the hall.

"Prime Minister, are you planning a rebellion?!" The Queen glared at the Prime Minister and shouted harshly.

"Rebellion? Your Majesty, you are joking. I am only trying to eliminate the rebels and restore order to the court!" The Prime Minister sneered, his eyes flashing with a sinister light, "Come here, take down the Queen and this witch!"

At the prime minister's command, the soldiers rushed forward and surrounded Wu Tao and the queen. Wu Tao fought hard, but two fists were no match for four hands, and he was eventually subdued by the soldiers and tied up.

"Let me go! You bunch of traitors!" The queen struggled desperately, but to no avail.

The Prime Minister walked up to the Queen, looked down at her, and sneered, "Queen, the winners are the kings and the losers are the bandits. This has been the case since ancient times. It's all your fault. Now, what else do you have to say?"

The queen gritted her teeth, glared at the prime minister, and said word by word: "You will not succeed. One day, you will pay the price for what you have done!"

The prime minister smiled indifferently, waved his hand, and signaled the soldiers to take the queen and Wu Tao away. At this moment, a soldier ran in in a panic, knelt down in front of the prime minister, and said urgently: "Prime Minister, it's bad, Prince Hu...he's gone!"

The prime minister's face changed and he asked sternly: "What did you say?!"

 Chapter 199: Failure at the Last Moment

Upon hearing this, the prime minister's face suddenly turned livid. He had never thought that at this time, Hu Bugui could still escape right under his nose! In a rage, he grabbed the soldier who came to report and asked sternly, "When did this happen? Where did he go?!"

The soldier was so frightened by the Prime Minister's power that he trembled and stammered, "Reply...Reporting to the Prime Minister, about half an hour ago, I found that Prince Hu was missing. The door of the cell was opened from the outside, and the guards were gone..."

"Useless! All of them are useless!" The prime minister threw the soldier to the ground and paced back and forth in a rage. Hu Bugui was a skilled martial artist and a wise man. Now that he had escaped from the prison, it was like letting a tiger go back to the mountains, which would cause endless troubles!

At this moment, deep in the dark and damp prison, Hu Bugui covered his chest with severe pain and gnashed his teeth. He had already heard about the palace coup from the assassins who came to rob the prison. He was extremely anxious and wanted to fly to Wu Tao immediately. However, his injuries had not yet healed, and the prime minister had set up a net around the cell to prevent him from escaping. He finally got rid of the pursuers, but he also knew that his current situation was still very dangerous.

"Taoyao, wait for me..." Hu Bugui looked in the direction of the imperial palace, his eyes full of worry and determination.

Meanwhile, Wu Tao and the Queen were imprisoned by the Prime Minister in the basement of the palace. It was cold and damp, with no sunlight all day long, and the air was filled with a rotten smell. The Queen had fallen ill due to the shock and the harsh environment, lying weakly on a pile of straw, with only a faint breathing sound proving that she was still alive.

Wu Tao held the Queen's hand tightly, her heart filled with self-blame and despair. She had thought that her carefully planned plan was foolproof, but she did not expect that it would fail in the end, and instead pushed herself and the Queen into the abyss. Now, the Prime Minister has controlled the entire palace, and Hu Bugui is nowhere to be found. The fate of the Tang Dynasty seems to have followed this dim basement into an unknown darkness.

"Your Majesty, you must hold on. Hu Bugui will definitely come to save us..." Wu Tao whispered to comfort the queen. However, she knew that this was just deceiving herself.

At this moment, the door of the basement was suddenly opened, and the dazzling sunlight shone in, making Wu Tao and the Queen close their eyes involuntarily.

"Who are you?!" Wu Tao asked vigilantly, but a glimmer of hope rose in her heart. Could it be that Hu Bugui sent people to rescue them?

However, when she saw who it was, she was stunned.

The person standing at the door was not Hu Bugui as she had imagined, but a mysterious man wearing a black cloak and a hat, whose face could not be seen clearly.

"You two, follow me, someone wants to see you." The mysterious man said in a low voice, with unquestionable majesty in his tone.

Wu Tao and the Queen looked at each other, their hearts full of doubts. Who is this mysterious man? Why did he save them? What will be waiting for them?