A thousand-year-old family begins with one fighting against ten thousand.

When he left the Tang Dynasty, it was during the Wude era, and the emperor at that time was still Li Yuan. His nephew was just a nobody.

Li Shimin has been on the throne for more than a decade now, and his nephew has grown into a handsome young man. He has even become a student of the Prince of Yan's heir. It is said that his sister has given birth to several more princes and princesses for Li Shimin. He has not yet met any of these nephews and nieces.

Should he prepare some gifts?

What are some of the local specialties of Daxia?

Diamonds—he remembered that Xia Jie's treasure trove contained several enormous diamonds, dazzling in their brilliance, incredibly hard, and indestructible.

It would make a pretty good gift.

I've decided on you.

After we destroy Xia Jie, we'll take these diamonds from Xia Jie's treasury.

However, diamonds alone seem insufficient; having missed out on birthday gifts for so many years, it's only natural that they need to make up for it.

Once we get back, we need to thoroughly investigate what other treasures Xia Jie has in his treasury.

We need to find a way to empty Xia Jie's treasure trove.

Xia Jie was unaware that someone was already eyeing his treasure trove. He was currently preparing his army, using the pretext of receiving an imperial edict from the young emperor to raise an army to defend the king.

Beijing.

After receiving the information that Xia Jie had sent troops, Zhai Hong's expression changed. How could it be such a coincidence? They had only just begun to excavate the Great Xia's treasure trove when Xia Jie attacked.

He didn't believe in such a coincidence and immediately suspected that the news had been leaked.

"Who is it?"

Zhai Hong angrily said that if he were given another two years, he could dig up a few more treasure troves and raise another million-strong army. He wouldn't be afraid of fighting on two fronts.

However, he has not yet fully integrated the Great Xia Treasury into his strength. If war breaks out at this time, it will definitely affect his development of the Treasury.

The most urgent task now is to find out where the information was leaked from. Anyone who knows this information is his absolute confidant. Those executors are trapped there and there is no possibility of the information being leaked out.

There is a traitor among his confidants!

As expected of the Great Xia Dynasty, it has nurtured scholars for hundreds of years and possesses profound cultural heritage.

"Who could it be?"

Zhai Hong went through the names of everyone who knew about this in his mind, but still couldn't figure out who it was.

These people's interests are completely tied to his; they are either his blood relatives or have a lot of blood on their hands from the Great Xia royal family.

Whoever is defeated will not have a good ending.

"Could it be him?"

Zhai Hong finally focused his gaze on one person: Xia Feng, a member of a collateral branch of the Xia family. He had never enjoyed any royal treatment since childhood and instead suffered a lot of bullying. After the young emperor died, he sought refuge with Zhai Hong and became his quickest tool to deal with the stubborn elements in the Xia royal family.

This guy is more efficient at killing his own family members than anyone else.

Was all of this done on purpose? Just to infiltrate his inner circle, become his confidant, and be the sharpest knife to stab him in the back?!

But the price is too high!

Ninety to one hundred members of the royal family died at his hands, and even more were executed on his orders.

It was precisely for this reason that Xia Feng was able to gain his trust by virtue of his status as a member of the Great Xia royal family.

If this is really an act, then this person is terrifying.

But apart from him, it's even less likely that anyone else could do it.

"Someone, go and find out what Xia Feng has been doing these past few days? Who has he been in contact with?"

Zhai Hong still planned to check on Xia Feng to see if he had shown any unusual behavior recently.

"Furthermore, we should contact the Tang Dynasty and invite them to march south together to jointly divide Xia Jie's territory."

The people Zhai Hong sent to investigate Xia Feng were discovered by Xia Feng immediately.

Over the years, his hands have been stained with the blood of countless members of his own clan. Countless members of the Great Xia royal family and loyal ministers wished they could drink his blood and eat his flesh, and attacks against him were as common as everyday meals.

It happens every few days, if not every day.

This forged Xia Feng's extremely strong counter-surveillance capabilities.

The people Zhai Hong sent to investigate Xia Feng were all outstanding individuals, but they were still slightly inferior to Xia Feng, who had survived various assassination attempts.

Xia Feng initially thought this was another loyal minister trying to assassinate him, a traitor to the Great Xia, and didn't pay much attention.

But he soon realized something was wrong; this force seemed to be investigating him, and the way they were investigating was through Zhai Hong's people!

Xia Feng's expression shifted, his mood unpredictable. What was Zhai Hong investigating him for?

He recently heard that Zhai Hong was mobilizing troops, seemingly inviting the Tang Dynasty to march south together.

Does this mean that Zhai Hong still doesn't trust him?

Were they afraid that during Zhai Hong's southward campaign to wipe out the last military force of the Great Xia, he might secretly collude with Xia Jie?

What a ridiculous excuse.

He has so much blood on his hands from people with the surname Xia. Just because he has the surname Xia, does that mean he can't be trusted?

How ironic!

Xia Feng looked at his hands, stained with the blood of his kin, and gave a self-deprecating laugh. At this moment, he was utterly despondent.

"Perhaps this is karma."

"I was only after revenge."

"But it's too late for me to turn back."

"Perhaps this is my destiny, to be betrayed throughout my life."

"Are you just going to give up already?"

Suddenly a voice rang out, setting off alarm bells in Xia Feng's mind.

He didn't even notice someone approaching him, even though he was completely focused on his own thoughts!

Who exactly is this person?!

Xia Feng noticed a figure standing in the shadows by the wall. The figure's eyes looked familiar; he must know someone.

Except for their eyes, everything was covered by a black cloth.

"Are you just going to give up already?"

The mysterious figure repeated itself.

"Who are you? What do you mean by that?"

Xia Feng asked, his hand unconsciously going to his waist. He was frequently targeted for assassination and never parted with his knife.

"Does it matter who I am? What matters is that even if you put in so much effort, you still can't gain Zhai Hong's approval."

"Don't you feel hatred in your heart?"

How could Xia Feng not hate? But what could he do even if he hated?

His reputation is now ruined. Even under Zhai Hong's control, he is a lone minister, and no one wants to associate with a demon who slaughtered their own family.

He could only cling tightly to Zhai Hong's legs, surviving on Zhai Hong's charity.

"What if I gave you a chance to prove your innocence?"

"How about enduring hardship and biding your time?"

Xia Feng's pupils contracted. "What do you mean by that?"