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

"Naturally, it's about abandoning darkness for light and restoring order."

The mysterious man said in a calm tone.

Xia Feng roared, "Shut up! My loyalty to the Prime Minister is as clear as day and night; how dare you spout such nonsense!"

After Xia Feng finished speaking, he raised his weapon and was about to attack the mysterious man.

"then."

The mysterious man tossed something to Xia Feng, who instinctively caught it, his pupils constricting.

Although he was only from a collateral branch of the Xia family, his branch actually had a very impressive background.

It was one of the hidden branches personally selected by Emperor Xianzong of the Xia Dynasty.

When Emperor Gaozu raised an army and established the Great Xia Dynasty, he set up the Great Xia Treasury. Emperor Xianzong, who revived the Great Xia Dynasty, was not to be outdone. He selected several branches from his own bloodline as the hidden branches of the Great Xia Dynasty.

The purpose was to ensure that if the Great Xia Dynasty were to truly fall and an unreasonable emperor were to be encountered who insisted on exterminating the entire clan of the previous dynasty and slaughtering the entire Great Xia royal family, these hidden branches would prevent the Xia family from losing its lineage and bloodline.

Some of these hidden branches have changed their names, while others still retain the surname Xia, but they have no connection with the royal family.

However, there are still a few branches that retain their royal status, but they are considered branches and are not highly regarded.

If the Great Xia Dynasty were to experience a revival in the future, these forces would be the trump cards in the hands of the emperor who would restore the dynasty, and could have a significant impact on the revival of the Great Xia Dynasty at crucial moments.

Moreover, Emperor Xianzong left behind several tokens, which were divided in two. One half was kept by the emperor's lineage, while the other half was kept by the various hidden branches.

On one hand, there was the boundless bloodshed he had committed; on the other hand, there was the belief passed down from generation to generation by his ancestors. He didn't care about his ancestors, but he cared about his father. Before his death, his father had instructed him to uphold the mission of their lineage.

Seeing Xia Feng begin to struggle, the mysterious man continued, "Zhai Hong already suspects you, doesn't he? If he finds out about the Hidden Branch, do you think Zhai Hong will spare you at this crucial moment?"

Xia Feng's face darkened; this was a threat.

If he didn't do as the other party said, they would reveal his identity to Zhai Hong, and given Zhai Hong's suspicious nature, he would have no chance of survival.

Unless we leave this person here, but the other party is clearly an organization, and there are definitely more than just this one person who knows his identity.

At that point, things will really come to a head.

"To the Great Xia royal family, you are an outright traitor and executioner; to Zhai Hong, you are a remnant of the previous dynasty and a great threat."

"Your fate is almost sealed; you're headed for death."

"Unless you abandon darkness and embrace the light, and have the endorsement of Emperor Xianzong, your sins can be covered up, or at least your descendants will not be implicated."

"Your child is an adult now, right? You wouldn't want him to be looked down upon because of you, would you?"

"Imagine your future child walking down the street, being pointed at and gossiped about everywhere, labeled as the son of an ungrateful wretch, a child-chopping off hand, an unfaithful, unfilial, heartless, and unjust person?!"

"Do you really want to see that happen?"

Xia Feng remained silent for a moment, moved by the mysterious man's final words.

"In his heart, his father used to be a hero!"

Xia Feng shuddered and slowly closed his eyes.

Once again, he stood at a crossroads in his life.

Last time, he chose to take up the butcher's knife and turn it against those so-called kin.

This time, he also chose to take up the butcher's knife, only this time it was aimed at his current lord, Zhai Hong.

Having offspring creates a weakness, and with a weakness, he loses control when making decisions.

"I promise you, I don't care what fate befalls me, but please, for the sake of Emperor Xianzong, spare my children."

"it is good."

The mysterious man nodded. "I will take away your young son whom you have been hiding and let him live the life of a wealthy man."

Xia Feng nodded helplessly. This was both a guarantee for him, ensuring his unwavering loyalty, and a hostage to prevent him from turning against him.

The youngest son resembled him greatly and was his favorite.

"Who exactly are you?"

Xia Feng asked.

"You don't need to know who I am."

The mysterious man reiterated the same statement.

"What do you need me to do?"

Xia Feng continued to ask.

"Clear your name, and then survive."

"I will help you."

Help him?!

He is now being watched by people personally sent by Zhai Hong, and the people who can help him are definitely Zhai Hong's confidants on the surface.

Who is it?

Xia Feng racked his brains but still couldn't find anyone to suspect.

None of Zhai Hong's trusted confidants could make eye contact with the person opposite them.

"it is good."

Xia Feng nodded helplessly; he was now at the mercy of others.

After the mysterious man left, Xia Feng's eldest son also sensed something was wrong and came to find Xia Feng.

Xia Feng didn't say much, and just made up an excuse to send his son away.

Watching his son's departing figure, Xia Feng suddenly stood up and stared intently at his son.

Then he stood there laughing hysterically, "Hahahahahahahahahaha!"

He remembered; he remembered where he had seen those eyes before.

Okay, very good, excellent.

Zhai Hong, you've finally met your match?!

I never expected it! The identity of that mysterious person was actually...

"Heh, Zhai Hong, you've become so ungrateful. Well then, I, Xia Feng, will be waiting for you in hell."

"Hehehe!"

He was a fanatical person by nature; otherwise, he wouldn't have personally slaughtered so many people who were nominally his own kind.

Now, having been betrayed and investigated by Zhai Hong for no reason, they naturally quickly veered to the other extreme.

……

Looking towards Kuncheng, at Li Jing's residence.

Li Jing held the letter that Zhai Hong had sent over, his face beaming with smiles.

"You see, both Xia Jie and Zhai Hong are asking us to join forces against the other side."

"Our invading enemies have actually become a hot commodity, tsk tsk tsk, how interesting."

"Hahahaha, how could this Great Xia Dynasty not perish?"

Cheng Yaojin also laughed and said, "The country is in such a state, how can it not perish? What justice is there?"

"Do you think we could use this alliance meeting as an excuse to make our way to the capital of Great Xia?"

Cheng Yaojin came up with a wild idea.

"How could that be? Zhai Hong isn't stupid. He clearly wrote in his letter that he invited us to send troops south to jointly attack Xia Jie, but he didn't mention a single word about us joining up with them."

"This old guy is wary of us too; he's afraid we'll just wipe him out."

Li Jing chuckled and said that being able to personally lead troops to destroy an empire, even if that empire was not in its glorious period, was still a great honor for a general.

The last person to achieve this level was Xiang Yu, and he will become the second, his name etched in history. He will surely be enshrined in the Temple of Martial Arts for this achievement, sharing in the sacrificial offerings with the sages of military strategy.

A military strategist who achieves this level can have no regrets in this life.