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

While Zhai Hong was still dealing with the assassination attempt on the young emperor, news suddenly came that the matter had spread throughout the entire Great Xia Dynasty.

Xia Jie, in particular, launched a vigorous attack under the name of Zhai Hong, who had murdered the emperor, and his morale was high.

On the other hand, the morale of the Great Xia court was low, and the soldiers had no will to fight.

This is the disadvantage of Zhai Hong always acting in the name of the imperial court. The advantage is that he always has a sense of righteousness, and his campaigns in the south and north are all justified, which can boost morale.

However, if problems arise on the emperor's side, it will backfire, causing morale to collapse.

"Damn it, how did the news get out?!"

Zhai Hong said angrily, his face dark and his fists clenched tightly.

"Announce to the entire army that His Majesty was assassinated by Xia Jie's men. We must eliminate the traitor and avenge His Majesty!"

"In addition, the entire army is to wear mourning clothes and observe mourning for His Majesty."

Zhai Hong wanted to pin the blame directly on Xia Jie, and by sheer luck, he actually found the real culprit: it was indeed Xia Jie who had sent people to do it.

"Report! Your Excellency, something terrible has happened!"

Suddenly another messenger came and shouted from afar that something bad had happened to the Prime Minister.

"The truth is good!"

Zhai Hong said irritably.

"Your Excellency, the Tang army has declared war on us!"

The messenger spoke quickly.

"What?!"

Upon hearing this, Zhai Hong's expression changed drastically. "What exactly happened?"

"The Tang army used the prime minister's murder of the emperor as a pretext, accusing the subject of killing the emperor, which is a heinous crime. The Great Tang is the Divine Empire, and it is only right to quell the rebellion and uphold the law."

"The messenger said."

"Damn it!"

"Xia Jie wants to attack us, and the Tang Dynasty wants to join in the fun!"

"Oh no, the capital!"

Zhai Hong's expression changed drastically. After confirming that Xia Jie had gone south, he had transferred most of his troops there.

The number of troops left to garrison the capital is not large, and there are many unstable factors in the city. If the young emperor is assassinated and dies, these people will definitely jump out.

Zhai Zhi alone is absolutely not enough to defend the capital.

That's his stronghold; it absolutely cannot be lost.

"Ziyuan, I'm leaving this place to you. I'm going to lead an army of 50 back to the capital to stabilize the situation."

Zhai Hong looked at his deputy generals Liu Ze and Liu Ziyuan and said.

"Yes, Prime Minister."

Liu Ze bowed to Zhai Hong and said, "With this subordinate here, we will never let that false emperor cross the city wall."

Zhai Hong nodded. Liu Ze was good at defense. He left Liu Ze with an army of 150 million, which was not enough to achieve great things, but it was enough to protect himself.

"Remember, our troops are in low spirits. We must hold our ground and not launch a rash attack."

"If you can hold the line, you'll be the one who deserves the most credit."

Zhai Hong gave instructions.

"promise!"

After giving his orders, Zhai Hong handed over the command to Liu Ze and then quickly led his 50-strong army back to the capital.

"Go and have Zhai Zhi come to see me."

Upon returning to the capital, Zhai Hong immediately gave the instructions.

Zhai Zhi quickly returned home and went to his study.

"What exactly happened? Didn't I tell you to keep a close eye on Xia Feng? How could he have assassinated His Majesty?!"

As soon as Zhai Zhi entered the study, Zhai Hong began to berate him.

He was usually very well-mannered and would never lose his composure like this, but this incident was far too important, causing him heavy losses and almost causing his great career to collapse.

"Your son is guilty, please punish him, Father."

Zhai Zhi lowered his head, looking guilty.

Seeing his son like this, Zhai Hong's anger subsided somewhat.

"Tell me, what exactly happened?"

Zhai Hong asked in a deep voice.

"Father, after you left with your troops, Xia Feng has been extremely well-behaved, staying in the mansion all day and training on the training ground, without making any unusual moves."

"No one could have imagined that Xia Feng, a member of the royal family, would attempt to assassinate His Majesty."

"Although my son sent people to keep an eye on Xia Feng, Xia Feng is extremely perceptive to being tracked, so they didn't dare to follow him too closely."

"A few days ago was the founding day of the Great Xia Dynasty. According to custom, all the noble sons and imperial relatives in the capital were required to go to the Imperial Ancestral Temple to worship the Emperor Gaozu."

"Although Xia Feng is known as the executioner of the Great Xia royal family, he is still surnamed Xia. It is reasonable for him to participate in the sacrificial ceremony, and no one doubts it."

"After all, Father, we all know that Xia Feng massacred the royal family for two reasons: first, to seek revenge, and second, to reassure you that he is not a madman, but rather extremely rational and measured."

Even so, to prevent him from doing anything reckless on this occasion, his son thoroughly searched him before he entered the palace to ensure that he had no weapons on him.

"But who would have thought that the jade belt he wore was actually made entirely of iron plates? Xia Feng, who kills without blinking an eye, could wield a soft sword made of iron plates with ease, which is why he succeeded."

"I've had him locked up and tortured day and night, but he's very stubborn and won't say anything."

Zhai Zhi frowned as he spoke, his tone filled with resentment.

"Come on, take me to see him!"

Zhai Hong said angrily that he trusted Xia Feng so much, but Xia Feng betrayed him.

Zhai Zhi watched Zhai Hong's retreating figure, his eyes filled with struggle.

Eventually, it all turned into peace.

"Why did you betray me? I trusted you so much, promoted you, gave you power, why?"

"You clearly have no way out with Xia Jie. You have so much royal blood on your hands, there's no way he'll accept you!"

"You'll only survive under my command!"

"Killing his lord?!"

"Is there no place in the world that can accommodate you? Even if you don't think about yourself, don't you think about your descendants?"

Zhai Hong asked, puzzled. This was the question that puzzled him the most. He couldn't understand Xia Feng's purpose in doing this.

"trust?"

Hahahahahaha.

Xia Feng suddenly threw his head back and burst into laughter, laughing so hard that tears streamed down his face.

"You're talking to me about trust? If I truly trusted you, then what about the people you sent to watch me?"

"My surname is Xia, and this surname determines that you will never trust me completely, even if my hands are stained with the blood of the Xia people, even if I am the executioner of the Great Xia royal family."

"..."

Zhai Hong hadn't expected that even though he had sent top-notch experts to monitor Xia Feng, Xia Feng still managed to detect it.

"Then why did you murder your ruler? That's a crime punishable by the extermination of nine generations of your family!"

A strange glint flashed in Xia Feng's eyes. "You want to know?"

"Tell me the truth."

Zhai Hong said with an icy gaze.

"Hehe, it won't hurt to tell you."

Xia Feng's tone was weak, and his voice gradually lowered.

"I killed my lord because..."

Xia Feng's voice grew softer and softer until Zhai Hong couldn't hear it no matter how hard he tried.

Zhai Hong unconsciously bent down, took two steps forward, and approached Xia Feng.

A glint flashed in Xia Feng's eyes, and he freed his hands from the ropes, grabbed the torture instruments beside him, and plunged a knife into Zhai Hong's neck.

Fast, accurate, and ruthless!

"Father!"

Zhai Zhi exclaimed in alarm, "Quick, someone come!"

Xia Feng gave Zhai Zhi a deep look, and Zhai Zhi nodded to him without saying a word.

With a look of relief in his eyes, Xia Feng picked up his weapon and plunged it into his own chest, ending his blood-soaked life.