Seeing that Ji Chao guessed what he was thinking right away, the middle-aged man simply went straight to the point and immediately bowed to the front.

"The master's big problem is Ji Gen."

This middle-aged man's name is Zheng Sheng, and he is a native of Zheng. Not only that, his family is also a branch of the Zheng family.

If the State of Zheng still existed now, Zheng Sheng would have become a doctor in the State of Zheng and lived a life without worrying about his future livelihood.

Unfortunately, all this is destined to be impossible to achieve.

In the first year of King Lie of Zhou, that is, 375 BC, the Korean army invaded the capital of Zheng. Zheng, a country once known as the "little tyrant of the Spring and Autumn Period", finally disappeared in the long river of history.

After the fall of the Zheng Kingdom, Zheng Sheng, a member of the public clan, left his hometown that had become the territory of Korea.

By chance, Zheng Sheng came to the Western Zhou Kingdom and became the teacher of Ji Chao, the eldest son of Ji Zao, the Duke of Western Zhou Dynasty.

During the few years he lived in the Western Zhou Kingdom, in addition to teaching Ji Chao, Zheng Sheng also had a clear view of the situation above the court.

Over the years, as the Duke of Western Zhou became increasingly weak, people in the court were in a state of flux, and almost everyone was making plans for their future in advance.

Under this situation, who can ultimately inherit the throne of the Western Zhou Dynasty has become the most concerned matter for these Western Zhou courtiers.

Among Ji Zao's rather small number of heirs, there are two who are most promising to become the next generation of Dukes of Western Zhou.

One is the young master Ji Chao who is standing in front of Zheng Sheng at this moment; the second is the youngest son Ji Gen who is most loved by the Duke of Western Zhou Jizao.

According to the patriarchal system of the Zhou Dynasty, Ji Chao, who is the legitimate son of Ji Zao and the oldest, should be the most qualified person to inherit the position of Duke of Western Zhou Dynasty.

But if all the princes strictly abide by the patriarchal system of the Zhou Dynasty, then there will not be so many human tragedies in the world.

What is even a bit ridiculous is that even the Emperor of Zhou, who is regarded as the most powerful person in the world, has broken the system created by Zhou Gong more than once.

Out of his love for Ji Gen, Ji Zao gave him many powers that should not belong to him, and he even wanted to pass on the title of Duke of Western Zhou to his most beloved son.

If Ji Zao can live longer, maybe he can really help Ji Gen to become the Duke of Western Zhou.

It's a pity that he died too early. Although Ji Gen held a lot of power at this time, it was not enough to have an advantage over the eldest son Ji Chao.

It is conceivable that a tragedy involving brothers fighting against each other was about to happen in this small country of the Western Zhou Dynasty.

Zheng Sheng's eyes were silently staring at Ji Chao in front of him. He watched the expression on the other person's face change from sadness to calmness, and then from calmness to indifference.

When a hint of determination appeared in Ji Chao's eyes, a cold voice appeared in Zheng Sheng's ears.

"Sir, what do you think I should do at this moment?"

Hearing Ji Chao's question, Zheng Sheng pondered for a moment and then directly said what he was thinking.

"The first thing you should do is to block the news. Once the news of your death is known to Ji Gen, the consequences will be disastrous."

"At this critical moment, the Young Master should immediately order the guards in the palace to strengthen their vigilance, strictly guard the important roads, and not allow anyone to enter or exit."

Listening to the solemn words in his ears, Ji Chao nodded solemnly.

"Sir, what you said is absolutely true." After a deep reply, Ji Chao looked at Zheng Sheng in front of him again, "Sir, what should I do next?"

"Relying on the king's favor, Ji Gen has been fighting with the young master. It can be said that he has become the biggest obstacle to the young master's succession to the throne."

"In order to remove this biggest obstacle and avoid greater disasters, I think the young master is not as good as..."

Zheng Sheng suddenly stopped talking in the middle of his words. A murderous intent flashed through his eyes, and his right hand made a knife gesture.

Zheng Sheng's meaning was already obvious. He just wanted Ji Chao to take action in advance before his younger brother Ji Gen could react to nip any potential dangers in the future in the bud.

Seeing that gesture in his eyes, Ji Chao did not give an answer immediately, but slowly closed his eyes.

At this moment, many scenes emerged in Ji Chao's mind, including scenes of playing with his younger brother Ji Gen when he was a child, and scenes of the two gradually becoming estranged as they grew up.

A look of struggle appeared on Ji Chao's face and then quickly disappeared. When he opened his eyes after a long time, there was only a look of indifference in his eyes.

Power is really a magical thing. In order to obtain it, some people are willing to give up a lot of things. In order to have it, even blood relatives will inevitably go to war with each other.

His eyes slowly fell on Zheng Sheng in front of him, and he heard Ji Chao say without a trace of emotion: "This matter will be left to your discretion."

"I obey the order."

…

Soon after, Miyagi, which was already filled with tension due to Ji Zao's serious illness, was directly blocked by groups of soldiers wearing tough armor.

These soldiers tightly guarded all the important roads in the palace city. Not even a bird could fly out of the palace city, let alone the palace people.

Just as these soldiers surrounded Miyagi, another group of soldiers passed through the empty streets and appeared in front of Jigen's mansion.

"Surround this place for me and no one can escape."

"Here."

Following the order from the leader Zheng Sheng, the soldiers who followed immediately took action. Suddenly, waves of messy footsteps appeared outside the mansion.

Hearing that his mansion was surrounded by soldiers outside, a middle-aged man dressed as a retainer slowly walked out of the mansion door.

He looked at the soldiers around him who were already in prepared formation, and then at Zheng Sheng, who was clearly coming from an unkind person, but there was no trace of panic on this retainer's face.

Slowly arriving in front of Zheng Sheng, the retainer bowed lightly, then straightened his back and said in a deep voice, "Do you know whose mansion this is?"

"Of course I know that the owner of this mansion is Young Master Ji Gen." Faced with the middle-aged man's question, Zheng Sheng replied expressionlessly.

"Now that you know it is my young master's residence, you still dare to do this. Are you not afraid of your Majesty..."

As soon as the retainer finished speaking, a look of pain appeared on his face, and there was a hint of happiness hidden in the pain.

After a few breaths, with a loud "bang" sound, the retainer fell heavily to the ground and lost his life.

He gently took a step forward and pulled out his sharp sword from the retainer's body. A hint of disdain appeared in Zheng Sheng's eyes.

After a moment, Zheng Sheng moved his gaze from the retainer to the mansion in front, and a cold and stern look slowly appeared in Zheng Sheng's eyes.

The long sword stained with blood pointed forward, and drops of red blood dripped on the ground. Zheng Sheng spat out a sentence coldly.

"Come in and leave no one behind."

With an order, a killing spree began.
Chapter completed!