But just then, the darkness was suddenly torn apart, and two figures rushed in together.

"Father!"

"His Majesty!"

The two of them were the Second Prince Zhu Yunfeng and the Prince of Dongxiang Gao Fan, who had returned midway after noticing the commotion that had occurred here!

Seeing Zhu Yunfeng and Gao Fan return, Zhu Chongguang breathed a sigh of relief, feeling safe.

But the next moment, Zhu Yunfeng, who had just arrived at Zhu Chongguang's side, suddenly thrust a short sword into Zhu Chongguang's chest, piercing his old but still beating heart!

"Why is this happening... Feng'er..."

Zhu Chongguang looked at Zhu Yunfeng in disbelief, a look of resentment on his face.

“Father, you are old and no longer able to manage the Hongtian Empire. Haven’t you noticed that the Hongtian Empire has been declining and decaying for the past seven hundred years?”

"And in the last two or three decades, the Hongtian Empire has declined and decayed at an even faster pace."

"Father, I don't want it to be like this either, but this empire needs to change. It can't continue to decline like this!"

As Zhu Yunfeng finished speaking, he flipped his wrist, and the spinning short sword shattered Zhu Chongguang's heart!

Zhu Chongguang coughed up blood and finally collapsed to the ground, turning into a corpse.

"Congratulations, Your Highness!"

Gao Fan knelt down on one knee and spoke respectfully to Zhu Yunfeng, whose hands were stained with blood.

Before Zhu Yunfeng could speak, the mysterious man said, "Your Excellency the Prince of Dongxiang, you should address him as His Majesty."

Zhu Yunfeng shook his head and said coldly, "I have not yet ascended the throne, so I cannot call myself emperor. Uncle Gao Fan, you can continue to call me Your Highness... As for you, disappear from my sight immediately!"

Zhu Yunfeng looked at the mysterious man with a cold gaze and a strong sense of disgust on his face.

"Your Highness is truly a master at discarding those who have served their purpose," the mysterious man said with a sneer.

"I'll say it one last time: get out of my sight!"

As soon as Zhu Yunfeng finished speaking, he pointed the short sword in his hand at the mysterious man. A burst of true energy gushed out from the blade of the short sword, forming a sky-blue blade that pointed at the mysterious man's throat.

"As you wish, Your Highness."

The mysterious voice faded into darkness and gradually disappeared.

As soon as the mysterious man left, Zhu Yunfeng said to Gao Fan, "Uncle Gao Fan, let's proceed to the next step."

"yes!"

Gao Fan nodded emphatically, his face showing excitement.

Ye Feng had just woken up when he received a message from Zi Jing: the peace talks had failed!

The Hongtian Empire has rebelled!

"Tell me slowly, what exactly happened?" Ye Feng said.

Luo Qing, Luo Lin, Chen He, Jiang Wei, Xu Ping'an, Gongbu Qiuye, and Miss Yikeshier of the Sea Spirit Clan all looked at Zijing, and even Li Xuanming stared intently at the little girl.

Zijing quickly said, "This is what happened. Last night, in Dongming City, the eastern border of the Hongtian Empire, Emperor Zhu Chongguang was suddenly attacked by a mysterious assassin and died."

"After His Majesty the Emperor's death, the Second Prince Zhu Yunfeng concentrated military power in his own hands and claimed that the mysterious assassin who killed Zhu Chongguang was..."

Rowling asked impatiently, "Were they sent by the Divine Sword Empire?"

"No, it was sent by Zhu Yunren, the eldest prince of the Hongtian Empire. His Majesty Emperor Zhu Chongguang died at the hands of the eldest prince Zhu Yunren!"

Zijing's words caused Luo Lin and Luo Qing's expressions to change drastically.

Xu Pingan, Chen He, and Jiang Wei all looked bewildered.

Night Breeze nodded, as if he had figured something out.

“Strange, why did it turn out like this? I wouldn’t find it incomprehensible if Zhu Chongguang had died at the hands of the Divine Sword Empire, but why would Zhu Yunren…” Luo Lin said to herself.

"We don't know the truth yet. After all, the mysterious assassin was sent by Zhu Yunren. This is just what the Second Prince Zhu Yunfeng said. Whether it is true or not is still unknown," Ye Feng said.

Rowling then asked, "Why did the Second Prince do that?"

"Isn't the answer obvious? The turmoil of a hundred years ago is about to repeat itself," Ye Feng said.

The internal strife in the Hongtian Empire a hundred years ago was a struggle for the throne.

Two princes launched a massive civil war that swept across the entire country over the throne of the Hongtian Empire.

It was that battle that caused widespread suffering within the Hongtian Empire, further exacerbating the already dire situation of the empire, bringing it one step closer to complete demise.

Now, another new and similar upheaval is about to occur, and it seems that the Hongtian Empire is finally coming to an end after seven hundred years.

"Regardless of whether Zhu Chongguang died at the hands of the Second Prince or the First Prince, a large-scale war is definitely coming," Ye Feng said.

“Yes, everything you said was right, Ancestor,” Luo Qing agreed.

Night Wind laughed and said, "What we need to do now is to take this opportunity to subdue the entire Southern Territory in one fell swoop and take back all the territory of the Southern Territory into our hands!"

"Should we declare war on the other cities in the Southern Territory?" Rowling asked.

“No, we don’t need to declare war, because the city lords in the southern border will join forces and declare war on us,” Nightwind said with a smile.

The eastern border of the Hongtian Empire has rebelled, and the entire eastern border has been torn apart from the Hongtian Empire. Now, the Hongtian Empire only has the southern, western, and northern borders.

The western border belongs to Ouyang Ming, the King of Xichen.

The northern border belongs to Jiang Yuye, the King of Northern Cold.

The southern border was divided into individual cities, without a single commander holding real power.

At this very moment, deep within the imperial palace of the Hongtian Empire's capital.

The eldest prince, Zhu Yunren, was pale, and his hand holding the secret report was trembling slightly.

"Your Highness, the Second Prince has led an army of 300,000 men from the Eastern Territory to declare independence, and the entire Eastern Territory has rebelled."

"Moreover, the Eastern Army has already begun attacking the Northern and Western Borders. This cannot continue."

Jiang Yuye frowned as she spoke, while Prince Ouyang Ming of Xichen was also watching the eldest prince, Zhu Yunren.

Zhu Yunren said, "I never expected my younger brother to actually... Sigh, things have actually developed to this point, it's really absurd."

“Your Highness, now is not the time for sentimentality,” Jiang Yuye said.

Zhu Yunren looked at Jiang Yuye and asked, "Prince of Beihan, what do you think we should do?"

"Immediately assemble the army and launch a counterattack on the eastern border!" Jiang Yuye said without hesitation.

Thus, the civil war broke out in the Hongtian Empire.

Six hundred thousand troops from the North and West clashed with three hundred thousand troops from the East, beginning a fierce war.

Although they have a numerical advantage, the battle lines are too far apart, especially the supplies in the western border are not keeping up, so the two sides have reached a stalemate.

In Honghu City, City Lord Li Honggang looked at the secret letter in his hand, his face filled with intense anger.