Chapter 53: Slay Zhang Liang's Father!

Finally!

Under Zhang Ping's influence, many Han soldiers who did not wish to surrender remained, guarding Zhang Ping's left and right.

Of the tens of thousands of Han troops remaining, fewer than five hundred stayed behind.

"A nation's downfall is not always due to a lack of loyalty and righteousness."

Zhang Ping glanced around, sighing inwardly.

But looking at the surrounding Han soldiers, a sense of solace filled his heart.

At least there were these hundreds of loyal and righteous men.

Time passed gradually.

By dawn, the sun had quietly risen.

The Han Capital had endured a day and a night of intense battle; countless corpses lay inside and outside the city, and the scent of blood shrouded the entire capital.

And here, in the inner city where Zhang Ping was located, thousands of Qin soldiers had already appeared. Every single one of these Qin soldiers was stained with blood; one could imagine the countless Han soldiers who had died at their hands.

Looking at the Han defensive lines before them, the Qin soldiers did not attack immediately, but their eyes were filled with killing intent, staring fixedly at the Han troops as if they were mere prey.

However, since the generals standing at the very front did not speak or strike, the soldiers could only restrain themselves.

"State your name, Qin General!"

Facing these thousands of Qin soldiers radiating killing intent, Zhang Ping did not panic, but instead shouted with great composure.

"Qin Commandant, Zhao Feng," Zhao Feng replied coldly, gripping his sword.

"Cao Yi died at your hands?"

Zhang Ping's gaze flickered, and he immediately spotted the severed head hanging from Zhao Feng's waist.

That was precisely the new Grand General of Great Han!

"I do not know his name. It seems he held quite some weight in your Han state."

"However, I have killed men with even more weight than him."

"Baoyuan also died at my hands," Zhao Feng said very plainly.

Hearing this, even Zhang Ping, who had long been prepared to die, was stunned.

The death of Baoyuan—the last capable general of the Han state. His previous stratagem of a surprise attack had almost succeeded.

"It was you!"

Zhang Ping's eyes widened, looking at Zhao Feng in disbelief.

"It was I," Zhao Feng replied calmly.

"Good, good, very good!"

"At least before this Prime Minister dies, I can know who killed the Grand General."

"It was worth it," Zhang Ping murmured.

Then, he strode forward.

Gripping his longsword tightly, he stared at Zhao Feng and bellowed, "Zhang Ping, Prime Minister of Great Han, is here! Do you dare to fight this Prime Minister, you thief!"

Zhao Feng said nothing. He simply raised his sword and walked straight toward Zhang Ping.

"Kill!"

Zhang Ping let out a great roar and thrust his sword toward Zhao Feng.

However, as a civil official, though he had learned some martial arts, he was no match for Zhao Feng.

Zhao Feng merely stepped aside and gave a casual thrust with his Longquan sword.

With a *puchi* sound, the blade pierced directly through Zhang Ping's heart.

"Though you are a civil official, once you take up a weapon, you are a soldier, and all soldiers are enemies."

"To exist with the nation is to perish with the nation."

"I also respect your loyalty and righteousness," Zhao Feng said in a deep voice.

Zhang Ping's mouth hung slightly open. Using his last ounce of strength, he shouted loudly, "Zhang Ping, of the Zhang family, owes nothing to Great Han!"

Zhao Feng said nothing more. He pulled out the Longquan sword.

Zhang Ping's body collapsed lifelessly to the ground.

[Killed Han Prime Minister Zhang Ping. Obtained 10 points in all attributes. Obtained one Tier-1 Treasure Chest.] A prompt appeared on the panel.

"Rest in peace, Prime Minister."

"Your subordinate shall follow you immediately!"

"Prime Minister, wait for me!"

"I am coming..."

Seeing Zhang Ping fall in battle, the Han soldiers who had stayed by his side to live and die with him roared, brandishing their weapons as they charged toward Zhao Feng.

In any era, every nation will have its loyal and righteous men, those willing to sacrifice their lives.

To exist with the nation, to perish with the nation.

Perhaps this was the pure heart that protects a country.

"Kill!"

Zhang Han and Wei Quan shouted simultaneously, leading their elite soldiers to charge at the Han troops.

"If I were in the same position as Zhang Ping and these Han soldiers, perhaps I too would sacrifice my life."

"To defend one's home and country against a powerful invader is what a man should do."

"But ultimately, I am standing in the territory of another nation, slaughtering another nation's army. Perhaps this is the inevitable course of history, but it is different from what I once imagined."

"In this era, human life is like grass!"

"In the end, I have been completely pulled into the great momentum of Qin's unification."

"Perhaps before, I still held the heart of a commoner and had not truly integrated into this era. Only now have I truly merged. Wang Yan was right; to ensure there is no more war in the world, one must sweep across the heavens and leave no other states standing. Only then will our Huaxia people stop killing one another."

"But once Qin Shi Huang dies, the world will fall apart again, and the same people will still kill each other..."

Knowing history, perhaps this was the absolute trend of history that would occur.

Zhao Feng naturally knew all of this would happen.

Qin would destroy the six states and rule the Divine Land.

The first emperor in all of history would appear.

It seemed the great momentum was achieved, and the Qin generals would create an eternal legacy, yet the nation's destiny would only last for two generations.

When the First Emperor passed, the world would fracture.

"Qin Shi Huang's unification of the world was the key to the unification of every subsequent era of our Huaxia. This is inevitable."

"It is a spirit that binds the ethnic group together."

"If the day truly comes when the end of Qin arrives, when Qin Shi Huang truly passes away, and that incompetent man Hu Hai succeeds him..."

"Then the one who reunifies the world will definitely not be Liu Bang, nor will it be Xiang Yu, but I, Zhao Feng."

"When Qin falls in the future, I, Zhao Feng, shall be the second person after Qin Shi Huang to unify the world."

Amidst the surrounding slaughter and chaos, Zhao Feng stood still. After a long time, he seemed to have reached complete enlightenment.

[Host has gained the Heart of an Emperor. Sub-panel for vassal forces can now be opened!!]

[Requirement: Recruit subordinates.]

Just as Zhao Feng reached his conclusion, a prompt suddenly appeared on the panel.

"It seems," Zhao Feng smiled inwardly, filled with anticipation, "that I have truly chosen the right path. I wonder what use the vassal force sub-panel will be."

At that moment!

"Reporting to the Commandant, the Han troops here have been completely wiped out!" Zhang Han ran over to report, his face filled with excitement.

There were only a few hundred Han soldiers here. Facing the fierce combat strength of the Qin elite and the absolute numerical advantage of the Qin troops, these Han soldiers naturally had little power to resist; it was no difficult task to annihilate them so quickly.

"Advance steadily toward the Royal Palace."

"The Han army still has troops; they will not be resolved so easily," Zhao Feng said.

"Understood." Zhang Han immediately took his orders and withdrew.

Zhao Feng looked at Zhang Ping's corpse before him.

He suddenly thought of a historical record.

"Zhang Ping, son of Zhang Kaidi, father of Zhang Liang."

"I have directly killed the father of the historical Sage of Strategy, Zhang Liang."

"This is a great grudge, a blood feud of a son killing his father."

"Zhang Liang will hate me to the bone in the future," Zhao Feng thought with a sense of emotion.

The Sage of Strategy, Zhang Liang.

The capable man who assisted Liu Bang in founding the dynasty—how could Zhao Feng not know him!