Chapter 747: Death Spy Plan!
Listening to the faint footsteps outside the door, the already drunk Xu Benlei did not think much about it. He just thought it was the sound made by his men outside the door...
He hadn't relaxed for a long time and was in high spirits at the moment. He didn't want anyone to disturb him at all, so he directly pointed the wine glass at the door and shouted loudly under the influence of alcohol:
"You son of a bitch! I told you not to bother me even if the king of heaven comes, get out of here now!"

As soon as Xu Benlei roared, the footsteps outside the door stopped abruptly. Just when Xu Benlei, who was full of complacency, was enjoying the admiring eyes of the two little sisters in his arms, he heard footsteps outside the door again. Seeing this, Xu Benlei was immediately furious, but before he could curse, the door of the room was kicked open.

Then a masked killer in black holding a sharp sword appeared in front of Xu Benlei. Seeing the appearance of this killer, Xu Benlei sobered up immediately. He immediately wanted to open his mouth and shout for help, but the killer in black opposite him took the lead and stabbed the sword in his hand into his chest.

In the blink of an eye, at this critical moment, in order to save his own life, Xu Benlei instinctively pushed Shihua and Shiyun in his arms over. The sisters never expected Xu Benlei to do this, and with two screams, they became the dead under the sword of the black-clad killer.

Although he felt a little distressed, Xu Benlei knew that saving his life was the most important thing at this moment. He ran out of the house while shouting:

"There's an assassin! Come and save me!"

Hearing Xu Benlei’s cry for help, his guards reacted immediately and wanted to rescue him immediately. However, at Xu Benlei’s request, in order not to disturb his interest, these guards were arranged not close to the house. It would take some time to rush over at this time...

Xu Benlei, who was over fifty years old, was already out of breath and his legs felt like lead after running wildly. However, out of fear, he did not dare to stop. He gritted his teeth and ran hard to stay alive. His efforts were rewarded. When he ran through a long corridor, the figure of his guard finally appeared in his sight.

Just when Xu Benlei showed joy on his face and thought he was about to be saved, he heard a loud shout from behind him, and the next second he saw a sharp sword piercing through his chest. Feeling severe pain in his chest and rapid loss of physical strength, Xu Benlei looked at the sword piercing through his chest in disbelief.

Xu Benlei instinctively wanted to say something, but found that he could not say anything. The next second, his eyes went dark and he fell to the ground.

Looking at Xu Benlei being killed in front of them, these guards were undoubtedly furious. As Xu Benlei's guards, their mission was to protect Xu Benlei's safety. Now that Xu Benlei was killed in front of them, naturally they would suffer the consequences.

The black-clad masked killer who threw the sword in his hand saw the sword piercing through his chest and realized that Xu Benlei was doomed to die. He immediately wanted to turn around and run away, but the guards would not let him leave like this, so they immediately chased after him.

After the two sides chased each other in the mansion for a while, the killer in black was trapped in a room. Seeing that there were enemies all around him and there was no hope for him to escape, the killer in black sighed and his face turned cruel. He bit the fangs hidden in his mouth and broke them...

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The next day, the Huainan Governor's Office

The air was filled with the faint bitter smell of medicine. Xu Zhaojie, who looked a little weak, lay on the bed with his eyes slightly closed, with a towel on his forehead. In front of him, Liu Zhaohu reported in a deep voice:

"My Lord, in addition to Lord Xu being killed yesterday, two thousand households and five hundred households of the Qianhu Guard were also assassinated. Among them, the thousand household Xu Bingtao was seriously injured, Sun Shaokang was killed, and three of the five hundred households were killed and two were injured!"

Listening to Liu Zhaohu's report, Xu Zhaojie, who was lying on the bed, suddenly showed a hint of anger on his face. Seeing this, the doctor beside him carefully reminded:
"My Lord, please don't get angry now!"

Listening to the doctor's words and remembering his physical condition, Xu Zhaojie forced himself to suppress his anger. Since being defeated by Ye Mingsheng in the Battle of Hebei and Henan, although Xu Zhaojie led the remnants to escape back to Huainan, this defeat also made Xu Zhaojie, who had a high opinion of himself, depressed. This resentment was held in Xu Zhaojie's heart.

Almost three months had passed since the Battle of Hebei and Henan, and Xu Zhaojie had been holding it in for almost three months. This resentment had caused Xu Zhaojie some internal injuries, so Xu Zhaojie secretly found a doctor and asked the doctor to prescribe medicine for him to recuperate.

After taking the medicine for more than a month, Xu Zhaojie felt that his physical condition had improved a lot. However, he never expected that he received bad news yesterday. His uncle, Xu Benlei, who was also the head of Qianhuwei, an intelligence agency under the Zhennan Army, was assassinated and killed in his mistress's residence...
The people who assassinated Xu Benlei were members of the Kangyin Liu family and the Shouchun Zhai family, who had conspired with the Hetong Mediation Office before. These two gentry families had been passed down in Huainan for a hundred years. Because of their secret connection with the Hetong Mediation Office, Xu Zhaojie killed three clans of them as an example to others a few months ago. Xu Benlei was the one who was responsible for investigating the case and finally carrying out the execution.

Upon hearing the news, Xu Zhaojie was so angry that he fainted and was unconscious for half an hour!

Although he woke up, not only did all the medication he had taken for a month go to waste, his condition also worsened a lot. Now he can only lie in bed and rest!

If only Xu Benlei was assassinated yesterday, it could be said to be an act of revenge by the two families. However, as most of the senior members of the Thousand Tiger Guards were assassinated and several were killed, it is obvious that the situation is not that simple.

Seeing Xu Zhaojie lying on the hospital bed without saying anything, Liu Zhaohu hesitated for a moment and said cautiously:

"My Lord, Old Master Cao of the Cao family, General Wang Sai, General Ma Jiwen and others have come to ask to see you, my Lord. They hope that you will come out to take charge of the situation. I turned them all away, but they will not give up until they see you, my Lord!"

Listening to Liu Chaohu’s words, Xu Zhaojie’s eyes flashed with a gleam of light, and then he waved at Liu Chaohu. Seeing this, Liu Chaohu bowed and retreated. Watching Liu Chaohu leave, the doctor serving Xu Zhaojie also put the medicine on the coffee table, and then tactfully left the room...
After the two left the room, Xu Zhaojie was the only one left in the room. After an incense stick of time, Xu Zhaojie took off the towel on his forehead, and slowly stood up and sat up on the bed. Although Xu Zhaojie looked very weak at this time, the ferocity in his eyes had not diminished at all!

He walked to the coffee table, picked up the medicine and drank the bitter medicine. After drinking the medicine, Xu Zhaojie said in a deep voice to the outside of the room:
"Let Fang Snake come to see me!"

"Yes!" A stick of incense later, a short and strong man with a scar on his face walked into Xu Zhaojie's room. If it weren't for the scar on his face, this man's appearance could be said to be very ordinary and he could not be found in a crowd of people. However, upon closer observation, it can be found that this man's eyes are as cold as a snake, without any emotion at all!

This person is Fang She!

A man living under the shadow of Xu Zhaojie!

When Fang She came to Xu Zhaojie, he bowed without saying anything, and Xu Zhaojie said directly:

"Are the Cao family, the Yin family, and the Xin family involved in this incident?"

Facing Xu Zhaojie's question, Fang She said calmly:
"It has not been confirmed that these three families are involved in this matter, but it is certain that this matter is related to the Coordination Office. However, I guess that this matter is most likely related to those big families!"

Upon hearing this result, Xu Zhaojie's face darkened again. He knew that the remnants of the Liu and Zhai families alone could not cause such a big wave. To be able to launch an assassination attack on all the high-level members of the Thousand Tiger Guards in one day, there must be someone behind the scenes organizing this plot...

In today's Huainan, the only ones who can do this are those large families with deep roots and extensive connections!

These big families also had reasons to do so. After taking control of Huainan, in order to fight against the Fengwu Army and unify the entire southern part of the Great Zhou, Xu Zhaojie also planned to follow Ye Mingsheng's example and implement reforms in Huainan. These reforms would undoubtedly affect the interests of the gentry class represented by these aristocratic families.

Although the resistance to the reform is very great, under the armed suppression of the Zhennan Army, the reform is still carried out step by step. According to this situation, after a year or two, the reform will take effect and the strength of the Zhennan Army will be greatly enhanced. By then, unifying the entire south will not be a dream!

However, the Battle of Hebei and Henan a few months ago ended with the disastrous defeat of the Zhennan Army. This disastrous defeat not only caused the Zhennan Army to lose tens of thousands of soldiers and horses, but also wiped out the elite troops who had followed Xu Zhaojie for many years. It also dealt a heavy political blow to the prestige of Xu Zhaojie and the Zhennan Army!

Those noble families that were originally suppressed by the Zhennan Army also began to stir. The reforms promoted by Xu Zhaojie were becoming increasingly difficult to carry out. In addition, the Coordination Office was fanning the flames in the dark. Today they would assassinate an official of yours, and tomorrow they would provide a batch of food, fodder and firearms to the Huainan bandits to allow them to cause destruction. These insidious little tactics undoubtedly gave Xu Zhaojie a headache.

Therefore, Xu Zhaojie had long wanted to kill the chicken to scare the monkeys, to deter these people with ulterior motives·······························

It happened that at this time Xu Benlei discovered that the Liu family, the Zhai family and the Coordination Office were secretly colluding, so Xu Zhaojie took the opportunity to kill a total of more than 3,000 people from these two families and three clans. The effect of killing these more than 3,000 people was very good, and the ground in Huainan was indeed much quieter. Just when Xu Zhaojie thought he could breathe a sigh of relief, he did not expect such a thing to happen!

It is obvious that this assassination attempt on the top leaders of the Thousand Tiger Guards was a revenge action by the big families in Huainan. These families had been intermarried for dozens or even hundreds of years, and they were closely connected with each other. The killing of the three clans of the Liu family and the Zhai family also made these big families inevitably feel grieving for each other. They were afraid of becoming the next Liu family and Zhai family, so they may have secretly formed a group!
Thinking of this, Xu Zhaojie felt a little regretful. He shouldn't have treated the Liu and Zhai families so simply and roughly. He was a little overwhelmed by the situation in Huainan at the time, coupled with his physical illness, so the decision he made at that time was also influenced by emotions!

Seeing Xu Zhaojie didn't speak, Fang She's eyes flickered and he said:
"Sir, I think this was a conspiracy set up by the Coordination Office from the very beginning!"

This statement immediately attracted Xu Zhaojie's attention. He frowned and said in a deep voice:

"Fang She, what do you mean?"

Facing Xu Zhaojie's gaze, Fang She said calmly:
"My lord, I have investigated. There is something fishy about Song Chaosheng, the deputy captain of the Coordination Office who was captured by Lord Xu. The concubine that Lord Xu used to threaten him to speak had actually been having an affair with someone else a long time ago, and the son that Song Chaosheng had was also born to the concubine and someone else..."

Hearing this, Xu Zhaojie was startled at first, then suddenly realized something, and Fang She expressed what he was thinking.

"My Lord, I think the Coordination Office used Song Chaosheng to play a deadly spy trick on us! Song Chaosheng was probably caught by us on purpose, and then he deliberately sold the weakness of being the son of a concubine to make us believe it. Then the Coordination Office used him to let us know about the connection between the Liu family and the Zhai family and them!"

Fang She didn't say anything more at this point, but Xu Zhaojie, with regret and remorse in his eyes, knew what he wanted to say!
The Coordination Office had calculated Xu Zhaojie's character clearly, so they deliberately used such means to add fuel to the fire and let Xu Zhaojie kill the entire Liu and Zhai families!
In this way, although Xu Zhaojie achieved his idea of ​​killing the chicken to scare the monkey and vented his anger, he also made other gentry families in Huainan share a common hatred of the enemy. Now the United Mediation Office continues to add fuel to the fire and joins forces with these families to assassinate Xu Benlei and others, exacerbating the conflict between the two sides and making the conflict irreconcilable.

In this way, even if the Zhennan Army can still guarantee its rule over Huainan, it will fall into fierce internal friction and cannot extricate itself. If it continues to develop in this way, it may not take a few years before the Fengwu Army attacks southward, and the Zhennan Army may collapse!

Thinking of this, Xu Zhaojie looked far to the north, gnashing his teeth and muttering in a low voice:
“Ye Mingsheng, you actually came up with such a vicious and evil plot! Why couldn’t you open your eyes and take him away from me…”

(End of this chapter)