RWNEFE -Chapter 638 Zhou Ruyuan Commits Suicide!

Che Mingyuan had thought that His Majesty would personally charge in and kill to her heart’s content. Unexpectedly, after merely swinging her blade a few times to boost morale, Shen Lanxi returned the Banyue Saber to the war chariot.

“Your Majesty, are you sheathing the blade?” Che Mingyuan asked.

Shen Lanxi shook her head. “My blade is meant for foreign enemies. It will not be turned against the people of Great Zhou.”

After understanding the meaning behind her words, Che Mingyuan sighed inwardly. His own insight had still been too shallow; he had judged His Majesty too superficially.

She was far more suited to sit upon the dragon throne than he had imagined.

…

The great battle ended even faster than expected. More than half of Zhou Yanxing’s forces surrendered, and the same was true of Zhou Ruyuan’s troops.

At the beginning, there had still been some resistance, but before an hour had passed, the defeat turned into a complete rout. More soldiers were throwing down their weapons and surrendering than actually fighting.

In less than three hours, Xiao Fang had already driven Zhou Ruyuan into a narrow path leading toward Jinmen.

“Zhou Ruyuan, you cannot escape.”

“You have nowhere left to go. Even if you return to Jinmen, there is no place left there for you.”

Zhou Ruyuan looked utterly disheveled. Only a few dozen die-hard followers remained at his side. Who was strong and who was weak, who had won and who had lost—it was obvious at a glance.

Zhou Ruyuan looked coldly at Xiao Fang. He had never imagined that in the end he would die at the hands of a nobody.

The sound of galloping hooves came from behind as Zhao Zheng arrived with his men.

“Zhou Ruyuan, you cannot escape. His Majesty had already sent people to secretly reclaim Jinmen.”

“Even if you flee there, you would only be walking into a trap!”

Zhou Ruyuan glanced in the direction of Jinmen, unable to understand how he had been defeated so completely in such a short time.

“Shen Lanxi…” At this point, he had nothing left to say. “I never thought that I, Zhou Ruyuan, a hero all my life, would ultimately lose to a woman.”

Zhao Zheng sneered. “You didn’t lose to a woman—you lost to your own arrogance.”

Xiao Fang snorted disdainfully. “What’s wrong with a woman? Is a woman not human? Is His Majesty an ordinary woman?”

Zhao Zheng, remembering certain past matters, also mocked Zhou Ruyuan.

“You truly have no eye for worth. You’re best at mistaking fish eyes for pearls.” His Majesty was such an excellent person, yet Zhou Ruyuan never knew how to cherish her, instead abandoning her for someone utterly unworthy.

If it had been him…

Zhao Zheng did not dare think further. There were no “ifs” in this world.

If Zhou Ruyuan had never divorced her, what would the outcome have been? What would have become of all of them?

Thinking of this, they all felt fortunate that His Majesty had divorced him.

“Zhou Ruyuan, lay down your weapons and surrender!” Countless weapons were pointed at him and his remaining followers.

He had only barely managed to break through and escape earlier. Now surrounded again, outnumbered and outmatched, there was no possibility of escape.

How laughable, he thought. He carried imperial blood, while Shen Lanxi was a rebel and traitor. Yet these people were blind and foolish, refusing to support the rightful heir, instead rallying behind a woman.

“Are you truly willing to be commanded by a woman, to be trampled under her for the rest of your lives?” Zhou Ruyuan demanded, unwilling to believe they would accept it so easily.

He had expected his words to stir resentment—but instead, these men were smiling.

Zhao Zheng, Xiao Fang, and the others merely laughed off his words.

“Zhou Ruyuan, today we will let you die understanding the truth!” Che Mingyuan rode forward.

“We have never sworn loyalty to a woman. We swear loyalty to a ruler who can bring peace and well-being to the realm. As for whether the one on the throne is male or female—do we care?”

Xiao Fang said disdainfully, “If someone could bring peace to the world and let the people live and work in contentment, even if a pig sat on the dragon throne, I would honestly kneel and shout ‘Long live!’”

Zhao Zheng laughed. “What does it matter whether one is a man or a woman? When the late emperor was on the throne, taxes and levies were harsh, the people could not survive, resentment filled the land. Court officials and nobles all turned a blind eye. When the people had nothing to eat and were reduced to grass roots and tree bark until they vomited, those officials were feasting themselves fat, indifferent to whether the people lived or died. What use is such an emperor—one whose people wish to eat his flesh and drink his blood?”

Qian Feng added, “Zhou Ruyuan, the emperor truly supported by the people is not one who commands great armies, nor one skilled in intrigue. It is one who genuinely cares for the people and labors for their livelihood.”

Che Mingyuan continued, “When you were a prince, you thought only of military authority and worried only about provisions for the army. Did you ever care where that grain came from?”

“When you were in court, you thought only about gaining the emperor’s favor. Did you ever think about benefiting the people after gaining power?”

Zhou Ruyuan, already at the end of his road, shouted in rebuttal: “All those things were matters for after I ascended the throne! If I couldn’t secure my footing in court, how could I become emperor?”

“Only after becoming emperor could I act freely, without being constrained!”

Che Mingyuan and the others shook their heads.

“You proclaimed yourself emperor in Jinmen—did you bring benefit to its people?”

Zhou Ruyuan retorted, “Of course I did! I encouraged land reclamation and factory construction in Jinmen as well. Every policy beneficial to the country and the people carried out by the court, I ordered implemented too.”

On this point, he was not boasting. Though he had imitated the court, policies benefiting the people were fundamentally similar everywhere.

“You are wrong. Today we will let you die convinced—and die understanding.”

“Even if you sit on the dragon throne, you are not a qualified emperor.”

“You issued orders imitating the court’s policies, but you never supervised their implementation. Orders never reached the people; instead, they were twisted by local officials for personal gain, lining their own pockets. The good policies you proclaimed became knives pointed at the people.”

“You cannot control your subordinates. You have neither the ambition to expand the realm nor the ability to defend the land and its people. That is why you lost the army’s loyalty, and soldiers defected on the battlefield. You lost the people’s hearts, and civilians fled Jinmen in anger. Jinmen is but a small reflection of what the realm would have been under your rule.”

“No…” Zhou Ruyuan could not believe it.

He was the War God of Great Zhou, the most outstanding of the imperial princes, undefeated in every campaign… the best of them all.

His face turned pale, unwilling to accept the reality of defeat.

Che Mingyuan and the others had neither the time nor the patience to let Zhou Ruyuan continue reflecting.

They still had much to do.

“Capture Zhou Ruyuan and report back to His Majesty!”

“Yes!”

…

Shen Lanxi later received Che Mingyuan and the others’ report.

“Your Majesty, Zhou Ruyuan committed suicide. Before dying, he used his life to secure the lives of the soldiers who followed him. This was something Your Majesty had previously agreed to, so we consented on your behalf.”

In addition, Che Mingyuan presented an item.

“This is a proclamation of self-reproach written by Zhou Ruyuan before his death, as well as an edict of abdication.”

“The abdication edict is useless,” Shen Lanxi said calmly. “But the proclamation of self-reproach may still serve some purpose.”

After a brief silence, she added:

“Before dying, he finally did one thing right.”

“Bury him together with his family.”

Che Mingyuan and the others exchanged glances.

With the family members whom Zhou Ruyuan himself had once ordered executed by arrow?

His Majesty’s order… was truly something.