World-Ending Demon Emperor
Chapter 559 - 285: Liren miserable!_2

Chapter 559: 285: Liren miserable!_2

Rouran City had not yet openly declared its loyalty to Princess Zhi Yan, so Suo Lun’s departure from Rouran City at this point was tantamount to mission failure.

Half an hour later.

Suo Lun’s few hundred troops left the main city of Rouran!

...

Ashi Liren returned to the mansion.

In fact, up to now, she still didn’t understand why her father, Ashimo, had made her the City Lord of Rouran when he had several other sons.

The reason Ashimo did so was simple yet complex.

Because Crown Prince Ashi Luo had always been his most beloved and owed child. From beginning to end, the position of Crown Prince Ashi Luo had never wavered.

With Ashi Luo dead, he naturally thought of passing the title of the City Lord of Rouran to Ashi Luo’s son, which was Ashi Yuanba.

Just like when Emperor Taizu of Ming’s Crown Prince Zhu Biao died, he passed the throne to his grandson Yunwen instead of his other sons.

But, Yuanba was far too young, and he feared that at such a tender age, the boy could be harmed, so he let Ashi Liren shield him from the storm, protecting Yuanba as he grew.

Of course, Ashimo also had another intention in mind.

That was his hatred of Dragon Temple, and since figures like A Shi Zhuo were loyal to Zhi Li, and Zhi Li was joined at the hip with the Dragon Temple.

Despite feeling that the hope of revenge was exceedingly faint, Ashimo still hoped that someone who hated the Dragon Temple would become the City Lord of Rouran.

And at that moment, the person who most hated the Dragon God Temple was naturally Ashi Liren.

Therefore, just before his death, Ashimo took the tremendous risk, passing the position of the City Lord of Rouran transitionally to Ashi Liren.

However, the consequences of his actions were severe.

For Ashi Liren, a woman to inherit the position of City Lord, already broke with tradition. If nobody took the lead, it would still be all right, after all, there were Ashimo’s dying wishes and the King’s decree.

But now, there was precisely someone leading the opposition against Ashi Liren, and that person had significant influence, which was A Shi Zhuo.

Upon learning of Ashimo’s last wishes, A Shi Zhuo started rallying support everywhere, first seeking the important members of the Ashi Clan, then the high-ranking Samurai lords, high commanders.

His foundation was too deep, his power too great, and on top of that, he always carried Zhi Li’s banner in his lobbying efforts.

So, in just a few days, the majority of the Ashi Clan’s members, the high-ranking Samurai lords, and high commanders were all convinced.

All these people agreed that they would stand by and watch A Shi Zhuo overthrow Ashi Liren, and during the entire process, they would not follow any of Ashi Liren’s orders.

The whole process was incredibly smooth.

In just two days, all the high commanders and high lords within Rouran City had expressed their willingness to stand with A Shi Zhuo.

A Shi Zhuo’s original plan was to strip Ashi Liren of her position as City Lord and directly transfer the title to Ashi Yuanba.

But having found the process so smooth, he was already planning to go one step further, to depose Ashi Yuanba as well and transfer the title to one of Ashimo’s other sons.

After much selection, he picked the most timorous and powerless Ashi Ci. With such a City Lord in place, it would be much easier for him to control everything like clapping his hands.

When that time comes, A Shi Zhuo won’t be the City Lord, yet he’ll be akin to one.

Once Zhi Li His Highness comes to power, he’ll find an opportunity to kill Ashi Ci and then have the new King Zhi Li issue an edict, enshrining A Shi Zhuo as the new City Lord of Rouran, bringing everything to a successful conclusion.

...

Three days had passed since Ashi Liren became the new City Lord.

However, she still resided in her own Liren Mansion and had not moved into the City Lord Mansion.

It wasn’t that she wouldn’t move, but that not a single official from the City Lord Mansion had come to report to her.

She had become an utterly isolated and lonely figure in Rouran City, with only the hundred or so female Samurai she brought from Dongli Kingdom at her side.

A few days ago, when she dismissed Suo Lun, she could still mobilize a few thousand soldiers, but now, she couldn’t move a single soldier in Rouran City at all.

She had instructed her female Samurai to take the command tokens to the barracks to summon troops, but they did not respond because the commanders were not in the barracks, and their whereabouts were unknown, while the rank-and-file soldiers did not recognize the tokens.

She sent people to summon the civil officials of the City Lord Mansion, only to have each one claim they were ill at home.

She wanted to visit her mother, Lady Li Zhi, only to be told that she was suffering from a headache and could not see anyone.

The current Liren, even though she held the title of City Lord, couldn’t even enter the City Lord Mansion.

She couldn’t mobilize a single soldier or meet with a single official.

Under the leadership of A Shi Zhuo, all the civil and military officials of the Rouran territory, the entire Ashi Clan, were ostracizing and rejecting her.

...

A Shi Zhuo was moving swiftly, too triumphant and complacent in his recent affairs.

Though Ashi Liren bore the name of the City Lord, she was no different from a prisoner.

While A Shi Zhuo was not the City Lord, he acted as though he was superior to one.

After Ashimo and Ashi Luo were gone, he only seemed to shine brighter.

"Someone, dispatch three thousand troops to surround Ashi Liren Mansion. Say that an assassin has appeared in the city and we need to protect the safety of the new City Lord," A Shi Zhuo ordered. "No one is to enter or leave Liren Mansion, and we will control all provisions for food, clothing, housing, and transportation."

"Yes," a high-ranking military officer went to summon the troops.

Four hours later, three thousand soldiers surrounded Ashi Liren Mansion under the pretext of protecting the City Lord from an assassin, forbidding anyone from entering or leaving.

It was protection in name but incarceration in practice!

What followed was the final step, to topple Ashi Liren from the position of City Lord.

And the reason was very simple: Ashi Liren conspired with regional lord Suo Lun to betray the interests of Rouran City.

However, this accusation could only be determined by one person, and the ousting of Ashi Liren could only be presided over by one individual.

That was the Lady of Rouran City, Ashimo’s wife, Lady Li Zhi.