Fearing being killed for his overwhelming merits, the empress decided to marry him.

Inside the private room, Jiang Mengxuan and Li Hong, the emperors of two great empires from the East and West, met for the first and last time in this small teahouse.

Li Hong laughed and said, "I heard about the deeds of the Empress of Great Chu more than a decade ago. To rule such a vast empire as a woman is truly extraordinary."

"I never imagined that after sending envoys several times to invite the Empress to visit, all my efforts would be in vain, and yet we would finally meet in this way. Life is truly amazing, isn't it?"

Jiang Mengxuan replied, "It's not a matter of whether it's miraculous or not. In terms of territory and population, I think it's somewhat inferior to Wu Zhao Kingdom."

Actually, I had heard rumors about the Kingdom of Wu Zhao more than once when I was young. At that time, I thought that, given the power of the Kingdom of Wu Zhao, the Kingdom of Chu was completely incomparable.

Jiang Mengxuan stopped talking halfway through her sentence with a smile.

Li Hong: "Why did you stop talking? Did you say that my Wu Zhao Kingdom has disappointed you, Empress?"

Jiang Mengxuan picked up the teacup in front of her and smiled coolly: "Why does Your Majesty need to ask a question you already know the answer to?"

Li Hong's expression changed: "Empress of Great Chu, I imagine you must be very pleased with yourself right now. You have waged a long and arduous campaign, tearing the prosperous era I built to shreds."

You have defeated the most powerful empire in the world; this achievement alone is enough to make you the strongest emperor on the entire continent, and you will surely be sung about by the world.

Jiang Mengxuan shook her head: "What's the point of praising or not praising? I don't care about these things at all."

Li Hong was somewhat annoyed: "If you don't care, then why did you make such a fuss and ruin my Wu Zhao Kingdom like this?"

Jiang Mengxuan: "In my husband's words, the State of Chu and the State of Wu Zhao will inevitably go to war sooner or later. Even if they don't go now, they will in the future."

If two great powers cannot coexist, they will inevitably become adversaries. Even if we don't fight this war today, our descendants will fight it.

"Why should I, while I am still young and vigorous, wage this war now, leaving this problem for future generations to solve?"

Li Hong: "Well said. Wu Zhao and Chu will inevitably clash sooner or later. In fact, I already foresaw this day when Ban Dingyuan and his entourage visited."

"I never imagined this day would come so soon. I thought it would be several hundred years, or at least a few decades."

Jiang Mengxuan: "Perhaps this is the biggest difference between you and me. I only want to do what this generation should do."

But you, you're thinking of leaving this mess for future generations to clean up. Just this contrast in attitude makes me proud to say...

Even before the war began, I already foresaw the outcome of Chu's victory.

Li Hong: "Yes, each generation should do its own thing, but I believe I have done everything I should have done in my life."

"At least under my rule, the Kingdom of Wu Zhao is thriving, and its national strength has reached its peak since the founding of Wu Zhao."

Jiang Mengxuan shook her head: "Your so-called golden age is built on the foundation of countless ordinary people being stripped of their dignity. Your golden age is only your personal golden age, not the golden age of all the people of Wu Zhao Kingdom."

Therefore, what you have created is not a golden age, but rather a shoddy mansion covered with a fig leaf.

It appeared incredibly powerful and awe-inspiring, but in reality, its interior was completely rotten.

As she spoke, she looked down at the street below the window and continued, "Since the two of us entered this private room, I have seen fourteen beggars of various appearances pass by on the street."

If you have truly created a prosperous era, why are there still so many people struggling to feed themselves?

Even in the capital, a place of great importance, there are so many beggars; imagine how many there are in other parts of the empire. Now, do you still believe that what you have created is a golden age?

Li Hong's hands began to tremble uncontrollably, clearly showing his extreme rejection of Jiang Mengxuan's words.

"You don't understand the situation of Wu Zhao Kingdom... You say that what I created was just a golden age for an emperor? But this golden age for an emperor has expanded the territory of Wu Zhao Kingdom and established great achievements."

"You're wrong. Without the exorbitant taxes paid by hundreds of millions of ordinary people, could you have created such a prosperous era?"

"Commoners? Why do you always mention commoners? Shouldn't you be praising my decisions?"

"Then explain why, when my Chu army arrived, the common people of Wuzhao were treated to a feast, while your army..."

The common people saw him as a wicked bandit. You say ordinary people are unimportant, but this is how they repay your glorious era.

Li Hong's hands trembled even more violently, as if something had been touched on, and a rare look of panic appeared on his face.

Upon seeing this, Jiang Mengxuan put down her teacup: "Actually, I know what you're afraid of, because your ancestors were of a different race."

The fact that a foreign race rules over tens of thousands of indigenous people on this land naturally fills them with fear. Your actions—destroying their clothing and forcing them to change their hairstyles—demonstrate that you are well aware of this.

No matter how corrupt the area within the Great Wall may be, its cultural heritage is still a thousand times greater than that of your Wu Zhao barbarian tribe.

You are trying to destroy this part of civilization through these bloody methods, forcing hundreds of millions of people to follow your customs. Unfortunately, once culture is formed, it cannot be destroyed.

It cannot be destroyed by swords and horses; on the contrary, it has a strong assimilative power.

And you tried every means to destroy the civilization of this land, but in the end you still failed.

They had no choice but to resort to enslavement, using oppressive methods to manage the inhabitants of this land, fearing that one day the people would awaken and completely devour them.

Li Hong replied, "That's right. So what's wrong with the way my ancestors and I have always governed the country? After all, I am of a different race."

Jiang Mengxuan: "You're wrong. This has nothing to do with bloodline or identity; it's your attitude that determines the fate of this land."

After you replaced the previous dynasty, you treated the people of this land with the mentality of conquerors, rather than as normal subjects.

The reason why your Wuzhao Kingdom was defeated by the Chu Kingdom today is not because the Chu Kingdom is militarily superior.

Rather, it is the bitter fruit of your Wu Zhao Kingdom's long-term humiliation of its people. In fact, all of this was created by your own hands, not by my Chu Kingdom.

After saying that, Jiang Mengxuan stood up and, as she passed Li Hong, added, "Oh, by the way, King Wu Zhao, I must remind you that my fleet is still docked at the Guzhou naval port. If you try to forcibly detain me..."

She stopped mid-sentence, then chuckled and shook her head: "I was really overthinking it. With my husband's and my strength, none of you can stay here. So, King Wu Zhao, it's goodbye forever."

After saying that, Jiang Mengxuan calmly walked out of the private room.

"puff--"

Li Hong was so enraged that he finally couldn't hold back and spat out a mouthful of blood.

"This is outrageous! I actually... I actually... Ah..."

Before he could finish speaking, Li Hong screamed and fainted.

As soon as Jiang Mengxuan stepped out of the teahouse, she saw Shen Lang with his arms crossed, looking at her with a half-smile.

Jiang Mengxuan immediately went to meet him, took his hand and said, "Let's go home."

"Yes, let's go home!"