Chapter 249: Confession

Chapter 249: Pleading Guilty

The Parliament Building continued to burn, its flames casting a crimson glow on the surroundings.

Zhang Quanming watched Zhu Yun, who stood before the building. Her solemn face was also illuminated by the fire, her eyes seemingly flickering with flames.

The thought of soon standing before the cameras, to be judged by this woman, filled him with a deep dread and intense anger.

In all his long life, he had never suffered such profound humiliation!

Yet, circumstances were unyielding. As the mastermind, he had fallen into the hands of the protesters and had no choice but to submit.

Especially with his hands bound, injured, and a laser gun aimed at his back, if he dared to deny his guilt, even if Zhu Yun didn't kill him, those enraged women would tear him limb from limb.

Conversely, if he showed sincere remorse, he might still salvage some public image.

As Zhang Quanming secretly calculated his next move, the security personnel behind him pushed him forward, into the crowd's view.

He looked up to see a dense sea of faces, every eye burning with an identical hatred. Even some familiar staff members were mixed in, and reporters uniformly raised their cameras, aiming them at him.

Zhang Quanming's legs suddenly felt weak, almost buckling beneath him.

Zhu Yun began to enumerate his crimes, her firm and powerful voice amplified, clearly reaching every ear present.

"Count Five: Zhang Quanming established MK Capital under the names of his close associates, engaged in private bribery, and embezzled a total of 46 billion [currency not specified in source] during his three years in office."

"Count Six: Eleven high-ranking officials of Huangtian Group committed serious crimes including murder and embezzlement. After accepting huge bribes, Zhang Quanming abused the leader's pardon privilege to exonerate all of them."

A stir went through the crowd, and some even attempted to throw stones at Zhang Quanming, but security personnel intervened.

It wouldn't do for him to be killed before all charges were read.

But while stones could be stopped, curses could not. "Bastard!" "Drop dead!" "Animal!" A torrent of near-incantations surged toward Zhang Quanming.

Zhang Quanming's face turned ashen, his body trembling uncontrollably. Finally, he could no longer stand and collapsed to his knees.

He couldn't believe it—how did Zhu Yun know about these secret matters? Then, it dawned on him: it must have been his trusted secretary who had exposed him.

If this continued, he would truly become a despised criminal in the eyes of all.

Zhang Quanming cried out hoarsely, "No! This isn’t true! You can’t slander me like this!"

But his voice was too faint to be heard. Even if it had been, no one would have believed his feeble, powerless defense.

The reading continued.

"Count Thirteen: Zhang Quanming enacted discriminatory laws against women, harmed women’s rights, deprived the people of their freedom, violated his duties as the leader of the people, undermined the national policy of equality, and severely endangered social security."

"Count Fourteen: Zhang Quanming ordered the military to arrest protesters and, after failing to do so, launched missiles at innocent civilians, committing crimes against the people."

"…"

Finally, Zhu Yun put down the document and turned to Zhang Quanming, her gaze piercing. "Zhang Quanming, do you admit to these crimes?"

Zhang Quanming lifted his head from the ground, wanting to deny them. But when he met Zhu Yun’s intimidating gaze, he suddenly faltered.

He then burst into loud sobs. "Yes, I admit it. I have committed grave sins. I have betrayed the nation and the people! I was blinded, possessed by demons, and committed these unforgivable acts. But I beg you, I beg everyone, in light of the contributions I have made to this country, to give me another chance to atone for my sins!"

But to his disappointment, the people did not forgive him because of his confession. Instead, they launched even fiercer verbal attacks.

"Who wants you to atone? Go kill yourself in apology!"

"You weren’t like this when you were planning to massacre women. Now you know you’re wrong? It’s too late."

"It’s not that he knows he’s wrong—he’s just afraid he’s going to die."

"Drop dead, you scum! You, and all those men who supported you online, should all be executed!"

"Execute Zhang Quanming!"

Zhang Quanming trembled uncontrollably. How could they execute him? He was the leader of a nation!

But the next moment, something hard pressed against his head. Stiffly raising his eyes, he saw the dark barrel of a gun staring back at him.

"No! You have no right to do this!" Zhang Quanming screamed with all his might.

But it was useless. Seeing the other person pull the trigger without hesitation, Zhang Quanming mustered a burst of strength, stood up, and lunged forward.

But he hadn’t even taken half a step when the gunshot rang out.

Bang!

Zhang Quanming’s eyes widened, filled with unwillingness. This shouldn’t be how it ended—his life, his fate, shouldn’t have turned out like this!

Just a day ago, he had been certain he would be re-elected as leader. How could he be killed by a mob in the blink of an eye?

Zhang Quanming collapsed to his knees with a thud, his head hitting the ground hard, his eyes wide open in death.

Zhu Yun looked down at his corpse. "I am merely carrying out the will of the people."

As soon as she finished speaking, the crowd erupted into cheers of victory. People embraced each other excitedly, tears streaming down their faces.

The night had ended. The morning sun rose from behind the building, casting warm golden light on everyone.

The flames of the Parliament Building had died down. Someone rushed onto the ruins and planted the feminist party’s flag at the highest point. The red flag fluttered proudly in the morning breeze.

Zhu Yun turned around, a gentle smile spreading unconsciously across her face.

*Click!* Liu Ming, standing nearby, raised her camera and captured the beautiful moment.

This was indeed a moment worth remembering. Women had achieved an unprecedented victory. From now on, no one, no law, would dare to discriminate against or oppress them again.

Viewers in the live stream wept with joy. They had once thought it impossible to abolish the Bloody Decree, let alone execute the damned Zhang Quanming.

But the outcome was even better than they had imagined.

They would welcome a new government, one entirely led by women—a fair and free new world!

————

On the other side, Chi Jing saw the red flag flying in front of the Parliament Building and smiled faintly.

See, she had said it was a beautiful day.

Just then, the roar of engines sounded overhead. Chi Jing turned off the screen and walked onto the deck. The several fighter jets had returned and were landing one by one on the warship’s deck.

Lan Yingzhang, dressed in blue combat gear, descended the gangway and strode toward her. "Chairman Zhou, the mission has been successfully completed. All the ministers who tried to escape have been captured."

"Excellent," Chi Jing nodded slightly. "It’s time for these high-ranking officials to be thoroughly purged."

Lan Yingzhang kept a straight face, as though no matter how shocking Chi Jing's words might be, she could take it all in stride.

But Chi Jing still remembered how stunned Lan Yingzhang had been when she first revealed this warship—it was as if her eyes were about to pop out of her head.

Back then, she had told Lan Yingzhang that these warships and fighter jets were purchased from abroad, allowing engineers to study advanced technology so that they could eventually build their own vessels.

Lan Yingzhang was even more astonished—just how rich was the Tianqiong Group, that it could even afford to buy warships?

Chi Jing didn’t explain, letting her misunderstand. In reality, however, this naval ship and the fighter jets sent to bomb the Parliament Building were all acquired by Chi Jing using points. She had even applied stealth coating to the jets, which was why the military’s radar failed to detect their entry.

Of course, even if the military had detected them, Zhang Quanming wouldn’t have known, because by then the air defense base had already been taken over by Chi Jing’s people.

Originally, Chi Jing hadn’t planned to finish off Zhang Quanming. Her initial strategy was to take things slowly, gradually placing their people in key positions across various departments and parliamentary seats so that Zhu Yun’s ascension in the next election would go more smoothly.

Unfortunately, Zhang Quanming couldn’t even wait that long. He kept finding new ways to dig his own grave, even rejecting Tianqiong Group’s application to expand into the aerospace field.

This was crucial to her "Civilization Leap" mission. Under the circumstances, she had no choice but to grant Zhang Quanming’s wish and arrange a spectacular farewell for him.

————

Not long after the protest incident concluded, Zhu Yun, with the support of Tianqiong Group, became the new leader of the empire.

At her inauguration ceremony, Zhu Yun delivered a speech vowing to make basic material security a fundamental human right—every citizen would be entitled to free access to food, housing, and medical supplies.

"I will do everything in my power to eliminate poverty and class division. No one should be burdened with a lifetime of debt just for a home!"

"I will enact laws to protect women’s rights, including reproductive rights, surname rights, and inheritance rights!"

"I will spare no effort to eradicate all forms of gender discrimination and vigorously combat crimes such as sexual harassment, sexual assault, and surrogacy!"

Women cheered ecstatically at this, while men grew sullen and grumbled incessantly.

Unfortunately for them, they could no longer spread rumors online as freely as they once did. The last person who spread lies online claiming Zhu Yun had killed countless people had already been arrested by military police.

Male-dominated platforms, posts, and live-streaming channels were all shut down. Tens of thousands of misogynistic accounts were banned. Even male influencers who had once thrived on stoking gender conflict learned how to flatter women, each speaking more sweetly than the last.

Establishing a new ideology was important, but it couldn’t be done overnight. Public sentiment was now managed by specialized departments—Zhu Yun had no time to waste on such scum.

A new broom sweeps clean.

Upon taking office, her first order of business was to form her own political team. The previously obscure Feminist Party suddenly became the ruling party, occupying the majority of parliamentary seats.

Her second move was to purge the old parties. Party A collapsed completely, and Party B could barely stay afloat. Its members resigned one after another to save themselves, but while they could escape their positions, they couldn’t escape judgment. Subordinates who had long held grievances stepped forward to expose their superiors for corruption and bribery. Investigations revealed that hardly any officials were clean—almost all high-ranking officials were implicated. The military was no exception. In just half a year, the armed forces were reduced by 60%, and every officer with a rank was purged.

The new Defense Minister appointed was none other than Lan Yingzhang.

After all, in modern warfare, the outcome of a battle is no longer determined by the number of troops but by the sophistication of weaponry.

Her third major action was to abolish marriage law.

While marriage law could be abolished immediately, the monogamous family system couldn’t be dismantled with a single order. To ensure a smooth transition, Zhu Yun introduced an interim partnership agreement.

The partnership agreement could clarify property, household responsibilities, and breakup terms for couples. However, if children were to be born, they would primarily take the mother’s surname, and the mother would have absolute responsibility for raising them. The government would also provide corresponding childcare support and subsidies.

As for sperm donors, they would need to provide a paternity test after the child’s birth to register a parental relationship. But if the woman refused, the sperm donor would be unable to register any legal ties to the child.

Additionally, the government would provide a free, high-quality sperm bank. Meanwhile, Tianqiong Biotech would offer technical support to citizens who wished to pursue single or dual-female reproduction.

Thus, even the most traditional women had to consider single motherhood as an option. After all, without the marriage system, the law no longer recognized paternal rights or enforced paternal responsibility. If a woman still chose to have a child with a man, wouldn’t the risks be enormous? It would be far too easy to end up with nothing.

But things didn’t always go as smoothly as Zhu Yun had anticipated.

Shortly after she took power, opposition forces established an armed force and a rival government under the banner of resisting her feminist rule. Other provinces quickly pledged allegiance to this illegitimate regime.

The empire abruptly split into eastern and western powers, and war broke out.

Unfortunately, war boils down to manpower, money, and weapons. With the support of Tianqiong Group—a money-printing machine—Zhu Yun’s forces overwhelmingly suppressed the opposition.

In the end, the rival government had no choice but to request a ceasefire. The two sides signed a peace agreement, demarcated their respective territories, and erected electrified walls along the border.

Men and women had starkly different attitudes toward the two regimes: women fled to Zhu Yun’s side, while men naturally gravitated toward the rival government.

A gender-segregated society began to take shape.

————

Three years later.

Lan Yingzhang, now serving as Defense Minister, went to inspect the Tianqiong Aerospace Base. To her surprise, the person accompanying her was Shi Nianan, who had since taken over as Chairman.

"What’s wrong, Sister Lan? Surprised to see me?" Shi Nianan smiled faintly, using the same form of address from their first meeting.

Lan Yingzhang was suddenly transported back, as if she had been returned to her first job interview at Tianqiong Group.

Back then, she was still worrying about the next month’s rent. How could she have imagined that she would rise from a bodyguard to the position of Defense Minister?

Everything she had achieved was thanks to meeting Chairman Zhou, her benefactor. But Chairman Zhou had left for the Mars base the previous year, and it was unclear when they would meet again.

Thinking this, Lan Yingzhang shook Shi Nianan’s hand just as she had years ago and joked lightly, "You're too kind, Chairman Shi."

Shi Nianan was momentarily taken aback before collecting herself. "Minister Lan, you still remember. Let me show you the spacecraft workshop. The travel time to Mars has now been shortened to half a month. If you’re interested, you could even visit the Mars base."