Several months later, after facing a rebellion led by his brother Zhu Youzhen, the Prince of Jun and cousin Yuan Xiangxian, he committed suicide.
His mother was a military prostitute at Bo Prefecture (亳州, in modern Bozhou, Anhui), and her name is lost to history.
In 910, Emperor Taizu made Zhu Yougui the commander of the elite Konghe Corps (控鶴) of the imperial guards and also bestowed on him the honorific title of acting Situ (司徒, one of the Three Excellencies); he also made Zhu Yougui titularly the general over all non-Han soldiers.
Zhu Youwen's wife Lady Wang was said to be particularly beautiful and favored by Emperor Taizu, such that this became a factor in his increasingly believing Zhu Youwen, who was then serving as the defender of the eastern capital Daliang (i.e., the former Bian Prefecture, with Emperor Taizu's having established Luoyang as the main capital) to be his appropriate heir.
[1] In summer 912, after returning to Luoyang after a campaign against Later Liang's northern rival Jin, Emperor Taizu had become gravely ill, and he sent Lady Wang to Daliang to summon Zhu Youwen, intending to entrust the empire to him.
She secretly stated to Zhu Yougui, "The Emperor has given the imperial seal to Lady Wang to take to the Eastern Capital.
Further, on July 17,[2] Emperor Taizu also had his chief of staff Jing Xiang issue an order making Zhu Yougui the prefect of Lai Prefecture and decreeing that he report there immediately.
This further made Zhu Yougui believe that the next order would be to kill him—for, around that time, it was customary to first exile an official before executing him.
[1] On July 18,[2] Zhu Yougui secretly met with the imperial guard general Han Qing (韓勍), who was also fearful of Emperor Taizu's frequent executions of senior officials and generals, and therefore agreed to participate in a conspiracy with Zhu Yougui.