Chapter 58 Palace Change
After eating the cake, Li Jiancheng withdrew. In the next few days, everyone waited patiently for the emperor to take his last breath. However, the emperor, who came from a military family, was more tenacious than anyone expected.

After he stopped being obsessed with Chen and Cai, he actually showed signs of gradual recovery under the careful care of the imperial physician.

This made the prince's entourage look a little unhappy, but no one said anything, and no one dared to let the prince bear the blame.

But we have to mention that our Crown Prince has some thoughts about the beautiful Chen and Cai. Both Chen and Cai are from aristocratic families, so they are unwilling to serve the father and son together, but they dare not do anything and can only refuse and escape.

The prince's family was disappointed, and Liu Shu and others seemed to have found a way out of the desperate situation, but they also knew that ordinary rumors could not shake the overall situation.

The prince held the most power, so he was naturally not in a hurry. Liu Shu and others, who were already in despair, got a chance to catch their breath and went to the emperor's side every day to serve him.

Everyone knew that after the emperor's death, they would be faced with a thorough reckoning.

One day, the emperor was lying on the couch, and the Left Prime Minister Yang Su, the Minister of Personnel Liu Shu, and the Yellow Gate Assistant Minister Yuan Yu were talking to him, while the crown prince went to deal with memorials sent from the capital.

After the eunuch who came to deliver the medicine handed over the medicine, a piece of letter slipped out of his sleeve, floated to the ground, and in the emperor's eyes, he vaguely saw the handwriting of the prince.

The emperor's heart trembled, and he stretched out his hand and asked the eunuch to hand the letter to him. The eunuch picked it up and presented it to him with trembling hands. Yang Jian quickly glanced at it. It contained the prince's instructions, asking His Majesty to take all the medicine, and also instructing him on how to deal with the situation after his death and how to stabilize the court.

He could ignore the latter two matters, but the matter of the medicine made him panic and furious. He waved his hand vigorously and knocked over the medicine bowl. After coughing a few times, he shouted, "Who asked you to deliver this letter, and who did they ask you to give it to?"

The eunuch looked palely at Yang Su who was standing behind him. Yang Su frowned and glanced at Liu Shu, then bowed to the emperor and said, "Your Majesty, I don't know what's written in the letter, and I don't know who would send such a fool to deliver the letter to me."

"It is obvious that someone is deliberately framing me. Please understand, Your Majesty!"

The emperor also calmed down a little, but at this moment, there was a quarrel outside, which made Yang Jian feel a little pain in his head. He ordered the people outside to be brought in. He had made up his mind that no matter what the reason was, he had to kill a few people to intimidate his servants.

In addition to the guards guarding the palace gate, the visitors also included the palace maids beside Chen and Cai. As soon as they came in, they fell to the ground and cried loudly.

Yang Jian still valued Chen and Cai very much, so he endured the pain and palpitations and asked, "What happened?"

Yang Su interrupted, "Your Majesty, I feel something is wrong, and your Majesty's body has not yet recovered. You should rest for a while, and then check it carefully."

But the two maids had already started to complain to the emperor: "Your Majesty, the prince is rude. We are ashamed to see Your Majesty again. We are crying and want to leave first. Please Your Majesty, please make a decision for us two nobles."

As soon as these words came out, the emperor's eyes went dark and the breath got stuck in his throat and he couldn't spit it out. Fortunately, Liu Shu stepped forward, touched his chest, and fed him a piece of ginseng slice that he had prepared long ago, which made the emperor feel better.

Yang Jian's eyes were red with anger. His face, which had been pale due to weakness, turned red due to the surge of blood. He slapped the bed angrily: "You beast, you rebellious son, how dare you bully me like this!"

Yang Su said loudly: "Your Majesty, how can you conclude that it is the prince's fault based on just one side of the story? Summon His Royal Highness the prince and ask him about the truth."

But Yang Jian was already immersed in his own old age and frailty, and was filled with anger at the fact that his son was so eager to kill him and wanted to take his concubines by force.

"Dugu has misled me, Dugu has misled me! We must not hand over the country to him. Summon the deposed crown prince and my eldest son Yang Yong, quickly!"

Liu Shu and Yuan Xi hurriedly received the order and rushed outside, while Yang Su silently stepped aside and looked at the emperor with a special look.

This was not the look a subject gave his monarch. Yang Jian seemed to have thought of something: "Send the commander of the guards to see me first!"

As Liu Shu and Yuan Yu left, the other people serving in the palace acted as if they had heard nothing, and Yang Su did not bow to receive the order as he did before. Yang Jian coughed a few times and said with difficulty: "Yang Su, do you want to rebel?"

"I dare not. I am loyal to the country and people of the Sui Dynasty."

"Then you will transfer the guards here. I will appoint you as Shangshu Ling and give you power. You will be promoted to Duke of Chu."

The Left and Right Pushe were actually subordinates of the Shangshu Ling. Since there had never been a Shangshu Ling in this dynasty, the Left Pushe became the head of the Shangshu Province, which was the de facto prime minister.

Yang Su was very tempted. If the emperor could still live for a few more years, he would be willing to take a chance. If things went well, he might be able to replace Yang with someone else. Unfortunately, the emperor did not have that destiny.

"Forgive me for not being able to obey your order. The Crown Prince is now the ruler of the Sui Dynasty. Your Majesty, you really shouldn't do this."

...

"Swish." An arrow streaked across Liu Shu's cheek, and several lines of blood instantly flowed down. Then there were the sounds of more arrows breaking through the air, and the guards and eunuchs around Liu Shu fell down wailing.

Li Jiancheng put down the precious carved bow whose bowstring was still trembling slightly, rode his horse to Liu Shu and said, "Why did you have to implicate so many people, Prince Consort?"

"Li Jiancheng, His Majesty has treated you well, and your father and grandfather have also received great favors from the Emperor. You..."

Li Jiancheng waved his hand and asked someone to hold him down and seal his mouth to wait for his fate. At this time, Yang Guang led a team of guards over from a distance. He already knew what had happened.

Seeing this, Li Jiancheng dismounted and took out the forged edict of succession with the imperial seal stamped on it from Liu Shu's arms, but he did not open it to take a look. He just held it above his head.

Yang Guang took the decree, opened it and took a glance at it, then his face darkened. He looked at Liu Shu with a cold gaze, then said to Li Jiancheng: "Your Majesty, promote Chen to Lady Xuanhua and Cai to Lady Ronghua. Go and pass on the decree."

"Yes."

Li Jiancheng consciously did not ask for the imperial edict and went directly to the back bedroom to convey the order. Yang Guang had already started giving orders, saying that he was following the imperial edict to arrest Liu Shu and others. The palace maids who had just served in the hall were also detained in another palace and were not allowed to move around without permission.

Then he strode into the emperor's bedroom. By this time Yang Jian had realized something was wrong and began to regret it.

But how could Yang Guang, who had already seen the imperial edict, believe that it was just Liu Shu who forged it without authorization? Now that the father and son have come to this point, who would dare to trust whom?
Yang Jian looked at his son who walked in with a gloomy expression and asked, "Do you want to kill your father?"

Yang Guang shook his head: "I dare not."

Yang Jian breathed a sigh of relief: "Just now there was a traitor who instigated the situation. My son, send someone to bring back Liu Shu."

"Liu Shu is just outside the palace."

"That's good, that's good."

...............

(End of this chapter)