Chapter 59 Death
Li Jiancheng rushed to the rear bedroom. Chen and Cai, who were dressed in simple makeup, received the news and came to receive the order. They did not show any intention of going ahead.

However, Li Jiancheng felt that these two might still have some connection with Liu Shu, but he did not dare to take sides completely.

But this had nothing to do with Li Jiancheng. He conveyed the order and was about to leave, but was stopped by Chen: "General, please slow down. I would like to ask if we can accompany His Majesty."

Li Jiancheng replied: "The imperial physician said that your majesty is not yet fully recovered and should not see anyone. The two ladies may as well wait for a while."

Then he hurried back to the palace. After he left, Chen and Cai looked at each other and went to the bedroom to let the servants leave. Cai shed tears and said, "It was Li Jiancheng who came, and I heard that Liu Shu had been captured. What should we do?"

After all, Chen was born as a princess of a fallen country, so she was able to remain strong: "We didn't do anything, why are we panicking?"

Cai bowed her head and sobbed, "Everyone knows that those two palace maids are ours."

"They were bribed by Liu Shu, and we two were completely unaware of it!" Chen pinched Cai fiercely and said with gritted teeth: "Remember this!

Cai was still so scared that she wanted to die, and Chen could only comfort her: "Since he didn't sentence us to death, it means the prince doesn't want to pursue the matter. Your Majesty came to Renshou Palace this time, and we were the only ones to accompany the emperor from beginning to end. If anything happens to your majesty, the prince still needs us to speak."

Cai finally calmed down a little. After a moment of silence, she said, "Then if His Majesty is gone, if the Crown Prince is still..."

Chen sighed and said, "Then I'll give in. We are just girls, so what can we do? We can only try to survive."

.........

Back outside the imperial chamber, the crown prince led Yang Su out and said, "Jiancheng, you stay here in person."

Li Jiancheng accepted the order, and Yang Guang ordered Yang Su to rush back to the capital, but the rest had nothing to do with Li Jiancheng. He walked into the hall and met the emperor.

Yang Jian was in a very miserable state now. The medicine bowl was broken under the bed, with letter paper and spitted ginseng slices beside it, and no one was there to clean it up.

Li Jiancheng walked forward slowly, and the emperor said weakly: "Please tell He Chou that since he has buried the queen, he should be properly arranged now that I am dead."

"promise."

The emperor laughed at himself and said, "Although I know it's meaningless to say this, I still can't let it go. Jialuo, if there really is a soul, we should be together in the underworld. You are wrong, and I am even more wrong."

Li Jiancheng quietly watched the emperor talking to himself, sometimes laughing and sometimes crying. His breathing became weaker and weaker, and later it was impossible to hear what he was saying.

Another half day passed like this, and at dusk he sent someone to inform the prince. A moment later, a palace maid came to tidy up the emperor. Then the prince and You Pushe Su Wei led the East Palace's followers in and began to cry and wail.

When the emperor saw so many officials coming, he obviously wanted to say something, and his mouth opened and closed constantly. However, in the chaos, except for Yang Guang who buried his head in his hands, the other ministers were crying and shouting ten steps away, and didn't want to hear what he said at all.

The emperor finally passed away completely. Li Jiancheng watched quietly from the distance. Emperor Yang Jian of the Sui Dynasty, an emperor with great achievements, could not escape the miserable end after the loss of power.

"Father!"

"His Majesty!"

The Renshou Palace handled the emperor's funeral in an orderly manner. Zuo Pushe Yang Su also led the court officials to the palace. There were cries everywhere in the Renshou Palace, but the country could not be without a monarch for a day. The court officials had already formally paid homage to the new emperor in front of the late emperor's bed.

Yang Guang's face was expressionless, but his heart seemed to be about to jump out. After more than ten years of forbearance, he felt his soul floating away as soon as he thought that there was no one in the world who would put pressure on him anymore. Great joy and freedom arose spontaneously.

Li Jiancheng lowered his head, and he couldn't help wondering in his heart how happy Yang Guang was at the moment. As he thought about it, the corners of his mouth couldn't help but rise. Fortunately, no one could see it.

The new emperor first announced the will left by the previous emperor, deposing the deposed crown prince Yang Yong, and the right servant Su Wei left after receiving the order. Then he ordered the King of Han to go to the capital and sent the general of chariots and cavalry Qu Tutong to go there.

After all the important matters were given, the other officials returned to the capital to prepare for the coronation ceremony. Before bathing and changing clothes, he ordered the eunuchs to find a few heart-shaped knots and put them in a brocade box to give to Lady Xuanhua and Lady Ronghua.

Others may not know, but Li Jiancheng, who was in charge of guarding the Renshou Palace, knew that the new emperor stayed in Lady Xuanhua's bedroom at night.

…………

Su Wei and Yang Yue went to the deposed crown prince and read out the late emperor's will. Yang Yong was horrified and begged for mercy, refusing to die. So Yang Yue strangled him to death. The deposed crown prince's children were also imprisoned.

On the 15th day of the eighth month of the fourth year of Renshou, the coffin of the late emperor was brought from Renshou Palace to the capital. He was given the temple name Gaozu and the posthumous title of Emperor Wen. The funeral procession was carried out from the front hall of Daxing Palace and he was buried in Tailing. An imperial decree was issued to all ministers and people to mourn for Emperor Gaozu Wen.

Later, Crown Prince Yang Guang succeeded to the throne. He did not have time to reward his meritorious officials, but instead began a vigorous purge, killing some and exiling others.

However, Liu Shu, who everyone thought would be sentenced to death, was unexpectedly sentenced to exile in Longchuan, and an imperial decree was issued to order Princess Lanling to separate from him. The princess refused to submit a petition to be exiled with him and was detained in the palace.

Yuan Chong, the Grand Historian, reported: "The emperor ascended the throne in the same year as Emperor Yao received the mandate."

The emperor was pleased to give the reward, but Xu Shanxin, the right vice minister of the Ministry of Rites, said, "The country is in mourning now, so it is not appropriate to offer congratulations."

Then he was beaten with a stick and demoted. The emperor's earth-shaking behavior surprised many court officials.

Li Jiancheng was not surprised at all. Yang Guang was still the same Yang Guang. He had been able to suppress his nature for more than ten or twenty years. He had finally reached the position of the supreme ruler of the world. He could no longer tolerate even the slightest grievance.

.........

General Qu Tutong took the imperial edict and rushed to the Prince of Han's Palace in Jinyang day and night before the news of the previous emperor's death came, and summoned Prince of Han Yang Liang back to the court.

As long as he left the vassal state, then the mission would be accomplished. After Qu Tutong announced the decree, he said: "Your Highness, the King of Han, His Majesty is not in good health. We should set off quickly."

Han Wang Yang Liang ordered his men to prepare carriages and horses, then took the decree and looked at it for a moment before suddenly asking, "Is this really the decree of my father?"

"Of course, I don't have the courage to do that."

"Didn't Father give you anything else before he left?"

Qu Tutong knew something was wrong, but he managed to calm himself down and said, "Your Majesty has been unconscious for a long time and didn't give me anything else."

Han Wang Yang Liang shed tears silently and said: "You lied to me, father...Is the emperor...Is he...you tell me!"

"Your Highness, what are you saying? How can a subject curse his father like this? Since you are unwilling to obey the summons, I will go back and report to His Majesty."

Yang Liang ordered his men to arrest Qu Tutong, and said with red eyes: "My father made a secret agreement with me before I returned to my fiefdom. If the emperor summons you with an imperial edict, and adds a dot beside the word "imperial edict", and it matches Yulin, you should be summoned."

"Now neither of them is right. This must be a big incident in the court. Do you want to trick me into going to the court and wait for death?"

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

(End of this chapter)