Chapter 82 Yuan De
Li Jiancheng had no time to think about anything else, so he could only rush to the Duke of Chu's mansion. Yang Jishan came up to him with a bad look on his face and said with a sour face, "Didn't you just come here?"

Li Jiancheng also replied with a sour face: "The prince fainted and hasn't woken up yet!"

Yang Jishan was stunned when he heard this. Li Jiancheng didn't have time to pay attention to him. He pulled him away and was about to go inside. Yang Jishan came to his senses, grabbed him and begged, "My uncle just arrived, let them talk."

Li Jiancheng sighed upon hearing this: "You and I are close friends, and Mr. Yang has helped me a lot in the past two years. This is not what I expected."

"I have my own way to protect myself, but if the prince really died first, how many people in your family should die in order to explain and appease the emperor's wrath?"

Yang Jishan let go of his hand weakly, and Li Jiancheng rushed in and told Yang Su and Yang Yue about the prince's matter in front of them.

Yang Yue stood up and was about to go to the palace, but was stopped by the weak Yang Su. He slowly but firmly waved his hand and knocked over the medicine cup beside the couch, and said with a bitter smile: "Why should I live any longer!"

"Brother!"

Li Jiancheng had nothing to hide from Yang Guang, so he also told him his final threat.

"Mr. Yang, that's all I have to say. You have to decide what to do. Jiancheng is just passing on the message."

"Well, thank you for your hard work."

Li Jiancheng retreated to the door, and Yang Su said to his brother, "One or two days won't make a difference. You must remember that after I leave, you must control the clan members and take good care of Xuan Gan. Don't make enemies for the family, and you are not allowed to become a high-ranking official."

"Just let it go slowly. A few decades later, the Yang family will still be the Yang family. A few hundred years later, the Yang family will still be the Yang family. There is no need to fight over the short term."

Yang Yue agreed with tears in his eyes. Yang Su ordered the servant who had followed him for decades to get the prepared poison and mix it with wine. He first asked the servant to drink a glass, and then he drank a glass too.

It is better to take some people away with them. Leaving them behind will not only be useless but will only bring disaster.

The poison in the wine was very obvious; the servant and Yang Su vomited blood and died one after another.

"Father!"

"Brother!"

"master!"

The entire Yang Mansion was filled with wailing sounds. The servants who had been prepared dared to go everywhere to report the death. Li Jiancheng rode his horse out of the mansion and went straight to the palace to report the news to the emperor.

"Your Majesty, the Duke of Chu has passed away."

Yang Guang was obviously relieved, and then issued an edict to posthumously award Yang Su the titles of Guanglu Dafu, Taiwei Gong, and the prefect of ten counties, including Hongnong, Hedong, Jiangjun, Linfen, Wencheng, Henei, Jijun, Changping, Shangdang, and Xihe, and gave him the posthumous title of "Jingwu".

Yang Su had only been dead for a few days, but this decree did not seem to have been newly come up with. Even the posthumous title had been decided, which showed that the emperor was looking forward to Yang Su's early death day and night.

Being a powerful emperor who was looking forward to his death every day, Li Jiancheng really couldn't imagine what kind of mood Yang Su was in recently. No wonder he was so happy when he drank the poisoned wine just now.

There is no need for Li Jiancheng to convey the imperial edict. I think Yang Yue will bring Yang Jishan and others to thank the emperor for his grace soon.

Li Jiancheng went to the Eastern Palace in Luoyang to visit the prince. Yang Zhao still hadn't woken up. The imperial doctors were outside the palace, flipping through medical books with sweat on their brows.

Inside the palace, there was smoke and fog, and strange singing and dancing. In front of the bed of the sleeping prince, monks, Taoist priests and witches were performing their various skills.

Li Jiancheng frowned, and saw the witch dancing for a while and then pointing at the air and cursing. It seemed that he was cursing the former emperor's abandoned crown prince Yang Yong, and that he was disturbing the soul of the obsessed crown prince. Yang Zhao's breath was getting weaker and weaker, and he was only hanging on to his life by the precious ginseng. If nothing unexpected happened, he would not survive tonight.

Soon the emperor brought people in. Yang Yue and Yang Jishan both looked sad, but looking at the emperor's expression, they could see sincere respect and did not dare to have the slightest resentment.

Seeing that Yang Zhao still hadn't woken up, Yang Guang thought that the funeral was not over yet, so he issued another decree: "Give Yang Su a chariot to carry his funeral, 40 guards holding swords, a guard of honor and a band in front and behind the chariot, 5,000 dan of millet and wheat, 5,000 pieces of fabric, and send the Minister of Rites to supervise the funeral."

Yang Yue could only lead his nephews to kneel down: "Your Majesty, we bow to thank you. Long live your Majesty!"

Yang Guang still felt uneasy, so he issued another decree to execute all the exiled sons of Fangling Prince Yang Yong.

Now I finally felt much safer. I thought that with so many lives involved, I could be guaranteed not to be in danger. So I happily returned to the palace to continue the banquet.

Because the prince came alone and Li Jiancheng was a clan guard and did not leave at night, the prince did have some physical strength and managed to survive the whole night. However, as soon as the sky got light, he began to vomit blood and then died.

Li Jiancheng sighed, then arranged for people to prepare everything and ordered someone to inform His Majesty.

After a while, the eunuch came back to report and asked Emperor Li Jiancheng what his reaction was and what his instructions were.

The eunuch whispered, "The emperor cried for a few times and then stopped, and then he played music, just like any other day."

Everyone who heard this was chilled to the bone. This was the eldest son whom he had raised for twenty years. He was filial and respectful, and no one could find any fault with him. Yet, His Majesty was so indifferent to him.

Li Jiancheng could only order people to invite the empress and many officials from the Ministry of Astronomy, the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Religion. Soon Empress Xiao came crying and almost fainted.

…………

After the crown prince was posthumously named Yuande, the emperor never asked about his affairs again, and it was Gao Zuo who presided over the funeral.

The emperor did not immediately respond to the court officials' request to appoint a crown prince, but as he only had one son, he seemed to have no choice.

He then issued an edict to transfer more than 20,000 subordinates of Prince Yuande to the name of Prince of Qi Yang Liang. Although Yang Liang's title was not established, he was already the de facto prince, but he was not allowed to live in the Eastern Palace.

Yang Guang had many faults, but there was one thing he should be praised for, which was that he did not believe in immortality and did not take elixirs. Therefore, he took out time to select a qualified teacher for the King of Qi to serve as the head of the royal palace, in the hope that he could inherit the country well.

Undoubtedly, Gao Zuo was the best choice, but Yang Guang did not like him, so he had to settle for the second best and chose Liu Jianzhi, who was seven feet and five inches tall, handsome, bright and well-mannered.

Together with Changsun Sheng, he is known as the face of the Sui Dynasty. Whenever there is a mission to receive foreign guests or go on a diplomatic mission, one of them must be the leader. This shows how outstanding he is.

When the Prince of Qi arrived in the Eastern Capital, the Emperor met him in the Western Garden and ordered him to stand in front of the Western Court Hall, facing north. He also ordered the Minister of Personnel Niu Hong, Duke of Xu Yuwen Shu, and Liu Jianzhi to stand beside the Prince of Qi, facing west.

Li Jiancheng was ordered to announce to the King of Qi: "I was favored by the late emperor in the past and was granted the title of Marquis of Jinyang. I was only twelve years old when I was sent out of the fiefdom. The late emperor appointed Prince Xiang to be my chief official."

“The late emperor warned me that since you are young and inexperienced, I will send the prince to assist you. You can entrust him with all matters, big or small. Do not get close to villains and distance yourself from the prince.

If you listen to me, it will be beneficial to the country and achieve your career. If you don't listen to me, the country and yourself will be ruined in no time.

After receiving the order from the late emperor, I dared not deviate from it. Without the help of the prince, I would not be here today. You and Liu Jian should also get along like this!"

(End of this chapter)