Chapter 92: Governor
However, because the previous girls Yang Lihua had presented to the emperor were not satisfactory, the emperor did not take her too seriously and did not bring her into the palace. Coincidentally, Li Jiancheng presented a dozen more Western Hu girls to the emperor, and Yang Guang immediately forgot about the matter.

After waiting for a while, Yang Lihua thought that the emperor no longer liked her and was thinking about how to deal with her. After all, she was a widow and had only one daughter, so she couldn't possibly give her to her son-in-law.

The princess's official who had received Li Jiancheng's favor advised: "This girl is a natural beauty. If she cannot serve the king, she will be a waste of her character. Since Your Majesty will not accept her, why not offer her to the King of Qi?"

Yang Lihua felt something was wrong, but the steward advised: "Your Majesty's only adult prince is the Prince of Qi, and the few grandchildren are too young to inherit the throne. You have to consider the future of the princess."

Thinking that the emperor probably wouldn't remember the matter, Yang Lihua was persuaded and gave the person to her nephew. The King of Qi had already ordered his men to recruit beautiful women, so he naturally accepted her without hesitation.

A few days later, Li Jiancheng ordered Wang Yi to remind the emperor that Princess Leping was a beauty he had spent a lot of effort and money to obtain from Jiangnan.

The emperor happened to be fed up with Hu Ji, and out of curiosity he ordered Yang Lihua to send the person in. Naturally, the person could not be sent in, and Yang Lihua did not dare to deceive the emperor in order to get away with it, so she had to go to the palace in person to explain the whole story.

Is Yang Guang a reasonable person?
Obviously not. After he dismissed the eunuchs and palace maids, he cursed Yang Lihua. This woman whose husband and kingdom were taken away by her father, was now humiliated and scolded by her younger brother in her old age.

But what can she do facing the emperor?

It was nothing more than kneeling down and confessing the crime. Yang Guang did not lack this beauty. What made him angry was that no matter whether he wanted her or not, since the woman had already said that she was willing to give herself to him, she was his forbidden delicacy. Where would his face be if he gave her to someone else!
After scolding Yang Lihua, Yang Guang suddenly felt disgusted with the King of Qi, but he was still trying to calm down his anger. It was so frustrating that he had few children.

"I only want to raise one of my sons to adulthood. Otherwise, I will execute him in public to make the country's constitution clear!"

Just for a beautiful woman, the emperor actually thought of killing his offspring. Yang Lihua was secretly terrified and didn't even dare to raise her head.

After Yang Guang calmed down, he said, "Sister, don't say a word of what I just said!"

"promise!"

.........

After Li Jiancheng made a casual move, he no longer cared about the affairs of the King of Qi. According to Your Majesty's mind, this was enough to make him jealous for the rest of his life. It would be extremely difficult for the King of Qi to turn things around.

Moreover, according to the character of the King of Qi, more and more of his mistakes will soon be found, and then he will be completely reduced to a decoration, and can only tremble in fear and hope that the emperor will die suddenly.

This is not because of what the Prince of Qi is like, but mainly because of the emperor's rejection and fear of the adult princes.

Li Jiancheng is now more preparing for his exile. As the saying goes, "To serve the emperor is like serving a tiger." He can no longer stay with Yang Guang. Otherwise, one wrong move could lead to a complete defeat.

Fortunately, after Xiao Cong made his move, several other ministers who had the right to make suggestions also gave him face and seconded his motion. In addition, at that time there was indeed no one competing with Li Jiancheng for the hot position of the prefect of Zhuo County.

Therefore, it was quite smooth. Zhuo County now had nine counties under its jurisdiction, which was considered a medium-sized state. The governor of Zhong County was a fourth-rank official, and Li Jiancheng was fully qualified for the position. Therefore, the only thing left was the emperor's opinion.

A few days later, the emperor summoned Li Jiancheng to see him. After respectfully paying his respects, the emperor suddenly asked, "Didn't you say that you hoped to lead troops to fight for the country and restore the family's reputation with military exploits? Why do you want to serve in the local government now?" Li Jiancheng said dejectedly, "When I was young and ignorant, I thought that as long as I practiced riding and shooting diligently, I could lead elite cavalry on the battlefield like the champion marquis and be invincible.

But since I grew older, I have been blessed by Your Majesty to follow the army into battle. After witnessing the style of several great generals of our Great Sui Dynasty, I increasingly feel that I have no talent for commanding troops.

It is important for a person to know himself. Since I am a humble official without virtue and ability, how dare I mislead the country and the people, and thus fail the grace and trust of the emperor? After much thought, I decided to go to Zhuo County.

I will prepare food and fodder, train soldiers and gather military intelligence for Your Majesty's future expedition against Goguryeo, in order to repay Your Majesty's great kindness to me over the years!"

After listening to this, Yang Guang smiled with satisfaction and said, "If all the ministers had your sincere heart, I would have been able to rest easy long ago."

"I am an incompetent minister, and I do not have the virtues of you gentlemen. I only have my loyalty to entrust to Your Majesty."

Looking at Li Jiancheng's statement, Yang Guang couldn't help but recall that over the years, he had done his best to complete any instructions Li Jiancheng gave him, never complained, and only acted appropriately.

So he stood up and walked to him, put his arm around his shoulders just like he did back then and said, "Jiancheng, you are a good boy. Your uncle has never forgotten the promise he made to you back then."

Li Jiancheng was moved and said, "Your Majesty... my uncle has already completed it. What was my nephew's situation in the past? The late emperor hated the ridicule of relatives and was alone. But now he is able to hold a high position and enjoy a high reputation. Is it because of Jiancheng's talent and virtue?
No, it’s all due to Your Majesty’s great grace and virtue!
My nephew has never forgotten this, so when I was given the task, I never dared to slack off, hoping to be of some help and repay Your Majesty's kindness. Unfortunately, my talent and virtue do not match my reputation, and I am unable to help Your Majesty to crush Goguryeo and capture its king and present his head to Your Majesty."

From the end of the Kaihuang period, through the Renshou period, to the present four years of Daye, Li Jiancheng's consistent words and deeds for nearly a decade, and his loyal service for nearly half a decade, finally made Yang Guang believe in his loyalty.

"Okay, uncle will do as you wish and appoint you as the governor of Zhuo County. In addition, I will also let you serve as the commander of Zhuo County."

This was an unexpected surprise. In the past, wherever there were garrisons, a governor with military titles was in charge of them. But after the court changed the system last year, local garrisons were all led by a duwei and a deputy duwei. The duwei was also of the fourth rank, which distinguished the troop leaders from the county officials.

Li Jiancheng shed tears and said, "I will never let your Majesty down!"

Yang Guang patted his shoulder and said, "Okay, don't act like a child. I will entrust you with important tasks in the future. Zhuo County is just for you to experience the local life and understand the people's livelihood."

"Also, your top priority is to quickly have children, but you must give birth to a legitimate son with your legitimate wife first. Otherwise, if the queen gets angry, I won't be able to help you."

This does contain some true feelings as an uncle, but unfortunately the emperor's tenderness requires him to use up the affection he has accumulated over the years, and it will be exhausted after this time. There is no doubt that Yang Guang is unkind and disloyal.

Li Jiancheng wiped his tears and said shyly, "My marriage was arranged by your majesty and your majesty, how dare I neglect it? Besides, I get along very well with Chan Yan, so I dare not ask for anything else."

"Haha, that's good. Young couples love each other without doubt. It was the same with me and the queen back then."

…………

(End of this chapter)