Emperor Sui Yang

Chapter 21
In the Sui Dynasty, warriors in the arena had no status, and there was only one way to rise up, and that was to attach to the big family.

It is also because of this that the influence of various local clans is as large as the local government, as small as the streets and alleys of the city, and they are everywhere.

Cen Zhong was born in Hebei, and he is considered a well-known figure in Lulin, Hebei. He is the leader of a local gang. Because he offended the Cui family of Qinghe, he had to come to Daxing. Under the recommendation of his friend, he became a warrior under Yang Ke, the king of Xiangcheng.

He was locked away by Pang Ben like a dog, and no one dared to stop him.

Because Pang Ben has a formal establishment, and Cen Zhong is just a temporary worker under Yang Ke.

In the camp, watching people being locked away, Yang Ke sat down in frustration.

He was afraid, afraid that Yang Ming would really find something out of Cen Zhong's mouth.

On the contrary, Yang Yan, the king of Changning, acted like he had nothing to do with him. After all, the two of them were not born of the same mother, and Yang Yan was also happy to see Yang Ming and Shang Shufu falling out.

The more fiercely they fight, the better, and there is no harm to themselves.

In fact, he was as vicious as Pang Ben, and he didn't ask anything from Cen Zhong.

Punishment has also been used, threats and temptations have also been tried, but there is no way.

Cen Zhong is a wise man, he knows that his only hope of living is to keep his mouth shut.

Yang Ming came to the tent where Pang Ben was tortured, looked at Cen Zhong who was covered in blood, and left without saying a word.

On the contrary, Yang Hao was afraid that things would become serious, so he ordered Pang Ben to release him.

"Second brother, why are you so careful?" Yang Ming asked with a smile on the way back.

Yang Hao shook his head and smiled wryly: "Before coming to Daxing, Dad told me not to have any conflicts with the East Palace. Although you did a great job tonight, third child, and you really gave my brother a breath of air, but in the long run, we are Don't offend Dong Gong, otherwise there will be no good fruit in the future."

Yang Ming nodded, the other party's worries were reasonable.

The crown prince Yang Yong is the heir apparent, and he will inherit the big position in the future. When that day comes, Yang Ming's little head will probably be chopped off by Yang Yan and kicked as a ball.

"It's just that Donggong regards us as enemies right now, and there will be no good fruit to eat in the future," Yang Ming said lightly.

Yang Hao sighed: "So what can I do? I can only be a man with my tail between my legs."

"You really didn't say anything?"

In the camp, Yang Ke looked coldly at the returning Cen Zhong.

"The villain never uttered a single word from the beginning to the end," Cen Zhong said weakly, enduring his injuries.

Yang Ke narrowed his eyes: "Then why did they let you back?"

"This..." Cen Zhong broke out in a cold sweat, he knew that his master had a suspicious personality, and for a person like himself who knew the inside story, I'm afraid that this time would be in danger.

He quickly explained: "The villain guesses that His Royal Highness King Yuzhang does not want to be with the master."

Before he could speak, Cen Zhong stared at his chest dumbfounded,

He saw a white knife pass through his chest, and then his mouth was tightly covered by a big hand, and he couldn't help himself when he wanted to scream.

"Whether you say it or not, only when you die can the king feel at ease,"

Yang Ke waved his hand, and the black warrior turned the hilt of his sword, crushing Cen Zhong's heart, and dragging the body away.

The next day,

All the major families scattered over a hundred miles around Nanshan sent convoys one after another to meet a bigwig at the same destination.

The empress dowager of the old dynasty, the eldest princess of the current dynasty, the spiritual leader of the elder faction, the biggest reliance of the Yuwen family, and the host of this spring outing, Yang Lihua, finally came.

The royal family, the nobles, and the great families all bowed their heads and stood respectfully, looking at the line of guards of honor that could not be seen to the side.

The eldest princess' camp was at the center of the spring outing, with [-] imperial guards stationed in the east, west, north, and south directions.

According to etiquette, everyone will go to the princess tent to meet Yang Lihua according to their status.

Yang Ming followed the royal family's team, stepped on the long red carpet, first entered the huge palace-like tent, and bowed down.

On the main seat, Yang Lihua lay lazily on the chair, her eyes were always on the white cat in her arms, and she waved her hands downward without raising her head:
"Okay, let's all step back and tell people outside that there is no need to come to see me again. I am tired after a day's journey."

As the clan leader, Wei Wang Yang Shuang hurriedly said:

"Wei Chen takes orders!"

Just as everyone retreated slowly, Yang Lihua suddenly said:
"Yang Ming stay."

Yang Ming's heart skipped a beat, and he swallowed subconsciously.

Yang Hao and Yang Chan could only look at each other with sympathy
As the second most powerful woman in the Sui Dynasty, even the prince Yang Yong did not dare to offend Yang Lihua at will.

After all, at the beginning of the founding of the country, Yang Jian once said: The eldest daughter Lihua is the first contribution to the founding of the Sui Dynasty.

In the Northern Zhou Dynasty, if there was no empress Yang Lihua's efforts to preserve it, Yang Jian and his wife would have been overwhelmed by those political whirlpools and received box lunches.

Yang Ming stepped forward cautiously, and said respectfully:

"I wonder why my aunt left my nephew alone?"

Yang Lihua's appearance has inherited all the advantages of Yang Jian and Dugu Jialuo. Even though she is nearly forty years old, her overpowering appearance is still unforgettable at a glance.

His husband Zhou Xuandi Yu Wenyun was also a famous tyrant in history.

You can deny everything about tyrants, but you absolutely cannot deny how they look at women.

From this we can see how beautiful Yang Lihua is.

Bright eyes sized Yang Ming up and down, the corners of the eldest princess of Sui's mouth slightly curled up, and said:

"I heard that your grandmother has chosen a marriage for you?"

What did she ask for this?Women, after all, you can't change the nature of gossip, Yang Ming said honestly:
"Yes, grandma prefers the girl from the Dugu family."

Yang Lihua nodded. She had a deep conflict with her mother, Dugu Jialuo, and basically had no contact with her at ordinary times, so she only found out about Yang Ming later.
After a long silence, Yang Lihua lazily said:
"I don't feel right."

Awesome. Yang Ming was not surprised. Except for Yang Lihua, no one in this world would dare to say that the marriage arranged by Empress Dugu was inappropriate.

Yang Lihua said: "The Dugu clan is already a relative of the emperor, and now they are entrenched in the Luoyang tree with deep roots. If they marry you again, wouldn't they want to go to heaven?"

Yang Ming said blankly: "My nephew is just a small county king, how can he have such great abilities?"

"It's hard to say," Yang Lihua always spoke softly, giving the impression that she would never get angry, so she frowned and said:
"The strong suppress their power, and the weak support their branches. I think it's more appropriate for you to find your marriage in a family outside of Guanzhong."

As she said that, Yang Lihua smiled sweetly: "Of course, I'm just a suggestion, it's up to you whether you want to listen or not."

It's okay, it's just a suggestion, so I can ignore it
Yang Ming said: "Nephew must think carefully."

Looking at Yang Ming's leaving figure, Yang Lihua sighed softly.

Maybe others are belatedly aware of it, but she has already felt in advance that the dispute between the North and the South is already imminent.

A key figure like her who has experienced the turbulent political struggles of the Northern Zhou Dynasty has a natural sensitivity to changes in the court situation.

What's more, both Yang Yong and Yang Guang are her own younger brothers, and he knows them better than anyone else.

She heard that some time ago, Shangshu's right servant shot Yang Su, and he had accused the prince Yang Yong in front of the second sage. This was a bad signal.

"If you don't pay attention to Sui Difa, I'm afraid you won't be able to fight."

(End of this chapter)