Chapter 93: Minor Rule Changes

Chapter 93: Minor Rule Changes

Chapter 93: Minor Rule Changes
Yang Jian asked the question seemingly casually, but the timing was extremely subtle. He asked the question right after he sent Crown Prince Yang Yong away.

Yang Guang's heart suddenly tightened. His father was not asking about his elder sister, he was clearly asking about himself!

Just as Yang Guang was about to answer, Yang Lihua leaned forward and said, "Father is absolutely right. The child has been taken care of by the Princess Jin's family for the past five years."

It was Yang Lihua's decision to place Xiao Xia in the Xiao family in Jiangdu. Logically, Xiao Xia should have been raised by her grandfather Xiao Moke, or placed in the Xiao family in Jinling.

But Yang Lihua wanted to sever Xiao Xia's connection with his mother and connect him with Princess Jin, so as to get rid of his status as an illegitimate child. So she placed him in Princess Jin's family, which was equivalent to making him Princess Jin's child.

This is also Yang Lihua's good intention.

Yang Jian smiled, then turned back and asked Yang Guang, "Have you never cared about your son?"

Yang Guang was in a dilemma. If he said he cared, it would be tantamount to admitting that he and Xiao Cong still had contacts. If he said he didn't care, it would go against the relationship between father and son.

At this moment, Yang Guang noticed that his eldest sister gave him a subtle look, and he immediately realized that at this moment, the father-son relationship was more important than anything else.

Yang Guang bowed quickly and said, "Father, I was very angry with him at first, but he is my blood after all, and he is young, only eleven years old. I am always worried about him and even wrote a letter to Xiao Cong to tell him to take good care of the child."

Yang Jian nodded. "The child is innocent. You shouldn't be angry with him. It's not him who implicated you. It's your own absurdity that harmed you. The responsibility lies with you."

"I have been reflecting on my mistakes for five years and have already admitted my mistakes!"

Yang Jian said slowly, "After this trip to Jiangdu, you should take him into your residence! Don't let him be alone outside."

"My son, I obey!"

Yang Lihua was overjoyed and immediately struck while the iron was hot, "Father, is it okay for the child to still have the mother's surname?"

Before she could finish, Yang Jian waved his hand and said, "There is nothing wrong with taking the mother's surname. The key is that the child must have a promising future and become a pillar of the Sui Dynasty. Why worry about not being able to return to the clan? When I was young, my surname was Pu Liuru, and I only returned to Yang when I was thirty-seven. It is not a bad thing to have a rough life."

Before her death, Queen Dugu Qieluo held her husband's hand and left a will. She agreed to pardon her two sons, but the condition for pardoning the second son Yang Guang was that Xiao Xia and her son would not be allowed to return to the clan.

Of course, Yang Jian would not go against his wife's only last wish for the sake of a mere illegitimate child.

But Yang Jian left a loophole. Unless Xiao Xia was strong enough like himself back then, he would be able to return to the Yang clan naturally.

Yang Lihua was disappointed. Her father still refused to agree. She was still a little unwilling and said, "Without the protection of the family, the child will always be unsafe and will be taken advantage of by some villains."

Yang Jian was silent for a moment and said, "When you arrive in Jiangdu, bring the child to see me!"

The emperor's fleet did not stop in Jiangdu, but went directly to the Yangtze River and anchored by the river. King of Han Yang Liang hurried to meet his father.

Unexpectedly, Emperor Yang Jian was blown by the river breeze at night and felt a little nasal congestion and headache. He was feeling unwell and was lying in bed resting and taking medicine.

But Yang Jian was still conscious and received the King of Han while lying on his sickbed.

"The public security in Jiangdu is very good, and the Yangtze River fleet is in good order. Thank you for your hard work, my son."

Yang Liang kowtowed and cried, "I am willing to serve you, father, to show my filial piety. I beg you to grant my permission!"

"My son, it's enough that you have this intention. I'm not seriously ill, just caught a cold. I have your elder sister and the noble lady to serve me. You can go and get busy! Assist King Ande to arrange the quota for the business."

"My son obeys the order!"

Yang Jian added: "These Guanlong nobles are too greedy. I have said that two places will be reserved for Jiangnan. I have set a rule that only people from the same clan are allowed to participate in the competition in Jiangnan, and outsiders are not allowed to interfere."

Yang Liang was stunned. Wouldn't his previous arrangements be wasted? He hurriedly said, "Each family in Jiangnan also has warriors. They must have let these warriors participate in the competition. Why not limit it to the family instead of the surname?"

Yang Lihua said, "This way there is a loophole. Who knows where these warriors came from? Father, they must be from the same clan and surname."

Yang Jian nodded, "Your elder sister is right, let's do this!"

Yang Liang felt helpless and had to stand up and said, "Your son, I'm leaving!" He secretly glanced at his elder sister, but saw that she was staring at him fiercely. He was so scared that he trembled and quickly retreated.

When Yang Liang walked out of his father's cabin, he happened to meet Ande King Yang Xiong. He hurriedly stepped forward and saluted, "Brother, long time no see!"

Yang Xiong was the nephew of Emperor Yang Jian, but he was not young anymore, already over fifty years old, not much younger than Emperor Yang Jian.

Yang Jian replaced the Northern Zhou Dynasty. Yang Xiongli had the merit of supporting him and was highly favored. He was listed as one of the "Four Nobles" of the Sui Dynasty and controlled the military power.

Because Yang Xiong had a very high reputation in the army, was humble and courteous to others, and was suspected of being too successful to be feared by the emperor, after being reminded by his son Yang Gongren, he repeatedly asked to give up his military power and retire.

Yang Jian vetoed it several times, but finally agreed to let him resign his military power and promoted him to Sikong and Zongzhengsi Qing, in charge of the internal affairs of the royal family. This time when he came to Jiangnan, Yang Jian ordered Yang Xiong to preside over the allocation of quotas for Jiangdu Commercial Bank.

This matter may seem like a trivial matter, but in fact it involves the vital interests of various powerful people and it is easy to offend people, which really gives Yang Xiong a headache.

His brother Yang Da gave him an idea: to compete fairly by fighting, he could not blame others if he lost. This way he could stay out of it and not offend anyone.

Yang Xiong deeply agreed with this. Fighting with weapons was the tradition of the Xianbei people, and there was nothing wrong in following the tradition.

Yang Xiong pulled Yang Liang aside and whispered, "Your Highness, do you know that the rules have changed?"

"My father just told me that it seems that outsiders are not allowed to participate in the two Jiangnan quotas."

Yang Xiong nodded, "It was proposed by the princess that the warriors participating in the competition must be of the same clan and surname."

Yang Liang hesitated for a moment and said, "Does a temporary surname change count?"

Yang Xiong smiled bitterly and said, "Your Highness, please don't embarrass me!"

Yang Xiong knew very well what Yang Liang was planning, but there was no way he could hide such a thing from the Jiangnan aristocratic families. Once a quarrel broke out, Yang Liang would be fine, but he would be the one in trouble.

Yang Xiong would never do such a stupid thing that would benefit others but bring misfortune to himself.

Yang Liang wanted to support the Jiangning Xiao family, but in his mind, the Jiangning Xiao family could only be ranked third. It would be a piece of cake for him to help, but there was no need to take risks for them.

Besides, it’s just a pier. It doesn’t matter whether he has it or not. It will not affect his support for the Xiao family in Jiangning.

The most important thing is to let Xiao Hong meet the emperor, as he is aiming for the position of governor of Danyang.

In addition, he also had to find an opportunity to hand over his second brother Yang Guang's letter to his father.

Yang Liang laughed dryly, "That's right, fairness is the key, big brother, just go ahead and do it. If there is anything that I can't handle, I will definitely help you."

Yang Xiong was afraid that several princes would interfere. Now that the King of Han had expressed his position, it would be easy to deal with.

"Then I'll go find Governor Wei to make the arrangements!"

.........

Yang Xiong left in a hurry. Yang Liang pondered for a moment and then found Li Pan, the deputy general manager of the eunuchs. Li Pan was the eunuch confidant of Concubine Chen. If he wanted to ask Concubine Chen to persuade him, he had to find Li Pan first.

Li Pan was short and fat, with a pair of rat eyes as big as mung beans. But if you looked down on him for this, once he saw through it, he would definitely retaliate. Many officials did not know why they were dismissed from office, and in fact it was because of Li Pan's revenge.

Even a prince like Yang Liang did not dare to offend him.

With a big smile on his face, he handed Li Pan two envelopes, "One is for me to honor my mother, and the other is for tea money for grandpa. It's not much, just a small token of my appreciation."

Li Pan took out the gift list given to him and took a look. It was 10,000 taels of silver. He immediately smiled and said, "Your Highness is too polite. Don't worry, I will definitely convey your filial piety to the Queen."

"There is one more thing I would like to ask Mother for a favor!"

(End of this chapter)