Chapter 11: Xiao Mei Niang

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  Among the five sons of Emperor Yang of Sui, Prince of Jin Yang Guang was the most renowned. Yang Guang's childhood name was Adou, and he was also known as Ying. He was the second son of Emperor Wen of Sui, with a handsome appearance and intelligent from an early age. Since his youth, he had received special favor from Emperor Wen and Empress Dugu. When the Sui dynasty was established, Yang Guang was only thirteen years old, but he was already appointed as Prince of Jin, Column of State, and Governor of Bingzhou.

  Not long after, he was granted the title of Wuwei General and promoted to Shangshu Commander of the Hebei Road. Yang Guang was even specially sought out by the famous minister Wang Shao, Duke Xiangcheng, and Li Che, Duke Cheng, to assist him. Yang Guang also showed great promise, being studious and skilled in writing, serious and solemn, earning the respect of the court and the people. In the sixth year of the Kaihuang era, he was transferred to serve as Shangshu Commander of the Huainan Road. In the winter of the eighth year, the Sui dynasty launched a campaign against Chen, and Yang Guang was appointed as the Commander-in-Chief of the expeditionary force, with control over the three routes of the army that invaded Chen, consisting of 90 generals and 510,000 soldiers. After pacifying Chen, Yang Guang ordered the execution of corrupt officials, sealed up the treasury, and strictly enforced military discipline. The court and the people, from top to bottom, praised him for his humble and unassuming nature, his dislike of extravagance, his respect for scholars, and his modest and cautious demeanor, earning him the reputation as a wise king at the time.

  Returned to the court, promoted to one of the Three Dukes as Taifu, re-appointed as the General Manager of Pingzhou. In the second year, all of Jiangnan rebelled, and he was re-appointed as the General Manager of Yangzhou, stationed in Jiangdu, holding the imperial edict as the Pillar Country Taifu, General Manager of Yangzhou, Military Affairs Commissioner of Yangzhou, Governor of Yangzhou, commanding 44 states of Jianghuai.

  From then on until the 18th year of the Kaihuang era of this dynasty's Emperor Yang of Sui, Yang Guang was stationed in Jiangnan.

  Such a resume, it can be said that even if he is the legitimate son of the emperor, it is still quite impressive. From being appointed as the Shangshu Ling of Huainan Xing Tai in the sixth year of Kaihuang to later becoming the Ping Chen Xing Jun Yuan Shuai, Yangzhou Zongguan, except for a brief return to Bianzhou to serve as the Zongguan in the tenth year of Kaihuang, Yang Guang, who is now only thirty years old, has been in Jiangnan for nearly twelve years.

  Yang Guang was a native northerner, his ancestors were Han people who had been assimilated into the Xianbei tribe, and his mother was a true Xianbei noblewoman. His grandfather Yang Zhong was one of the twelve great generals among the eight pillars of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, and his maternal grandfather Dugu Xin was one of the eight pillars with the most power and prestige in the Northern Zhou Dynasty, second only to Yuwen Tai, and was the leader of the Wuchuan Group. The union of the two families made the Yang family a top-notch aristocratic family in the Guanzhong Group. Therefore, Yang Jian was finally able to usurp the throne of the Northern Zhou Dynasty and establish the Sui Dynasty.

  Yang Guang grew up in Chang'an from childhood until his father established the Sui dynasty when he was 13. He was created the Duke of Jin and made the governor of Bingzhou, later also serving as the head of the provincial government of Hedong Circuit (which had its headquarters at Bingzhou) and the governor of Hebei Circuit. As a result, from age 13 to 19, he spent six years in more northern JinYang before being transferred to be the head of the provincial government of Huainan Circuit, serving south of the Yangtze River.

  Before he was twenty years old, Yang Guang had never been to Jiangnan; he was a typical northerner, a young man from Guanzhong and Guizhou, the eldest son of Sui.

  However, after this, he stayed in Jiangnan for a long time and returned to the capital only once a year.

  It has been twelve years since then.

  Twelve years had passed, and Yang Guang was now like a native of Jiangdong. He had spent twelve years in Jiangnan, marrying the daughter of Xiao Shi, a top aristocratic family from Lanling, who was also the daughter of Emperor Ming of Later Liang, Xiao Yan. Having guarded Jiangnan for many years, he even learned to speak the local Wu dialect fluently, befriending numerous aristocratic families and powerful clans in Jiangnan, and had close ties with both Buddhist and Taoist circles in Jiangnan.

  He was originally a military aristocrat from Guanlong, not only retaining his bravery in riding and shooting, but also having great talent and achievements in literary classics, that talent won the praise of countless Jiangnan literati.

  There is no one who is perfect, and there is no gold that is not flawed. However, Yang Guang was a wise king who was praised by all, from the emperor to the officials and people of all social classes. He was a perfect prince, skilled in both literature and martial arts. On horseback, he could conquer the Turks in the north and pacify the Chen state in the south. Off horseback, he could govern the country and bring peace to the people, managing politics with great talent. Not only could he fight battles, but he could also govern the people, write excellent articles and poetry that were considered the best of his time, and he was incredibly handsome and charming. Moreover, he was humble and courteous in his interactions with others, respectful of scholars and talented individuals, and lived a simple life, being approachable and easy to get along with, not fond of extravagance or showiness. He was truly a great wise king who would be hard to find even after eight hundred years.

  So wise, even the originally not bad crown prince Yang Yong was completely surpassed. Every time Emperor Sui saw Crown Prince Yang Yong, he couldn't help but sigh in his heart, why did the crown prince always seem to be inferior to his second son Yang Guang? The more he thought about it, the more he felt that everything about Crown Prince Yang Yong was not to his liking.

  Every year in March, it is always the most charming season in Jiangnan Yangzhou. The willow catkins are like smoke, the hundred flowers are competing with each other, the grass is long and the oriole flies, and the sunshine is warm. The General Administration of Yang Guang's Pingzhou and the Governor's Mansion of Yangzhou stand together in the city of Yangdu, Jiangbei, Yangzhou.

  Since the ninth year of Kaihuang, after the pacification of Southern Chen, Emperor Yang of Sui ordered the relocation of the imperial family and officials of Southern Chen to Guanzhong and the capital city. The ancient city of Jiankang was directly demolished and flattened. Since then, the center of Jiangnan shifted from Jiankang in southern Jiangsu to Yangzhou in northern Jiangsu. Nine years have passed since the Sui dynasty pacified Jiangnan and unified the country, and eight years have passed since the great rebellion in Jiangnan was put down. Today's Jiangnan is peaceful, and its center, Yangzhou City, is prosperous and flourishing. As a prince and the governor of 44 states in Jiangnan, Yang Guang's authority in Jiangnan is unparalleled. In Jiangnan, he is undoubtedly the number one person.

  Yangzhou General Administration Office was established in Jiangdu City, adjacent to the Gan Canal connecting the Yangtze River and the Huai River. The general administration office is very large. In this vast mansion, there are front halls and back yards. The front part is the government office, while the back part is the residence. However, the front yard is also divided into several areas.

  The largest part is the official department of the Yangzhou General Administration Office. In addition, there are several areas that are owned by Yang Guang as the King of Jin, including two sets of private secretariats: one for the national officials and one for the palace officials. According to the imperial system, nobles with titles, high-ranking officials such as pillars of state, and those with hereditary titles all have a set of secretariat staff corresponding to their rank. Even Yang Guang, who was originally the governor of Yangzhou, still had a set of secretariat staff for governors. These secretariat members could be appointed by him personally. However, the emperor later abolished the power of local officials to appoint their own secretariat staff, and unified the appointment and dismissal of personnel by the imperial court. Although the power to appoint secretariat staff was stripped from local officials, those of vassal kingdoms, vassal palaces, as well as those with hereditary titles still retained theirs.

  Yang Guang was stationed in Yangzhou, with one person having multiple sets of teams. In addition to leading the imperial troops of Yangzhou and other states, he also had a private army of palace guards that were not insignificant in number.

  On horseback, he controlled the military; on foot, he controlled the people. He was in charge of both military and civil affairs in all 44 prefectures, and even had his own court and private army. The power in Yang Guang's hands was truly astonishing.

  With such a noble status and scorching power, Emperor Yang Guang of the Sui Dynasty was still in his thirties. The women he favored were not many. Although there were also several concubines in the palace, Xiao, who had been married to him for over ten years, had never been out of favor even for a moment.

  Yang Guang, who is thirty years old now, has two sons and five daughters. Among them, there are two sons and two daughters born by Xiao Shi, which can be seen that Yang Guang favors Xiao Shi.

  Yang Guang and Yang Yong, the two brothers, had their wives married by Yang Jian, who were all from the imperial family of the previous dynasty. Yang Yong was married to Yuan Shi, daughter of Yuan Xiaoju, a member of the Western Wei imperial family, while Yang Guang was married to Xiao Shi, daughter of Emperor Xuan of Western Liang. At the same time, both Yuan and Xiao families were prominent clans in the current dynasty, with Yuan being a powerful surname among the nomadic tribes and Xiao being a influential clan from Jiangdong.

  Yang Jian chose these two daughters-in-law for his eldest son and second son with great care.

  However, after marrying into the royal family, Crown Prince Yang Yong and Yuanshi had a very poor relationship. The crown prince favored his concubine in the Eastern Palace, but disliked Yuanshi, resulting in her not having any children. On the other hand, Yang Yong had ten illegitimate children with other palace maids. Even after Yuanshi's sudden death seven years ago, the lonely empress once asserted that Yuanshi was poisoned to death by Crown Prince Yang Yong and his concubine Yun Zhaoyun in collusion.

  On the other hand, Yang Guang was extremely loving to Xiao Shi and did not love any of his concubines. Even his only two sons were both born by Xiao Shi. This made Dugu Empress and Yang Jian even more appreciative.

  Yang Guang's back house had only a few concubines, almost all of whom were brought into the mansion by Xiao Shi. However, on most nights, Yang Guang would still go to Xiao Shi's quarters to spend the night.

  As usual, tonight, after Yang Guang finished his official duties, he came to Xiao's room again. He pushed open the door as he had done thousands of times before, lifted the thick brocade quilt, and then carried Xiao in his arms onto the couch.

  Although she had been married for sixteen years and had given birth to four children with Yang Guang, Xiao Mei still felt shy and blushed at his actions.

  Xiao Meiniang was the daughter of Emperor Ming of Western Liang. As she was born in February, it was said in Jiangnan that women born in February had a lot of twists and turns in their fate. Emperor Xian thought this was not auspicious, so he sent her to be raised by his distant relative Xiao Kan. After Xiao Kan and his wife died early, she was again sent to be raised by her maternal uncle Zhang Ke. The Zhang family's circumstances were ordinary, and although Xiao was a princess born into an imperial family, she grew up among the common people and often did manual labor herself.

  In the second year of Kaihuang, Yang Jian had the 14-year-old King of Jin, Yang Guang, seek a bride from the imperial family of Western Liang. However, at that time, none of the princesses in the palace of Western Liang had birth dates that were compatible with Yang Guang's. Therefore, Xiao Kui brought back his niece, Xiao, from her uncle's household, and once her birth date was examined, it turned out to be extremely auspicious. She was thus selected as the Princess of Jin. The Lady Xiao was beautiful and kind, and she earned the love and respect of both Yang Jian and Empress Dugu.

  Xiao Mei Niang is thirty-three this year, three years older than Yang Guang. However, as the saying goes, "a woman is big at three", Xiao Mei Niang not only won the affection of her parents-in-law but also gained Yang Guang's favor. Even though she is already over thirty, she still enjoys his doting love without any decrease. This is not only because of Xiao's usual knowledge of books and courtesy, gentle housekeeping, and dignified demeanor, but also due to her long-standing beauty. Having given birth to four children and being married for sixteen years, the thirty-three-year-old Xiao Mei Niang, who should no longer be considered young, still looks as beautiful as a flower, delicate and tender like a shy bride after a new marriage.

  This has made Yang Guang never tired of Xiao Shi until now.

  Just today, Xiao Mei felt that her husband seemed a bit off, although it was subtle, but the understanding of more than a decade of married life still made her clearly feel that her husband had something on his mind.

  The King of Jin was not very durable today and finished quickly. This is different from usual, as the King of Jin was always very brave and could last for a long time, even being gentle, giving Xiao Mei Niang an unparalleled sense of satisfaction. However, today he seemed to be going through the motions or his heart wasn't in it, just fiercely thrusting away without considering her feelings.

  Like a stormy rain, she felt herself like a small boat in a hurricane.

  The storm came quickly and left quickly.

  After a low growl, Yang Guang turned over and did not speak softly as usual. Instead, he got up immediately, without even putting on his clothes, walked to the window, pushed it open, and let the cold wind of that late spring night blow freely into the room.