Chapter 308: Debate and Puppet

"Who are you?" Yang Guang turned around abruptly, a look of astonishment shooting from his eyes, and said coldly, "To trespass into the Imperial Palace without being announced—I shall sentence you to death!"

"I am Yu Liancheng, a heavenly elder; by reckoning, I am two generations your senior, so you need only call me Grandfather." Facing Yang Guang's rebuke, Yu Liancheng's expression remained unmoved as he scrutinized this monarch, who was notorious in history.

Under the illumination of the palace lanterns, Yang Guang's complexion was deathly pale, as if he were a corpse.

He appeared to be around fifty years old, and though he wore a wide, vibrant Nine Dragon Robe and a high crown, he gave the impression of a decadent man dressed in burial clothes.

Yang Guang was naturally temperamental and often woke up startled from his dreams. After the three campaigns against Goguryeo, he became increasingly irritable and could not tolerate the slightest provocation. For the slightest disobedience, he would resort to caning, or at worst, beheading.

In his daily life, everyone followed his tone, picking only pleasant things to say and daring not to show the slightest defiance; when had he ever heard such treasonous words?

Yang Guang immediately felt a boundless rage, his chest heaving, and he shrieked, "Guards! Drag this dog away and have him torn apart by five horses!"

Usually, at his call, armored guards with weapons would immediately appear to await his orders. But at this very moment, there was not even half a shadow to be seen.

Yang Guang frowned, sensing something unusual, and shouted again, "Come here! Sima Dekan! You dog, where have you run off to?"

This Sima Dekan was the Imperial Guard Commander.

"Hee hee, Your Majesty, stop shouting." Wanwan giggled, "This elder of yours has eyes that reach the heavens; he is a figure of the God class. Not to mention that the people outside cannot hear Your Majesty's voice, even if they did, it would only add a few more corpses."

"Eh, what... what a stunning beauty..." Only then did Yang Guang notice the peerless beauty beside Yu Liancheng; his eyes immediately filled with infatuation, and he stared at her blankly, completely forgetting that the world was being turned upside down.

"Hmph!" Yu Liancheng half-closed his eyes and let out a cold snort, though he used a bit of his true power.

Yang Guang's head felt as if it had been struck by lightning; a mouthful of blood spilled from his mouth, and a strange flush appeared on his originally pale face. As for the dozens of concubines, they all let out a soft cry in unison and fainted to the ground.

"You... you..." Yang Guang looked at Yu Liancheng in sheer terror, his murky eyes having regained a bit of clarity.

His martial arts had been taught to him by Yang Jian; in his youth, he had conquered cities and seized land, fighting in the vanguard, and his martial arts were not inferior to a First-class Expert of the Edo.

It was just that in recent years, his body had been eroded by wine and lust; of his ten parts of internal energy, only one or two remained today.

From this single snort of Yu Liancheng's, he judged that the other party was a supreme expert not inferior to the Three Great Grandmasters.

Yang Guang's eyes widened, and he said, "You... what exactly do you intend?"

Yu Liancheng said indifferently, "Yang Guang, now that public grievances are boiling over, rebel armies are rising everywhere, and warlords are carving up the land. With such a vast empire ruined so thoroughly, what face will you, this muddled monarch, have to meet Yang Jian in the netherworld?"

Hearing the two words "Yang Jian," Yang Guang's body trembled, his face suddenly twisted, and he roared like an evil spirit, "I am not a muddled monarch, absolutely not!"

"The three campaigns against Goguryeo were only because Goguryeo is a heart-and-gut ailment of the Great Sui. When marching against Goguryeo, if not for these sects and noble families holding me back, would I have needed to campaign three times?"

"I possess the four seas, and all under heaven is the King's land; why can I not build canals and construct imperial villas? Which of those Four Great Sects does not occupy a hundred miles of land, living in luxury and wealth? And there is the Pure Zen Sect, with hundreds of practice chambers, looking just like a Buddha city, and they even built a Bronze Hall—do you think I don't know about it?"

"The Great Sui empire is eternal; stop your nonsense!"

Yang Guang's words were incoherent and revealed a hysterical tone, his face looking insane.

In reality, he might not be unable to understand his current situation, but he chose to numb himself.

"Sigh, I originally thought that although you are a spendthrift and a muddled monarch, you still had some spirit, but I didn't expect you would only know how to shirk responsibility and dare not admit your faults."

Yu Liancheng looked at Yang Guang and sighed suddenly, saying, "'Suddenly hearing the government army arrive, I raise my blade and charge forward. If I am to die in Liaodong, what does it matter if my head is severed?' If you were not exploiting people cruelly, embarking on grand construction projects, and going on pleasure tours, along with those heavy corvée and military duties that left the people unable to survive, would the world be in this state today?"

"I... I..." Yang Guang paused, then immediately became hysterical again and shouted, "I am not wrong; the ones who are wrong are the noble families, the ones who are wrong are the Buddha and Dao sects, the ones who are wrong are all of them! I opened the canals, campaigned against Goguryeo, and promoted the imperial examinations—which of these is not the act of a wise monarch? I am a famous monarch through the ages!"

Yu Liancheng looked at Yang Guang with pity and said indifferently, "Then, famous monarch through the ages, do you want to know how you died? Do you want to know what happened after you died?"

Yang Guang was stunned, not understanding what Yu Liancheng meant.

Yu Liancheng's eyes suddenly looked at Yang Guang, flashing with a deep, inexplicable brilliance.

Boom!

In an instant, Yang Guang felt as if he had fallen into a dream; countless lights and shadows flashed before his eyes, and scenes began to flow through his mind.

Soon, Yang Guang came to his senses, his whole body trembling incessantly from anger; his eyes widened, shooting out rays of hatred and fury, and he shrieked.

"What a Yuwen Huaji! I will cut off your head, wipe out the Yuwen Clan, and kill every last one of you. And Li Yuan, Li Shimin, you group of rebels and traitors..."

It turned out that in that previous instant, Yu Liancheng had poured a portion of the 'subsequent plot' into Yang Guang's mind; no wonder he was so agitated.

Yu Liancheng let Yang Guang vent for a good while before slowly saying, "Rest assured, the Yuwen Clan will be destroyed. The Li Clan will also be unable to ascend to the position of the Nine-Five Supreme. Yang Guang, look into my eyes."

Yang Guang was startled and couldn't help but look at Yu Liancheng again.

In a trance, he found himself in a hazy, ethereal, and illusory realm.

All consciousness was gradually worn away by this ethereal illusion; his eyes gradually lost their spirit, as if he were a puppet.

Wanwan watched this scene, knowing that Yu Liancheng was brainwashing Yang Guang, using a Mental Secret Technique to strike at the other party's mind.

However, wanting to control Yang Guang perfectly like a marionette without being discovered by other ministers in the court was not an easy task.

At the very least, the Yin Gui Sect could not do it, otherwise, they would have controlled Yang Guang long ago.

The shadow at Yu Liancheng's feet suddenly twisted and deformed like a lamp flame in the wind; a wisp of shadow detached itself and merged into Yang Guang's shadow. Wanwan rubbed her eyes, not knowing if she had seen things.

The next moment, Yang Guang's eyes gradually regained their luster.

He seemed to have no changes, yet it was as if he had become another person.

Yang Guang bowed to Yu Liancheng and said respectfully, "Yang Guang pays respects to the Imperial Tutor."

Yu Liancheng nodded, a smile of someone who had everything under control appearing on his face: "Very good, very good."

For some reason, watching this scene, Wanwan felt a sense of hair-raising dread.