Yang Guang's desire to deal with Yang Su showed that the realm was basically secure, the work was largely done, and Yang Su's value had begun to decline sharply.
But even after revealing to Wang Yan that he intended to get rid of Yang Su, Yang Guang did not rush to act. Yang Su was, after all, the sitting prime minister and a member of the Hongnong Yang Clan. His connections ran deep; he could not simply be killed at a word. It would have to be a process.
During that process, Yang Su's followers were continually reassigned, and his power was slowly stripped away.
Of course, Yang Su was no fool and would eventually notice. But Yang Guang held military power, so he did not need to worry too much. He merely had to resolve in advance certain critical matters that Yang Su might influence.
The reason an emperor could not slaughter court officials at will was that if too many were killed, no one would be willing to work, and the administration would fall into decay. Of course, that applied to powerful emperors.
An emperor whose power was not concentrated might try to kill someone only to end up falling into the water himself.
But Yang Guang was clearly not such an emperor. His authority was now highly concentrated.
Thus, after half a year of adjustments, in the summer of the second year of Daye, on a clear night bright with stars, Yang Su's home caught fire...
Naturally, Wang Yan heard the news. They did not live far apart, and with flames soaring into the sky and commotion everywhere, it was impossible for the surrounding residences not to notice. Yet not a single household nearby opened its doors to watch. Only Yuwen Chengdu led a group of soldiers