Don’t misunderstand the title, Yang Jian is not Li Shimin. Li Shimin was notoriously ruthless, not only killing his brothers, but also taking in all their women.
Yang Jian is a famous model husband in Chinese history, who gave his lifelong love to Dugu Jialuo. Although he had had wild fantasies about other women, he was nominally loyal to Queen Dugu. Therefore, Yang Jian did not attack the women of Emperor Zhou Xuan, not to mention that his daughter Yang Lihua was also one of Emperor Zhou Xuan's queens. Another reason may be that Yang Jian didn't dare to do it because there was a lion from Hedong in his family. It can also be said that he has a thief's heart but not his courage!
In fact, Emperor Xuan of Zhou Dynasty Yuwen Yun established more than five queens. The total number of seven, seven, eight, and eight queens is estimated to exceed double digits. But there are at most five famous ones: Yang Lihua, Zhu Manyue, Chen Yueyi, Yuan Lexhang and Yuchi Fanchi.
Emperor Zhou Xuan only lived in his early twenties, and he only became emperor for one year before giving up the throne to his 8-year-old son Yuwen Chan. Although he created two shortcomings, namely: short life span and short reign, they did not affect his absurdity and debauchery at all.
After the death of his father Yu Wenyong, he did not go to mourning but only focused on sexual pleasure all day long. He also cursed: "This old guy died too late?!" Seeing that the woman of his cousin Yuwenwen was beautiful, he simply snatched her away for his own pleasure and made her his queen.
Back to the topic, after Yang Jian established the Sui Dynasty, where did the five queens of Emperor Xuan of Zhou go?
1. Queen Tianyuan Yang Lihua
Yang Lihua’s marriage to Emperor Zhou Xuan was completely due to the political purpose of her father Yang Jian. When she was 13 years old, she married Yu Wenyun, who was still the crown prince at the time. It was precisely because of his daughter's relationship that Yang Jian rose through the ranks, serving as Zhu Guo, Da Sima, and then moved to important positions such as Da Hou Cheng and You Si Wu.
Although Yang Lihua was beautiful and fragrant, and was honored as a queen, Emperor Xuan of Zhou liked the new and disliked the old. He gathered beauties from all over the world all day long, hugging them left and right, and indulged in lustful pleasures. Therefore, Yang Lihua's life was not happy, but for the honor and disgrace of the entire family, she could only force herself to smile in front of Emperor Zhou Xuan and please him.
After the death of Emperor Xuan of Zhou Dynasty, Yang Lihua supported her father's usurpation of the throne and was later named Princess Leping by her father. At that time, Yang Lihua was only in her twenties, and she was in her prime years but she kept an empty house. Yang Jian also felt very sad, so he persuaded her to remarry. Yang Lihua did not follow her parents' advice and chose to die alone.
In 609 AD, Yang Lihua accompanied Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty on a tour to Zhangye, Gansu Province. She died of illness in Jiuxi (now Wuwei County, Gansu Province) at the age of 48. Her nephew was buried in the Dingling Tomb of Emperor Xuan of Zhou Dynasty.
Second, Queen Zhu Manyue of Tianda
Zhu Manyue was not the rich girl that Emperor Zhou Xuan’s matchmaker was marrying, and she was twelve years older than Emperor Zhou Xuan. Zhu Manyue entered the palace to atone for her family's sins. After her family committed a crime, she was assigned to the East Palace as a maid. She was responsible for the daily life and dressing of Emperor Zhou Xuan, who was still the crown prince at the time. Yu Wenyun was famous for his debauchery, so this maid was not spared. Not long after, Zhu Manyue became pregnant and gave birth to a son, who later became Emperor Jing of Zhou Dynasty, Yuwen Chan.