Prince of Hongnong
Meanwhile, Yang Wo continued to be unable to control the growing powers of Zhang and Xu Wen, but was trying to find ways to do so. They considered their own positions precarious, and they resolved to kill Yang Wo, divide the domain between themselves, and then submit to Later Liang. On June 9, 908, Zhang sent his subordinate Ji Xiang () into Yang Wo's mansion with soldiers under Zhang's command and killed him in his bedroom (The reason why only Zhang's soldiers were used was that Xu pointed out that if they mixed soldiers, the soldiers may not cooperate with each other, and Zhang did not want to let Xu's soldiers conduct the assassination). It was said that when the assassins entered Yang Wo's bedroom, he tried to convince them to turn against Zhang and Xu, offering them prefects' positions. Most assassins were enticed, but Ji was not, and Ji personally strangled Yang Wo. Zhang and Xu subsequently declared that Yang Wo had died of a sudden illness. Xu later killed Zhang and declared Yang Wo's younger brother Yang Longyan the new Prince of Hongnong.