King of Wu
In 920, Yang Pu's older half-brother, Yang Longyan (Yang Xingmi's second son), who was then the King of Wu, was gravely ill. While Yang Pu was not Yang Xingmi's oldest surviving son at that point (Yang Meng, Yang Xingmi's third son, was), Xu Wen, who was in effective control of Wu's government by that point, was apprehensive of Yang Meng, who had ambitions to restore the Yang family's effective power. Xu, therefore, claiming that it was Yang Longyan's wishes, welcomed Yang Pu, who was then the Duke of Danyang, to the palace and had Yang Pu take the title of regent. Yang Longyan died soon thereafter, and Yang Pu took the throne as King of Wu. He honored his mother Lady Wang as queen dowager.