Wang Yan

As crown prince It was said that as crown prince, Wang Zongyan spent time with wine, women, and games. Whenever Wang Jian went past Wang Zongyan's palace and heard the sounds of Wang Zongyan staging cockfights or ballgames with the other princes, he would lament, "I fought 100 battles to establish this foundation; can people like this hold firm on it?" He therefore came to despise Zhang Ge greatly, but as Zhang was protected by Consort Xu, Wang Jian never actually removed Zhang. However, he considered replacing Wang Zongyan with Wang Zongjie, until Wang Zongjie's death in 918, which Wang Jian found suspicious but apparently did not investigate.

In 920, there was an incident when Wang Yan went to offer sacrifices at the imperial temple dedicated to his father Wang Jian; he had the ladies from the palace, as well as the officials, offer food sacrifices and dedicate music that were not in accordance with Confucian regulations. When the sheriff Zhang Shiqiao (張士喬) urged him to follow proper regulations, Wang Yan became so angry that he almost put Zhang to death, only relenting when Empress Dowager Xu interceded. (Zhang was still exiled and committed suicide on the way to exile.)

In 923, Later Liang was destroyed by its archrival to the north, Later Tang. When Later Tang's Emperor Zhuangzong sent the news of Later Liang's destruction to Former Shu, the state was in much shock, but took no further action. When a comet (then considered a sign of impending disaster) subsequently appeared and the imperial astronomer indicated that a disaster was coming, Wang Yan established a field for offering prayer to the gods to try to stop the disaster. When the official Zhang Yun (張雲) argued that the more appropriate actions to take would be to make policy changes to appease the people, Wang Yan, in anger, exiled Zhang, and Zhang died on the way to exile.

Li returned to Later Tang's capital Luoyang later in the year. Part of his mission was to exchange Later Tang horses for Former Shu jewels, but that part of the mission was unsuccessful, as Former Shu laws prohibited the shipping of jewels to Later Tang, except for lower quality jewels that were referred to as "items to send into the wild" (入草物, rucaowu). In displeasure, Emperor Zhuangzong stated, "How would Wang Yan know that he would not be a 'person to send into the wild'?" Li used this opportunity to further point out to Emperor Zhuangzong that Wang Yan was not personally handling the affairs of state and that Wang Zongbi and Song Guangsi, as well as other powerful officials, were corrupt, such that Former Shu should easily be conquerable. Wang Zongshou located Wang Yan's and the bodies of 17 other members of the imperial household, and buried them properly. Noble Consort, of the Qian clan (贵妃 钱氏, d. 926) Consort Shun, of the Su clan (顺妃 苏氏) Zhaoyi, of the Li clan (昭仪 李氏, 900 – 926), personal name Shunxian (舜弦) Gongren, of the Li clan (宫人 李氏), personal name Yuxiao (玉箫) Gongren, of the Liu clan (宫人 刘氏) Lady, of the He clan (何氏) Lady, of the Wang clan (王氏) Unknown Wang Chengtiao (王承祧) (killed by Emperor Zhuangzong of Later Tang 926) Wang Chengsi (王承祀) (killed by Emperor Zhuangzong of Later Tang 926)