In 1276, the Southern Song Dynasty court fled to Guangdong by boat, fleeing Mongol invaders, and leaving the emperor Gong Di behind. Any hope of resistance centered on two young princes, Gong Di's brothers. The older boy, Zhao Shi, aged nine was declared emperor, and, in 1277, the imperial court sought refuge first in Silvermine Bay (Mui Wo) on Lantau Island [in modern Hong Kong] and later in today's Kowloon City, Hong Kong. The older brother became ill and died, and was succeeded by the younger, Zhao Bing, aged seven. When in 1279 the Song army was defeated in its last battle, the Battle of Yamen, against the Mongols in the Pearl River Delta, a high official is said to have taken the boy emperor in his arms and jumped from a clifftop into the sea, drowning both of them. These emperors are also believed to have held court in the Tung Chung valley, which takes its name from a local hero who gave up his life for the emperor. Hau Wong, an official from this court, is still revered as a god in Hong Kong.

When Song Di Bing left Hong Kong and fled further up the Pearl River Delta, where he met his demise, Yang Liang Jie stayed behind to defend the rear.  There is also some indication that he may have been too ill to move; at any rate, he died in Kowloon.

The people venerated him for his loyalty to the emperor, and called on his benevolence for similar favors.  A temple was built just outside the (now destroyed) Kowloon walled city in 1730; this and another in Macau dispute which is the oldest of all Hou Wang temples.