Traveling through Tianlong: Starting from the Zhenlong chess game

Chapter 597 Emperor Zhong of the Song Dynasty

Zhezong smiled and said, "My uncle is really considerate." Then Zhezong sighed, "Alas! It's a pity that the prince consort made a mistake and committed such a heinous crime. He really wronged my sister."

Then Zhezong looked at Zhao Mu and said, "Forget it, let's not talk about this. Uncle, you suppressed the rebellion of Prince Duan and returned power to me. You have made great contributions to both the country and me. I feel very sorry for just asking for some slaves and money. If you want any other rewards, just ask for it."

Zhao Mu shook his head and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty. Your Majesty knows me well. I have only enjoyed pleasure and women all my life. When I led the army to pacify the Uighur tribes, I looted a lot of gold and silver from the Western Regions. I also captured more than a hundred women from the Uighur royal palace, which is enough for me to enjoy for the rest of my life."

"Moreover, my current position of power can no longer be described as 'the highest position among officials'. Your Majesty has reached a point where there is no more reward or title to be bestowed upon me. If Your Majesty wants to reward me more, then I can only be sentenced to death."

Zhezong also laughed and said, "Alas! What are you saying, my uncle? He is the pillar of the Song Dynasty. Even if I die, I will not let him die. How about this, I will keep his title as the emperor?"

Zhao Mu shook his head and said, "Your Majesty, this is absolutely impossible. As the saying goes, there is no two suns in the sky, and there is no two kings in a country. Since ancient times, there has never been two emperors in one dynasty. Even if there were two saints in the reign of Emperor Gaozong of the former Tang Dynasty, it was a way for Wu Zhou to replace Tang and bring disaster."

Zhezong waved his hand and said, "That's fine. I've thought about it carefully. The title of emperor, the emperor uncle, is only in Qi. In Qi, the emperor uncle can perform the emperor's ceremonial procession, call himself as I do, and worship the ancestral temple of our Great Song Dynasty. How do you think?"

Zhao Mu thought for a while and said, "Qi is a bit too big. If Your Majesty is determined to grant me such an honor, then the place should be smaller. How about Lingzhou City and several nearby counties? In Lingzhou, I am the Emperor of Song, but outside Lingzhou, I am the King of Qi of Song."

Zhezong asked, "Why doesn't the emperor's uncle want other states and counties?"

Zhao Mu smiled and said, "Although Qi is not big, it has many troubles. I am more than qualified to be a provincial official. But being the ruler of Xizhou is a bit difficult. Besides, Your Majesty has told me before that I am just a governor. Now Xizhou has completely surrendered to the Song Dynasty. It is time to completely incorporate it into the territory of the Song Dynasty."

After some thought, Zhezong said, "Well, since my uncle is determined to donate land, it's almost time to withdraw the vassal state of Qi. After all, my uncle will not be the King of Qi in the future, but the 'Second Emperor of the Great Song Dynasty'."

Zhao Mu was about to laugh happily, feeling lucky that he had gotten rid of the last burden. But Zhezong smiled evilly and said, "It's just that the vassal title of Qi State is revoked, and Qi State is renamed 'Zhong State'. All military and political power will still be under the jurisdiction of the Zhong Emperor."

Zhao Mu blushed and said, "Your Majesty, you are just changing the soup but not the medicine, aren't you?"

Zhezong smiled and said, "My uncle can't always think about himself. He must also give an explanation to the people around him and his subordinates. If my uncle was the Grand Commandant or Prime Minister of Qi, how would he feel if he knew that he had changed from a 'prime minister of a country' to a governor of a state or a general? Does my uncle want them to rebel against me?"

Zhao Mu thought for a moment and said, "Then I will follow your majesty's wishes."

Zhezong said: "This is also an explanation to everyone."

Zhezong asked at this time: "By the way, uncle, what are you going to do with the princess of Liao?"

Zhao Mu smiled evilly and said, "Of course I will take her back to Lingzhou as a slave. I was too pampering to her before. I didn't expect this woman to almost break the sky. I will discipline her strictly in the future."

Zhezong also laughed and said, "The emperor's uncle has no taboos."

Then the king and his minister smiled at each other.

Afterwards, Zhao Mu and Zhezong discussed other details. After the discussion, Zhao Mu returned to Prince Qi's Mansion to prepare for the grand court meeting tomorrow, when he would personally welcome Zhezong to the throne.

When Zhao Mu returned to Prince Qi's mansion, he saw someone waiting for him inside.

The person waiting for him was none other than Zhao Mu's nominal mother, Concubine Chai. Zhao Mu saw Concubine Chai sitting in the hall, and he asked, "Mother, how come you have time to come here today?"

When Concubine Chai saw Zhao Mu, she immediately stood up and saluted, saying, "I pay my respects to your Majesty."

Zhao Mu immediately helped Concubine Chai up and said, "Mother, there is no need to be polite. After the grand court meeting tomorrow, I will no longer be the emperor."

Zhezong recovered, and Zhao Mu moved back to Qi Wang Mansion from the palace. Concubine Chai had already guessed it, so she was not surprised by Zhao Mu's words.

Concubine Chai said at this time: "Alas! Mu'er, this is a national affair, I can't say much. But I hope you can take care of this family matter."

Zhao Mu asked in return: "Is there any difficulty in this family?"

Concubine Chai did not answer directly. She asked, "Mu'er, where will you go after you abdicate?"

Zhao Mu replied, "Of course I'm going back to Qi. Why are you asking this, mother? Do you want to go with me? That would be great."

Concubine Chai shook her head and said, "No! It's not that I want to go back to Qi with you. It's that I want you to take your sister-in-law with you."

"Ah?" Zhao Mu was quite surprised by Concubine Chai's words.

Even though he had already had evil thoughts about his widowed sister-in-law, he had to wait until the three-year mourning period for his eldest brother was over before he could ask to marry her.

But he didn't expect Concubine Chai to take the initiative to bring it up. This surprised Zhao Mu a little.

Zhao Mu asked, "Oh? Why is that? My eldest brother's mourning period has not yet passed, and my eldest sister-in-law..."

Concubine Chai sighed and said, "Alas! It is because you, my child, are planning to return power to His Majesty."

Zhao Mu still looked puzzled and asked, "What does this have to do with it?"

Concubine Chai replied, "Of course there is a little bit. Although Yong'er's accidental death has preserved the reputation of the Dongping Palace. But he had close contacts with the false emperor during his lifetime, and was the first to submit a petition to persuade him to ascend the throne, and even accepted the false emperor's canonization. These things are known to everyone in the capital."

"And Yong'er has been domineering since he was canonized. He has offended many people in the capital. But he is just like you in the past, relying on the emperor's favor, no one dares to offend him. If you have not returned the power to His Majesty, your sister-in-law will be fine if you stay in the capital. But if you leave, it is inevitable that someone will take revenge in the future. If this matter is brought up again, not only your sister-in-law, but even the Deng Palace may be implicated."

Zhao Mu murmured, "How could this happen? I took my sister-in-law away, what would this change? And if I took my sister-in-law away, what would you do, mother?"

Concubine Chai replied, "I am the princess of the Chai family. I am protected by the red book and iron certificate handed down from my ancestors. Even if others gossip about me, they can't hurt me. But Yuzhen is Yong'er's wife. Although the Deng Palace also has an iron scroll of immunity from death, my Chai family is a tribute to the country, and the Qian family is just forced to surrender. Their iron scroll can only be used three times, and the Deng Palace will not use the ancestral iron scroll for Yuzhen."

"But if your sister-in-law follows you to Qi, it will be useless for those people to bring up the past. As for my life in the capital, it's fine. Didn't you make your second brother Huier inherit the title of Prince of Dongping? They must be on their way to the capital. I will have them to take care of me in the future, and I will have someone to rely on when I grow old."

After hearing what Concubine Chai said, Zhao Mu sighed in his heart, "When the tree falls, the monkeys scatter; when the wall falls, everyone pushes it down."

(End of this chapter)