Traveling through Tianlong: Starting from the Zhenlong chess game

Chapter 602 I don't like to force others
Facing Queen Wang's abuse, Zhao Mu smiled and said, "Your Majesty is wrong. Prince Duan and Your Majesty are descendants of Emperor Taizong, and I am the heir of Emperor Taizu. Now the times have changed, and more than five generations have passed. If it were in the common people, we would not be relatives anymore. Besides, you are no longer Prince Duan's wife, because he is going to die soon."

Zhao Mu said as he approached her.

Queen Wang never let down her guard. Every time Zhao Mu took a step forward, she took a step back. The two of them slowly circled around the round table in the room.

Queen Wang angrily scolded, "You killed my son first, then my husband, and now you want to flirt with me. You are really despicable and shameless, extremely vulgar. You are now the emperor, and you are taking me by force now. Aren't you afraid of being infamous for eternity?"

"Legally infamous? Hahaha." Zhao Mu laughed wildly. After he finished laughing, he continued, "Queen, don't make a mistake. History books are written by the victors. Since ancient times, victors have been kings and losers have been bandits. I won this battle for the throne. How do you think my historians will record this? They will only write that Prince Duan rebelled and I restored order."

"Oh, I have a piece of news for you. Today is the grand court meeting. I have returned power to the Emperor Retired. Now the Emperor Retired is the true emperor of our Song Dynasty. As for me, I was named the 'Second Emperor' by the Emperor Retired, and I retain the title of Emperor and the imperial carriage. The country of Qi has also been changed to 'Second Song'. I have returned power to Your Majesty. Guess how the history books will write about Prince Duan and how they will write about me?"

Hearing this, Queen Wang was stunned. She didn't expect Zhao Mu to return power to the emperor.

In this case, Zhao Mu would be a loyal and righteous man who would go down in history. Even the Duke of Zhou, who was assisting the government, could not compare to him.

After all, Duke Zhou assisted King Ping and did not ascend the throne. He only assisted the young king as the regent uncle.

But this time, Zhao Mu not only defeated her husband, Prince Duan, but also successfully ascended the throne.

But he was not greedy for this position, and returned it to the emperor after he settled down. This can be said to be an unprecedented act of loyalty and righteousness. With such great integrity, who in the future would care whether he had a flawed personal morality?
Besides, what Zhao Mu said was right. History books are written by the victors, and how to evaluate them depends entirely on the victors' thoughts.

Seeing that Queen Wang fell silent, Zhao Mu continued, "Now that His Majesty has been restored to the throne, I have been named the Second Emperor. As a reward, His Majesty has given me everything that Prince Duan has. Of course, this also includes you wives and concubines. I am here to confiscate Prince Duan's property. From now on, you will be my slaves, and I will do whatever I want with you."

Queen Wang came to her senses at this time. She picked up the teapot on the table and smashed it to pieces.

All the girls in the courtyard heard the sound of something breaking inside the house, and they knew what was going on inside, but none of them dared to come in.

The people who were playing Cuju leisurely just now no longer had the smiles on their faces.

Moreover, they knew in their hearts that in a short while, Queen Wang’s fate might happen to them.

But they were helpless.

Zheng Cairen said to everyone calmly: "Everyone please go back to your rooms first. Don't disturb His Majesty's leisure."

Everyone didn't want to eavesdrop here anymore, so they followed Zheng Cairen's instructions and went back to their rooms.

Inside the house, Queen Wang smashed the teapot, and she held the pieces of the teapot against her fair and smooth neck. She looked at Zhao Mu with disheveled hair, and said in a somewhat insane manner: "Don't come over here! If you come over again, I will die in front of you! I would rather die than..."

Before Queen Wang finished her words, Zhao Mu sat down directly, and then took the fragments of the official kiln teapot, playing with them while saying: "If the Queen wants to die for her loyalty, then I will not stop you. But before you die, you still have to think things through."

Queen Wang's hand did not leave her neck. She asked, "What do you want to think about?"

Zhao Mu looked at her and said, "You are not alone."

Queen Wang frowned and said, "What! You want to threaten me with my family? Humph! Don't think I will fall for your trick. Your Majesty has committed the great crime of treason. In this kind of situation, it is natural that everyone will prosper together and suffer together. When the nest is overturned, no egg will be left unbroken. Anyway, the Wang family is about to die. Even if I obey you, you will not let them go."

Zhao Mu shook his head and said, "The Queen has made a mistake. Although Prince Duan has exposed the truth this time, I do not intend to pursue it too much. Today, at the grand court meeting, I, Your Majesty, and the civil and military officials discussed the punishment of Prince Duan and his party. Gao Qiu's three clans have been exterminated. And all the officials in Prince Consort's family who served in the pseudo-court were beheaded, and the rest of the female family members were sent to the music school. The male members of the family were exiled to Lingnan, and the Princess of Wei was imprisoned in the Zongzheng Mansion."

"As for Prince Duan, all the officials in the court and your majesty suggested severe punishment. But after thinking about it, I felt that it was totally unnecessary. So I proposed to your majesty that the three departments of Zongzhengfu, the Ministry of Justice, and the Dali Temple should jointly try him. Then, Prince Duan should be sentenced to death with white silk and poisoned wine. After I and my brother Su Xueshi overcame all the objections, we finally decided. Prince Duan died alone. You and the family property of Prince Duan's mansion will be rewarded to me. And the families of you, Prince Duan's concubines, will all be demoted and fined, a small punishment and a big warning."

After hearing this, Queen Wang's expression finally calmed down a little. She asked, "Are you telling the truth?"

Zhao Mu chuckled and said, "Now that it has come to this, are you worthy of my deception? Besides, do you really think I can't catch you?"

As soon as Zhao Mu finished speaking, he performed Lingbo Weibu and arrived in front of Queen Wang in the blink of an eye. He grabbed Queen Wang's wrist, and with just a slight force, she let go of the broken porcelain in her hand in pain.

Zhao Mu caught the broken pieces of porcelain from the teapot directly in his hand. He then grabbed Queen Wang's hand and pushed her gently, causing her to fall onto the bed.

Zhao Mu looked at the porcelain in his hand, and then said to Queen Wang: "What do you think? Do you think you are qualified to be deceived by me? I was once named 'General of the Army and Commander of the World' by Your Majesty. Liao and Xia countries feared me like a tiger. I regarded the millions of Liao soldiers as grass. Do you think you, a weak woman, are worthy of being deceived by me?"

Queen Wang held her swollen wrist, huddled beside the bed and said nothing, tears already welling up in her eyes.

Zhao Mu looked at Queen Wang who was crying and sneered.

He threw away the broken porcelain pieces in his hand, then walked to the bed and pinched Queen Wang's chin.

Zhao Mu sneered and said, "Don't worry, Queen, I don't like to force others. If the Queen doesn't want to, then it doesn't matter."

Zhao Mu sighed in a pretentious manner, then turned around and said, "Alas! It's a pity that I have worked so hard in the court to convince the officials not to make a big deal out of this matter. In order to distance themselves from Prince Duan's party, many people in the court are trying to take advantage of the situation. Since the Queen doesn't appreciate my kindness, I don't need to offend the officials."

(End of this chapter)