Traveling through Tianlong: Starting from the Zhenlong chess game

Chapter 636: Li Qiushui's Secret Life
After hearing what Zhao Mu said, Zhezong felt that it was about the same.

After all, more and more officials in the court have recently advised him to "put filial piety first."

The Song Dynasty came from the same source as the previous dynasties, both were "disloyal", so in order to educate the people under its rule, it could only promote filial piety and righteousness.

But if the emperor of the Song Dynasty is not filial, how can he educate the people under his rule?

Zhezong said at this time: "Well, for the sake of my uncle, I will lift the confinement of Wei Guo and the Queen Mother."

Seeing that Zhezong had given up so easily, Zhao Mu immediately expressed his gratitude.

Zhao Mu said at this time: "Your Majesty, if there is nothing else, I will return home for the time being."

"Return to the palace?" Hearing this, Zhezong couldn't help but ask, "Why, does the emperor's uncle think that my Prince's Eastern Palace is not good, or am I being negligent? Why doesn't the emperor's uncle live in this palace and be a good neighbor to me? Instead, he wants to move back to the emperor's uncle's Qiwang Palace?"

Zhao Mu smiled obscenely at this time and said, "Your Majesty, I moved back to Prince Qi's Mansion not because the Eastern Palace is not good. It's just that some things are still inconvenient to do in this palace."

Cheoljong asked, "Oh? What's the matter?"

Zhao Mu replied, "The women the Queen Mother gave me were, after all, palace ladies. If I had any affair with them, I would be charged with defilement of the palace, and I cannot bear the consequences."

Upon hearing this, Zhezong was stunned for a moment, then laughed and said, "Haha. Your uncle is worrying too much. With your current power, who would dare to gossip about you?"

Zhao Mu smiled bitterly and said, "It is precisely because I am so powerful now that there are so many people gossiping. Your Majesty, have you forgotten that Emperor Taizong had a visit with Concubine Xiao Zhou? Such rumors..."

Zhezong said, "Uncle, who said this was a rumor?"

"Ah? Isn't this a rumor?" Zhao Mu asked.

Zhezong replied, "Your Majesty, Taizong is the most controversial emperor in our Song Dynasty. First, there was the candlelight and axe sound, the murder of Taizong. Then there was the death of Prince Qi, the death of Li Yu, and even the escape on a donkey cart as mentioned by the emperor's uncle. Except for the forced painting of Xiao Zhouhou and the poisoning of Li Houzhu, the rest are all fabricated."

Hearing this, Zhao Mu couldn't help but be stunned.

Zhezong asked, "From the look on his uncle's face, he seems to not believe it."

Zhao Mu shook his head and said, "It's not that I don't believe it, I just can't believe it."

At this time, Cheoljong stood up and took out a clean wooden box from the cabinet behind him.

Then Zhezong took out a painting from the wooden box and handed it to Zhao Mu.

Zhao Mu looked at the scroll in his hand and said, "Your Majesty, this is it."

Zhezong said, "This is the painting that Taizong ordered the painter to draw when he forced Xiao Zhouhou to marry her. Taizong always treasured her. Especially after Xiao Zhouhou's death, this was even more so. And this painting was also treasured by the emperors of the Song Dynasty. Because of Xiao Zhouhou's charm, I would take it out to look at it sometimes."

Zhao Mu was full of curiosity and opened the painting of "Forcing Concubine Xiao Zhou" which would be remembered through the ages.

However, when he saw this painting, Zhao Mu couldn't help but be stunned.

Seeing Zhao Mu's expression, Zhezong asked, "What's wrong with the emperor's uncle? Is the emperor's uncle also fascinated by Xiao Zhouhou's appearance?"

Zhao Mu couldn't believe his eyes. He rubbed his eyes and looked at the painting carefully again.

The woman in the painting is naked and lying on the ground. The painting is exquisite and lifelike.

But Zhao Mu didn't want to look at this painting anymore, because the person in the painting was Li Qiushui. Zhao Mu looked at Zhezong and asked, "Your Majesty, is this painting really passed down from our ancestors of the Song Dynasty?"

Zhezong smiled and said, "Uncle is also a famous painter. The age of this painting must be obvious at a glance." At this time, Zhezong also asked, "But uncle is so surprised, but what's wrong with this painting?"

Zhao Mu then shook his head and said, "No! Nothing, it's just that the woman in the painting looks a bit like one of the women in my harem."

Hearing what Zhao Mu said, Zhezong also laughed and said, "Haha, this is not surprising. There are many people in this world who look alike. There are so many beauties in the harem of the emperor's uncle, so it is not surprising that there are one or two who look similar to him."

Zhao Mu just nodded repeatedly after hearing this, then put away the scroll and returned it to Zhezong. Then he turned around and left the palace and returned home.

Zhao Mu confirmed that he was not mistaken. The woman in the painting was indeed Li Qiushui. Her features were exactly the same as those of Li Qiushui, Wang Yuyan, and Li Qinglu.

If it weren't for the age mismatch, Zhao Mu would even have some suspicion that his master's wife Li Qiu Shui was the Little Concubine Zhou.

However, seeing the similar appearance of these two people, Zhao Mu felt that even if his master's wife was not Xiao Zhou Hou, she must have some connection with Li Yu and his wife.

After all, my master Xiaoyaozi once assisted Li Cunxu, the Emperor Zhuangzong of the Later Tang Dynasty, and was also recruited by Li Siyuan, the Emperor Mingzong of the Later Tang Dynasty.

He learned from his master's wife that his master was a loyal minister of the Tang Dynasty. If it weren't for the fact that Zhuangzong favored actors, which made him disheartened. And Li Siyuan's position was not legitimate. He would have always been loyal to the Later Tang regime. Or the prosperous Tang Dynasty in his mind.

But it has been more than a hundred years, and the master has long passed away. Looking at the state of the master's wife now, I think she must know nothing. Perhaps this will be another eternal mystery.

Zhao Mu stopped thinking about it. He was successful and famous, and had many wives and concubines. He didn't need to think about other things.

In a few days, I will go to war, and that will be the end of the Liao Kingdom. And I don't know how long this war to destroy the country will last.

I don't have much free time now. It's better to go back home as soon as possible and play with those pretty little girls.

Thinking of this, Zhao Mu did not delay any longer and went straight back to Prince Qi's mansion.

Everything in Prince Qi's mansion remained the same as before, and the servants welcomed Zhao Mu as usual.

Most of those girls were kept in the East Palace to serve Queen Wang and her two companions.

Zhao Mu simply sent the two best-looking ones to his house to keep him company.

Among them was the one who had previously blocked Zhao Mu from being invited to the Queen Mother's bedroom.

Just when Zhao Mu came to his room and was about to enjoy the two beauties, he saw a surprising scene after entering the room.

At the moment, the two young palace maids were lying on their own large beds, neither of them moving.

This made Zhao Mu a little surprised.

When Zhao Mu saw this scene, he hurried forward to check.

Zhao Mu checked their breathing and pulse.

The two men were still breathing, and their breaths were very calm. It seemed that they were knocked to the ground and left here by someone.

This surprised Zhao Mu. He thought, "Although I don't live in Prince Qi's mansion all the time, there are servants and maids coming in to clean it every day. And there are Royal Guards and Dragon Guards guarding the four gates. Not to mention a petty thief, even a martial arts master like the elder of the Beggars' Sect can't easily get in. Who attacked them?"

(End of this chapter)