Traveling through Tianlong: Starting from the Zhenlong chess game

Chapter 565: New Golden Chamber Alliance

Ah Zhu looked at the glittering treasure inside and said in surprise, "Could this be the legendary imperial seal?"

Zhao Mu held the imperial seal in his hand and said, "Yes! This seal has always been kept in your majesty's study."

Arjun asked, "Then why is it here?"

So Zhao Mu briefly told Ah Zhu what had just happened.

Although Zhao Mu said it lightly, Ah Zhu's heart was still pounding.

Ah Zhu said, "It was a close call. Fortunately, Mr. Fang arrived in time. Otherwise, it would have almost caused a disaster."

Zhao Mu also let out a long sigh and said, "Although I don't know what happened in the palace, His Majesty is currently safe and sound. This is the best thing."

Zhao Mu looked at Ah Zhu and said, "Oh, Ah Zhu, where is the box I entrusted you to keep? Now is the time to take it out. Fang Shisan brought the emperor's order, saying that I can open it now. I really want to know what is in the box."

Ah Zhu nodded, then walked to the inner room and took out the box from under her bed. Ah Zhu blew away the dust on it, and finally brushed off the dust with her sleeves before bringing it to Zhao Mu.

After Ah Zhu put the box away, she took out the dagger she used for self-defense and handed it to Zhao Mu.

After Zhao Mu took it, he carefully removed all the wax from the box. After the box was opened, a dazzling golden light came into view.

Under this brocade box is a square golden box.

Seeing this golden box, Zhao Mu seemed to have thought of something. He murmured, "Could this be a golden box?"

Ah Zhu asked, "Golden Casket? Could this be the Golden Casket Alliance that Taizu and Taizong made?"

Zhao Mu did not explain further and quickly took out the ancient golden box.

After Zhao Mu took out the golden box, his eyes lit up. The inscription carved on the golden plate also confirmed his guess. Because the inscription on the golden plate was the oath that the three brothers of Taizu had made in front of the Queen Mother.

However, there were many doubts about the candlelight and the axe sound. In addition, Taizong did not return the throne to his ancestor Zhao Defang, but passed it to his son Zhenzong. Therefore, the "Golden Casket Alliance" was invalidated.

Zhao Mu originally thought it was just a story, a historical allusion, but he never expected that the golden box actually existed.

Zhao Mu also couldn't wait to open the golden box. There were four things in the golden box: two pieces of silk, a letter, and a seal used by the emperor for administrative purposes.

Zhao Mu was not in a hurry to look at the silk, but picked up the letter.

Because this was a letter left for him by Zhezong, and it said "Personally from my uncle Zhao Mu".

Zhao Mu opened the envelope and began to read.

The general meaning of this letter is: when Zhao Mu saw this letter, Zhezong himself might have met with an accident. Zhezong recounted the friendship between himself and Zhao Mu in his heart, and also talked about his serious illness. Zhezong also said in the letter that he had no heir, and there was no one to succeed the Song Dynasty, and his brothers were all useless people. Looking at the entire Song Dynasty, the most capable person to inherit the throne is Zhao Mu. So in order to prevent accidents, Zhezong placed Zhao Mu in Qi State, gave him an official office, a reign title, and troops, so that at this time, Zhao Mu, in the name of the emperor of the Song Dynasty, would fight against the rebellion and take back the Song Dynasty.

In addition, Zhezong also said in the letter that all future affairs would be handed over to Zhao Mu, and he hoped that Zhao Mu would live up to his trust and continue the unfinished cause of the two of them. Complete their dreams, defeat the Liao Kingdom and make the Song Dynasty the true successor of the Tang Dynasty. Looking at the sincere words in the letter, thinking of the past between himself and Zhezong, even a murderer like Zhao Mu could not help but shed two lines of tears.

Zhao Mu murmured, "How can I be worthy of inheriting your majesty's throne? Your majesty has really treated me well."

If Zhezong had not valued him, how could Zhao Mu have achieved his current glory? He might have spent his entire life as a small marquis, without even the possibility of being promoted to a duke. Not to mention becoming the best of the royal nobility in the Song Dynasty.

After putting down the letter, Zhao Mu looked at the two pieces of silk again.

The two pieces of silk were two edicts of succession, one new and one old.

The old one was the imperial edict of the Golden Casket Alliance written by the Empress Dowager and the founding Prime Minister Zhao Pu. It was also stamped with Zhao Pu's official seal, the Empress Dowager's phoenix seal, and Taizu's two jade seals.

The new one was left by Zhezong to Zhao Mu, and it clearly stated that because Zhezong himself had no heir, according to the ancient system of the Golden Casket Alliance, Zhezong would pass the throne to Zhao Mu as the new emperor and inherit the orthodox lineage of the Song Dynasty. Anyone who did not respect him would be killed without mercy.

Azhu also looked at Zhezong's letter and then looked at the edict of succession.

Ah Zhu said in surprise: "Congratulations, my husband, you have become the emperor of Song Dynasty. This is great. We don't have to fight for the throne anymore. Now the emperor of Song Dynasty has passed the throne to you personally."

But Zhao Mu was not happy at all. This might be a great thing for others. Now Zhao Mu could legally ascend the throne and then send an order to the whole country to raise troops and fight back to the capital.

However, Zhao Mu was unwilling to do so. First, he heard from Eunuch Liu that Emperor Zhezong was still alive. If he succeeded to the throne now, it would not be unjustifiable. But Zhao Mu did not want to usurp the throne of Emperor Zhezong.

The second reason is that Zhao Mu does not want to fight against his own brothers. If he ascends the throne now, the people in Bianliang will definitely not let it go.

Even though he had Zhezong's decree of succession to the throne and the imperial seal, three other treasures.

However, the tiger seal for mobilizing troops was snatched back by Empress Dowager Xiang and her entourage. Now that he had the imperial seal in his hand, he only controlled the administration and grasped the legitimacy, but he did not have the military power of the Song Dynasty. His army was very tired at the moment, and there was also the Liao Kingdom watching covetously, so his chances of winning were not great.

And if a war really breaks out, it will affect the entire body and even cause loss of life.

What's more, Zhao Mu was more concerned about the seriously ill Emperor Zhezong. He was afraid that if Empress Dowager Xiang and her group did something crazy and threatened him with Zhezong, he would be really afraid of the consequences.

Seeing Zhao Mu remained silent, Ah Zhu said, "Sir, did Ah Zhu say something wrong?"

Zhao Mu came back to his senses at this time and said, "Oh! No. I was just thinking about something."

Ah Zhu asked, "Husband, how do you plan to deal with this matter?"

Zhao Mu put the imperial edict back into the golden box, and then said to Ah Zhu, "Ah Zhu, keep these things away first. Don't tell anyone about this. I need to think about this matter carefully."

Zhao Mu then turned and left. He was a little confused. Although he had thought before that Zhezong was not worthy of support and he would replace him, Zhezong was a rare wise ruler at the moment, and he was fed up with the trivialities of government affairs. He was no longer interested in power and wanted to live a peaceful life as a free and easy prince.

But now the title of emperor was really tempting him, which made it really difficult for him to make a choice.

(End of this chapter)