Traveling through Tianlong: Starting from the Zhenlong chess game

Chapter 594: Zhezong Doesn’t Want to Go to Work
Zhezong was playing chess with Concubine Liu when a palace maid reported, "Your Majesty! Prince Qi is outside the palace and requests an audience!"

Upon hearing this, Zhezong was very displeased. He put the chess piece in his hand back into the chess box and scolded, "How dare you! Where is your Majesty? Who is the King of Qi? Your Majesty came to see the retired emperor, why did you summon him?"

Hearing Cheoljong's scolding, the palace maid shuddered with fear.

When Concubine Liu heard Zhezong's self-proclaimed title, she couldn't help but sigh.

During this period, she and Queen Meng had talked about Zhezong's restoration to the throne indirectly. But Zhezong turned a deaf ear to it. They both felt that Zhezong was afraid of angering Zhao Mu and was deliberately retreating to advance. This would bring about a disaster that would kill him.

But today, when she heard that Zhezong personally acknowledged Zhao Mu's status, she was also disappointed. She didn't expect that her imperial concubine would become a concubine after only sitting for a few days.

Concubine Liu looked at the angry Zhezong and quickly tried to smooth things over, saying, "Please invite your majesty in!"

"Yes!" The palace maid went out tremblingly to invite Zhao Mu in.

The maid came to Zhao Mu and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty, the Emperor has ordered that Your Majesty come to see him."

Zhao Mu couldn't help but frown when he heard the maid address him. He said, "Nonsense! Your Majesty is resting in the palace. I am a vassal king in a remote place. How can I address you as Your Majesty?"

Seeing Zhao Mu's expression, the maid knelt down quickly. The maid was speechless at the moment, she was like a mouse in a bellows, being bullied from both sides.

If she called Zhezong "Your Majesty", he would get angry. If she called Zhao Mu "Your Majesty", Zhao Mu would also get angry. But she, a palace maid, could not get angry.

Seeing her pitiful appearance, Zhao Mu did not blame her, but said: "Get up. Take me to see His Majesty!"

"Yes!" Seeing that Zhao Mu did not blame her, the maid quickly got up and led the way.

Zhao Mu arrived at the palace and saw Zhezong playing chess. He immediately bowed and said, "Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you!"

Zhezong looked at Zhao Mu and said, "Uncle, you are now the emperor of the Song Dynasty. Since ancient times, the emperor has always accepted courtship. How can an emperor pay homage to others? Uncle, when you come to see me next time, you don't have to be so polite."

Zhao Mu stood up straight and asked, "I wonder if your Majesty has recovered recently?"

Zhezong smiled and replied, "Thanks to my uncle and the two great doctors, I have been recuperating for a while and feel much healthier. By the way, uncle, I haven't seen Mr. Su and Mr. Xue recently. Where are they now? Uncle, please thank them for me."

Zhao Mu replied, "Thanks to your Majesty's concern, my elder brother and junior nephew Xue have already returned home today. My elder brother is a hermit, and junior nephew Xue is an idler. They both don't want to accept the reward, and I can't force them."

Zhao Mu learned that Zhezong was in good health, and then said: "Your Majesty is now well. I have something important to discuss with Your Majesty."

Hearing that Zhao Mu and Zhezong had important matters to discuss, Concubine Liu stood up and turned away. But Concubine Liu did not go far. After turning a corner at the palace gate, she turned back and hid in the side hall from the back hall, intending to listen to what Zhao Mu and Huizong were talking about.

Although Zhao Mu discovered the whereabouts of Concubine Liu, he did not point it out. After all, it was not a big deal.

Zhezong waved his hand, signaling the palace servants to put away the chessboard in front of them. Then he served tea, fruits, snacks, and asked Zhao Mu to sit down.

The two emperors of the Song Dynasty were now sitting on an equal footing, and the scene was very subtle. But neither of them had any special feelings. After all, when they were together in the past, they also sat face to face like this, without any excessive entanglement in the customary etiquette.

Zhezong asked, "I wonder what important matter your uncle came to discuss with me today?"

Zhao Mu took out several memorials from the sleeves of his robe and handed them to Zhezong.

After a quick look, Zhezong said, "Oh? Did the Western Province win a great victory? That's a good thing. Since the generals have made contributions to the country, the uncle will call them back and reward them according to their merits. Why do you have to bring the previous dynasty's events here for me to see?"

Zhao Mu said, "I came here today to discuss with Your Majesty how to reward everyone."

Facing Zhao Mu's words, Zhezong smiled and said, "How should we reward him? Now your uncle is the emperor of the Song Dynasty. There are precedents for how to reward him. Your uncle can do what he wants. Why ask me?"

Zhao Mu saw that Zhezong was pretending to be ignorant even though he knew the truth.

Zhao Mu stopped talking about the same old stuff and stood up to get to the point: "Your Majesty, you are too kind. The Emperor of Song is still Your Majesty. I was just acting as regent for a few days because I saw Your Majesty was not well. Now that Your Majesty is well, I beg Your Majesty to take over the throne!"

Although Zhezong was somewhat surprised by Zhao Mu's request, he was not surprised. He also believed that Zhao Mu was sincere.

The reason why Zhezong had not mentioned the restoration of the throne before was because he was not comfortable talking about such things. More importantly, he wanted to have a few more days of good life and give himself a few more days off.

Zhezong now understands Zhao Mu's happiness. He doesn't have to worry about those annoying family and national affairs every day. He spends the whole day in the harem playing with his concubines, playing chess, drinking tea, etc. Such days are really comfortable.

Since Zhezong took power, he has been working day and night and has basically not had a few good days. Now that Zhao Mu is carrying the burden for him, he is naturally satisfied with this peaceful life.

Even Zhezong thought that it would be a good idea to just give the throne to Zhao Mu and become the emperor emeritus.

Zhezong said: "Isn't my uncle an emperor? He ascended the throne from Qi and returned to the court to suppress the rebellion. During this period, he stabilized the situation and fought back against Liao. During his time in Qi, he even wiped out the Uighur tribes and brought the Western Regions back into our territory. In my opinion, my uncle has done a much better job in expanding the territory of the Song Dynasty than I, the emperor, have done."

Zhao Mu shook his head and said, "Your Majesty, you are too kind. I am just a warrior. I was able to fight so well before, but it was all thanks to the huge family fortune accumulated by Your Majesty. Without the support of the grain and silver stored in the treasury, it would be difficult for me to display my extraordinary abilities. Moreover, I am lazy by nature and not a talent for being a monarch. I beg Your Majesty to restore me to the throne before the generals return to the army! In order to rectify the order of our Song Dynasty."

Zhezong asked, "Oh? Why before the generals return home?"

Zhao Mu smiled bitterly and said, "Your Majesty, you are asking even though you already know the answer."

Zhezong laughed and said, "Hahaha. I was just joking. My uncle is not as humorous as before." Then Zhezong sighed and said, "Yes, if I wait for the generals to bring back the troops and my uncle talks about returning power to me, I am sure that everyone will oppose and criticize me. Then my uncle will be in a difficult situation."

Zhezong looked at Zhao Mu and said, "Oh, uncle. If you are interested, you can also sit on the throne."

Before Zhezong finished speaking, Zhao Mu said, "I have no intention! I have no intention! I have absolutely no intention!"

Seeing Zhao Mu’s refusal so firmly, Zhezong sighed in his heart, feeling that his good days were coming to an end.

(End of this chapter)