Do you know: I am the crown prince

Chapter 407 Song Chaozhong's Proposal
"The Southern Tang was destroyed by the Song Dynasty. As a descendant of the Southern Tang, shouldn't you hate the Song Dynasty?" Zhao Xing asked with some doubt.

Zuo Qi said that he realized that the wizard cult was inciting the people to rebel, so he wanted to leave.

It is difficult to tell whether this is true or not, but Zhao Xing did not detect any hatred towards the Song Dynasty in his words.

Logically speaking, Zuo Qi was a descendant of the Southern Tang Dynasty. After the fall of the Southern Tang Dynasty, Zuo Qi should have hated the Song Dynasty.

Zuo Qi shook his head and said, "My father said that the ruler of Southern Tang surrendered on his own. After the ruler surrendered, the Song Dynasty did not kill him, but only put him under house arrest. It is not a question of hatred or not. Our lineage was only ordered to guard the treasure, and did not receive any other orders. These have nothing to do with us!"

In fact, this was also due to the selfish motives of Zuo Qi's father. The last emperor of Southern Tang knew that he could not defeat the Song Dynasty, so he was ready to surrender.

So he had the imperial seal and some treasures hidden in advance, leaving them as capital for his future comeback.

However, he did not expect to be defeated so quickly. Before he could properly arrange the escape of his bloodline, he was still under strict house arrest after surrendering.

As a result, I have not been able to get in touch with Zuo Qi Zu Shang.

Zuo Qi's father had long known that the so-called restoration of the country was hopeless. After all, no one had contacted them since the fall of Southern Tang.

He hoped that his son could live a stable life and never instilled resentment towards the Song Dynasty in Zuo Qi, so Zuo Qi had no hatred towards the Song Dynasty.

"What about your brother? You two are the only bloodline of the Zuo family. Bao Ruyu, have you ever thought about saving your brother?"

Zuo Qi was silent for a while and then said, "My brother has an impulsive temper. I can still control him when I am here. If I am not here, he will definitely try every means to avenge me. In this case, it is better to let him go with me."

"You deliberately didn't mention him, hoping that I would let him go in exchange for your surrender of the imperial seal, right?" Zhao Xing said indifferently.

What Zuo Qi said seems to make sense, but it actually makes no sense.

Even if it is as he said, are we just going to give up like that?

It can only be said that Zuo Qi was a smart man. He knew that negotiating conditions with Zhao Xing would ultimately depend on whether Zhao Xing would abide by them, so he only asked Zhao Xing to spare Ruyu's life.

Seeing that he was sensible, Zhao Xing might not do anything to Ruyu and his brother.

But if he proposed too many conditions, even if Zhao Xing agreed, he would still kill him once he got the jade seal.

Zuo Qi smiled bitterly upon hearing this and said, "Your Majesty is wise!"

"In that case, are you still willing to give me the jade seal?" Zhao Xing said indifferently.

Zuo Qi was silent for a long time after hearing this, then nodded and said, "Yes!"

From the moment he revealed that he knew the whereabouts of the seal, he had no choice.

Not to mention that he and Ruyu and the other two would face endless torture.

"I will let Yin Hanzhang accompany you to find the jade seal. As long as you bring back the jade seal, I promise you that I will not only pardon Ruyu, but also you and your brothers. I will even grant you an official position!" Zhao Xing said.

Upon hearing this, Zuo Qi looked up at Zhao Xing in disbelief.

"I don't like beating around the bush. You are willing to hand over the jade seal for Ruyu. As long as she is here, I don't worry about your betrayal. I need you to help me eliminate the Wizard Cult. You have been in the Wizard Cult for so many years. Even if you don't know much about the Wizard Cult, you should be very clear about some of its practices. If you deal with the Wizard Cult, you will definitely get twice the result with half the effort." Zhao Xing said lightly.

After learning that Zuo Qi was willing to give up the jade seal for Ruyu, Zhao Xing decided not to kill Zuo Qi as long as the matter of the jade seal was true.

It doesn't matter whether you kill Zuo Qi or not, but since we are sure we can control him, leaving him to deal with the Wizard Cult is much better than killing him directly.

Just as he said, the Wizarding Cult is too deeply hidden. Zuo Qi has been in the Wizarding Cult for many years and is very clear about some of its habits.

The most important thing is that there is Ruyu.

As long as Ruyu is kept under control, Zuo Qi will never betray him.

When the time comes, I will put some pressure on Zuo Qi. I don’t believe Ruyu will be unwilling to help.

Ruyu grew up in the Wizarding Cult and knows much more about it than Zuoqi.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Zuo Qi said excitedly. No one wants to die if they can live. He had no good feelings towards the Wizard Cult. If it weren't for Ruyu, he would have directly revealed the whereabouts of the Wizard Cult leader when he learned that he was betrayed.

Zhao Xing waved his hand, looked at Yin Hanzhang and said, "The two thousand men I assigned to you before are still under your command. I will also give you an order to ask the local government to cooperate and bring the imperial seal back to me as soon as possible!"

"I obey your order!" Yin Hanzhang bowed.

"Go, someone will deliver the imperial edict later! Ruyu and Zuo Qiang will continue to be locked up, but don't treat them badly in terms of food and drink." Zhao Xing said.

"Yes!"

Yin Hanzhang bowed and took Zuo Qi away.

…………

Shen Congxing was not an official in Bianliang, so he was arranged to live in an inn.

Normally, after receiving the reward, he should lead his soldiers to Yuzhou, complete the handover, and then go to the western suburbs camp to take up his post.

However, he did not leave the next day. Instead, he asked his subordinates to lead the troops back to Yuzhou. He prepared a generous gift and came to Song Chaozhong's home.

Although he was conferred a title for his merits during the Song Dynasty, he was just a military man, so he did not attract many visitors. Instead, his residence was not much different from usual.

Upon learning that Shen Congxing wanted to see him, Song Chaozhong went out personally to greet him and ushered him in.

"Brother Shen, you can come if you want, why spend so much money!"

Looking at the gifts brought by Shen Congxing, Song Chaozhong said with an unhappy look on his face.

"It's not worth much money. This time I was able to achieve merit, thanks to the proper command of Master Song. Naturally I have to thank Master Song!" Shen Congxing said with a smile.

"You are able to come here and make contributions because you fought bravely against the enemy. What does it have to do with me? But let it go this time. Don't do this again in the future." Song Chaozhong said with a smile.

The reason why he was so polite to Shen Congxing was because Shen Congxing was about to be transferred to the Western Suburbs Camp to take up a post.

Although Song Chaozhong did not directly part ways with the Gu family, he also understood that he could no longer have any involvement with the Gu family in the future.

After leaving the Gu family faction, he naturally needed to win over some people.

Shen Congxing has no background, and this visit was also to find a backer.

That was why Song Chaozhong was so polite to him and hinted that he could have more contact with him in the future.

Shen Congxing heard the hidden meaning in Song Chaozhong's words and said happily, "Of course, of course."

"Come, sit down and talk!"

Song Chaozhong invited Shen Congxing to sit down, waited for the servant to bring tea, and then sent the servant away.

"Congxing, I remember you said before that you have a younger sister who is still unmarried?" Song Chaozhong asked.

"Yes, my sister came of age last year, but her marriage has not yet been decided. Uncle, would you like to help with matchmaking?"

It would be nice if I could marry into the powerful people in Bian Jing.

"Haha, I can't guarantee this matchmaking."

Song Chaozhong lowered his voice and whispered, "You know about the imperial decree for the selection of concubines, right?"

"What the uncle means is..."

Shen Congxing looked at Song Chaozhong in surprise. Seeing him nod, he said, "My Lord, you don't know that my sister is a bit spoiled and only a weakling. How can she be qualified to serve Your Majesty!"

"That's too modest. Since Xingchang is so brave and extraordinary, your sister must be no worse. Besides, we're just letting her try. What's the impact of her success or failure?" Song Chaozhong said.

(End of this chapter)