I traveled back to the Southern Song Dynasty and was actually outmaneuvered by Yue Fei.

The eighth year of the Shaoxing era was the year Yue Fei achieved a great victory at Yancheng during his northern expedition, and the year Qin Hui used twelve gold tablets to recall Yue Fei. It was also the year Zhao Gou began to lean towards peace talks.

That year, Zhao Gou saw a copy of Qin Hui's secret letter about colluding with the Jin dynasty, and then he chose to continue using Qin Hui.

"Are you wondering why, since I knew all this, I didn't do anything about it?"

A faint smile suddenly appeared in Zhao Gou's voice, but it wasn't a smile of pleasure; rather, it was something deeper than pleasure.

"Because I need him, and the Jin state needs him too. Wanyan Zongbi only recognizes Qin Hui, not anyone else. Without Qin Hui, the peace talks cannot be concluded. If the peace talks cannot be concluded, the Empress Dowager will not be able to return."

Empress Dowager, Consort Wei? Zhao Gou's birth mother.

It was captured by the Jin army during the Jingkang Incident and is still in Wuguo City.

The ultimate reason behind Zhao Gou's killing of Yue Fei, his appointment of Qin Hui, and the signing of the Shaoxing Peace Treaty is clearly stated in history: "to welcome back the Empress Dowager."

However, Zhao Bocong had read historical records and knew what happened after Consort Wei returned to the south.

Zhao Gou launched a massive literary inquisition, destroying all records of his humiliation in the Jin Dynasty.

He welcomed back not his mother, but a mirror reflecting his own shame.

Zhao Bozong kowtowed, his forehead touching the cold brick surface.

"Your Majesty is wise."

Zhao Gou's fingers stopped on the armrest.

"Wise?" He repeated the word, then fell silent.

"That's not what you really think. I know what you're thinking. You think I'm a tyrant."

"I killed Yue Fei, employed Qin Hui, and signed a humiliating peace treaty. Do you think I have let down our ancestors?"

Zhao Bocong's forehead remained pressed against the brick surface, not raised.

"Your subject dares not."

"I wouldn't dare, not that I can't."

Zhao Gou's voice came down from above, like the half-frozen ice water in the imperial moat in winter, deep and cold.

"When I was sixteen, I was in Xiangzhou. The Jin army marched south, and my father appointed me as the Grand Marshal of the Army and sent me to save Bianjing."

I went there. I led three thousand men to fight the Jin army in Huazhou, but we lost.

Of the three thousand men, less than a hundred returned alive. I was struck in the left arm by an arrow; the arrowhead remains embedded in the bone, and it still aches on cloudy days.

Zhao Bocong's forehead was pressed against the brick surface as he listened to Zhao Gou's voice echoing through the palace.

"Later, I ascended the throne in Yingtian Prefecture and became the emperor."

The Jin soldiers pursued us, and I fled from Yingtian to Yangzhou, from Yangzhou to Hangzhou, from Yuezhou to Mingzhou, and from Mingzhou I took a boat out to sea.

The Jin navy pursued them to the sea, and my fleet was overtaken in Changguo County. Privy Councilor Zhang Jun fought the Jin army on shore for a whole day, while I watched from the ship.

His voice trailed off, and it took a long time for it to resurface.

"In my life, I have been chased from north to south, from land to sea."

My father, mother, brothers, and sisters are all in the Jin Kingdom. Every night when I close my eyes, all I see is the snow in the Five Kingdoms City.

The hall remained quiet for a long time.

The smoke from ambergris swirled among the dragons in the caisson ceiling, like an invisible river.

"Do you know why I killed Yue Fei?"

Zhao Bocong's forehead was removed from the brick surface.

He raised his head and looked at Zhao Gou on the imperial couch. Zhao Gou did not look at him; his gaze passed over his head and landed in the direction of the palace gate.

"Because Yue Fei can win." Zhao Gou's voice suddenly became very soft, so soft that Zhao Bozong had to hold his breath to hear it.

"Yue Family Army marched from Yancheng to Zhuxian Town, and Jin Wuzhu's 100,000 iron cavalry were scattered by him."

If he continues fighting, he might actually be able to recapture Bianjing. And then what?

"Welcome back the two emperors. Now that Father Emperor and Emperor Qinzong have returned to Lin'an, to whom should I return this throne?"

Zhao Bocong was stunned.

This is not the reason written in history books.

Historical records state that Zhao Gou killed Yue Fei because Qin Hui slandered him, because the military general's achievements threatened the emperor, and because the Jin state stipulated in the peace treaty that "Yue Fei must be killed."

But the reasons Zhao Gou himself gave were more naked than any of the historical records.

He killed Yue Fei not because Yue Fei was incapable of fighting, but because Yue Fei was too capable of fighting.

After recapturing Bianjing and welcoming back the two emperors, Zhao Gou's throne became unstable.

He would rather not recapture Bianjing, rather submit to the Jin Dynasty, and rather leave his mother in the snow in Wuguo City—thank him for his position.

Zhao Bocong kowtowed. This time he did not say "Your Majesty is wise".

His forehead was pressed against the brick surface, and the coolness of the brick seeped through his forehead and into his brain.

"I'm telling you this not so that you'll understand me."

Zhao Gou's voice returned to calm.

"I want you to remember—every decision made by the person sitting in this position is not clean."

You'll be sitting in this position someday, and every decision you make won't be clean either.

Zhao Bocong's forehead was pressed against the brick surface. The hall remained quiet for a long time, so long that he almost thought Zhao Gou had already gotten up and left.

Then he heard Zhao Gou's voice, even softer than before, so soft it sounded like he was talking to him.

"I am aware of Qin Hui's letters."

He didn't say "how he knew," nor did he say "why he didn't take it out sooner." He simply stated a fact.

"You did a great job."

Zhao Gou didn't say anything more, which conveyed his meaning.

Zhao Bocong understood.

Zhao Gou knew from beginning to end that Qin Hui was colluding with the Jin dynasty, but he couldn't take action himself.

Qin Hui was the Jin dynasty's designated peace negotiating partner. For Zhao Gou to remove Qin Hui was tantamount to slapping the Jin dynasty in the face. With the peace treaty just concluded and the Empress Dowager not yet returned, he could not afford to offend the Jin.

But Zhao Bocong—a sixteen-year-old member of the imperial clan, a seventh-generation descendant of Emperor Taizu, and an adopted son of the emperor—released the evidence of Qin Hui's collusion with the emperor in public.

This was not done by Zhao Gou, but by Zhao Bocong.

If the Jin dynasty wanted to investigate, they wouldn't be able to trace it back to Zhao Gou. If Qin Hui wanted to hate someone, he would hate Zhao Bocong.

Zhao Gou managed to clear himself of all charges, but in doing so, he gained leverage over Qin Hui.

From this day forward, Qin Hui could no longer stand up to Zhao Gou.

The evidence of his collusion with the emperor was in Zhao Gou's hands—no, it was in the hands of the people of the world.

Zhao Gou could use this as a pretext to remove him at any time, and the Jin state could not utter a single word of objection.

Because the evidence was written by Qin Hui himself, it was in black and white, and the evidence was irrefutable.

Zhao Bozong's fingers clenched tightly in his sleeve. He thought he was helping Yue Yinping bring down Qin Hui, and that he was doing something for Yue Fei that was too late.

But Zhao Gou told him—everything you've done is part of my plan. You are my blade. A blade doesn't need to know who it's cutting; it only needs to be fast enough.

"I will issue an edict to promote you to the title of Prince of Puan."

Zhao Gou's voice regained the warmth befitting an emperor—neither too high nor too low, neither too cold nor too hot.

"You're sixteen this year, it's time for you to have your own residence. You've had enough of life in the palace."

Zhao Bozong kowtowed. "Your Majesty, I thank you for your grace."

"Go."

Zhao Bozong rose, bowed, and left the hall. His boots trod on the blue brick floor, each step catching the afterimage of that blade of light.

The palace doors closed behind him, and the midday sun poured down on him, so warm that he could barely open his eyes.

He walked along the corridor with slightly unsteady steps, neither returning to the Duke of Jianguo's residence nor heading towards the palace gate. He stopped at the corner of the corridor.

A person was standing at the other end of the corner.

Qin Hui.