Chapter 49: Was Taizu Not a Loyal Minister of Zhou Shizong?

The summer Mohé Pool lay immersed in stifling heat, yet a layer of chilling mist floated upon the water's surface.

Willow branches hung down to the lowest point; occasionally, their leaf tips broke the water's surface, startling a ring of extremely fine ripples.

At this time, lotus flowers were in full bloom, spreading like a carpet reaching from sky to earth to the very edge of vision, making the lake water appear even more emerald green; occasionally a fish leaped out, its scales flashing, then instantly diving back underwater, leaving only a few strings of tiny bubbles floating up.

Zhang Fangping and Zhao Bian sat fishing on the stone jetty by the lakeside.

The jetty stone was scorching hot from the sun; sitting on it was unbearable at first, but after a while, it felt quite comfortable.

The fishing rod was made of purple bamboo, its tip slightly curved; the line hung into the water, and not even the float moved.

Somewhat drowsy, Zhang Fangping squinted at the distance, where several egrets stood on the remaining Taihu stones, the stones covered in algae, as if wrapped in a layer of dirty green felt.

"The fish have all hidden under the lotus leaves," he muttered.

Beside him, Zhao Bian had sweat beading on his forehead, a wet patch on the back of his robe, yet he still sat perfectly straight.

Suddenly, a whirlpool formed on the water surface; the float sank sharply, and Zhang Fangping hurriedly lifted the rod, but caught nothing.

"You, ah, you! How can you catch big fish if you are impatient?"

Zhao Bian laughed and pulled a handkerchief from his sleeve to wipe his sweat.

His fishing line still hung quietly, reflected in the water, twisted together with the willow shadows; a dragonfly skimmed past the line, playfully touching the water, its wings also shattering tiny droplets of water.

"How can I not be impatient?"

Zhang Fangping stood up and ducked into the shade: "Forget it, I won't fish anymore; I'll watch you fish."

"How can I catch anything by myself?" Zhao Bian said helplessly. "Minister Zhang! I still have to rely on you. How long can you hide in the shade?"

"Ai."

Zhang Fangping let out a long sigh.

Anyway, not only was there no one around, but the entire lake island was empty, so he simply squatted on the ground without caring about his appearance.

"I really want to hide in Chengdu and never return. Since the illness suddenly struck in the first lunar month, the Lord has been bedridden; Wen Yanbo and Fu Bi temporarily holding supreme power cannot stabilize things, and now the court is still in chaos."

"The chaos is not because the Lord is bedridden," Zhao Bian said bluntly. "The Lord's old illness—what does it matter if he is bedridden? How many years has it been? Now the situation looks like a storm is coming before the wind fills the sails; isn't that because the heir has not been established for so long, and the foundation of the state is unstable?"

Seeing Zhang Fangping too troubled to speak, Zhao Bian asked again: "What are the two in the Canzhi Zhengshi thinking?"

"What else could they think? Of course, it is to establish Zhao Zongshi, Prince of Pu."

Zhao Zongshi was the son of Prince of Pu, Zhao Yunrang; because Emperor Renzong had no son, he was adopted by Songren Sect in his childhood, brought into the palace to be raised, and later became Emperor Yingzong.

However, an adopted son is ultimately not one's own biological son.

Although Emperor Renzong is now advanced in years and often falls ill, he still has not made the decision to establish the adopted son as heir; deep down, he still harbors the hope of having a biological son himself. This is only human nature; even ordinary families, as long as there is hope, are unwilling to let an adopted son inherit the family business, let alone Emperor Renzong, who must pass down the vast territory of Great Song.

In fact, Emperor Renzong's concerns were quite reasonable; after all, when the True Dragon truly ascends to the heavens, whether he can be honored as 'Imperial Father' depends entirely on others' favor. Han Qi immediately suggested to Emperor Yingzong to establish his biological father, Prince of Pu, as 'Imperial Father'.

This is the famous 'Pu Debate' in Song Shi, which raged for a full year and a half.

Of course, Emperor Yingzong's actions had reasons: in the second year of Baoyuan, after Emperor Renzong's biological son, Prince Yu Zhao Xin, was born, Zhao Zongshi, who had been raised by Emperor Renzong as a son since childhood, was driven out of the palace and returned to his biological father, Zhao Yunrang.

Then, in the third year of Qingli, Prince Yu Zhao Xin died young; in between, a full four years had passed.

After experiencing this, how could Zhao Zongshi be as close to Emperor Renzong as father and son? Naturally, a layer of estrangement also grew in Emperor Renzong's heart.

And Emperor Renzong having no son indeed caused quite a few disturbances in these years.

For example, the 'Fake Prince Case' that occurred a few years ago: a young man named Leng Qing openly shouted in Kaifeng City, claiming to be Emperor Renzong's lost prince, and produced a dragon-phoenix belly band as proof.

This matter caused a huge uproar in Jingcheng; after Songren Sect learned of it, he ordered the Prefect of Kaifeng, Qian Mingyi, to try the case. Qian Mingyi dared not investigate at all; in the end, Bao Zheng took the blame and investigated the case.

The result was that through repeated investigation of Leng Qing's background and physical evidence, Bao Zheng proved that there was a contradiction between the time Leng Qing's mother left the palace and the time of pregnancy; Leng Qing could not possibly be a prince.

However, although this case was closed, rumors and gossip still spread throughout the streets and markets.

Moreover, Emperor Renzong himself experienced the 'Cat Swaps the Prince' case, and his later years were so tragic, truly somewhat desolate.

But returning to the present, the scholar-officials do not care about these things.

For the scholar-officials, whether the heir is Emperor Renzong's biological son is not important; what matters is to establish one quickly, lest Emperor Renzong one day truly falls ill and cannot recover, and the story of Chenqiao is repeated.

And speaking of the Chenqiao story, the scholar-officials cannot help but think of the current Great Song War God, whose fame is renowned, Di Qian, the Secretary of the Bureau of Military Affairs, who has reached the pinnacle of martial men.

"What about the one in the Bureau of Military Affairs?"

"No attitude. What attitude could he have? What attitude would he dare to have?"

Zhang Fangping smiled: "Di Qing is not a fool. He is already at the center of the storm. How many years has it been since Great Song produced such a brilliant martial man? If he dares to suggest establishing an heir at this time, how would the Lord, who personally promoted him to this position, think?"

"True."

Zhao Bian nodded. Whether Wen Yanbo and Fu Bi's suggestion to establish an heir was secret or public, it was the talk of seasoned statesmen planning for the country. Even if the Lord was unhappy, he could understand—or rather, he must show understanding—because this was not their two personal opinions, but the consensus of the scholar-officials.

Taking ten thousand steps back, Wen Yanbo and Fu Bi were already high-ranking ministers; even if a new Lord ascended the throne, what changes could there be in their positions? The territory of Great Song could never fall into the hands of these two.

So at this time, if they two were willing to give some hints, the court and the country would only think that the high-ranking ministers were truly loyal and devoted to the state without the slightest selfishness.

But Di Qing was different; in the eyes of the world, if something happened to Emperor Renzong, the territory of Great Song could truly fall into his hands.

After all, Wen Yanbo had long made a cutting remark: "If we speak of loyal ministers, was Taizu not a loyal minister of Zhou Shizong?"

And for Emperor Renzong on his sickbed, when his health first deteriorated, his view of Di Qing, who was deeply loved by the army, became complex: on one hand, emotionally, he did not wish for this beloved general to leave; on the other hand, for the sake of the territory of Great Song, he could not but consider Di Qing's potential threat.

"What do you think?" Zhao Bian asked.

"I dare not think."

Zhang Fangping smiled self-mockingly: "What? Haven't I suffered enough from the bitterness of the Zhang Noble Consort incident back then?"

Zhao Bian became somewhat solemn.

Before the 'Fake Prince Case', in the eighth year of Qingli, another major case occurred in Kaifeng: the famous 'Qingli Palace Coup Case'.

And Zhang Fangping actually lost the position of Commissioner of the Three Departments because of this matter.

(End of this chapter)