Therefore, even though she had a heap of questions for Xu Yun in her heart, she still first walked over to Old Su's side and respectfully made a bow:

"Qingzhao greets Uncle Su."

Old Su nodded politely at her first, then his expression became solemn, and he made a deep bow towards the man beside Xiaoli:

"This old minister, Su Song, pays respects to Prince Jian."

Having said that, he gave Xu Yun a look, signaling him to quickly follow suit in making a bow, and solemnly said:

"Xiaowang, why aren't you coming over to greet Prince Jian?"

Xu Yun blinked, and after coming back to his senses, he quickly stepped forward, slightly leaned forward, and followed Old Su in making a deep bow:

"Commoner Wang Lin, greets Prince Jian."

At the same time.

His heart also shook a little.

Good heavens.

He didn't expect that the handsome man accompanying Xiaoli was not Zhao Mingcheng, but rather the rather miserable Prince Jian?

Speaking of the most handsome Emperor in history, many people might think of Li Shimin or Yang Guang, while others might think of Liu Xiu or Guangxu.

But if we look only at the portraits preserved in history, the most handsome Emperor in the history of Huaxia unquestionably belongs to Emperor Zhezong of Song, Zhao Xu.

Elegant and amiable, handsome and bright, these eight characters were practically made for Zhao Xu.

Zhao Xu was the seventh Emperor of the Northern Song regime, reigning for only 15 years, with actual control for just 7 years, a quintessential young Emperor.

By virtue of his outstanding governance skills, he created the last glory of the Northern Song by sheer force.

He was also the only Emperor in the Two Songs who intended to address the root causes of the Northern Song's military conscription gaps and the exploitation of soldiers.

It is widely acknowledged by later generations that:

If he could have lived to fifty, the Northern Song probably would not have perished—at least not have died so suddenly.

Some extreme fans even believe that if Zhao Xu hadn't died so young, he might have become the Emperor Wu of Han of the Song Dynasty.

Unfortunately, there are no "if"s in the world; Emperor Zhezong of Song passed away due to illness this February at the age of only twenty-five.

Before Zhao Xu died, he had a total of five brothers behind him, among which three candidates were the most likely to inherit the imperial throne:

Prince Shen, Zhao Bi, Prince Duan, Zhao Ji, and.....

Prince Jian, Zhao Si.

Since Zhao Bi had issues with his eyes, realistically only Zhao Ji and Zhao Si were the most likely to inherit the throne.

Prince Jian, Zhao Si, and Emperor Zhezong were born to the same mother, the Zhu Family, hence his appearance was also quite handsome, and his abilities were exceptional, having proposed many useful suggestions on the Qingtang issue.

Thus at that time, a group of ministers led by Prime Minister Zhang Dun was more inclined to enthrone him as the Emperor.

However, at that time, Empress Dowager Xiang feared that the Zhu Family might threaten her position in the future, so she vetoed this proposal and chose to support Zhao Ji in ascending to the throne.

It was also at that point in time that Zhang Dun said a phrase that was widely circulated later — or rather a prophecy:

"Prince Duan is frivolous, unfit to rule the world."

However, Empress Dowager Xiang was determined, and Zeng Bu, Cai Bian, Xu Jiang, and others saw the opportunity to make suggestions, so in the end, the imperial throne still fell into Zhao Ji's hands.

Zhang Dun, due to his identity as a prophet being exposed, was executed in the fourth year of Chongning, becoming the first hapless victim in history to be choked to death by eating a bayberry. (Note: Another view is that the bayberry caused excessive gastric acid and gastric bleeding leading to death)

And with Zhao Ji's accession to the throne, Zhao Si was severely troubled.

After all, the royal family has always been unfeeling, and there is simply too much blood and evil concerning the imperial family in history.

To avoid suspicion.

Zhao Si had no choice but to sully himself like Xiao He, undergoing a drastic change in personality.

First, he resolutely distanced himself from the court, began to enjoy life, and indulged in wine and women.

He often took his confidants through the back gate of the Prince's Mansion, dressed casually, even sloppily.

Lingering in the marketplaces, wandering in the entertainments.

Not only that.

He also often mingled with children of the imperial family, and even forcibly bought daughters of the imperial family as concubines.

However, regarding this, Emperor Huizong appeared quite magnanimous, not only not pursuing it but also decreeing to the relevant departments and the Minister of Rites not to bother Zhao Si, and even gave him the title of King Cai.

But with the successive deaths of Empress Dowager Xiang and Grand Consort Zhu, Emperor Huizong started to take revenge on Zhao Si, who competed for the throne, initiating the Cai Manor case:

At the time, someone accused a junior official of the Cai Manor, Deng Duo, of rebellious remarks, and Emperor Huizong imprisoned Deng Duo and arrested a large batch of Zhao Si's loyalists.

The next day, on the court, the Left Imperial Censor Jiang Gongwang petitioned Emperor Huizong not to harm brothers, not to doubt Zhao Si.

As a result, Jiang Gongwang was dismissed, Deng Duo was executed, and the minister Liu Zhengfu continued to plead for Zhao Si, even citing the Western Han Emperor Wen and King of Huainan brotherly conflict incident.

The official records state that Emperor Huizong was moved and reconciled with Zhao Si.

But surprisingly, five years later, Zhao Si died.

At the youthful age of 23, with the cause of death hastily glossed over, merely two words "passed away," which is quite suspicious.

Many experts of later ages, though regretting Zhao Si's death, also believe this indirectly proved Zhao Si's capabilities:

Emperor Huizong is known in history as a muddle-headed monarch, yet he wasn't a tyrant, his character can even be described as mild.

He liked to pardon all under heaven whenever possible, with exile being the highest punishment.

After all, as a Flower and Bird Emperor, someone who enjoyed growing flowers and fighting birds generally wouldn't be too violent.

But precisely such a person, when facing Zhao Si's clique, his attitude changed drastically.

Using the Cai Manor case, he executed no fewer than twenty core aides of Zhao Si, and even allegedly dealt a ruthless hand to Zhao Si.

You must know.

Besides Zhao Si, the remaining Prince Shen, Zhao Bi, Prince Xin, Zhao Yu, and Prince Mu, Zhao Cai, these individuals lived quite happily.

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