Chapter 3: Hmm? Has the Great Song Dynasty Really Lasted Three Hundred and Nineteen Years?

Li Cheng was stunned.

No... How did things turn out so differently from what he expected?

According to the history he knew, Zhao Kuangyin, though originally a soldier, had fought valiantly in the Battle of Gaoping, earning great fame and being known as the conqueror of 400 prefectures across the land.

But after becoming emperor, his personality changed significantly.

His temper had softened considerably, and there were numerous records of imperial censors openly criticizing him without facing any punishment.

So why, when it came to him, was Zhao Kuangyin ready to kill Li Cheng just because he hadn’t performed the formal kowtow?

Could the old Zhao really be so petty?

“You insolent wretch! How dare you curse my late father! Speak such nonsense again and I’ll slap you to death!” Zhao Dezhao bit his lip fiercely and, before Zhao Kuangyin could react, pointed at Li Cheng and shouted angrily.

He looked ready to drag Li Cheng out and throw him to the dogs.

Yet, his body blocked the space between Zhao Kuangyin and Li Cheng.

Huh???

Li Cheng was utterly bewildered.

“I didn’t curse anyone! When did I ever curse?” he protested, trying to defend himself.

Had he said anything that implied cursing the old Zhao to death? Besides not kneeling, his attitude was quite proper.

How did it come to look like this in their eyes?

Could it be that the “unfounded accusations” so often associated with the Song Dynasty had been circulating right from the start?

“You still dare to argue? How did you just address my late father?!” Zhao Dezhao’s face darkened with anger; sweat beaded on his forehead and his calves trembled slightly.

He was utterly fed up with this troublemaker!

“Song Taizu? The founder of the Song, the ancestor of the Tang and Song dynasties, who doesn’t know that?

The history books say so; addressing Song Taizu this way is the utmost respect... uh...”

Seeing Zhao Dezhao rush forward to cover his mouth, Li Cheng suddenly realized where the problem lay.

“That ‘Song... Your Majesty...’ Sorry, sorry.

I absolutely did not mean to curse you; it’s just that from childhood through university, my textbooks and historical readings all used that term.

There’s even that famous phrase: ‘Qin Emperor, Han Martial Emperor, Tang Ancestor, Song Founder’—it just slipped out naturally.

I truly didn’t realize the issue with this form of address.”

Zhao Kuangyin, expressionless, glanced at his son’s retreating figure and then at the young troublemaker with his awkward look in the cold winter air, visible breath rising in wisps.

His grip on the jade axe relaxed slightly.

“Who told you about the solar eclipse—the heavenly dog eating the sun?”

Originally, Zhao Kuangyin thought this information was some concoction by this charlatan.

But seeing the young man’s age now made him abandon that idea.

To accurately predict the timing of a solar eclipse in advance requires mastery of astronomy and mathematics.

Unless one is exceptionally talented in these fields and has studied them deeply, it’s impossible.

Judging by his manner of speech, age, and clothing, he was clearly a simple country youth with little knowledge of etiquette or worldly affairs.

Most likely, he hadn’t even read many books. How could he have predicted the eclipse ahead of time?

The only conclusion left was that someone had informed this boy beforehand of the eclipse’s timing.

This realization darkened Zhao Kuangyin’s face further.

It seemed some people were restless and not playing fair!

They cared more about the heir to the throne than the emperor himself!

Even Zhao Pu, who had been sent away from Bianliang to a provincial post, wasn’t this insubordinate, was he?

Yet, after this thought, Zhao Kuangyin doubted it was Zhao Pu’s doing.

With Zhao Pu’s abilities, even if he wanted to make a move, he wouldn’t entrust such a task to a naïve country boy who knew nothing.

Could it be that someone from his younger brother’s faction deliberately set this trap for Rixin?

Or perhaps some other schemer with ulterior motives wished to stir up trouble?

“Your Majesty, no one told me.

I saw this recorded in the history books.

It says that on the 24th day of the 11th month in the eighth year of Kaibao, there was a solar eclipse near Bianliang.”

History books?!

Zhao Kuangyin unconsciously rubbed the jade axe.

This rogue dared to spout nonsense right in front of him!

“You say you came from over a thousand years later. Then tell me, how long will the Great Song last?”

Li Cheng opened his mouth, ready to recite the durations of both Northern and Southern Song, and mention the Jingkang humiliation.

But the words caught in his throat.

In dealing with others, it’s best not to speak too freely.

Besides, the old Zhao clearly didn’t trust him and regarded him as a charlatan ready to be executed at any moment.

If he revealed too much now, he might just be cut down on the spot by Zhao Kuangyin wielding the jade axe.

In truth, when he decided to reveal his time traveler identity, he had already prepared for the worst.

But if he wanted to survive, he wouldn’t recklessly court death.

Even if he died, he at least wanted Zhao Kuangyin to hear about the flickering axe shadows and believe it was real—after witnessing the brotherly harmony of early Song—before dying.

That would be worth it, to vent his bottled-up frustration.

After a moment’s thought, calculating the timeline, he said, “The Song Dynasty lasted 319 years.”

Those 319 years combined the Northern and Southern Song.

And he wasn’t lying.

Just think—didn’t the Song Dynasty last 319 years?

“Only 319 years?” Zhao Dezhao frowned, his voice full of dissatisfaction.

At that moment, to give Li Cheng a chance to speak and prove he really came from a millennium later—not that he was blind and deceived—Zhao Dezhao was throwing caution to the wind.

Though already shaken by the old Zhao’s imposing presence, looking like a master who had reached the pinnacle of his skill, he still tried to support Li Cheng as much as possible to buy him more time.

“Three hundred and nineteen years is already very long.

Even the Tang Dynasty only lasted two hundred and eighty-nine years.

From Zhu Wen’s usurpation of the Tang throne until the fall of the Later Zhou, the five major northern dynasties combined lasted only fifty-three years.

For the Song to last 319 years is already far beyond the Tang.”

Li Cheng brought up the Tang to praise the Song.

A clever move to save his skin!

“How can you prove you really come from a thousand years later?” Zhao Kuangyin’s voice rose, cold and emotionless.

He interrupted the conversation between Li Cheng and Zhao Dezhao.

At this moment, he only wanted to expose the fraud and make his son wake up to the truth—to see the true face of this scoundrel.

“The ruler of Southern Tang, Li Yu, will soon surrender.

The Great Song’s campaign against Southern Tang will be a complete victory!”

Li Cheng hurried to say.

“Heh,” Zhao Kuangyin sneered.

“My army has won successive battles; Li Yu has no strength left to resist.

The fall of Southern Tang is imminent—why do you need to tell me?”

He glanced subtly at his son, growing more disappointed.

Such a flawed, talentless fraud who couldn’t even lie convincingly had managed to fool his son.

If he ever became emperor, what would happen then?

He truly couldn’t safeguard his family legacy!

“Your Majesty, I mean to say that on the 27th of this month, Jiangning City will fall and Li Yu will surrender.”

Zhao Kuangyin’s face remained dark, unreadable.

Any clear-eyed person could see that this attack on Li Yu was a sure thing, a done deal.

But that Li Yu would open the city gates and surrender two days later—even the one sitting in Bianliang, closely monitoring the front and controlling the entire situation—could not be certain.

Not to mention him; even the generals Pan Mei and Cao Bin at the front dared not declare that Li Yu would surrender on the 27th.

Moreover, based on current intelligence, Li Yu was not yet at his wits’ end; at least another half-month of desperate resistance was possible.

“And if on the 27th this month, Jiangning City does not fall, and Li Yu does not surrender?”

“Then please, Your Majesty, behead me!”

Li Cheng steeled himself and said it.

In his heart, he kept praying that the historians who wrote the records had some professional integrity, and wouldn’t manipulate the exact timing of such a major event.

Otherwise, this time, he was truly doomed!

“Very well, then I’ll take you at your word!”

Zhao Kuangyin agreed decisively, his hand unconsciously stroking the jade axe.

He glanced again at his son.

In a few days, the military report from the 27th would arrive!

Then, the true face of this charlatan would be fully exposed!

And the foolish Rixin would see just how badly he had been deceived.

If he killed this fraud afterward, Rixin would not blame him.