The Song Dynasty was the king for thirteen years before he knew that he was Tianlong.

Chapter 11: Secrets from Twelve Years Ago
Li Xian turned to look at Tong Guan and said, "Daofu, you should also go out. You should not listen to what your father said."

Tong Guan agreed, bowed to Zhao Ti, and hurried out. He was only thinking about the Sunflower Manual and did not want to hear about the royal family's secrets, as they were life-threatening things.

Seeing Tong Guan closing the door, Li Xiancai said in a low voice, "I am seriously ill and will not live long. Your Highness Prince Yan has condescended to visit me. I am really grateful and will remember it in my heart. Since Your Highness asked about the Three Treasurys, even if I may offend Your Majesty by telling you, I am willing to answer for Your Highness."

Zhao Ti did not speak. Li Xian had a little resentment towards the court, but it was no wonder. He was favored by the previous emperor, made great contributions to the northwest, and was the most powerful official in the country. How glorious was he? But then he was demoted again and again, and was almost convicted and imprisoned. His integrity was ruined in his later years. He lived in a corner of the city, barely surviving, and no one remembered him. It was impossible to say that he had no resentment at all for such a disparity. Now he was a dying man, and his words were sad.

Then Li Xian continued, "Emperor Taizong... is fond of martial arts and skilled in poison."

Zhao Ti touched his chin. Such words were not heard in the palace and no one dared to say it. However, there were records in later generations that said Taizong liked to use poison and was particularly good at using poison.

"So after ascending the throne, he moved all the things from the Prince Jin's Palace into the Imperial City. But they were not as loose as when they were in the Prince's Palace. He was afraid that someone would steal and cause trouble, so he built three secret vaults. One was the armory, which stored the martial arts secrets obtained during the southern and northern expeditions. The second was the weapon warehouse, which stored various long and short weapons, including the weapons of famous generals during the Five Dynasties, such as Wang Yanzhang and Yang Xingmi, as well as swords and knives obtained from the martial arts world. The third was the poison warehouse, which was full of poisons and the like."

Zhao Ti pursed his lips. He had never known that there were these three storehouses in the palace. He had been looking for them everywhere since he was a child, but he had never seen them, nor had he heard anyone mention them.

"Emperor Renzong was kind and didn't want to keep these things in the palace, but the Three Storehouses were built by Emperor Taizong and it was difficult to destroy them. It was not until his later years that he made up his mind to destroy them. Since then, the Three Storehouses have been destroyed, and those martial arts have also been lost. As far as I know, the One Yin Finger is among them."

Zhao Ti felt a headache. It was such a pity. The important thing was that it cut off his own thoughts. However, he felt that something was not right.

"The One Finger of Yin is the treasure of the Shanhaiguan on the Yangtze River. Shanhaiguan is a major martial arts school with a vast collection of books. When we attacked this place, countless people were killed and injured..." Li Xian sighed, "Emperor Taizong's men were not all soldiers. He recruited some gangsters. Most of them were killed at that time. Even Patriarch Dou suffered serious internal injuries. It took three days and three nights to finally take it down."

Zhao Ti pondered, "Since Shanhaiguan is so powerful, why doesn't Emperor Taizong recruit them for his own use?"

Li Xian shook his head: "Although Shanhai Temple is a Taoist temple, it is a family temple of the Southern Tang Dynasty. The people in charge are from the royal family of the Southern Tang Dynasty. How could they be willing to serve Emperor Taizong? They would rather die than surrender."

"So it's a family temple..."

"Yes, Shanhai Temple is similar to Dali's Tianlong Temple. It is the place of the clan and the royal temple. It has accumulated many martial arts over the years. There are countless martial arts inside. The three most powerful ones are One Yin Finger, Mountain Scripture, and Infinite Sea Treasure Scroll. The power of One Yin Finger is not weaker than Dali's One Yang Finger!"

"Not weaker than One Yang Finger?" Zhao Ti took a breath and said, "Is this Phantom Yin Finger so powerful?"

"The two were equally famous at the time, but now a hundred years have passed, and the One Yin Finger should have been forgotten by the world. Even a great martial arts school like Shanhai Temple has been lost in time..." Li Xian said here with emotion.

Zhao Ti pondered for a few breaths and said, "Mr. Li, you just said that Emperor Renzong was determined to destroy the three warehouses in his later years. However, books on poisons are easy to destroy, but weapons are difficult to destroy. Since it is a warehouse of weapons, there must be armor and other items that can be used as rewards in the army. How come they are all gone?"

"I don't know about this. After all, I didn't see it with my own eyes. But since Emperor Yingzong ascended the throne, there is indeed no Sanku in the palace. Perhaps..."

"Maybe what?"

"Perhaps the Grand Empress Dowager knows more clearly. I heard from my godfather that Emperor Renzong issued the order when he was seriously ill in the seventh year of Jiayou, ordering Emperor Yingzong to preside over the secret meeting. At that time, Yingzong was already the crown prince, and the Grand Empress Dowager had already married into the palace. Now if she looks into it carefully, the Grand Empress Dowager should know the details."

"The seventh year of Jiayou?" Zhao Ti thought about it. Renzong died in the eighth year of Jiayou and Yingzong ascended the throne. It was indeed a decision made before his death. However, such a thing would definitely be carried out in secret. After all, it involved the dignity of the royal family. Even if Gao Taotao was the crown princess at that time, Yingzong might not tell it, right?
But then he thought again, his adoptive grandfather was usually a little henpecked. Throughout the entire feudal dynasty, there were very few emperors who only married one wife. His grandfather was one of them. Later, there was also an Emperor Xiaozong of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Youtang, who also had only one wife.

Historical records have recorded that Empress Cao feared that Emperor Yingzong would repeat the mistakes of Emperor Renzong and his descendants would not prosper, so she once granted Emperor Yingzong three female officials as his concubines, but Emperor Yingzong never met them until his death. Later, Emperor Shenzong raised the ranks of these three people and buried them beside the mausoleum after his death. If this is the case, Emperor Yingzong would definitely have told Gao Taotao about the destruction of the Three Treasurys, and it is even possible that he had already told him before the action was taken, so he could go to the palace to ask.

"It is the seventh year of Jiayou, so I think if Your Majesty wants to know the details of this matter, I am afraid he will have to ask the Empress Dowager."

Zhao Ti said: "I am curious. If that is the case, I will take some time to go to the palace."

Li Xian nodded, and suddenly his breathing became unstable. He picked up the water and took a sip, and his face became even darker.

Zhao Ti said: "Mr. Li is a master of martial arts, how could his internal injuries come from? Who hurt Mr. Li so badly that he cannot be cured by medicine?"

"This..." Li Xian paused when he heard this.

"Why don't you tell me, Prime Minister Li? The person who hurt Prime Minister Li must be an enemy of the Song Dynasty. If you tell me, I will have a clear idea." Zhao Ti said.

"Alas..." Li Xian said, "There is nothing to hide about this matter. Since the king trusts me, I will just look at the past."

"Just tell me, Mr. Li." Zhao Ti was wondering who had injured the other party. Logically speaking, Li Xian was a master of the Sunflower Manual, and he did not learn the incomplete manual like in the Ming Dynasty's The Smiling, Proud Wanderer. Even if it was damaged, he would still be invincible in the world. It was really unbelievable that Li Xian had practiced the complete manual, but was still injured like this.

"Your Majesty, do you know that I was the commander-in-chief of the Five Armies that invaded Xia twelve years ago?"

"Of course I know. If it works, we can at least capture half of Xixia, even if we can't destroy it completely."

"Does Your Majesty also know the reason why the war, which was comparable to the Yongxi Northern Expedition, failed?"

"There seem to be many reasons, but..." Zhao Ti pondered.

"However, as the commander-in-chief, I failed to coordinate and manage well, so I cannot escape the blame," said Li Xian.

"Although he is called the commander-in-chief, he is actually in charge of five routes. This doesn't seem to be the main reason..." Zhao Ti said calmly.

"Your Majesty is wise. The main reason is that during the war, four armies were trapped in Lingzhou and their food and grass were cut off, but I was stationed outside Lanzhou City, Kailan and Huizhou, and did not go to rescue and join forces, which led to the four armies suffering successive defeats." Li Xian said with a wry smile.

"That should be the case." Zhao Ti smiled lightly.

"Actually, it's not that I didn't go to rescue the He army. The night before I was about to lead my troops to Lingzhou, I was careless and neglected to take precautions, and an assassin sneaked into the camp. The assassin took advantage of the dark night and had the audacity to sneak into the camp and act suddenly..." Li Xian shook his head.

"Assassin?" Zhao Ti narrowed his eyes. "How dare he sneak into the camp and assassinate? Was that when Li Xianggong suffered internal injuries? Who is this assassin? Is his martial arts skills better than Li Xianggong's?"

(End of this chapter)