Treasure Hunt at the Kunlun Summit: Season Five, Song Taizu Xiang

On the night of the "Candlelight and Axe Shadows," Zhao Guangyi, younger brother of Emperor Taizu of Song, Zhao Kuangyin, defied court rules by staying in the palace after arguing with him. Late that night, as Zhao Kuangyin was on the verge of death, Empress Song sent someone to summon Zhao Defang, the son she had raised, hoping to secure his succession. But, against all expectations, Zhao Guangyi was the first to enter the emperor's bedchamber. When he came out, he announced that his elder brother had passed the throne to him.

The murky circumstances of the succession inevitably cast doubt on the authenticity of the "Oath in the Golden Coffer," the proof of Zhao Guangyi's legitimate succession that Chancellor Zhao Pu presented several years later. It was revealed just as Taizu's two surviving sons, Zhao Dezhao and Zhao Defang, died one after the other, while his younger brother Zhao Tingmei was repeatedly targeted by rumors and ultimately demoted until he died. The timing of all these events was so suspiciously convenient.

The truth was that after Zhao Kuangyin discovered Zhao Guangyi's ambition to usurp the throne, he personally wrote the "Oath of the Fragrant Child," making arrangements for the succession, and handed it on the spot to his fourth younger brother, Zhao Tingmei.

To save the lives of Taizu's descendants, Zhao Tingmei had no choice but to entrust the "Oath of the Fragrant Child" to Kang Baoyu, a founding general with whom he was not particularly close.

Later, Kang Baoyu, then the commander of Gaoyang Pass, was surrounded by the Liao army at Yingzhou and died on the battlefield, drenched in blood. This sparked the curious tale of a letter passed down for a hundred years, returning the throne to Taizu's line.