Combining his own physical changes with the words of his concubine and the officials, Zhao Xu accepted that he had died once and had been resurrected by a celestial being.
Accepting this setting, he felt his body.
It didn't feel like a deathbed revival.
He propped himself up on the bed and sat up, getting out of bed with the help of his attendants.
Walking straight to Li Qingzhao, Zhao Xu waved away his attendants' support.
He clasped his hands together and bowed deeply to Li Qingzhao, his tone solemn:
"I, thank the celestial being for bringing me back to life."
Li Qingzhao didn't dodge, accepting his bow with composure.
Only after he got up did she say, "With my ability, I cannot bring someone back from the dead."
"Your Majesty's revival was entirely due to the Soul-Returning Pill obtained from the Mister."
"Without that Soul-Returning Pill, even I couldn't have saved Your Majesty."
Zhao Xu was slightly taken aback and hurriedly asked:
"I wonder, what is the identity of the 'Mister' spoken of by the celestial being? Where does he cultivate? Will I have a chance to pay my respects?"
This question really stumped Li Qingzhao.
She knew that the group leader in the chat group was called 'Li Yi'.
But she wasn't sure if she could tell Zhao Xu this name.
Just like the Buddhas, Bodhisattvas and deities in Buddhism and Daoism, they might have their own names in addition to their respective titles.
But these names were not circulated among the populace; only their titles were known.
Therefore, she wasn't sure if the name 'Li Yi' could be spread.
Just as Li Qingzhao was hesitating and wanted to ask in the group, her groupmates provided the answer.
Huang Rong: "The group leader previously said that the original name given to him was 'Tai Yi'."
"Li Jie jie can tell Song Zhezong this title."
Yukine Yukinoshita: "That's right, the group leader also said that 'Confucianism, Daoism, Buddhism, and all other schools can all pay their respects to me'."
"So, if Song Zhezong wants to pay homage to the group leader, it should be fine."
Ying Zheng: "The two young ladies are right, I was present at that time."
Lin Fengjiao: "......"
She opened her mouth, seeming to want to say something, but ultimately only sent six dots.
Looking at the information provided by everyone in the group, Li Qingzhao replied, "Thank you all."
Then, combining the information provided by her groupmates and her own knowledge, she looked at Zhao Xu and said:
"Mister's title is 'Tai Yi', and 'Heaven' respects him as 'Tianzun'."
"Mister's ability transcends the three realms and is not bound by the five elements; he doesn't cultivate in this realm."
"As for whether there will be a chance to pay your respects, I cannot be certain."
She herself hadn't seen the group leader.
Judging from the group leader's ability to create a chat group connecting different worlds.
Perhaps there was nothing in this Song Dynasty that could attract the Mister to descend here.
She couldn't see him, let alone the emperor in front of her who hadn't joined the chat group?
Hearing Li Qingzhao's words, Zhao Xu wasn't disappointed.
He just muttered to himself, "Tai Yi... Tianzun", then bowed to Li Qingzhao again:
"Thank you, celestial being, for informing me."
"Although the Soul-Returning Pill that brought me back to life was given by Tianzun, I have been able to die and be reborn, and the celestial being's contributions cannot be ignored."
"Your abilities are vast, I also don't know how to repay you."
"If the celestial being has any needs, just speak up, as long as it is something I possess, I will not hesitate."
Hearing Zhao Xu finally mention the issue of 'repayment', Li Qingzhao didn't stand on ceremony.
She was willing to save Zhao Xu, and Huang Rong and Yukine had indeed both said that if Zhao Xu didn't die, perhaps the Jingkang Incident wouldn't have happened.
But she was willing to spend 100 points, worth 10,000 taels of gold, to buy a Soul-Returning Pill that money couldn't buy to save someone.
Naturally, she wouldn't be truly selfless to the point of putting herself at a disadvantage and doing good deeds without expecting anything in return.
On the contrary...... after doing good deeds and saving people, she intended to profit from it.
So, after hearing Zhao Xu's words, Li Qingzhao directly told him the truth:
"One Soul-Returning Pill, in terms of cost, is worth 10,000 taels of gold."
"But this pill can only be obtained from the Mister, even if others are willing to pay 100,000 taels or a million taels, there's nowhere to buy it."
Zhao Xu and the officials present had no objections to Li Qingzhao's statement.
A celestial pill that could bring someone back from the dead.
Forget 100,000 taels or a million taels of gold.
Even 10 million taels would be worth it in their eyes, it's just that they couldn't afford it.
And hearing her measure the value of the Soul-Returning Pill in terms of 'gold'.
Zhao Xu and the others also understood her meaning - they could repay their life-saving grace with gold and silver.
Understanding this, Zhao Xu subconsciously looked at his Minister of Finance.
Seeing the emperor looking at him, the Minister of Finance couldn't help but twitch his lips.
Counting the Qin, Han, Sui, and Tang dynasties, the Song Dynasty was absolutely the wealthiest in history.
In some years with good harvests, they could even collect tens of thousands of taels of silver annually.
But they earned a lot, and they spent a lot too.
If the emperor really took a million taels of gold, or even more gold and equivalents, from the national treasury.
Whether or not the treasury could afford it aside.
Even if they could really take it out, this 'deal' of emptying the treasury to bring the emperor back to life could shake the foundation of the country.
Therefore, facing the emperor's inquiring gaze.
The Minister of Finance just gave a bitter smile and resolutely did not mention whether they could afford a million taels of gold.
Of course, Li Qingzhao didn't intend to empty the Song Dynasty treasury.
She saved Zhao Xu, although she had the idea of profiting from him, her original intention was to see if the Song Dynasty could still be salvaged.
If she saved Zhao Xu, but had to empty the treasury and make the Song Dynasty even more decadent.
She might as well not save him and let Zhao Ji ascend to the throne and become Song Huizong.
At least, letting Zhao Ji wreak havoc, the Northern Song Dynasty could last another twenty years.
Noticing the subtle exchanges between the emperor and his officials.
Li Qingzhao didn't hesitate any longer and directly asked Zhao Xu, "I've heard that extracting gold is difficult, and the country doesn't have much in reserve."
"I wonder, how many gold-producing areas are there in the Song Dynasty?"
Zhao Xu didn't know much about this and turned to the Minister of Finance.
The Minister of Finance said without hesitation, "As of today, there are 25 prefectures that produce gold in the Song Dynasty."
"Gold refining is indeed difficult, taking gold ore as an example, every 10,000 jin of gold ore can yield one tael or more at most, and less than half a tael at least."
"Combined with the 25 prefectures, the annual gold output is only about 10,000 taels."
The annual output is only 10,000 taels of gold.
If they really had to cough up a million taels of gold, it would really empty the entire Song Dynasty.
Thinking this way, Zhao Xu directly ordered someone to fetch a map.
He called on the Minister of Finance to inquire and circled the various gold-producing areas, marking their annual output and estimated reserves.
Then he handed the pen to Li Qingzhao and said directly:
"These 25 gold-producing prefectures, you can circle six of them as my thanks to the celestial being. What do you think?"