According to records, Zhao Kuangyin was seriously ill on the night of October 19th in the 9th year of Kaibao (976). Song Taizu sent a confidant to call the second son Zhao into the palace to arrange the funeral. Song Taizu's second brother, Zhao Guangyi, had already seen the mercy throne and bought Wang Jien as his confidant. When he learned that the problem was serious, he and his confidant Cheng Xuande waited all night in Jin. I didn't call Mao's second son, Zhao, but directly informed him. Wang Jien said, "The King of Jin has arrived." Queen Song was surprised to find that Zhao Guangyi had arrived! Knowing that things had changed and were irreversible, he had to call Zhao Guangyi an "official", which was one of the titles for the emperor, and begged, "The lives of my mother and son depend on officials." Zhao Guangyi replied: "Let's protect our wealth together, don't worry!" According to historical records, after Zhao Guangyi entered Song Taizu's bedroom, Zhao Kuangyin died when he saw the sound of "Jin Wang's candle shadow or left" and "axe poking the ground". On the morning of 2 1, Zhao Guangyi acceded to the throne in front of the coffin and returned to Taiping and rejuvenating the country.

Because there is no third person present, there has always been a legend that Zhao Guangyi's brother ascended the throne, but it can't be confirmed, and it has become an eternal mystery. There is only a brief record in the history of the Song Dynasty: "The emperor died at the age of 50 in the Long Live Hall and was buried in the west step of the hall." Wen Ying's Record of Continued Hunan in Shan Ye records that "Taiqing Pavilion is a royal tour. ..... Suddenly cloudy, the weather changed suddenly, the snow and hail plummeted, and the war situation moved to Shimonoseki. Pass the key to the palace door quickly and have a king, that is, Taizong. Prolonging people's sleep and drinking wine. The eunuch's concubines noticed the screen, but when they saw the candle shadow from a distance, Emperor Taizong sometimes avoided the table and stood invincible. It is forbidden to leak three drums after drinking, and there is several inches of snow in the temple. The emperor poked at the snow with an axe, and Gu Taizong said,' Easy, easy!' Then I took off my belt and went to bed, breathing like thunder. In the evening, Emperor Taizong stayed in the forbidden area and played five drums. The people waiting in the hotel were silent and heard nothing. The emperor had collapsed. Taizong acceded to the throne before the coffin. "

The records in Sima Guang's Su Shui Ji strongly defended Song Taizong. According to Su Shui Ji, Song Taizu died, and it was four drums. Empress Song sent an in-chamberlain to call Zhao, the king of Qin, into the palace, but he was called to Kaifeng House. Cheng Dexuan, the confidant of the king of Jin, waited outside the door. Zhao Guangyi was shocked and said, "I should discuss it with my family." Wang Jien advised him to act quickly in case others beat him to it, so Zhao Guangyi took Wang Jien and Cheng Dexuan into the palace in the snow. Accordingly, when Song Taizu died, Emperor Taizong was not in his bedroom, so it was impossible to "kill his brother".