Shi Miyuan, the Chancellor for many years, collaborated with Empress Dowager Yang and when Emperor Ningzong eventually died in 1224, Shi Miyuan, along with Empress Dowager Yang, supplanted the reigning crown prince Zhao Hong and replaced him with Zhao Yun as emperor, reigning with the era name Baoqing and the temple name Lizong.

Emperor Lizong spent his childhood in obscurity living away from the imperial court in Shaoxing, Zhejiang as a minor official.

One rainy day in his early teens, along with his younger brother Zhao Yurui, Lizong stood huddling under a bridge along with an official, Yu Tianxi, who was sent by Chancellor Shi Miyuan tasked to locate a suitable successor to the Song throne as the incumbent crown prince Zhao Xun has recently died at the age of 29.

After discovering the true identity of this teenager, Yu quickly informed Shi Miyuan who agreed to groom Lizong to be replaced as the crown prince.

[3] Shi Miyuan subsequently declared Lizong emperor and according to history, he was wearing a white robe and the lights reflected his shadow on the throne.

The court of Emperor Lizong was dominated by consort clans, Yan and Jia, the eunuchs Dong Songchen and Lu Yunsheng, and his Co-Regent Empress Dowager Yang.

[5] The Emperor was uninterested in governmental affairs, and for the first decade of his rule he delegated matters into the hands of his ministers, notably Shi Miyuan, who was the de facto ruler in his absence.

[10] After the deaths of Empress Dowager Yang and Shi Miyuan in 1233, Emperor Lizong assumed full authority briefly but again quickly abandoned the responsibility of ruling and delegated matters to his chancellor Ding Daquan in order to pursue personal enjoyment.

It was said that the emperor often drank wine a lot, frequented brothels and invited prostitutes into the palace in his late years, which was vehemently opposed by his ministers.

Additionally, the Mongols diverted the water of Yellow River into the city causing great casualties among the Song army.

Emperor Lizong replied "You discussed urgent matters like preventing rebellions, imperial succession, and the drought that hit Jiangnan and Hunan."

Despite this, Möngke Khan was killed earlier in the year in a siege with no designated heir setting the stage for the Division of the Mongol Empire.

[6] In 1260, Jia Sidao became chancellor who would eventually soon take control over the new emperor Zhao Qi after Lizong's death and expel his opponents like Wen Tianxiang and Li Fu.

[19] An account in Quan's official biography stated that Lizong ordered her to enter the palace where he greeted her, "Your father Zhaosun died in the service of his majesty in the Baoyou reign, the very thought of which makes me grieve."

"[19] Internal-combustion rocket propulsion is mentioned in a reference to 1264, recording that the "ground-rat", a type of firework, had frightened the Empress-Mother Gongsheng at a feast held in her honor by her son Emperor Lizong.