Water Margin: The opening scene involves assassinating Emperor Huizong of Song and forcibly taking L

"Throughout Kaifeng, whenever his wife, Zhu, is mentioned, everyone says she's a good woman."

"She is truly a virtuous wife and loving mother," Li Renxiao exclaimed.

Li Huo grinned and said, "I have several sons who are already adults, the eldest of whom is in his twenties."

"Now that they can earn money to support their families, it has made things much easier for the Zhu family."

“Now Zhao Kai can’t even go home if he wants to. If he dares to step into his own yard, his sons will beat him out with sticks.”

Li Renxiao said, "Every bite and every sip has a cause and effect."

But Wang asked, "Zhao Kai has a home but can't go back, and you said he doesn't beg, so how has he managed to survive until now?"

“He’s selling paintings,” Li Huo said. “His paintings are getting more and more expensive.”

"He used to imitate his father's paintings to make forgeries, but after he went mad, he started signing his own name."

“Now a painting is worth a hundred thousand coins. He uses the money to drink and have fun, and then sells the paintings after he has spent all the money.”

Wang asked in surprise, "How come you're selling paintings at even higher prices now that you're crazy?"

Li Huo replied, "I don't understand either. I heard that the tyrannical emperor of the former Song Dynasty died, and his ghost returned to possess his son's body, painting him even better than the top painter in the Hanlin Academy."

“Last year, there was a large painting that was painted right on the street. Several merchants were vying to buy it, and the price was eventually driven up to more than two hundred strings of cash.”

"I heard that the painting is now in the collection of the Hanlin Painting Academy in Luoyang, and many Hanlin painters have learned the painting technique from it."

After listening, Li Renxiao didn't know how to comment. After a long while, he said, "He is indeed an oddball."

……

Meanwhile, Zhao Kai was sleeping on the street when he was awakened by Li Renxiao's exclamation.

He remained seated, motionless, watching passersby with a slightly drunken expression, his mind blank and seemingly lost in thought.

After a long while, Zhao Kai sighed that he was hungry and pointed at a passerby, calling out, "You... come here!"

The passerby wasn't angry; on the contrary, he was quite pleased and hurried over to ask, "Sir, are you calling me?"

Chapter 3870 Zhao Kai

Zhao Kai said, "Go and call a donkey cart."

"Please wait a moment, my lord, I'll be right back." The passerby ran off happily.

Before long, a donkey cart was summoned.

Passersby and the driver joined forces to help Zhao Kai into the car.

The driver whipped the donkey, and passersby followed closely behind, while Zhao Kai lay sprawled out on the open donkey cart.

People along the way pointed and whispered, and many cast envious glances at the passerby.

The donkey cart entered the inner city and stopped at Fanlou.

Several shop assistants rushed out and helped Zhao Kai inside.

Zhao Kai said, "Give them each a silver dollar!"

Immediately, a shop assistant ran to the counter, where the shopkeeper took notes and then took out two silver dollars, which he gave to the driver and passersby.

One silver dollar is equivalent to one string of copper coins; the fare and delivery fee are not worth that much.

The shop assistants helped Zhao Kai to the stairs and asked with great enthusiasm, "Sir, would you like to ride a horse or be carried in a sedan chair today?"

"Let's ride in a sedan chair," Zhao Kai said.

Immediately, two shop assistants clasped each other's wrists and crossed their arms, forming an "∞" shape with their four arms.

Then another worker bent down and supported Zhao Kai's legs, carefully lifting them and stepping them into the gap between his arms.

They also put Zhao Kai's arms on the shoulders of the two "sedan chair carriers".

"Prime Minister Zhao is ascending the tower!"

"Get up the sedan!"

The two "sedan chair carriers" slowly stood up, using their arms as a sedan chair to gently carry Zhao Kai upstairs.

Since it was still a long time before lunchtime, there weren't many diners in the lobby of Fanlou.

The few diners present were all unfazed, watching Zhao Kai as if he were a monkey.

At the corner on the second floor, the shop assistant who was leading the way suddenly shouted at the top of his lungs, "Master Zhao has arrived! All bystanders, please leave!"

The men all shouted in unison, "Disperse! Disperse!"

One of the men behind him noticed that Zhao Kai's clothes were wrinkled, so he quickly reached out to smooth them out and kept patting the dust off the fabric.

"Lord Zhao is ascending the tower; all idlers, please disperse!"

With another shout, the shop assistant carried Zhao Kai up to the third floor.

They went up to the fifth floor, and just as the waiter was about to carry him into the VIP room, Zhao Kai suddenly said, "I want to go see the view!"

The workers quickly turned around and carried Zhao Kai to the skybridge connecting the two buildings.

There are several telescopes there, one of which was placed after the capital was moved and can be used to observe a small part of the old imperial palace in Kaifeng.

"Get off the sedan!"

The shop assistants helped Zhao Kai to his feet, but he pushed them away, yelling, "Get out of my way!"

The men laughed and backed away.

Zhao Kai looked at the palace through binoculars, becoming incredibly quiet, and watched for over an hour.

Then, he changed his position again. Using another pair of binoculars, he looked at his former royal mansion.

It was built in violation of the specifications for the Eastern Palace, and many things there had already been demolished when the Ming Dynasty was founded.

From initial enthusiasm, it quickly turned into a lack of interest.

"That's so boring!"

As Zhao Kai left the telescope, the two men who had stayed behind rushed over to ask, "What kind of wine and dishes would you like to have today, Master Zhao? Would you like to invite any ladies to accompany you?"

Fanlou is a legitimate restaurant, not a brothel.

However, they would regularly invite famous actors to sing and dance, and if customers had a need and could afford the price, they would also invite famous courtesans from other places to accompany them.

"Not interested."

Zhao Kai actually left like that, without even playing the game of riding a horse or sitting in a sedan chair. He simply held onto the railing and went down the stairs by himself.

He strolled out of Fanlou, and no one stopped him.

Chapter 3871 A Painting Filled with Resentment

The shopkeeper simply added a charge to the bill; the shop assistants also received service fees.

Zhao Kai strolled all the way to Genyue, the largest civil engineering project undertaken by Emperor Huizong of Song.

Even a Taihu stone on the mountain was granted a title.

Today, Genyue is equivalent to Kaifeng People's Park.

The astronomical observatory on the mountaintop has been moved to Luoyang, while many shops have opened at the foot of the mountain.

The mountain is covered with many exotic flowers and trees from all over the world.

It is stained with the blood and sweat of countless people, and now it is left to fend for itself with no one to care for it.

Zhao Kai wandered around Genyue, occasionally stopping to talk to the rocks or flowers on the mountain.

He would suddenly burst into laughter one moment and then suddenly burst into tears the next; his mental state was clearly problematic.

When he got tired from walking, Zhao Kai would lie down and sleep on the spot, regardless of whether there were mosquitoes biting him.

When I woke up, it was already midnight, and there were still lights in Kaifeng.

Zhao Kai staggered down the mountain, tripped and fell several meters, suffering multiple abrasions and bleeding.

He was starving, but instead of going to Fanlou, he went into an alley and knocked on a door.

This is a brothel. Even if you have money, you can only eat and drink in the outer courtyard. It is quite difficult to get into the inner courtyard.

The gate opened, and the servant responsible for greeting him, upon seeing that it was Zhao Kai, quickly bowed and said with a smile, "Please come in, Master Zhao."

"Does Xie Niang have guests today?" Zhao Kai asked.

The servant replied, "Unfortunately, we have a distinguished guest today."

Zhao Kai said, "Give me a courtyard, some wine and food, and also paper and pen."

"Master Zhao is going to paint today?" The servant was overjoyed. "Master, please come inside. I'll make the arrangements right away."

……

More than a dozen candles flickered in the room, and a large sheet of Jingxian paper was spread out by the servant.

Jingxian paper is Xuan paper, the same as Xuan paper from Xuanzhou.

Zhao Kai continued to drink slowly, occasionally picking up food and putting it in his mouth.

A hint of drunkenness gradually appeared on his face, and his eyes began to glaze over.

But he held the chopsticks very steadily, able to accurately pick up small pieces of meat from the plate.

"Dong dong dong..."

There was a knock on the door.

Zhao Kai shouted sternly, "Get out!"

The brothel servant who was helping to mix the ink was so startled by the sound that his hands trembled.

Outside the door, Xie Yunyun, a famous courtesan from Kaifeng, stood side by side with a young man.

The man's name was Zhang Fang, and he was the nephew of the late Grand Secretary Zhang Shuye.

His father was Zhang Shuchun, the younger brother of Zhang Shuye, who died from an arrow wound while fighting against the Jin dynasty.

In this timeline, Zhang Shuchun was naturally not wounded by an arrow while fighting the Jin, and died of illness while serving as the Provincial Education Commissioner of Zhejiang.

He had an uncle who was a cabinet minister and a father who was a provincial education commissioner.

Although both elders have passed away, Zhang Fang, this young master, remains extremely distinguished.

At least in Kaifeng Prefecture, most people have to give Zhang Wulang face!

Hearing that Zhao Kai was painting, he immediately brought a famous courtesan over, only to be told to get out before he even entered the room.

Zhang Fang was furious and rolled up his sleeves, intending to kick open the door.

The famous courtesan Xie Yunyun quickly pulled him back and whispered, "Wu Lang is from a distinguished family; don't bother with a madman."

"Even if we beat him up, it would only make us a laughing stock."

"If he were to accidentally injure Wulang, the news would probably spread throughout Kaifeng Prefecture within a month."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Fang lowered his raised right foot back to the ground.

Yeah, why bother arguing with a madman? You'll only make a fool of yourself whether you win or lose.

Chapter 3872 Awesome Drawing Skills

Zhao Kai is like a pile of dog poop on the street; once you get on him, you'll stink all over, and you absolutely shouldn't mess with him.

Even using personal connections to put Zhao Kai in jail was useless.

Zhao Kai has been locked up several times for making reckless remarks while drunk.

Because of his special status, the prison warden dared not mistreat him too much, so he could only make a few sarcastic remarks and had to obediently bring him prison food.

Xie Yunyun added, "This person's reputation is growing, why doesn't Wulang wait patiently?"

"Once he finishes the painting, we'll offer him a large sum of money to buy it. Once word gets out, Goro will surely gain a reputation for humility."

"The better his painting, the more widely Goro's reputation will spread."

Zhang Fang nodded and smiled, "What you say is absolutely right, Mother Xie. I'll wait outside while you bring the wine and dishes here."