Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 985 0980 [Crazy Painter]

Seeing the down-and-out Zhao Kai, Li Renxiao suddenly felt a sense of connection.

But he was afraid of getting into trouble, so he asked his servant, "Can I talk to him?"

Li Huo was stunned when he heard this, and he obviously misunderstood. He whispered, "My dear, don't worry. The common people in and outside Kaifeng City didn't dare to get involved with the former Song royal family at first. Even if they met them, they would walk a few steps away. Later, the court allowed them to move around freely, and more people dared to talk to the former Song royal family. I haven't seen the government send people to investigate anyone."

Li Renxiao asked, "Are all the princes and kings of the former Song Dynasty so destitute?"

"My dear, you think too much," Li Huo said with a smile, "Except for the man in front of me who lives a miserable life, the rest are pretty good. The worst ones can still farm for a living, and the court has also successively issued oxen for farming, so their lives are better than those of ordinary farmers. Some even open shops to do business, and the shops are in an alley outside Nanxun Gate."

Li Renxiao asked curiously, "How did he become like this?"

Li Huo said, "This guy is called Zhao Kai. He was the most favored prince of the former Song Dynasty and almost became the emperor of the former Song Dynasty. He insisted on taking the imperial examination and won the first place at the age of fifteen or sixteen. It would be strange if the officials did not help him cheat. After the founding of the Ming Dynasty, this guy also made a lot of money by selling paintings. He stayed overnight in Fanlou every day and enjoyed himself."

"Later, he learned to speculate in cloth goods, and ended up in debt. He had actually paid off his debts by selling paintings, but he went back to hang out in brothels and even fell in love with a famous actress and wanted to marry her as a concubine. His wives and concubines started to quarrel, and he got angry during the quarrel and beat up one of his concubines. The concubine was so angry that she filed a petition to the government to grant a divorce..."

"Divorce?" Li Renxiao exclaimed, "The former Prince Song divorced his concubine? Or the concubine filed for divorce!"

The sound was quite loud, and Zhao Kai, who was half lying on the side of the road, also heard it.

Zhao Kai raised his head and glared at Li Renxiao, as if he might stand up and hit him at any time.

Li Renxiao quickly shut up and walked away quickly with Wangshi and Li Huo.

Li Huo looked behind him and found that Zhao Kai did not chase him, so he continued, "That concubine also had a family. Since she could not become the prince's concubine, she was content to be a concubine for a few years. But Zhao Kai really did not care about his family. He ran away every few days. Didn't he become a widow? I heard that Zhao Kai rarely brought home the money he earned from selling paintings, and even if he did, he gave it to his wife. Later, because she opposed taking another concubine, the concubine was beaten by Zhao Kai, and she went to the government to divorce."

Wang said quickly: "My lord... my husband, I will never be such a shameless woman!"

Li Renxiao smiled at his wife and then asked, "And then?"

Li Huo said, "The lawsuit was a big deal. Not only did the people in and outside Kaifeng know about it, but it also spread to other prefectures and counties. On the day of the trial, people from all over the city came to watch, blocking the streets outside the Law Office. When Zhao Kai came out of the office, everyone asked if he was really divorced, and they all laughed out loud with gloating. After that, no matter where Zhao Kai went, people would point fingers at him and laugh at him for not being able to keep a concubine under control. As time went on, Zhao Kai's brain started to become problematic."

"Crazy?" Li Renxiao asked.

Li Huo laughed and said, "Many people said he was pretending to be crazy. Anyway, Zhao Kai would rush over and beat anyone who dared to laugh at him. He often fell drunk on the street and said some forbidden nonsense. He was reported and arrested and imprisoned several times. He drank outside and drank at home. When he was drunk, he would beat and scold his wives and concubines. Later, all his concubines divorced him, and one of them became a nun in a Taoist temple."

Li Renxiao shook his head repeatedly: "This person is irresponsible."

Li Huo sighed, "The worst one is his legal wife. She has stayed at home and never divorced him, but she has to raise seven sons and eight daughters. Even the children born to the concubines are treated as her own by his legal wife. The people of Kaifeng, when they mention his legal wife Zhu, who doesn't say she is a good woman?"

"She is truly a good wife and mother." Li Renxiao exclaimed.

Li Huo grinned and said, "Several sons have grown up, and the oldest is in his twenties. They can now earn money to support the family, which makes Zhu feel much more relaxed. Now Zhao Kai can't go home even if he wants to. If he dares to step into his own yard, he will be beaten out by his sons with sticks."

Li Renxiao said: "Every bite and every drink has its cause and effect."

Wang asked, "How did Zhao Kai survive until now when he has no home to return to and you said he doesn't beg?"

"Selling paintings," Li Huo said, "His paintings are getting more and more expensive. In the past, he imitated his father's paintings to make forgeries, and after he went crazy, he signed his own name. Now a painting is worth a hundred strings of cash. He spends the money on drinking and having fun, and then sells the paintings again when he has spent all the money."

Wang was surprised and asked, "Why is it that the paintings are more expensive when you are crazy?"

Li Huo replied, "I don't understand it either. I heard that the former emperor of the Song Dynasty died, and his ghost came back to possess his son's body, and he painted better than the great painters in the Hanlin Academy. Last year, there was a large painting on the street, and many merchants rushed to buy it, and finally raised the price to more than 200 strings of cash. I heard that the painting is now collected in the Hanlin Academy in Luoyang, and many Hanlin painters are learning how to paint from it."

After listening to this, Li Renxiao didn't know how to comment. After a long while, he said, "He is also a weird person."

……

But Zhao Kai was sleeping on the street and was awakened by Li Renxiao's scream.

He still sat there motionless, watching the passers-by with a slightly drunken look on his face, and no one knew what he was thinking.

After a long while, Zhao Kai felt hungry and pointed at a passerby and shouted, "You... come here!"

The passerby was not angry, but rather somewhat delighted. He walked quickly and asked, "Are you calling me, sir?"

Zhao Kai said, "Go get a donkey cart."

"Husband, please wait a moment. I'll be back soon." The passerby ran away happily.

Soon, a donkey cart was called.

Passersby and the coachman joined forces to help Zhao Kai onto the carriage.

The driver whipped the donkey and passers-by followed closely, while Zhao Kai lay sprawled on the open donkey cart.

People along the way were pointing and talking, and many of them looked at the passerby with envy.

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

Several shop assistants rushed out and scrambled to help Zhao Kai inside.

Zhao Kai said: "Reward them each with a silver dollar!"

Immediately, a waiter ran to the counter, and the shopkeeper took out a pen to take notes, and then took out two silver dollars and asked the waiter to give them to the coachman and passerby.

One silver dollar is equivalent to one copper coin, and the cost of transportation and errands is not worth that much.

The shop assistants helped Zhao Kai to the stairs and asked him attentively, "Sir, do you want to ride a horse or a sedan chair today?"

"Take the sedan chair." Zhao Kai said. Immediately, two shop assistants clasped their wrists and crossed their arms, forming an "∞" shape.

Another waiter bent over to support Zhao Kai's legs, carefully lifted them up and stepped into the gaps between his arms. He also put Zhao Kai's arms on the shoulders of the "bearers" on both sides.

"Prince Zhao is coming upstairs!"

"Get up the sedan!"

The two "palanquin bearers" slowly stood up, used their arms as a sedan chair, and slowly carried Zhao Kai upstairs.

As it was still a long time before lunch, there were not many diners in the lobby on the first floor of Fanlou.

The few diners there were all used to it and looked at Zhao Kai as if he were a monkey.

At the corner of the second floor, the shop assistant who was in charge of leading the way actually shouted at the top of his voice: "Mr. Zhao has arrived, everyone please leave!"

All the guys shouted together: "Back off, back off!"

A waiter behind him saw that the hem of Zhao Kai's clothes was wrinkled, and hurriedly reached out to untie it, and occasionally brushed the dust off the fabric.

"Prince Zhao, please go up to the building, everyone please leave!"

There was another shout, and the shop assistant carried Zhao Kai to the third floor.

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

The guys quickly turned around and carried Zhao Kai to the overpass connecting the two floors.

There are several telescopes there, one of which was installed after the capital was moved and can observe a small half of the old imperial palace in Kaifeng.

"Get off the sedan!"

The shop assistants helped Zhao Kai to stand firmly, but Zhao Kai pushed them away: "Get out of the way!"

The guys stepped back, laughing.

Zhao Kai looked at the palace through a telescope. He became extremely quiet and kept looking for more than an hour.

Then, he changed his position and used another telescope to look at his former royal mansion, which was built in violation of the specifications of the Eastern Palace. Many things there had been demolished when the Ming Dynasty was founded.

From being very interested, I quickly became uninterested.

"How boring!"

Zhao Kai left the telescope, and the two servants who stayed behind hurried over to ask, "What kind of wine and food would you like today, Mr. Zhao? Which lady would you like to have with you for the drinks?"

Fanlou is a regular restaurant, not a brothel.

However, they would invite famous actors to sing and dance for a long time. If the customers had the need, they would also invite famous prostitutes from other places to accompany them as long as they could afford the price.

"Not interested."

Zhao Kai actually just left like that, without even playing the game of riding a horse or taking a sedan chair. He just walked down the stairs holding the railing.

He strolled out of Fanlou, and no one stepped forward to stop him.

The shopkeeper just added a fee silently, and the shop assistants also had to pay service fees.

Zhao Kai strolled all the way to Genyue, which was the largest civil engineering project undertaken by Emperor Huizong of Song Dynasty. Even a piece of Taihu stone on the mountain was conferred the title of marquis.

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

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

There are many rare and exotic flowers and trees on the mountain, which came from all over the world and were stained with the blood and sweat of countless people. But now there is no one to take care of them and they are left to fend for themselves.

Zhao Kai looked around Genyue, occasionally stopping to talk to the rocks or flowers on the mountain. Sometimes he laughed suddenly, and sometimes he burst into tears. It was obvious that his mental state was not good.

When Zhao Kai was tired from walking, he would lie down and sleep on the spot, not caring whether he was bitten by mosquitoes or not.

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

Zhao Kai staggered down the mountain, fell halfway, and rolled several meters away, with many scratches and bleeding on his body.

He was very hungry, but instead of going to Fanlou, he went into an alley and knocked on doors.

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

The door opened, and the waiter in charge of welcoming him saw that it was Zhao Kai who came, and he immediately bowed and said with a smile: "Mr. Zhao, please come in."

"Madam Xie, do you have any guests today?" Zhao Kai asked.

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

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

"Mr. Zhao, are you going to paint today?" The servant was overjoyed. "Mr. Zhao, please come in. I will arrange it right away."

(End of this chapter)