Just then, I heard a customer at the next table say: "Last month, I saw him with my own eyes, buying a bun at Lu's Bun Shop. He paid with one piece of gold and when Old Lu couldn't close his mouth in surprise, he said 'Is that not enough?' and gave another piece of gold."

  "I saw him that time, wearing a beggar's clothes and sitting with the beggars!" Another person said: "When the beggar sang 'Lian Hua Luo', he was on the side beating the bamboo board, when food came, he ate with his hands..."

  "Also last winter, when it was snowing heavily, he ran out of his house, wearing only a single layer of clothing and no shoes, and ran circles around the city walls of Bianjing. This was all witnessed."

  Did Zhao Zongji go crazy? Chen Ke couldn't help but be shocked, and immediately shook his head. How could that be? From this guy's letter, not a hint of madness can be seen, but having severe wenqing disease is indeed true...

  Just as he was about to speak up, a commotion broke out downstairs and several robust men in dark uniforms, the prince's guards, rushed up and bowed to the crowd, saying: "Ladies and gentlemen, my young master is going to receive guests here, please go to another house for tea, all courtesy of my master."

  Everyone took a look, it was the imperial guard of the Beihai Junwangfu, and they were already somewhat intimidated, so who would dare not to comply? They all dispersed obediently. After inspecting the teahouse, the guards also retreated.

  The second floor of the tea house was empty except for Chen Ke alone.

  Before long, a man with a golden filigree patterned headscarf, wearing an embroidered satin shirt, thin-soled pink boots, and a large red sash around his waist, holding a glittering gold folding fan, Zhao Zongji, who looked like a toad, came upstairs with a swagger.

  Look at him like this. Chen Ke couldn't help but say: "You should change your face."

  "What does it mean?" Zhao Zongji suddenly opened up the folding fan in his hand, and saw that there were four big characters written on it: 'Lonely Fragrance Self-Admiration'.

  "Hmph...!" Chen Ke almost spat in his face, saying: "This thick eyebrow and big eyes, square-shaped face of yours is definitely that of a straight-laced person. You really don't have the demeanor of a young master."

  "I will continue to work hard." Zhao Zongji sat down, looking at Chen Ke with a serious expression: "You shouldn't have come this time."

  "Why?" Chen Ke smiled and said: "Because you are a golden branch and jade leaf, your brother is too high to reach."

  "It can be understood that way." Zhao Zongji waved his fan and said, "I am a person of status, and associating with commoners like you will make my friends laugh at me."

  "Put that thing together, in February with a fan, aren't you afraid of fanning out your snot?!" Chen Ke's temper was originally bad, and with the long grass in his heart, he immediately pulled down his face and said: "Is it time to pretend to be crazy and sell stupid, after a long time, I really became brain-damaged?"

  Zhao Zongji's fan stopped waving and a strange expression appeared on his face: "Is my acting so bad?"

  "It's not just bad", Chen Ke shook his head and said: "It's simply appalling. Let me give you a suggestion, next time it snows, running naked will be much more effective than wearing clothes."

  "It seems I'm really not cut out for this," Zhao Zongji chuckled self-deprecatingly: "But it's all right, as long as the intention is there."

  "Xiao Wangye's move of 'pretending to be crazy to avoid trouble' is truly admirable." Chen Ke couldn't help but sneer: "Do you plan on pretending for the rest of your life?"

  "Who knows... " Zhao Zongji's expression turned gloomy and he said: "When the time comes that it's not needed, I will naturally stop pretending."

  "You're so scared that you've become muddle-headed. Chen Ke sighed and said, 'You're making Duke Ouyang very heartbroken.'"

  "He had already told you everything..." Zhao Zongji bowed his head deeply and said: "What else can I do, I don't want to bring trouble to my father and brother."

  "Who will bring you calamity?" Chen Ke asked in a low voice.

  "It's better if you don't know." Zhao Zongji raised his head again and said seriously: "You really shouldn't have come to see me..."

  "Rubbish!" Chen Ke burst out laughing and said: "Even if it's the Emperor himself, he can't stop me from seeing my brother!"

  "Don't talk nonsense..." Zhao Zongji said so, but his nose was sour, and he tightly grasped Chen Ke's hand: "I will implicate you."

  "Nowadays, officials are so noble and virtuous, why would they care about the interactions between you and me, such small characters?" Chen Xiao smiled and said: "Besides, you wouldn't even have a chance to go up there."

  "What I'm worried about is not the officials..." Zhao Zongji said in a low voice: "It's my sworn brothers..."

  "Zhao Zongshi?"

  "Hmm." Zhao Zongji nodded and reminded him: "You must be extremely careful, although your martial arts skills are high, don't come and go alone like this..."

  "Impossible, I've heard he's a king of Confucianism and wisdom." On the way here, Chen Ke specially asked those idlers about Zhao Zongshi's situation. Perhaps feeling that this money was too easily earned, those idlers enthusiastically praised Zhao Zongshi, saying he was filial, righteous, studious, humble, courteous, approachable... a perfect eleventh-century Fozhao Yulu.

  "Isn't there even a little flaw? Chen Ke didn't believe it."

  "As for shortcomings, there really aren't any. After pondering idly for a long time, he said: 'If one must say something, it's that it's too uninteresting, not fond of feminine charm, not fond of music, what pleasure is left to speak of?'"

  ——————————————————————————————————————

  "It's said that he is a compassionate and merciful person who wouldn't even harm an ant while sweeping the floor." Chen Xiao didn't understand, "How did you become so scared when it came to him?"

  "My thirteenth brother, there's really nothing to say." Zhao Zongji sighed: "Originally, the feelings between us were also very good, but from two years ago, our relationship gradually changed flavor."

  "From Zhang Shu's secret memorial?"

  "Do you even know this?" Zhao Zongji was surprised and nodded, "We have some gatherings from time to time, originally every time we evaluated articles and poems, I always suppressed him. But since then, as long as he is present, the first must be his."

  "This is natural, no one dares to offend him, someone who may become the crown prince." Chen Xiao replied calmly: "What was his reaction?"

  "He always strongly declined, even saying 'If it's like this, I can only be absent in the future' to 'threaten', others' fair judgment." Zhao Zongji said softly: "The first time, they all believed in truth, so they pushed me to be the first, and he was relegated to second place."

  "I was sitting right across from him at the time," Zhao Zongji said in a low voice, "His face turned black for an instant when I saw it, although it returned to normal immediately, but I absolutely didn't see it wrong."

  "After I went home, I told my father about this matter. He pondered for a long time and said: 'From now on, you need to retreat three steps when facing him.' Zhao Zongji's face turned bitter as he said: 'I still remember that Ouyang Gong once told me "If that day really comes, be careful of Zhao Zongshi." After verifying the two, I decided to pretend to be crazy to let him know that I won't pose a threat to him.' He sighed deeply and said: 'I truly regret not understanding things when I was young and always trying to suppress him.'"

  Actually, you don't have to be so afraid of him.

  Chen Ke sneered: "Do you think his days are easy? He's not even the official's biological son, who says he has to be the one?"

  "You really dare to think..." Zhao Zongji shook his head and sighed: "He is two years older than me, with such a good reputation, he has already been the first choice in the hearts of all the gentlemen, no one can compete with him."

  "Hmph... " Chen Ke sneered and said: "I think you're all blinded by your own biases."

  "What's going on?"

  "The power is in the hands of the officials, what's the use of those gentlemen's opinions?"

  "The officials will always listen to your husband."

  "But this is an exception!" Chen Ke said resolutely: "If I were the imperial family, with the lessons of Taizu's lineage before me, I would not give up hope of having children until the very last moment!"

  "Hmm." Zhao Zongji nodded.

  "So the efforts of those officials will be in vain." Chen Ke said calmly: "On the contrary, it will have the opposite effect and make the imperial court vigilant against Zhao Zong!"

  "Hmm." A glimmer of light appeared in Zhao Zongji's eyes.

  "The days are still long, and there may be variables. If you pretend to be crazy now, when will it end? Even if you want to pretend, you should wait until Zhao Zongshi is really established as the crown prince!" Chen Ke looked at him and said in a low voice: "If we pretend now, it's just laughable. I'm not asking you to fight for it, let's just do our best without any pretensions. Who can predict the future? But if you give up yourself, others won't give you opportunities!"

  "Yes." Zhao Zongji nodded heavily and smiled: "Actually, I've had enough!"

  "Haha, that's right... " Chen Ke laughed heartily and said: "In life, living a carefree life is the most important thing."

  "Hmm." Zhao Zongji looked at Chen Ke with a sudden realization, "Now that you mention it, I feel much clearer in my mind. Indeed, how long can one pretend to be mad and foolish? Sooner or later, one will truly become a madman!"

  "That's right." Chen Ke smiled and nodded.

  "In that case, I'll have to go back and redo my homework." Zhao Zongji said, pinching his chin.

  "What's the task?"

  "A few days ago, we were attending a lecture in the imperial academy when the official suddenly arrived." Zhao Zongji said: "The official often comes to the imperial academy and sometimes even gives a lecture himself. That day he had just recovered from an illness and didn't say much. He only left us with an assignment as he was about to leave, asking us to discuss our opinions on how to control the Yellow River and which plan is better."

  "The Liuta River project has been under construction for over a year, how could the officials suddenly have such a question?" Chen Ke's expression changed as he said.

  "Maybe it's a test for us, let's see how much knowledge of river engineering we have grasped." Zhao Zongji said uncertainly.

  "How do you plan to write?"

  "I originally wanted to go with the flow, copying a few sentences from Li Zhongchang's memorial to get by. Zhao Zongji sighed and said: 'But I'm telling lies with my eyes open, my heart is suffocating.'"

  "What now?"

  "I'm telling the truth, I think Li Zhongchang's plan is not just unreliable, it's utterly impractical!"

  At least one more chapter... (to be continued)