Chapter 2

Chapter 2

After Qin Shi Huang ended the stream, he went off to beat the crap out of Hu Hai.

I saw it was still early, so I started the next connection.

A refined young man with a pale, delicate face appeared on the screen.

I asked him to introduce himself.

“We… We…” No one had ever been so rude to him before, and the young man’s face flushed with anger.

“Enough with the ‘We, We,'” I cut him off at once. “Say your name. There are so many emperors in history. Who’s supposed to know which one you are?

“Qin Shi Huang just logged off. Should I get him back so you two can have a chat?”

The young man wilted instantly.

“We are called Zhao Ji.”

Zhao Ji… That name sounded really familiar…

Wasn’t that Emperor Huizong of Song?!

I slapped my thigh in excitement. “Kid, getting connected to me is your lucky break!

“When you’re thirty-seven, the Song dynasty will be in such misery that the people can barely survive, with uprisings breaking out one after another.

“When you’re forty-four, Jin troops will invade Bianjing and capture you and your son. They’ll give you the titles Duke of Hunde and Marquis of Chonghun, then imprison you until you die of old age!

“Your wives, daughters, granddaughters, daughters-in-law, and granddaughters-in-law will all be taken away by the Jin. The lucky ones will become concubines. The unlucky ones will become camp prostitutes.

“In history, this event is known as the Jingkang Incident. In all of Huaxia history, this is about as humiliating as it gets for the Han people!”

“Utter nonsense!”

Zhao Ji slammed the table in fury and shot to his feet.

I didn’t waste words either. I opened the Baidu Baike entry for the Jingkang Incident and immediately started reading it aloud to Zhao Ji.

As I read on and on, Zhao Ji’s expression became like an eggplant hit by frost, wilting bit by bit.

The historical records were far too detailed and concrete. He had no choice but to believe them.

“Teacher, please save me.”

“I can’t save you for free,” I said. “You’ll have to trade me something.”

“Everything in the Inner Treasury of the Great Song emperor is yours to choose from as you please!” Zhao Ji waved his hand with exceptional generosity.

I copied several highly upvoted answers from Zhihu under the question “If You Transmigrated into Emperor Huizong of Song, How Would You Save the Great Song?” Then, very thoughtfully, I converted the text from simplified to traditional Chinese and sent it to Zhao Ji.

After reading them, Zhao Ji treated them like priceless treasure. He immediately went to the Inner Treasury and told me I could pick anything inside.

By the late Northern Song, the first shoots of capitalism had already appeared. On top of that, the two emperors before Zhao Ji had been extremely frugal, so the rare treasures in the emperor’s Inner Treasury dazzled me until my eyes nearly blurred.

As Zhao Ji’s view shifted around, the viewers in the livestream chat began exclaiming in awe.

[The biggest landlord in feudal society really hits different…]

[So what if he has money? Didn’t the Jin still grind him into the dirt?]

[Oh my god! Is that Yan Liben’s Portraits of Successive Emperors?!]

[That painting was sold to foreigners by a traitor a hundred years ago. It’s currently in the collection of the Country A Art Museum.]

[Aaaaaah, I can’t believe I’m seeing that painting in Emperor Huizong of Song’s Inner Treasury!!]

[That’s a genuine national treasure!]

That comment caught my attention.

After a moment of thought, I interrupted Zhao Ji’s endless introduction.

“I want this Portraits of Successive Emperors.”

Zhao Ji was very generous and immediately transmitted the painting to me.

I turned my phone sideways and backed up, then carefully unrolled the antique painting.

Portraits of thirteen ancient emperors appeared vividly before everyone in the livestream.

The chat fell silent for a long time. Everyone was immersed in the painting’s magnificent presence.

Who knew how long passed before someone finally broke the silence.

[Go check the trending searches!]

[The Country A Art Museum has been robbed!]

[They’re saying Portraits of Successive Emperors vanished in front of everyone!!!]