Chapter 001 The King Has Gone Mad

Suddenly, Zhao Kai's expression changed dramatically, becoming incredibly fierce, even somewhat menacing. He spoke to himself in a deep and authoritative voice: "So be it, if I must traverse, then I shall! Perhaps this is fate? This is heaven bestowing a great responsibility upon me!"

Inside the bronze mirror appears a figure, still seated in a round chair, resembling an "ancient person" of approximately twenty-four or twenty-five years of age. He is dressed in a full set of Daoist robes, with disheveled hair styled into a bun, secured with a jade hairpin. The features of this ancient figure are somewhat blurred, yet one can still discern his delicate eyebrows, high nose, lips like red vermilion, and flowing beard, clearly depicting a handsome man from antiquity with a hint of ethereal charm.

Chen Yishan, Wang Yaban... Is our king really mad? It has been several days of turmoil, yet he continues to cry and laugh, showing no signs of improvement

Zhao Kai looked closely again and felt that the appearance of this "ancient person" was very similar to his original looks, only much more mature and with a beard.

However, after searching high and low, apart from knowing that the term "official family" was used by people in the Song Dynasty to refer to the emperor, there is nothing else. The reason for this is that the scenes in the strange dream are very vague, with even the faces of the people in the dream being indistinct and constantly changing, so the information that Zhao Kai can grasp is also limited

This is the legendary Chosen One, the true master of destiny

He has been sitting in front of this bronze mirror for several consecutive days, completely devoid of appetite, engaging in self-torture. He pinches his own flesh, plucks his own beard, and now he has even started to slap himself, all in an attempt to awaken from this "dream"

He is still an ancient person... It seems that I, Zhao Kai, have truly traveled through time! Zhao Kai looked at the "ancient person" in the bronze mirror and sighed deeply, as if he had already resigned himself to his fate

From a very young age, Zhao Kai often dreamed of becoming an ancient person. He lived in a magnificent mansion, surrounded by a large number of servants and maids attending to him. He led a life where food was served at his mouth and clothes were brought to him, a life of happiness, no, a life of decadence

"Inner Zen?" A woman asked, "Who does Zen belong to?"

... ...

However, in the winter of 2020, as Zhao Kai's second year of high school was approaching its conclusion, his strange dreams suddenly became increasingly vivid and frequent, to the point where they would come almost as soon as he closed his eyelids. At the same time, a variety of information flooded into his mind. Most of this information was related to the Song Dynasty, the Northern Expedition, and the Jin soldiers advancing southward.

"Ouch, that really hurts..." Zhao Kai quickly covered his face and exclaimed, then looked up at the bronze mirror placed in front of him.

The yellow-faced scholar and the white-faced eunuch exchanged glances, unsure of how to explain to Madam Zhu, who had recently married into the royal residence, the matter of the "brotherly friendship and respectful demeanor" between Prince Zhao Kai and Crown Prince Zhao Huan. At that moment, Zhao Kai, who was either feigning madness or genuinely mad, had already strode to the door and appeared before the three. With a fierce glare, he looked at them and loudly asked, "Who are you? Why are you lurking outside, spying on this chosen one of heaven?"

"Indeed, indeed, what Mr. Chen said is absolutely correct; the king must be feigning madness to avoid disaster!" The speaker was a white-faced eunuch, around thirty-four or thirty-five years old, holding a whisk in his hand. As he spoke, he even made a gesture as if to behead someone, "Currently, the king is in a difficult situation; if he does not feign madness, he will..."

However, Zhao Kai managed to get admitted to a second-tier high school in the city and plans to attend a third-tier university before going to the Magic City to sell pancakes

Because this "dream" has come true

Zhao Kai, who lives on campus until high school, thus enjoys greater freedom, allowing him to stay up late to surf the internet, play games, and seek answers for his strange dreams online

With a sharp "pop," a stinging pain shot across Zhao Kai's cheek; he had just slapped himself across the face.

He waved his fist, looking somewhat mad, and shouted: "I am the chosen one by heaven, the one who has crossed over to this late Northern Song dynasty to turn the tide... I, Zhao Kai, am the chosen one!"

Zhao Kai suddenly stood up, looking at the person in the bronze mirror, his tone infused with a hint of madness, as he pounded his chest and shouted: "Good, good, good! Now that I am in the Song Dynasty, Huaxia will not fall, and the Jurchens and Mongols shall not act arrogantly... Wahahaha!"

... ...

It was probably because there was too much information, too chaotic to digest all at once, which left Zhao Kai with a splitting headache, and then suddenly he fainted in the dormitory. In a daze, Zhao Kai began to dream, and surprisingly, this dream turned out to be true

This must be the heavens' unwillingness to see the downfall of the Song Dynasty and the sinking of the divine land, which is why they sent Zhao Kai to reincarnate in the past to save the nation and its people

Just as Zhao Kai was laughing heartily and speaking nonsense, outside the room he was in, a young woman, around seventeen or eighteen years old, dressed as a lady and possessing an extremely beautiful appearance, resembling a fairy, was asking the two people beside her with a worried expression.

Zhao Kai now considers himself the chosen one, or at least that is what he believes!

Since the pancake stall has successors, Zhao Kai, this unfilial son, is naturally ignored by everyone. He lives alone in the high school dormitory in the city, and his parents only send money on time, without inquiring about anything else.

But this "dream" cannot be awakened from!

He once shared the scenes from his dreams with his grandmother, who had raised him single-handedly. However, that grandmother was also at a loss to explain the matter and could only resort to superstitious beliefs. She suggested that Zhao Kai might have drunk diluted Meng Po soup during his reincarnation, which is why he had not completely forgotten his past life and often dreamed about it.

Sigh," the pale-faced eunuch sighed and said, "Madam, you may not be aware... the soldiers of the Jin state have already crossed the Zhen Ding Prefecture and are making their way to the Eastern Capital day and night. The officials are already in a state of confusion and are even contemplating internal abdication!

In his view, the only explanation for why his soul traversed over 800 years and attached itself to the third son of Song Huizong, who shares his name, Zhao Kai, the military governor of Jingnan and Ningjiang, the governor of Jiangling and Kuizhou, and the director of the Imperial City Office, is that it was "heavenly selection"

Zhao Kai sometimes thinks: Although this official is not a good one, as a father, he is definitely a good father

Looking at the reflection in the mirror, the figure resembles Zhao Kai's original appearance so closely; it is evidently Zhao Kai's past life

Zhao Kai sometimes wonders: Could it be that in my past life I was the son of a feudal bureaucrat? ... Looking at the grandeur of my home, it seems that the father in my dreams is a very wealthy high-ranking official, probably a major corrupt official ...! ... It is truly enviable!

Among the two men, there was one around thirty years old, a yellow-faced man dressed as a scholar, with a goatee. He stroked his beard, furrowed his brows, and shook his head as he replied: "Madam, rest assured, the king may seem to be mad, but he is definitely not truly insane; he must be feigning madness..."

The yellow-faced scholar sighed again and said: "The abdication is for the Crown Prince! Yesterday, the Emperor has already issued an edict appointing the Crown Prince as the Governor of Kaifeng... There are also rumors that the Emperor will soon abdicate the throne to the Crown Prince and then head south to evade the Jin soldiers"

Ah... are the Jin soldiers really coming?" The woman seemed frightened, paused for a moment, and then asked: "But then, what does it matter to the king whether the Jin soldiers come or not? It's not like the king summoned them, so why is the king pretending to be mad to avoid disaster?"

However, what Zhao Kai in reality yearns for is definitely not the decaying life of a feudal bureaucratic family, but rather the dream of having a father who is a high-ranking official and dotes on him immensely. He does not know exactly what high official his father is, but he knows that in his dreams, the servants and maids all refer to this father as "Guanjia". This official father is extremely indulgent towards him, to the extent that he fulfills every request.

This has really upset his parents; does one need a university degree just to sell pancakes? Isn't this nonsense! ... So they decided to have a second child, preparing to nurture them well from a young age ...! ... The pancake stall of the Zhao family must have someone to inherit it!

In reality, Zhao Kai is a left-behind youth. His parents went to the magic city to start a business right after he was born, operating two pancake stalls. The business is said to be quite good, earning a considerable amount of money, and they even purchased two apartments in a second-tier city near the magic city, which have appreciated significantly over time. When Zhao Kai was about to graduate from middle school, his parents planned for him to go to the magic city to inherit the family business right after graduation, continuing to serve the people of the magic city with pancakes

"It is possible, but why does the king want to avoid disaster?" The fairy-like woman looked puzzled, "The official family favors the king so much, having given the Royal City Division to the king, what disaster could the king possibly face?"