The prison warden opened two heavy iron doors, and a dark corridor appeared before everyone.

It took a while for the father and son to get used to the rotten and foul smell in the cell, and they followed Hua Zhongheng deeper into the cell...

Worried that the smell inside would be bad for his health, Zhao Hao specifically ordered Hua Shuyang to wait outside the prison.

This made Hua Zhongheng's impression of Mr. Zhao improve a lot. His third brother had been weak since childhood and didn't take care of himself. Mr. Hua had secretly blamed Zhao Hao for letting his younger brother go to a cheap but shabby place like Nanjing Hanlin Academy.

Only now did he realize that Dr. Zhao had already seen that his brother was in poor health and could not withstand the hard work.

Alas, it turns out that we cannot judge people by their age.

Hua Zhongheng reflected on himself and hurried over to explain the situation in prison to the Zhao father and son.

"As soon as you enter, you'll see these two rows of cells, which are large. Dozens of prisoners are locked up in each cell, but there are no windows for ventilation or light. The prisoners eat, drink, defecate, and urinate in there, so the environment must be terrible."

"Where is Xu Wenchang imprisoned?" Zhao Hao asked with a frown.

"He lives in a small cell with a window and a bed. The prisoners in the large cell have two meals a day, morning and evening, while the prisoners in the small cell have three meals a day, and they also have an hour of exercise time every day." Hua Zhongheng led the father and son to the end of the corridor, opened an iron door and went out, only to find a small square patio inside.

We walked through the patio, opened another heavy prison door, and entered the back section of the Ministry of Justice prison. The conditions inside were indeed much better.

Each cell has a window, as well as basic tables, chairs, benches and even bookshelves.

Although the prisoners were all in tatters due to the hot and humid weather, they all looked healthy, and there were even a few fat guys, which was very different from the tortured guys in the cell.

"This is where officials who have not been convicted are detained." Hua Zhongheng explained softly, "I heard that if you are willing to pay, you can live here."

As the second son of the Washington family, he naturally disdained to participate in the division of spoils among his subordinates and did not know much about these matters.

"Look, that's Xu Wei." Doctor Hua stopped and pointed to a cell in front with his chin.

Zhao Hao saw a naked man with disheveled hair inside the fence, who was sticking his butt out and writing with a brush at the table.

Seeing that body of white fat swaying before his eyes, Master Zhao immediately felt unwell.

What the hell is this? Where is the ragged clothes, skinny body, pale hair and beard, and dull eyes?

If life could only be like the first time we met, this young master would never forget the sight of you with your naked butt, okay?

Are you afraid that people won't see your fat body? Does this sound a bit tragic?

Hua Zhongheng felt embarrassed and coughed heavily. "Xu Wei, put on your clothes quickly!"

Xu Wei, however, turned a deaf ear and continued to concentrate on painting.

"Xu Wenchang!" Seeing the doctor's embarrassed face, the jailer who opened the door for them shouted while using the key chain in his hand to scratch the lock on the gate, making a harsh metallic sound.

"Be quiet!" Xu Wei was even more irritable than him, and he shouted immediately. "If you want me to deliver the goods on time, shut up!"

The jailer was immediately embarrassed, turned around and laughed awkwardly: "How about we go out and wait?"

"What the hell is going on?!" Hua Zhongheng was about to explode when the jailer quickly leaned over to his ear and whispered:

"Everyone depends on him for their salaries."

"What do you mean?" Hua Zhongheng thought about it and decided to ask clearly. Otherwise, the Zhao family father and son would think that he was also involved in their dirty deeds.

"This..." The jailer looked at Zhao Hao and the other man.

"You can say whatever you want, this is my dearest friend." Hua Zhongheng said lightly.

"It's been a few months since we last received our salary. Doctor Hua, you are so rich that you don't mind, but we still have to rely on our salary to support our families." The jailer had no choice but to whisper:

"All the government offices are trying to find a solution. Our Ministry of Justice doesn't have much money to begin with, and we can't be corrupt. When Mr. Xu found out, he offered to paint pictures for us to sell for money."

"Is that so?" Hua Zhongheng nodded. Although he knew that the prison boss was probably not telling the truth, he was not trying to find out the truth. "How about we go in and take a look?"

"Take a look." Zhao Hao nodded with interest.

Hua Zhongheng asked the jailer to open the cell door and go in to take a closer look.

Xu Wei was seen holding the brush in both hands and scribbling on two pieces of rice paper.

However, after a while, those seemingly messy ink dots and marks formed lotus leaves and lotus flowers that were full of charm and vitality.

Xu Wei then used just a few strokes to sketch out a lifelike butterfly, and the bold, vigorous and unrestrained "Dragonfly on Lotus Leaf" was completed in one stroke.

Zhao Hao stared at it intently - this was the pinnacle of flower and bird painting, Xu Wei's original freehand style!

This warm, bold, majestic and domineering freehand painting style is most inspiring and encouraging!

If he had put on his clothes and not painted two pictures at the same time...the two pictures have the same composition. The only difference is that in one picture there is a butterfly flying and in the other a dragonfly.

After finishing the painting, Xu Wei wrote a poem with both hands.

The one on the left reads:

'Mirror Lake is eight hundred miles long, and the lotus flowers there are particularly fragrant; the butterflies are worried about not being able to fly over, and the mandarin ducks are flapping in the water in pairs.'

The one on the right reads:

'Mirror Lake is eight hundred miles long, and the lotus flowers there are particularly fragrant; the dragonflies are worried about not being able to fly across, and the mandarin ducks are flapping their wings in the water.'

Finally, I was conscientious enough to use two different seals on the two paintings.

In addition to these two twin paintings, there were six pairs of twin-like figures placed on the bed and table in the cell.

Zhao Hao has already recognized that one of the paintings is the "Ink Grapes" that was sold for 40 million yuan four hundred years later...

Forty million to buy a thing that a fat guy uses to fool ghosts?

This is such a rip off!

~~

After painting the lotus, Xu Wei threw the two brushes into the bucket and wiped his hands on his body. Immediately, several ink streaks appeared on his white flesh.

"Hurry up and put on your clothes!" The jailer threw a cloth robe on Xu Wei, then explained to the three people with a smile: "Mr. Xu said that clothes would hinder inspiration, so they all took off their clothes to paint."

"It's so wet..." Xu Wei slowly put on his robe, gathered his long hair behind his head and tied it into a knot. He glanced at the gorgeously dressed Zhao Hao and his son and said, "Choose any one you like. If you want it custom-made, you'll have to pay extra."

"I'll take all these paintings." Zhao Hao smiled slightly.

"Sir, these paintings have all been ordered..." the jailer hurriedly reminded Zhao Hao.

Before he could finish his words, a bill worth one thousand taels was stuck in his face.

The jailer seemed to be immobilized and remained silent.

Then Zhao Hao bowed deeply to Xu Wei and said, "Mr. Qingteng, I am Zhao Hao from Xiuning. My father and I are here to pick you up from prison."

Unexpectedly, Xu Wei shook his head without even thinking about it and said, "I'm not going out!"

"Well……"

ps. Fourth update, the next one is not finished yet...