The years I was in the human world

It was almost afternoon when the palace people brought the so-called "meal": two bowls of rotten rice and a plate of smelly pickles. The stench of corruption could be smelled from a long distance away. The black cat that Su Qing brought back just sniffed it and jumped over the palace wall in disgust and went out.

The palace servant who delivered the meal put down the food and didn't seem to be planning to leave. He stood aside with a look of gloating, waiting to see the "princess" make a fool of herself. Seeing Su Qing standing still, a palace servant suppressed his laughter and urged: "Princess, why don't you eat it? Although it's a little rotten, it should be a rare delicacy in the cold palace, right?"

After the palace servant finished speaking, as if he couldn't help it, he covered his mouth and smiled at the palace servant beside him, looking at Su Qing with undisguised contempt and mockery: "This is a delicious dish that the Third Prince personally ordered to be prepared for the princess. The princess must cherish it and don't let the Third Prince down."

Why would a prince go out of his way to bully a princess in the cold palace? Lu Zhouxue's heart gradually leaned towards Su Qing, and he also began to dislike the two palace servants who took advantage of their power to bully others. He just gathered spiritual energy in his hands and wanted to punish one or two, but he saw Su Qing shaking his head at him obscurely.

Lu Zhouxue had no choice but to give up. He saw Su Qing change from his sharpness when no one was around, and his whole aura became timid and shrinking. He silently picked up the two bowls of slop on the ground, and forced himself to eat it while enduring the nausea rising in his throat. These two were specially found by the Fifth Prince to torture him. If he didn't eat them, his domineering third brother would become even more aggressive.

The two palace servants were used to being beaten and scolded by the palace concubines above them on weekdays. Now they could find a sense of accomplishment in being superior to others by the abandoned concubines and princesses in the cold palace. They couldn't help but take the chicken feathers as an arrow and became more demanding: "Why don't you see the queen? This meal is for two people."

Su Qing paused when he heard that, and couldn't help but glance up at the two people. The hostility in his eyes almost solidified into substance. The two palace servants were shocked, and then they brought up the Fifth Prince in anger: "What are you looking at? This is the order of the Third Prince. Does the princess have any objection?"

Calm down, calm down. If he couldn't help it now, and told the Fifth Prince, he and his mother would be in trouble. Su Qing was so angry that his hands were shaking as he held the bowl. He tried his best to control the anger in his heart, closed his eyes, and then said with almost gritted teeth: "No."

How could the two palace servants not see the anger that Su Qing was trying to suppress? But so what, this is how it is in the palace, if you are not favored, you can only endure it. Su Qing's reaction gave them a great sense of accomplishment, and the two of them laughed triumphantly, while admonishing: "That's right, the princess is still very sensible."

Lu Zhouxue was furious as he watched from the side, but due to Su Qing's previous obstruction, he could not act rashly. He thought about it, used a talisman to conjure up the appearance of Su Qing's mother, and then ate the bowl of rice for her. The two palace servants satisfied their twisted habits and left naturally with satisfaction.

After the two men left, the door of the cold palace was closed again. Su Qing started to dig his throat against the wall and vomited out everything he had eaten before. It gave off a sour and rotten smell, just like his life.

Su vomited for a long time, and at the end there was only sour water, and his whole body was shaking, but he still felt nauseous, and the smell of the rotten rice still remained in his throat. Lu Zhouxue patted him on the back gently and handed him a bowl of tea: "Rinse your mouth."

"Thank you." Su Qing took the tea handed to him by Lu Zhouxue. The fresh tea aroma diluted the disgusting taste in his mouth. He wiped his mouth and buried what he vomited with soil.

"You..." Lu Zhouxue looked at Su Qing's uncomfortable but accustomed expression and was hesitant to speak. In the end, he didn't ask anything, but just silently handed him the tools.

"Just ask whatever you want to ask." Su Qing vomited out everything he had eaten. He didn't plan to eat anymore. He cleaned up the kitchen casually and went back to the backyard with a hoe to hoe the ground. He had taken good care of the backyard and planted a small patch of lush green vegetables.

"Why do they bully you like this?" Lu Zhouxue said, rolling up his sleeves to help Su Qing pick vegetables.

"I didn't know that the Taoist priest could do this." Su Qing raised his eyebrows in surprise when he saw his skilled movements. "In this palace, there is no shortage of people who bully the weak and fear the strong. My mother and I are not favored, so naturally everyone wants to step on us."

"As for why I stopped you, it's because they came here today at the instigation of the third brother. To deal with them would be a slap in the face of the third brother. That little beast will be vindictive and will definitely cause trouble for me again." Su Qing said as he cleared the weeds in the vegetable garden and replanted the seeds.

"The Fifth Prince seems to be very hostile to you?" Lu Zhouxue recalled how the two palace servants had just made fun of Qiao, and deliberately brought two bowls of rotten rice to make fun of him. It was not difficult to see the domineering nature of the master behind them.

"When I was studying at the Imperial College in the early years, he was not as good as me and was scolded by the Imperial Tutor. He has been holding a grudge against me ever since." Su Qing said nonchalantly, lightly brushing off the suffering of those years. "Later, my mother and I were banished to the cold palace, but he still made trouble for me from time to time. He was really not worthy of being on the stage."

"Thank you for your hard work." Lu Zhouxue didn't know what to say and could only utter this sentence dryly. He subconsciously wanted to pat Su Qing on the head to comfort him, but the latter happened to bend down to pull weeds, and his hand stopped awkwardly in mid-air.

Su Qing turned around and saw Lu Zhouxue's awkward state. He burst out laughing and said, "So the Taoist priest is kind-hearted. Are you feeling sorry for me?"

"Yeah, a little." Su Qing was joking, but Lu Zhouxue was serious. He nodded in acknowledgement, but Su Qing froze there, looking at him with surprise and confusion, but Su Qing didn't seem to be moved. Instead, he frowned tightly and said in a cold tone: "I don't need pity."

After Su Qing finished speaking, he turned around and picked up the bucket to fetch water to water the vegetables. Lu Zhouxue looked at his thin back and his lips pursed because of alienation, and sighed in his heart. He could see that Su Qing was obviously happy, but he forced himself to put on a cold attitude.

The bucket was half full of well water, and when Su Qing lifted it in his hand, the veins on his hand were tense. Lu Zhouxue reached out to help him lift it, but before he touched the bucket, Su Qing let go of it first, and the bucket fell to the ground, soaking both of their shoes.

"Master, I have been living like this for the past ten years. You don't have to do anything." Su Qing ignored the bucket on the ground, raised his head and looked at Lu Zhouxue seriously, saying, "Since you don't plan to stay for a long time, don't disrupt my life at will."

"I don't need what's in your heart. Whether it's a momentary sympathy or something else, it's a knife that kills me." Su Qing raised his hand and tapped Lu Zhouxue's chest. "You can leave at any time, but I still have to struggle in the mud for a long time. Taoist priest, why not marry me? You are heartless and can leave at any time without getting hurt. Who can relieve my unbearable feelings?"

Lu Zhouxue was silent. Su Qing was far more perceptive and clear-headed than he had imagined. After Su Qing finished speaking, he silently picked up the wooden bucket and filled it with water to water the vegetables slowly. Lu Zhouxue stood in the distance and looked at him, with a heavy heart.

He might really be a very cruel person. He agreed to Xiao Fengzhuo's oath of love, but then he turned around and chose the way of heaven to choose a master who cut off all emotions and love. At that time, what was the stupid cat who loved him with his whole heart thinking? Lu Zhouxue didn't know.

After Su Qing finished watering the vegetables, he returned to the side hall. This time Lu Zhouxue did not follow him. He looked back and then withdrew his gaze. He picked up an old book from under the tiles of the palace and began to read it. He had been to the Imperial Academy, and the tutor who taught there liked him very much and gave him many books.

When he was first moved to the cold palace, most of the books were destroyed by the Fifth Prince's men pretending to be accidental. The remaining ones were saved because he buried them in the ground in advance. Even so, the Fifth Prince still sent people to cause trouble every few days in the first few days, just to confirm whether he had any books hidden privately.

By the time the Fifth Prince had completely lost interest and stopped sending people to cause trouble, a whole spring and autumn had passed. The books buried deep in the soil had already been mostly destroyed due to moisture and insects. When Su Qing dug them out, only a few remaining pages were left on which the handwriting could barely be recognized.

His king and father don't love him, his mother is crazy, and his brothers bully him. Just staying alive is already a struggle. He shouldn't even dream of studying, but he still wants to read. Even if the book is rotten and destroyed, and the handwriting is almost illegible, he still wants to read. He wants to get out of here, instead of rotting with his mother.

His thoughts returned to the book in front of him. He was very smart, and even if there were missing words or pages, he could still barely understand the general idea. There was no pen and ink in the cold palace, so he used his fingers dipped in water to write on the slate, and learning was quite difficult.

There were many trivial matters today, which consumed a lot of energy. Su Qing fell asleep unconsciously, lying on the table with a peaceful expression. With a creaking sound, the door of the palace opened, and Lu Zhouxue walked in quietly and put a cloak on Su Qing.

Lu Zhouxue thought about it for a long time this afternoon. He would indeed leave sooner or later, but before leaving, he thought he could help Su Qing.

"You——" Su Xiang was alert. He woke up just after the cloak was put on. Just as he was about to speak, Lu Zhouxue spoke first: "I know what you are afraid of. If you want, I can help you get out of here."

Lu Zhouxue paused, turned his head and saw the old book on the table. He said, "Are you reading? I can teach you. I am very knowledgeable."

Su Qing remained silent, not knowing what he was thinking. Lu Zhouxue did not urge him, but just sat there, waiting patiently. After a while, Su Qing said coldly, "No need."

After he said that, he took off his cloak and gave it back to Lu Zhouxue.

As the sky gradually darkened, Su Qing changed into black clothes, sat on the steps of the palace, put on his shoes, hung a sack on his shoulder, and climbed over the wall to go out. His movements were furtive, and Lu Zhouxue saw that he was careful, so she didn't make a sound to alarm him, but just left a trace of consciousness attached to his hair and followed him out.

"Ah cat, are you sure you're not taking the wrong direction?" Su Qing held the black cat in his arms and tiptoed around the palace, avoiding the patrolling imperial guards. The black cat in his arms meowed softly, and then a palace servant holding a lantern came over from the other end of the palace road.

Lanzhi felt that she had suffered an unprovoked misfortune today. The Fifth Prince had instructed her to teach a lesson to the two unfavored people in the cold palace. She thought it was a good job and accepted it happily, intending to come back and ask for a reward after torturing them.

Unexpectedly, the Fifth Prince forgot about the matter and ran out of the palace to fight crickets with the Prince of Wei. Not only did she not get the reward, but she was also scolded by the aunt in charge, who said she was sneaky and slapped her on the palm and fined her a month's silver. She was really unlucky.

Lanzhi kicked the stone on the ground away and thought angrily that the bad luck of the good girl in the cold palace must have been passed on to her, otherwise why would she not only work in vain but also lose a month's money?

The more she thought about it, the angrier she became. She wished she could go back to the cold palace right now and teach Su Qing a lesson so that she could calm down. As she was thinking about it, a shrill cat cry suddenly sounded. Lanzhi was startled and looked up towards the source of the sound. Then she was horrified to find that she had actually walked to the cold palace without realizing it.

The cold palace was located in a remote and desolate area, and there were not many lights in the courtyard. At night, it was so dark that one could not see one's hand in front of one's face. In addition, many deposed concubines had died over the years, so few palace servants liked to come here.

Thinking about the horror stories circulating among the palace people, Lanzhi couldn't help but shudder. She tightened her neck and walked quickly on the palace road, intending to leave this dark alley as soon as possible. Cold sweat broke out on her hands holding the palace lantern.

"Meow——" Another shrill cat cry, a black cat jumped out from the darkness. Lanzhi was so scared that she fell to the ground. The palace lantern fell to the ground and rolled a few times and then went out. The only light was extinguished. Lanzhi was so scared that she trembled like a sieve, staring at the darkness, almost popping her eyes out.

Very light footsteps were heard from behind. Lanzhi turned around as if she sensed something and saw a pale, skinny hand pressing on her shoulder, like a ghost demanding her life. Her eyes rolled back and she fainted completely.

"Tsk, he's so arrogant during the day, but turns out he's actually a coward." Su Qing held an open sack in his hand, and stood by, looking at the fainted Lan Zhi with disdain. The black cat rubbed against his legs and rolled over, meowing softly.

Su Qing put a sack in his hand, put the unconscious Lanzhi in it, and then carried her on his shoulder. After doing all this, he waved to the black cat on the ground without any headache or breathlessness, and said, "Cat, come up."

The black cat meowed again, followed Su Qing's hand and jumped onto his other shoulder and sat down.

Lu Zhouxue's spiritual eyes attached to Su Qing's hair watched him put the person who bullied him during the day into a sack and threw him into the pond. He thought that this girl was quite decisive and would not even keep a grudge overnight.

After dealing with Lanzhi, Su Qing did not plan to go back. He took advantage of the situation and went to find another palace servant who bullied him. The other one was a eunuch who lived far away. There were many imperial guards patrolling on the road, so it took Su Qing a long time to find the eunuch's courtyard.