The years I was in the human world

It was already very late when Su Qing arrived at the eunuch's residence. The eunuchs who were not on duty had already gone to bed early. He was lucky because the person who bullied him during the day was among them, but there were other people resting with them. If he wanted to sneak in and put on the sack, it would easily alert others.

"Meow--" the black cat called softly, scratched Su Qing's hand with its claws, and told him to come back tomorrow.

"Shh——" Su Qing touched the black cat, stretched out his index finger to make a silencing gesture, covered his face with a piece of rag, and then climbed in through the window quietly. The black cat jumped out of his arms, looked around and sniffed, and finally stopped in front of a eunuch who was sleeping close to the inside.

"Is it him?" Su Qing pointed at the man and mouthed the words to the black cat, which wagged its tail.

Su Qing tiptoed over, stretched out his hand and pinched the back of the neck of each person hard. Then the person he pinched tilted his head and fainted in his sleep. After making sure that the others would not wake up, Su Qing walked towards the eunuch he wanted to deal with.

He reached out and patted the eunuch's face, and whispered, "Wake up."

The eunuch was slapped awake. He opened his eyes and saw a masked man. He was startled and thought it was an assassin. He opened his mouth to shout, but Su Qing quickly took off his socks and stuffed them into his mouth to stop him from speaking. Then he put a sharp knife to the eunuch's neck and said coldly, "Shut up if you don't want to die."

The eunuch was afraid that he would take action, so he nodded hurriedly. Su Qing put away the knife with satisfaction, tore off the clothes that the eunuch had placed beside the bed, tied the man up in a few seconds, then put him in a sack, and carried him to the lotus pond and threw him away in the same way.

After doing all this, just as Su Qing clapped his hands contentedly and was about to leave, the black cat in his arms suddenly scratched his hair, reminding him that someone was coming. Su Qing's heart tightened. There was no shelter around the lotus pond, and he had nowhere to hide.

If someone discovered that he had sneaked out of the cold palace, the Fifth Prince would have to find trouble with him again. Seeing the footsteps getting closer, Su Qing gritted his teeth and jumped into the lotus pond without caring about the bone-chilling water in winter.

The night was dark, and if he hadn't looked into the water with a lantern, he wouldn't have been able to find him. Su Qing huddled in the water, enduring the stench of decay in the lotus pond, thinking.

"Your Highness, isn't it a sure thing? How did you get discovered? What should we do now?" The woman's anxious voice came into Su Qing's ears through the water. Because of the waves flowing around his ears, he couldn't hear who was speaking.

"Don't panic. She's just a servant. Just kill her. Can she cause any trouble?" another male voice sounded.

"What is your highness's plan?" the woman asked, trying to calm herself down.

"When a person dies, there will be peace and quiet." The person who spoke said angrily, "Go and find ..."

As the two talked, they walked away, and Su Qing could not hear what they said next. After a while, there was no movement from above, and the black cat meowed softly on the shore, reminding him that it was safe. Su Qing climbed out of the pond wet all over, wrung the water out of his clothes, and slowly walked back.

It was cold in winter and Su Qing was soaked through. Now he was so cold that his face turned pale and his lips turned purple. Lu Zhouxue, who saw all this through his spiritual sense, could no longer sit still in the cold palace. He left a paper man to guard the cold palace, picked up the cloak that Su Qing had taken off earlier, and went out.

Lu Zhouxue didn't know why he was so nervous about Su Qing, a stranger to him. Seeing that girl looking so miserable and trying to pretend to be strong, he felt distressed for no reason and just wanted to be nicer to her.

Su Qing was so cold that his brain could not work. Even though the black cat whispered in his ear to remind the imperial guards of the movement, his body's reaction was still slow. When he reacted and tried to bypass it, the movement under his feet still aroused the imperial guards' suspicion: "What is that?"

The patrolling imperial guards actually didn't see Su Qing, but they heard some noise. Based on the principle of better killing someone by mistake than letting him go, they sent someone out to check what was going on: "You, go and see what's going on?"

"Meow——" The black cat jumped onto the palace wall, deliberately making a few soft noises while stepping on the glazed tiles. The imperial guard looked around again, and found that the palace alley was dark and no one was around, so he returned to the team with peace of mind: "It's okay, it's just a cat.

Listening to the footsteps of the patrolling imperial guards fading away, Su Qing, who was huddled tightly in the darkness of the corner, let out a long sigh of relief. He leaned against the wall and tried to stand up, intending to walk back slowly. His hands and feet were shaking like sieves due to the cold. He gritted his teeth and thought, "This revenge is really painful."

He had not taken two steps when a thick piece of clothing came over his head, wrapping him up completely. Su Qing looked up and saw Lu Zhouxue holding the clothes for him with her eyes lowered and silently holding them. Her fan-like eyelashes covered her eyes, and her whole body exuded a kind of quiet beauty.

Su Qing looked at Lu Zhouxue and suddenly he was speechless. Forget it, he thought, even if she would leave sooner or later, he could just rely on her for a while, wouldn't it be okay? The days ahead were unpredictable, and he was blessed by God to be able to steal a moment of peace now.

Su Qing let Lu Zhouxue drag him back to the cold palace. A bunch of clothes were stuffed into his hands. The person who stuffed the clothes into his hands said, "Change your clothes. I'll go boil some water for you. You're a girl, and the cold is bad for your body. Take a bath to drive away the cold."

Lu Zhouxue touched his hair habitually, and this time he was not avoided. He turned and walked out after he finished speaking, leaving Su Qing staring at his departing back in a daze, holding the clothes. After a while, the man who looked like a young girl looked down at the clothes given by the other party, and then could not help but pursing his lips and laughing.

I don't know who made this dress. The stitching is crooked and there is no pattern at all. It is so ugly that it makes people sad and cry. It is a waste of such good material.

Su Qing didn't wear the clothes Lu Zhouxue gave him. He didn't know why, but he folded the clothes carefully, smoothed out the wrinkles that were caused when Lu Zhouxue stuffed them all into his hands, and then locked them in the box with great care.

When Su Qing changed his clothes and walked out of the room, he saw a large bathtub set up where he usually washed. Lu Zhouxue was standing by the tub, stretching out his hand to test the water temperature. Steam was rising from the hot water, and there was a warm feeling in the mist.

"It's coming, quickly, just right." Lu Zhouxue wiped the water off his hands. He seemed very happy, and his face was red from the steam.

Lu Zhouxue went out after she finished speaking, and closed the door carefully. Su Qing didn't waste time either. He took off his old clothes and stepped into the tub. The hot water flowed up his neck and he let out a comfortable sigh. It was very warm, not just his hands and feet, but also his heart.

"Meow——" With a soft meow, the black cat walked slowly towards Su Qing on the windowsill.

"Come here, Ah Mao." Su Qing sat up from the bathtub, reached out and hugged the black cat. Looking into its dark eyes, Su Qing said to himself, "He's a very good person, right, Ah Mao, do you like him?"

"Meow." The black cat responded and licked his fingertips. Su Qing smiled, his eyebrows curved into two small crescents. He said, "I like him too, but he is a fairy in the sky and will leave sooner or later. Ah Mao, if we soften our hearts, what should we do after he leaves?"

The black cat meowed again, but Su Qing shook his head violently. He scratched the black cat's head with his fingers and said, "Ah Cat, no, he is an immortal with clear wind and bright moon. He should be sitting in the sky. We should not pull him down. It would be too greedy to expect an immortal to spend our whole life with us."

The black cat seemed to understand what Su Qing said. It stared at him quietly for a moment, then rubbed his face. Su Qing smiled with some pleasure: "It's okay, Ah Mao, we will go out too. I'll take you out to see the mountains with fragrant breezes blowing."

Hot water can drive away the cold and seem to melt the ice in people's hearts. Su Qing changed his clothes and came out holding the black cat. When he opened the door, he saw Lu Zhouxue leaning against the pillar and seemed to be asleep. His sound sleeping appearance was very heartwarming. Su Qing did not want to wake him up, but they were outside.

Su Qing gently pushed the sleeping person, and Lu Zhouxue opened his eyes the next moment, then pinched the bridge of his nose and said sleepily, "Why did I fall asleep?"

"I don't know." Su Qing shook his head, then laughed, "So gods also take naps?"

Su Qing's tone and attitude were unexpectedly gentle, which made Lu Zhouxue wonder if he had been possessed. He looked at Su Qing several times, wanting to say something but stopping himself, and finally couldn't help but reached out and touched the other's forehead: "Are you sick?"

"Master, what's wrong?" Su Qing did not dodge, allowing Lu Zhouxue's slightly cold hand to press on his forehead. He still spoke gently, completely different from the thorny person before he went out at night.

"Why are you--" Lu Zhouxue wanted to ask him why his attitude suddenly changed so much, but after thinking about it, she felt it was inappropriate. The words were stuck in her throat and she really didn't know whether to say it or not.

"I just figured out something suddenly." Su Qing stroked the head of the black cat in his arms, his crow-like eyelashes drooping, and his gentle and calm appearance gradually overlapped with that of a certain smiling guy. "Meeting without separation is just a luxury. It's better to cherish the present and seek a free and happy life. What do you think, Taoist priest?"

"Yeah, that's true." Lu Zhouxue nodded, thinking that this girl's ideas were quite similar to A Zhuo's. She wondered what that boy was doing now.

Day two.

Something happened in the palace. Someone died in the lotus pond in the imperial garden. Actually, it was not a big deal. People died in the palace every day. But it was never like this time. The body floated to the surface of the water, scaring Concubine Zhao who was out to relax and causing her to miscarry.

At that time, Concubine Zhao was in the emperor's favor, and suddenly such an incident happened. The emperor was furious, but there was no empress in the palace, and the person in charge was Madam Du, who was backed by the Xiangyang Du family. The emperor did not dare to vent his anger on her, and all his anger was directed at the palace maids who served him.

That afternoon, nearly ten palace maids and eunuchs who served Concubine Zhao were beaten to death, and the incident caused quite a stir.

When the news reached the cold palace, Su Qing was standing by the stove steaming rice. The black cat who told him the news outside was sitting quietly on the windowsill licking his paws. He had a flat reaction after hearing it, and even had the leisure to ask Lu Zhouxue: "Master, you really don't want to eat with us?"

"No." Lu Zhouxue shook her head, then listened to the noisy noise outside and asked curiously, "What happened? Why is it so noisy?" The noise could be heard even in such a remote place like the cold palace. It must be no small matter.

"Oh, someone died in the Imperial Garden, and the Emperor's woman was frightened. We are investigating the case vigorously." Su Qing said indifferently, put the steamer with steamed rice aside, and then started cooking. "It has nothing to do with you and me. After this period of time, it will be over."

After breakfast, Su Qing washed his clothes and returned to the side hall as usual to take out his old book and start reading. Seeing that he was studying hard, Lu Zhouxue curiously leaned over to take a look. Seeing that the handwriting on his book was unclear, she frowned and said, "The words are gone. How can we read this?"

The handwriting on the book was unclear, and Su Qing's eyes hurt after staring at it for too long. He simply put the book down to rest for a while, and lazily leaned on Lu Zhouxue, saying half-jokingly, "Master Taoist, I am lucky to have a book to read in this cold palace. How can I be picky about whether it has missing words?"

"Men and women should not touch each other, you should be more careful, girl." Lu Zhouxue helplessly helped the man to stand up straight, thinking that Su Qing's attitude had changed too much. Yesterday, his nose was not a nose, and his eyes were not eyes, but today he was as obedient as a cat.

"Men and women should not touch each other? This only applies to the ladies from noble families. In this cold palace, my emperor, father, my good brother, and even my mother, they all hope that I will be entangled with men." Su Qing laughed softly when he heard this, and the sound made Lu Zhouxue feel uncomfortable.

"Be normal." Lu Zhouxue couldn't help but pat Su Qing's head. The latter covered his head and pouted at him aggrievedly. Suddenly, he didn't know what he thought of, and smiled again. He pointed at the book on the table with his fingertips: "Master, don't you claim to be knowledgeable? How about you tell me?"

Su Qing was just joking, but Lu Zhouxue agreed unexpectedly: "Okay, what do you want to hear?"

Su Qing was dumbfounded. He looked at the person in front of him and said dryly, "Really?"

"What do you think?" Lu Zhouxue smiled and took out a ruler from her sleeve, gently patted it in her palm, and then pointed at the cushion that had been rubbed far away, "Why don't you pick it up and sit on it?"

Lu Zhouxue took out a new book from his sleeve and talked about it for the whole afternoon. Su Qing went from saying "I'll just play with you for a bit" at the beginning to being completely convinced in the end.

"Okay, that's all for today." Lu Zhouxue had never spoken so much at once in his three lives. When he stopped, his mouth was dry. Just as he was about to get up to drink some water, someone handed him a cup of tea that was just right for him to drink.

"You..." Lu Zhouxue looked at Su Qing with a complex expression. He took the tea handed over by the latter and drank it all. Seeing him drinking like a cow, Su Qing laughed softly: "If those old pedants who pretend to be cultured all day long saw you drinking tea like this, I'm afraid you would be criticized like a nobody."

"The tea you brewed only tastes bitter, without any fragrance. Do you expect me to taste it carefully?" Lu Zhouxue knew that he was deliberately framing her, so she told the truth without any temper.