The years I was in the human world

"Oh? I didn't know that Concubine Zhao actually thought this way?" Madam Du narrowed her eyes and saw that Concubine Zhao's eyes were gradually revealing murderous intent.

"I didn't, your majesty, please understand. I have always been respectful to you and have always loved the fifth prince with all my heart. How could I have ever thought of this?" Concubine Zhao suddenly became the target of everyone's criticism. While she was busy explaining to Madam Du, she glared at Concubine Xie Shu, "Xie Qing, stop slandering me!"

Xie Qing was the concubine, so she shouldn't have been so rude and offended. However, the Xie family was a new noble family, and they made their fortune through military merit. The Western Dynasty valued the character of scholars and family heritage, and looked down on the Xie family. Although Zhao Lan came from a humble family, she was a scholarly family in Jiangnan. Naturally, she felt superior and arrogant towards Xie Qing.

"She is just a beauty, yet she dares to address Lady Shufei by her name. Lady Zhao is really 'very respectful'." A concubine smiled and covered her lips.

"The Fifth Prince is favored by the Empress, so Concubine Zhao will naturally love him with all her heart. But Su Qing has no mother to protect him, so he will be beaten with a stick." Another concubine sighed and said, "I am not as famous as the Empress. If Concubine Zhao is unhappy one day, she will take it out on my little princess. I am afraid my heart will be broken."

The concubines in the palace were talking to each other, and it was difficult for the emperor to keep quiet. Madam Du and Concubine Xie, one from a family of Confucian scholars and the other a military general, silently forced him to make a decision.

"Madam, what do you plan to do?" The emperor knew that he could not save Concubine Zhao, but out of some inexplicable male dignity, he did not want to be the bad guy and take the initiative to punish Concubine Zhao, so he turned around and asked Madam Du what she thought.

"In my opinion, why not..." Madam Du smiled slightly and started to speak carefully, but was interrupted by Concubine Xie Shu in the middle of her words: "I dare to ask, can I let the imperial physician take a look at the princess's injuries first?"

Because Concubine Xie Shu reminded him, Su Qing, who had been lying on the ground for a long time, was finally moved to the inner hall. After the imperial physician examined his injuries, Concubine Xie Shu hurriedly asked, "How is he? Can his legs be saved?"

The imperial physician shook his head and said that if she recovered well, she might be able to stand up again. Then he took paper and pen to prescribe medicine. The emperor didn't care about Su Qing, so he naturally couldn't wait for the imperial physician's diagnosis with Concubine Xie. He followed Mrs. Du's advice and deposed Concubine Zhao. After the excitement, all the concubines went back.

The emperor was about to leave, but just before he stepped out of the palace, he looked at the scattered moss on the steps and suddenly thought of the old days. Even the deposed concubine in his memory became beautiful. He dismissed the palace servants and started looking for his old lover on his own.

Today Su Qing did not lock the door of the side hall, but left it ajar. The emperor pushed it and it opened. The deposed concubine was sitting with her back to the palace gate. Her bun was piled high, revealing her graceful neck and slender figure. She was humming an unknown song, her body swaying, and in the emperor's opinion, she looked very charming.

"Duan Shu--" The emperor stared at the back of the deposed concubine infatuatedly. At that moment, he forgot the coldness and disloyalty of all these years, forgot how they hated each other in the past, and forgot the initial oath that they would never meet again in the underworld. It seemed that only the deep love of their youth remained in his mind.

"Teacher, look at him, it's as if nothing happened." Su Qing lay on the bed pretending to be seriously injured and unable to get up. He used the water mirror created by Lu Zhouxue to look at the situation on the emperor's side. Seeing this, he couldn't help but sneer.

The deposed concubine turned around, and the trace of youthful affection that had just risen in the emperor's heart disappeared instantly - she was old, with wrinkles on her face, white hair on her temples, and even her brain was not good. She could not recognize the emperor when she saw him, and could only giggle foolishly, or cry and make a fuss.

The emperor entered the side hall gracefully, wanting to renew his relationship with his young love affectionately, but was scratched and scratched by the mad concubine. His hair was disheveled, his clothes were messed up, and he fled in a panic. The concubine's foolish and naive words fell behind him: "You are not my Qin Lang. Qin Lang would not leave me in this place. He couldn't bear not to visit me for more than ten years."

A deposed concubine is just a deposed concubine. She is not the Duan Shu of the past, the emperor thought with disappointment. The little romantic thought that had just arisen in his mind was instantly shattered by the deposed concubine's madness. He felt so disappointed that he didn't even notice the pain he felt when he found out that she was crazy.

The words of the deposed concubine kept echoing in the emperor's mind. He kept thinking about it. The deposed concubine called him Qin Lang, but she didn't recognize him. Who was he? The more he thought about it, the more unhappy he became. How could she not recognize him? But he couldn't argue with a madman.

The more he thought about it, the more aggrieved he felt. He gradually walked to the palace where Su Qing was recuperating. The emperor's gaze passed through the half-open door and fell on Su Qing who was recuperating inside. Seeing him lying there peacefully with his eyes closed, the emperor suddenly became angry when he thought of the crazy deposed concubine.

He pushed the door open and went in. Su Qing, who was lying on the bed, saw him coming and, out of courtesy, dragged his seriously injured body out of bed to greet him. But the emperor really didn't even say a word of "no need for courtesy" and just watched coldly as Su Qing crawled with difficulty, his clothes on his waist and hips soaked by the open wounds.

"Father." Su Qing knelt on the ground and struggled to straighten up.

Seeing Su Qing's pale face, the emperor felt a little happy. All the grievances he had suffered from the abandoned concubine were finally vented at this moment. He let the former kneel on the ground in embarrassment and asked, "She is crazy, why? Didn't I ask you to take good care of her?"

"Father, are you blaming me? Do I want my mother to become like this? But if she is crazy, she is crazy. I have tried my best, but my mother doesn't want me anymore." Su Qing was not really injured, so he could answer the emperor's words easily. "She can't even save herself, how can I change her fate?"

"Waste." The emperor cursed and looked at Su Qing with disgust. Lu Zhouxue wanted to hit him after hearing his unreasonable attitude. "You can't even take care of one person. You are really useless."

"Aha, father is right. It's over. You have always been like this, self-centered, stubborn and self-righteous, always thinking it is someone else's fault." Su Qing lowered his head and laughed. Perhaps he was going to be presumptuous and contradict his father. He raised his head and looked at the emperor. The respect in his eyes was gone, but instead there was a lot of teasing and mockery.

"Mother is crazy, and you blame me for not taking good care of her? There is no cool mat in summer, no charcoal fire in winter, and even no food. Mother is in a daze and can't even take care of herself. If I hadn't worked hard to take care of her, I'm afraid she would have become a withered skeleton in the cold palace. How can I take care of her?"

"Do you still want to ask me why I am not crazy? If I were crazy, who would take care of her? Would I rely on Mrs. Du who deliberately tortured her, the strict and harsh palace rules, or you who are so heartless and disloyal——"

"Pa--" A crisp slapping sounded, and Su Qing was hit so hard that his head tilted to one side, blood was flowing from the corner of his mouth, and there was a bright red five-finger mark on his face. The emperor was so angry that his chest was heaving violently. He pointed at him for a long time before cursing: "Evil beast!"

The emperor threw his sleeves and left angrily, leaving behind a message: "You are not qualified to call me father. Even if you are my flesh and blood, recognize your own identity and don't covet things that don't belong to you - and take good care of your mother."

Things that don't belong to me? Su Qing sneered in his heart. When has he ever had anything that belonged to him?

"You are the evil beast." Lu Zhouxue couldn't help it, so he followed the emperor out quietly, and when the emperor stepped out of the cold palace gate, he kicked him in the butt. The emperor staggered and fell to the ground on the spot. Lu Zhouxue felt relieved and turned back to look for Su Qing.

"Does it hurt?" Lu Zhouxue took out a bottle of ointment from her sleeve, dipped her fingertips in it and gently applied it on Su Qing's face, blowing on it as she applied. Her distressed look made Su Qing, who was hurt by the emperor's cold-hearted attitude, feel much better.

"Teacher, do you feel sorry for me?" Su Qing approached Lu Zhouxue and joked. He laughed happily, with a rather heartless look, which reminded the latter of the stupid cat who was used to being free and easy.

"What else?" Lu Zhouxue asked unhappily, "Why did you let him beat you?"

"It's my father after all." Su Qing said, the smile on his face faded. He looked up at Lu Zhouxue with some sadness, and said, "Teacher, I'm sure that my father really doesn't love me."

Lu Zhouxue put away the ointment, raised her hand and touched Su Qing's head, comforting her: "Don't be sad, there will always be someone who loves you."

"Teacher, do you love me?" Su Qing suddenly asked, staring at Lu Zhouxue without blinking, unwilling to miss any expression on his face - Su Qing was not just asking about the friendship between master and disciple, it seemed that there was something else, and Lu Zhouxue was completely sure of this.

"Don't think too much." Lu Zhouxue rubbed Su Qing's head and left such a sentence that didn't sound like an answer. It was considered a rejection. He would leave sooner or later. There was no need to let a young person spend his whole life carrying the love for an illusory person. It would be too painful.

Just like at the end of the year, I begged Lord Xuan Du for ten thousand years but to no avail.

Su Qing also understood what Lu Zhouxue meant. He nodded without being obsessed with anything. He just said: "Teacher, I love you, but I don't think about anything."

He loved him, but he didn't know whether it was respect, admiration, or lust. He never longed for a response, and he said it out loud only to give vent to the surging emotions in his heart, instead of letting them grow more and more intense day after day and finally swallow him up.

Concubine Zhao was stripped of her title and was sent to the cold palace the next day. A bag of clothes was thrown in casually, and the servants and eunuchs that she looked down upon on weekdays could now boss her around. Zhao Lan was used to being arrogant, so how could she bear this grievance?

When she was pushed into the cold palace by the palace servants, she had not yet figured out her situation. After she stood firm, she turned around and rushed to the palace gate, knocking on the door while cursing: "You lowly maids dare to push me. If you take me out, I will make you pay for it."

The only one who came in with her was Chuntao. She knew the reality better than Zhao Lan. They could not get out of the cold palace. There was no chance for them to make a comeback. Chuntao held Zhao Lan's arm and gently advised: "My queen, it's cold at night. Let's find a place to live first."

The cold palace had not been repaired for many years, and there were only a few palaces that could be lived in. The best of them was the side palace where the deposed concubine lived, followed by Su Qing. Zhao Lan helped Chuntao look around and originally wanted to take the side palace where the deposed concubine lived for himself, but he almost got his face scratched.

The two of them retreated with lingering fear. Chun Tao said, "My queen, there is only one palace where we can live. That madman is so fierce. What should we do?"

The deposed concubine was mad and desperate. Even if Zhao Lan was domineering, she didn't dare to provoke her again. She cursed inwardly, "Bitch, you are so good at making trouble even when you are crazy." But then she suddenly thought of Su Qing, whose leg she broke: "I can't control a madman, but can a princess with a broken leg dare to challenge me?"

When Zhao Lan thought that she had fallen into this situation because of Su Qing, she became more and more angry. She wanted to skin him alive. Anyway, the dead girl's leg was broken. What would happen in the future? She would just be at her mercy.

Thinking of this, Zhao Lan rushed directly into the side hall where Su Qing lived, and then met the eyes of the person who was sitting there reading a book as if nothing had happened. The latter saw that she was aggressive and had no good intentions, so he raised his eyebrows and said playfully: "Your Majesty, is there something wrong?"

Zhao Lan looked at Su Qing who was kneeling on the ground in good condition. She was stunned: "Are you...are you okay...?"

"What do you think, Madam?" Su Qing smiled, put down the book and stood up. The black cat jumped down from the beam and landed in his arms. He held the cat and walked closer to Zhao Lan step by step. "If you are here to care about my leg, then it is indeed fine. If it is something else——"

Zhao Lan was frightened by the oppressive feeling from him and took a step back. She said in a trembling voice: "What are you going to do? No, you are fine. You are deceiving the emperor! I, I will report to His Majesty that I am wronged. I am innocent..."

"Then go ahead. Why not? Don't you want to?" Su Qing sneered and pointed at the palace gate. He said innocently, "The palace gate is right there, but can you get out? If you go out, who will believe you? The imperial physician has examined your injuries."

Su Qing was getting closer and closer. Zhao Lan remembered what she had done to him before. She couldn't help but swallow her saliva in fear, but still mustered up the courage to say, "What are you going to do?! I'm warning you, if you dare to mess around, I'm leaving--"

"You're going to have to bear the consequences, right?" Su Qing interrupted Zhao Lan, half mockingly, half sympathetically, and said, "Your Majesty, do you know what happened to the last person who wanted to leave here?"

Zhao Lan looked at him warily and didn't respond.

"Crazy." Su Qing pointed to where the abandoned concubine lived and said indifferently, "Do you want to be like her, Madam?"

Su Qing didn't do anything to Zhao Lan in the end. He had read the books of sages and should be a humble gentleman. He couldn't dirty his hands. What's more, the cold palace was bitterly cold. There were still many days to come. Winter was coming soon. With lack of food and clothing, hunger and cold were enough to make Zhao Lan regret his decision in endless torture.