The years I was in the human world

"Your Highness, if you want to use a eunuch, how dare you say no? Why do you go to so much trouble to put on such a show?" In the dead of night, the Third Prince's confidant asked in confusion, "A secret guard reported that he had contacted the Fifth Prince's people. It's really unbelievable."

"I want him to obey me willingly, but that's secondary." After reading the secret report submitted by his subordinates, the Third Prince set fire to it and explained softly, "Old Five is trying to find our flaw, so I will give him a flaw. It depends on whether he can seize the opportunity."

“So, Your Highness does not really value that eunuch, it’s just that—” The confidant’s voice became smaller and smaller, as if he was afraid that there were ears on the other side of the wall, and the second half of the sentence was directly lost in hearing. However, the two of them understood each other’s meaning tacitly. The third prince nodded, which was regarded as agreeing with the confidant’s statement.

After a while, he remembered something and sneered, "Don't mention the fifth brother, the second sister is also restless. I just brought a little toy into the palace this morning, and she came in the afternoon. She even made up an excuse, but everyone knows her. She is just testing her own limits."

"What about Chu Zhaoli? Is there no movement?"

"Your Highness, there is indeed no reaction from the Eastern Palace. The secret guards there reported that the prince was copying books in the palace all day today and did not send anyone to inquire about anything." The confidant thought for a moment and replied.

"Copying books? I guess you are uneducated and have been punished by the Grand Tutor again." Upon hearing this, the Third Prince sneered, and said with disdain, "My eldest brother is neither good at literature nor martial arts. Now he has given up and doesn't even want to fight. It makes people look at him as a coward."

The Third Prince framed the Crown Prince because he was also a prince and was more favored and capable than Chu Zhaoli. His confidants were only servants after all and they dared not say anything. They could only listen quietly to what the Third Prince said and then leave.

The third prince also left the study not long after. The candle in the study went out and everything returned to silence. Lu Zhouxue gently put down the tile in his hand and came down from the roof. But when he wanted to peek at something, no one could find him. The third prince's plot was really as he expected, with a touch of deception.

Day two.

It was still the boring morning class, the difference was that the Third Prince brought Lu Zhouxue with him. There were not only princes and princesses studying in the Imperial Academy, but also sons of aristocratic families. When they entered the school, many eyes looked over and then fell on Lu Zhouxue's face.

The second princess had expected this and looked away without much concern; the fourth prince and the sixth prince looked at each other and each had their own considerations in their minds; the fifth prince raised his eyebrows and praised his third brother for his romantic style; the seventh princess couldn't take her eyes off as soon as she saw it and said in a low voice, what a beautiful skin.

The young masters of noble families were no ordinary people. Whatever they were thinking, they would not show it on their faces. They were very cautious and didn't say much. The bold ones would just make a joke that the Third Prince was very lucky in love, but they would never say anything extra, making it impossible for people to find any fault with them.

After a while of noise, the Third Prince did not see the person he wanted to show off the most. After thinking for a while, he asked, "Why don't you see my eldest brother, the Crown Prince?"

"Third brother is really gentle to everyone, even that idiot." The fifth prince chuckled and did not hesitate to call the prince a idiot in front of others. After all, his father doted on him and his maternal family, the Du family, was a prominent family. He had the capital to be arrogant and rude. "But it's a pity that the idiot didn't come today. I guess he didn't finish copying the book."

The Fifth Prince was laughing with the other noble family children around him as he spoke. No one thought that this would offend the royal family. Everyone in the capital knew that Chu Zhaoli was a complete joke. Although he was the crown prince, he did not represent the royal family's reputation - this was what the emperor said himself.

While they were joking, the gray-haired tutor came tremblingly. The old man was a great scholar. The Western Dynasty attached great importance to family background and classics. Even the arrogant Fifth Prince sat and studied properly. No one was so blind as to dare to make trouble in the class, except for the person who didn't come.

The Grand Tutor looked around and saw that the Crown Prince's seat was vacant. He frowned and asked in a cold voice: "Where is the Crown Prince?"

The eunuch sent by the prince to deliver the message stared at the anger of the tutor and replied bitterly: "His Highness said, 'The tutor asked us to copy the book ten times. If we can't finish it, we can't come to class. I haven't finished the homework yet, so I won't come today.'"

After the eunuch finished speaking, he knelt on the ground trembling with fear, and complained in his heart. He thought that the prince was a hopeless case, so why should he let them, the slaves, bear the wrath of the old tutor?

"A rotten tree cannot be carved." The Grand Tutor was always furious. He threw the bamboo slips in his hand to the ground. He pointed at the eunuch and said with shaking hands, "Go back and tell the prince that if he doesn't come today, he won't come again in the future!"

He had been highly respected for half his life, how could he have been humiliated by such a junior? The prince had a bad moral character, and now he was disrespectful to his teachers and elders, and he was unlearned and incompetent, so he naturally could not tolerate it.

The Crown Prince was scolded like that, but no one showed it on their faces, they were all secretly happy in their hearts. They looked down on the Crown Prince, but enjoyed laughing at him. The Fifth Prince was obedient and immediately advised the Grand Tutor not to get angry, as it was not worth ruining his health over a waste. The Third Prince did not argue, but considerately offered a cup of tea to comfort him.

The Grand Tutor looked at his two favorite students, and his anger at the Crown Prince immediately subsided. He said "OK" and tremblingly picked up the book and began to teach today's lessons. Everyone listened attentively, and the Grand Tutor often asked questions, most of which were answered. However, the Fifth Prince praised them more, while the Third Prince was mostly criticized.

The fifth prince raised the corners of his lips in triumph, and was as happy as a peacock with its tail spread out during the second half of the class. The third prince clenched his fists slightly, seeming a little unwilling, but unable to confront the Grand Tutor, and looked a little aggrieved.

The morning classes ended with everyone's thoughts wandering. There were still lessons in the afternoon, so the students had lunch in the school. Juan Gu brought lunch to the Third Prince. Lu Zhouxue was a servant and was not supposed to eat with the prince.

But the Third Prince was eager to show his favor to him in order to confuse the Fifth Prince, so he took the initiative to let him eat with him. It was only then that the Third Prince realized that he had not asked Lu Zhouxue's name. He pulled her to sit next to him and asked awkwardly, "Do you have a name?"

Lu Zhouxue sat obediently beside the Third Prince. Hearing this, he found it even more funny. If he really loved her, why didn't he even know her name? He thought about it and looked at her with a teasing look. Others didn't know his ridicule, but they were all confused by his smiling face with curved eyebrows.

Although the Third Prince was trying to use her, he was also really attracted by Lu Zhouxue's appearance. He didn't hear the latter's response for a while, and thought that he was born in a humble family and didn't even have a proper name, so he said to himself: "It doesn't matter if you don't have one. I will personally give you one--"

"Yes, it has exceeded the limit." Lu Zhouxue gently picked up the pen and ink on the desk of the Third Prince. The latter nodded and signaled him to use it at will. He held the pen, bent down and gracefully wrote three words on the paper. His slim figure made everyone unable to take their eyes away.

He was indeed trying to seduce her, but his target was not the Third Prince in front of him, but the yawning Crown Prince who came late. "My name is Lu Zhouxue."

The sound was not loud, but it was loud enough for the boy who passed by to hear it. Chu Zhaoli turned around and saw the handwriting on the paper, as well as the familiar person. Chu Zhaoli's eyes were obviously shocked.

The Third Prince saw his expression clearly, and curled his lips in satisfaction. He said, "My Royal Brother seems very surprised?" Surprised that he, like others, started to keep beauties around him? My eldest brother really cared about him, how could he not care?

"Yes." Chu Zhaoli smiled warmly, turned his head and looked at the third prince, his eyes seemed to have never lingered on Lu Zhouxue's eyebrows, "Looking for the way through flowers, Zhouxue Handeng, Qingfeng Jiyue's name, people are also talented, what do you think, third brother?"

"Brother, you are as ignorant as ever. Can you call a woman who seduces her master a genius?" The Fifth Prince responded to Chu Zhaoli's question. When he saw Chu Zhaoli looking at him, he raised his eyebrows provocatively and continued, "Brother, you should read more books, otherwise you will be ignorant and speechless."

"Speaking of reading, big brother has read much more than the rest of us." The Seventh Princess covered her lips with her handkerchief and chuckled. Her mocking eyes fell on the pile of papers held by the eunuch beside Chu Zhaoli. Those were the books that the Grand Tutor had punished him to copy. Everyone understood the Seventh Princess's implication and burst into laughter.

Lu Zhouxue had never understood as clearly as he did at this moment, what was the sentence in the history books: "The prince was stupid and incompetent, and many people laughed at him"? When put into reality, what a painful and unbearable past it was for Chu Zhaoli, who experienced that period personally?

He looked at Chu Zhaoli sadly, but the latter had a calm expression, as if he had already gotten used to it. He calmly sat down in his seat, raised his eyes to look at the Seventh Princess who had made the sarcastic remarks, and simply smiled and replied indifferently, "Seventh sister is right."

"Brother has a really good temper. He doesn't care what others say. The only one who knows is His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, and those who don't know--" The Fourth Prince said this, deliberately lengthening his voice, his eyes falling on Lu Zhouxue who was standing beside him.

The Sixth Prince, who was born of the same mother as him, understood what he meant and slowly added the second half of the sentence: "If you don't know, you might think that I am some carefully trained slave who will accept any beating and scolding and will just take it all."

"I, as a servant, have my own sorrows and joys. If she were a pretty girl, like the one next to Third Brother, I'm afraid she would be spoiled by the favor. Unlike Big Brother, who is like a wooden stake, I don't know if he is calm or cowardly." The Fifth Prince always spoke without restraint, and his words were even more unbearable to hear. He belittled Chu Zhaoli to the point of being worthless.

Lu Zhouxue listened in silence, anger growing in his eyes. He stared at the laughing crowd and wanted to slap each of them in the face.

Chu Zhaoli had a bad reputation, but not everyone mocked him like the Fifth Prince and his ilk. The Xie family made their fortune through military exploits and were not particular about details. Because of Concubine Xie Shufei, they felt more sympathy for Chu Zhaoli than disappointment.

Among them, Xie Yang had been in the army since he was a child. He was the eldest son in the family and had the honor of a good family, so he dared to act according to his heart. He listened to the people in the school criticizing the prince one after another, and he couldn't help but picked up the inkstone on the table and threw it into the crowd.

Upon seeing this, Lu Zhouxue moved the spiritual power at her fingertips, and intentionally let the inkstone fly towards the people who cursed the most fiercely. Unfortunately, the Fifth Prince had his head smashed, and the other princes and princesses were splashed with ink.

"The teachings of benevolence, righteousness and propriety teach you to humiliate the crown prince like this?" Xie Yang angrily cursed at the chaotic crowd. He glared at the third prince who said nothing and became even angrier. "You too, allowed them to frame your elder brother like this?"

After a round of scolding, they finally pulled Chu Zhaoli's collar in frustration. Seeing that he didn't care, they became even more angry: "You too, just let them bully you like this, are you really as spineless as others say?"

Chu Zhaoli just glanced at him calmly after hearing this, and then asked: "Xie Yang, what do you think of me? I will smash their heads with the inkstone like you did?"

"Waste." Xie Yang was so angry at Chu Zhaoli's indifferent attitude that he could not help but raise his hand and punch him. "You are the prince, so you let them ride on your head? You are going to give up on yourself like this, with the whole capital city calling you names?"

Chu Zhaoli was hit so hard that his head turned away. After a moment, he turned back and pried open Xie Yang's hand that was pulling his collar. His attitude was still cold: "Xie Yang, don't talk about them. You are disrespectful to me. What can I do to you? Should I give up on myself? Do I have a choice?"

Xie Yang took action, and the Fifth Prince suffered a bloody head. Other princes and princesses were also affected to varying degrees. Naturally, the afternoon teaching could not proceed. They all knelt in Chengming Hall awaiting punishment. On both sides stood the princes and princesses, and the mothers and fathers of the children of the aristocratic families.

The emperor sat at the head with a gloomy face, listening to the fifth prince tearfully accusing Xie Yang of hitting him with an inkstone. Madam Du hugged her son lovingly, looking at his head wrapped in gauze, she burst into tears with heartache: "Your Majesty, you must make a decision for my child."

The fifth prince is his biological son, and his maternal family, the Du family, is a prominent family. Although the Xie family behind Xie Yang is slightly inferior, they have military power and should not be underestimated. The emperor is really troubled about how to deal with this lawsuit today.

“Your Majesty, what are you still hesitating about? This kid from the Xie family is disrespectful to the royal family and even dares to bully the prince. Isn’t that enough to punish him severely?” Madam Du stared at Xie Yang with tears in her beautiful eyes. There was resentment in her tone, as if if the emperor didn’t punish Xie Yang, she would go to the Du family to make trouble.

The emperor was also in a dilemma. Today's incident was definitely Xie Yang's fault. But who was Xie Yang? He was the eldest son of the Xie family and a young general with military merits. If he was not handled properly, wouldn't his front line be in chaos?

"Yun'er, tell me, what happened at that time that made them suddenly start fighting?" The emperor thought about it but could not find a solution. When he saw his most beloved heir kneeling there, he immediately called out the name of the third prince.

“Your Majesty, it was originally us sons and daughters who were joking with your elder brother. However, Young Master Xie said that we sons and daughters were bullying his elder brother. We were angry and felt unfair for a moment, so we did it. It was definitely not intentional.” The third prince was also smart. He knew that the emperor wanted a scapegoat, so he passed over the incident of everyone bullying the prince and said that what Xie Yang did was unintentional. The influence of everyone was weakened, and Chu Zhaoli naturally stood out as the center of the incident.