The years I was in the human world

"I intend to let you go to Jiangzhou to preside over the autumn harvest. Do you have any idea?" Not long after the news that the emperor intended the prince to go to Jiangzhou spread, he personally summoned Chu Zhaoli. Seeing that the autumn harvest was approaching, there was no time to delay. However, his question was strange, more like testing whether the prince had any rebellious intentions.

However, Chu Zhaoli really had no intention of going to Jiangzhou to fight for power. He faced the emperor's probing gaze and said calmly, "I will follow your father's arrangements in everything."

After hearing Chu Zhaoli's nonsense, the emperor had no choice but to throw the question to Prime Minister Du who came to discuss the matter: "What do you think, Prime Minister Du?"

"I, this old minister, think that the affairs of Jiangzhou concern the foundation of the country. The crown prince is the heir to the throne, so it is legitimate for him to supervise the affairs of Jiangzhou." Prime Minister Du is a shrewd man. Now that the fifth prince cannot go to Jiangzhou, he does not want to take advantage of any of the other princes. However, although he wanted to do so, his words were flawless.

He was clearly speaking in accordance with the emperor's wishes, but it made him waver in his originally made decision: Jiangzhou was the country's foundation, Chu Zhaoli sounded like the crown prince, but in reality he was just a puppet prince, and the Grand Tutor also said he was unlearned and incompetent. Balancing the forces of all parties was a small matter, but if things went wrong...

The emperor thought about it and became more and more indecisive. He looked at Chu Zhaoli with an indescribable look. For the first time, he hated his son so much for being a hopeless case. In the end, it was useless. He sighed and waved his hand helplessly: "Prince, go back first. Let me think about it..."

"I'll take my leave." Chu Zhaoli saw the disappointment in his father's eyes, but he didn't argue. He bowed respectfully and left calmly. His calm demeanor made the emperor look at him with a higher opinion of him.

Back at Changle Palace, Lu Zhouxue was squatting on the ground tinkering with the kapok tree in the yard. In autumn and winter, all the leaves on the tree had fallen, leaving only a dry branch growing on the ground. Seeing the sudden desolation, Lu Zhouxue held a string of bright red paper-cuts in his hand and hung them from above.

Chu Zhaoli smiled as he looked at them. He walked over quietly and caught the half page of paper-cut that Lu Zhouxue accidentally dropped. He asked with a smile, "It's still early for the New Year, why is Mianmian hanging up colorful paper? It looks quite festive."

"Now that you're back, what did the emperor say to you?" Lu Zhouxue answered the question irrelevantly, and his words were not very respectful to the emperor.

"My father asked me about my trip to Jiangzhou." Chu Zhaoli answered, and casually hung the paper-cut he had just caught on the tree branch. Then he stared at it for a while, smiling more and more, "It's quite beautiful."

"What then? Can we go to Jiangzhou?" Lu Zhouxue asked casually as she continued to wrap paper cuttings on the branches.

"My father originally wanted to ask me to go, but when Prime Minister Du reminded him, he gave up." Chu Zhaoli answered truthfully. It was true that the Grand Tutor said that he was a rotten wood that could not be carved, but he could also see the clues of the riddle between the emperor and Du today.

"What did you say? You changed your mind." Lu Zhouxue asked curiously.

"I didn't say anything. I just reminded my father that I'm a puppet prince and may be of no use." Chu Zhaoli joked to himself while helping Lu Zhouxue hang the paper-cuts.

"Don't listen to his nonsense. How could Xiao Li'er be incapable of great use? It's just a pity that he has such a good job in Jiangzhou." Lu Zhouxue sighed. Their faces were very close. Chu Zhaoli's eyelashes were so long that they looked like small fans. He couldn't help but stretch out his hand to compare, and then asked uncertainly, "Have you grown taller?"

"Wouldn't it be nice for me to stay in the capital to accompany you?" Chu Zhaoli said with a smile, standing up straight and letting Lu Zhouxue gesture, "How is it, have you grown taller?"

"He has grown taller." Lu Zhouxue affirmed, pinching Chu Zhaoli's ear. The cinnabar on her hand left a red mark on his ear, suppressing the youth's spirit by three points and adding a bit of brightness. Lu Zhouxue couldn't help but laugh when she saw it, "Little Li has grown up."

Chu Zhaoli indeed had a face as beautiful as that of a lotus, which was completely comparable to the painted skin on Lu Zhouxue's face. He couldn't help but pinch the boy's cheek again. Even though they had made love several times in the past, he was willing to give up the upper position and let Xiao Fengzhuo play with him over and over again.

But he is also a man after all, he also has the desire to abuse and conquer. At this moment, looking at his young lover, he may have the thought of taking the initiative - if such eyes shed tears, the tears will wet the eyelashes, making them look wet, how beautiful, Lu Zhouxue thought.

"Mianmian is thinking of bad things." Chu Zhaoli seemed to see through what he was thinking. He reached out and picked up the remaining page of red paper that had not been hung up. He pursed his lips, and the red paper made his already rosy lips look even more gorgeous. However, he looked at Lu Zhouxue with a mischievous look in his eyes, with a flirtatious look in his eyes.

"...What are you doing?" Lu Zhouxue's breath was choked, and his heart trembled at Chu Zhaoli's deliberate seduction. He felt like a country bumpkin who saw a beautiful woman for the first time. Emotions were surging in his chest. He wanted to kiss him, take off his clothes, and bully him until he burst into tears.

“Isn’t it obvious enough?” Chu Zhaoli took Lu Zhouxue’s hand and placed it on his face, rubbing it in his palm while looking at him steadily. He said in a coquettish and pleading tone, “Please hurt me…”

Lu Zhouxue seemed to see the non-existent ears on Chu Zhaoli's head moving playfully, and a hint of cunning flashed in the boy's affectionate eyes. Lu Zhouxue knew that this cunning thing was starting to play tricks on him again, but he didn't want to get his way this time.

"Okay." Lu Zhouxue murmured with a smile, pinched Chu Zhaoli's jaw and pressed down. The young man, who was defeated, suddenly widened his eyes, surprised and happy at the same time, but he was still stunned and could not give any more reaction.

"Be good, open your mouth." Lu Zhouxue stepped back a little, stroked the corner of his lips with her thumb, raised her eyes and looked at Chu Zhaoli teasingly, and said jokingly, "Are you surprised? Xiao Li'er seduced me so skillfully, I thought you were a veteran."

"Who can I go through hundreds of battles with?" Chu Zhaoli muttered softly, opened his mouth obediently, and licked the corner of Lu Zhouxue's lips. Seeing that he was unmoved, he tugged at his sleeve anxiously and begged in a low voice, "Can we do it again?"

Lu Zhouxue didn't respond immediately, but grabbed his restless paws and asked irrelevantly, "Have you thought about it?"

……

Chu Zhaoli did not go to Jiangzhou, so the candidate was naturally chosen. Just as he and Lu Zhouxue had analyzed before, the emperor had chosen Xie Yang, and since the second princess had made many efforts before, she would naturally go with him.

The team heading south set out soon. Before leaving, Xie Yang came to see Chu Zhaoli. He said with some regret: "It should have been your highness who went, so as to change the view of the people in the capital."

Chu Zhaoli just smiled and told Xie Yang not to think too much: "It doesn't matter whether it is reversed or not. It is not all fake after all. I rashly interfered in Jiangzhou and made my father upset for no reason. General Xie, the road ahead will not be smooth. You must be more careful."

"I'm sorry. Thank you for your concern, Your Highness." Xie Yang cupped his hands. He thought about it and said with great anxiety, "The Second Princess went to Jiangzhou in Your Highness' name. The rumors in the capital have been very bad these days. Your Highness, please don't take it to heart."

"I know." Chu Zhaoli nodded and watched Xie Yang leave. Lu Zhouxue said unhappily, "You are a coward and the rumors are all over the city. I think it's the emperor's fault. Even if you take it to heart, what can you do?"

"It was originally agreed that the heir was chosen, but in the end it was changed to my second sister. Can you find an excuse? The rumors are not wrong. It is true that I am not capable of being of great use. Otherwise, I would have fought for it myself." Chu Zhaoli reacted calmly to this. He was used to it. Seeing Lu Zhouxue's cold face, he smiled instead.

"I, the protagonist, haven't suffered any harm yet, why is Mianmian so angry? Well, don't be upset, it's just rumors, let them talk, it won't affect my Changle Palace anyway, okay?"

"You." Lu Zhouxue sighed, but didn't say anything else.

Xie Yang went to Jiangzhou with the second princess, but Mrs. Du caused trouble, resulting in a delay in the collection of the autumn grain. Xie Yang did not mention it in the memorial he sent back to the capital, but the emperor could guess what was going on. He went to court the next day and criticized Prime Minister Du in both open and covert ways, but the officials in Jiangzhou continued to do as they pleased.

The Second Princess went to the Poyang King, and that’s when the Jiangzhou officials stopped looking for trouble. Chu Zhaoli didn’t know about these things, but Xie Yang also sent him a letter when he wrote a memorial back to the capital. After reading it, he said to Lu Zhouxue: “This is a matter related to the foundation of the country, and the Du family dares to use it for political means. Sooner or later, they will fall.”