The years I was in the human world

After the winter solstice, the weather became colder day by day. People in Yiyang city gradually put on winter clothes. The princes and nobles wore fox furs and sable skins, while ordinary people wrapped themselves in layer upon layer of cotton-padded clothes. They all lived their lives in peace.

Compared to Yiyang, Yanmen Pass is further north, and the wind is even colder. Once you leave the pass, all the buildings belonging to the Han people disappear, leaving only the vast white. Xie Fu got off the carriage wearing a fiery red cloak. She said to Xie Yang, "Brother, go back. It's enough to send you here."

Xie Yang remained silent, but his cracked lips were tightly pursed, and he still refused to look back stubbornly.

Chu Zhaoli pulled his hands out of his warm sleeves, coughed softly a few times, raised his face which looked a little pale due to the cold air entering his body and said, "Thank you, Miss. Take care."

Xie Fu nodded, with a faint smile on her face. She said, "I didn't expect that you would be the one to send me here in the end."

"Miss, you are going abroad for your country, which is a noble cause. As the crown prince, I should set an example for the royal family." Chu Zhaoli also gave her a pale smile.

"Many people at that time refused to do so, but only Your Highness was so righteous that he volunteered to save Xie Fu's face. So, rumors are just rumors after all, and they can't be taken seriously." Xie Fu's face did not show any sadness about leaving her home and country. She looked up at the endless snowfield and sighed.

"The scenery outside the Great Wall is different from that in the Middle Earth after all. You can take back the three thousand loads of dowry. There's no need to give it away to those Wuxian barbarians."

"How can I do that? That's a loss of face for you when you go to Wuxiang, and also for the Western Dynasty." Xie Yang refused without thinking. The people of Wuxiang were vicious and tyrannical. He was afraid that his sister would be wronged if she went there, so it would be good to have some money with her.

"Brother, the reputation of the Western Dynasty must be earned through force, not those things." Xie Fu gathered the cloak that was blown open by the wind, "Take these things back and exchange them for money, food, or weapons. In short, don't let them fall into the hands of those drunken and dreaming aristocratic families in the capital."

"With so many things, how do you expect me to bring them back without anyone noticing?" Xie Yang didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

"Isn't there His Royal Highness the Crown Prince?" Xie Fu smiled at Chu Zhaoli. Anyway, she was about to leave the confinement, and the ceremonial procession to send the bride off were all from the Xie family. She dared to say some things.

"Chu Zhaoyun is a coward who hides his head when faced with difficulties. Take my marriage as an example. How has the Xie family ever treated him unfairly? Has he ever said a word for my face? Is such a person really worth the Xie family's efforts? Why not change someone? It's not as difficult as climbing to the sky."

After Xie Fu finished speaking, she did not specify who she would assist, but exchanged a subtle look with Xie Yang, and then added slowly: "Three years later, A Fu will be here waiting for her brother to pick her up."

After Xie Fu finished speaking, she threw away the three thousand loads of dowry and asked for a snow dragon colt. Then she mounted the horse and rode farther and farther on the vast snowy plain with the ceremonial procession of the marriage, until the red figure faded away and could no longer be seen. Only then did Xie Yang wake up as if from a dream and ordered to return to the court.

Chu Zhaoli was indeed in poor health. He was well taken care of in Yiyang and had no problems. But once he left the capital, he slept in the open air in the carriage for more than a month, and was exposed to the cold wind outside the Great Wall for several days. His health suddenly deteriorated. He first caught a cold and had a constant cough, and gradually developed a high fever.

On the second half of the journey back to Yiyang, he was already feverish and unconscious. The accompanying doctor examined him and said that he had lost too much, which was why he was so sick. He prescribed several doses of medicine, boiled them in the medicine furnace on the carriage, and gave Chu Zhaoli several doses. Lu Zhouxue was almost soaked in the smell of the medicine, but he still didn't get better.

Lu Zhouxue was extremely anxious, and didn't care whether it violated the law or not. He poured his spiritual power into Chu Zhaoli's body as if it was free. It worked a little. Chu Zhaoli felt the warmth in his limbs and finally woke up from the chaos of the past few days.

As soon as he opened his eyes, he joked to Lu Zhouxue with a pale face: "Why are you so haggard? Wasn't I the one who was sick?"

"I was just saying that. You're just a debt collector." Seeing that he had woken up and had the energy to joke with her, Lu Zhouxue breathed a sigh of relief. She pressed her forehead against Chu Zhaoli's, closed her bloodshot eyes, and said as if she had survived a disaster, "I almost thought you were going to die of illness on the way home."

"How can he be so useless?" Chu Zhaoli murmured with a smile, but gradually closed his eyes again. He yawned and said, "Mianmian, I'm so sleepy."

"Go to sleep. I'll keep you company." Lu Zhouxue wrapped Chu Zhaoli into a ball with a fox fur cape and held him in her arms like a doll. Seeing that he was staring at her intently, she couldn't help but lower her head and kiss his eyes, coaxing him, "Go to sleep, dear."

It was the middle of winter in the twelfth lunar month when Xie Fu's marriage procession set out from Yiyang, and it was the first lunar month of the following year when they left the country. Because the crown prince was ill, Xie Yang used an excuse to cash in Xie Fu's three thousand pieces of dowry to raise soldiers, which delayed them for quite a while. By the time they returned, it was already late spring, and the summer cicadas had already begun to sing noisily.

For the first time ever, the emperor actually remembered the fact that the prince was seriously ill, which was mentioned in Xie Yang's previous report on his late return. He showed concern when Chu Zhaoli was reporting on his work: "I heard that the prince was seriously ill on his way home. How is he now? Do you want the imperial physician to take a look?"

Prime Minister Du, who had just come in to discuss today's political affairs with the emperor, happened to hear the emperor's words. His brows jumped, and he had a bad premonition. The fifth prince lost the emperor's heart and the people's heart because he fled without fighting, and Du's support was already difficult.

Now the emperor showed his concern for the prince again, which was not a good sign. In the past, they did not take Chu Zhaoli seriously because he did not win the emperor's favor and had no power to rely on.

Now that Xie Fu had been released from confinement, not only had the emperor changed his cold attitude towards him, he had also been in close contact with the kid from the Xie family. As a result, Chu Zhaoli was much more difficult to deal with than the third prince. After all, he was the eldest and legitimate son, and was already the crown prince.

"Since Your Majesty has made arrangements today, I will not disturb Your Majesty from talking with the Crown Prince. I will take my leave." The more Prime Minister Du thought about it, the more he felt that Chu Zhaoli would become a disaster. He was afraid that the night would be too long and he would neglect the affairs of the country, so he hurried back to discuss countermeasures with his staff.

"Hmph, Prime Minister Du has become more and more thoughtful in recent years." The emperor waved his hand and asked Prime Minister Du to leave. However, after the prime minister walked away, he snorted coldly with a sarcastic tone, obviously having been dissatisfied with the prime minister for a long time.

"Prime Minister Du is old and naturally confused sometimes. Your Majesty is young and strong, why should you be angry with him?" Chu Zhaoli guessed the emperor's thoughts and said sweet words that made the emperor feel very comfortable and even his expression became a little kinder.

The emperor had been prejudiced against Chu Zhaoli in the past, and the latter seemed gloomy because of his prejudice. The emperor naturally disliked the decadent atmosphere of Chu Zhaoli, so he was also very harsh on him.

However, in the past few months, Lu Zhouxue has been with him. With the love in his heart, Chu Zhaoli's depressed mood has dissipated. He has beautiful eyebrows and eyes, and when he puts on the moon-white clothes, he becomes a beautiful young man who defies the frost and snow.

And because she volunteered to send Xie Fu to marry, she solved the emperor's urgent need. Now she has returned to the capital and reported her work obediently. Compared with the second princess who messed up the affairs of Jiangzhou and the fifth prince who abandoned the city, she is so cute. The emperor likes her more and more: "You are a sweet-mouthed child."

"Your son is sincere." So Chu Zhaoli also smiled with his eyes curved. The seventeen-year-old boy had bright eyes and white teeth, and his appearance was one in a million. Without past prejudices, how could the emperor not like him? He also felt guilty for all the debts he had done in the past, and asked about his health again.

"Thank you for your concern, father. I am fine now." Chu Zhaoli answered respectfully.

However, the emperor frowned at his usual impeccable behavior: "The prince seems to be a little distant from me. Although we are king and subject, father and son, the relationship between you and me is not much different from that of ordinary people. Why are you so distant and polite?"

How can the royal family be compared with ordinary people? Chu Zhaoli thought so in his heart, but he took a few steps forward and knelt beside the emperor. He looked up at the emperor with admiration and said loyally: "How can a son bear to be estranged from his father? It's just a trivial matter. I don't want to make your father worry."

Although he never took the emperor's words seriously, Chu Zhaoli still gave the response he wanted. He was actually very familiar with coaxing the emperor. Or, it could be said that this was indeed half of his sincerity - if the emperor really loved him.

"Good boy." The emperor raised his hand and touched his hair, feeling relieved. Of his five sons, the third was unfeeling and selfish, the fifth was stubborn and self-willed, the fourth and sixth were birds of a feather, uneducated and incompetent. Until now, the eldest son who had been neglected for many years was the most obedient and sensible.

"You've been traveling for months and you've been exhausted. Go back to the palace and have a rest." The emperor said more lovingly.

"Yes, I'll take my leave." Chu Zhaoli responded and left.

When there was no one in Chengming Hall, the emperor could not help but sigh, "Chen Ping, you said that I have neglected him so much over the years, but it makes him sad?"

"Your Majesty, I dare to say that the Crown Prince seemed really happy just now. Perhaps... he is no longer sad. I think it is because Your Majesty has paid attention to him again." Chen Ping wiped the sweat off his forehead and chose his words carefully.

"He is just too sensible, he is obedient and doesn't fight for anything. I don't know who he inherited this character from." The emperor sighed, "If he was more like Duan Shu, he would fight for everything. Why would he suffer so much injustice? In the end, I neglected him."

Chu Zhaoli came out of Chengming Hall and breathed a long sigh of relief. He was indeed flattered by the emperor's sudden kindness and couldn't help but feel happy. After so many years, his monarch and father finally got rid of their prejudice against him and started to treat him well.

But on the other hand, he was also terrified, fearing that this was another false impression made by the emperor. He sat on the steps at the entrance of Changle Palace, pounding his head with some hatred, and said: "Chu Zhaoli, why are you always like this, forgetting the pain after the scar has healed."