The years I was in the human world

"Why are you sitting outside?" The palace gate behind him opened, and Lu Zhouxue came out with a bowl of ice cream. She put the cold bowl in Chu Zhaoli's hand, squatted down to look at his face, and said, "Are you in a bad mood?"

"A little bit." Chu Zhaoli gestured to show the length, then his eyes fell on the thing Lu Zhouxue stuffed into his hand, his eyes lit up, "Did you do it?"

"No, the emperor sent someone to deliver it." Lu Zhouxue said truthfully. He couldn't comment on the friendship between the father and son that seemed to be "brighter than the darkest hour". He just pushed Chu Zhaoli's arm and said, "You are not in good health, so you can only eat this small bowl."

"I know." Chu Zhaoli leaned on Lu Zhouxue happily, but did not eat it. He just held it in his hand, stared at it blankly, and then suddenly burst into tears.

Lu Zhouxue was caught off guard, and hurriedly held up his face to wipe his tears, coaxing him softly: "Why are you crying, dear?"

"Mianmian, do you think he has really started to love me?" Chu Zhaoli blinked and tears rolled down his cheeks and flowed into Lu Zhouxue's hands. "When I was a child, I hated him. I didn't care what his difficulties were. I only knew that he treated me and my mother badly, so I hated him."

“But now, I have begun to understand his helplessness and to long for his pitiful fatherly love. Mianmian, do you think it is ridiculous for me to wag my tail and beg for mercy?” Chu Zhaoli covered his face in great distress. He thought that he might have stabbed his old self in the back, “But I just can’t help but look forward to it, to believe in it, and to be ecstatic…”

Chu Zhaoli didn't finish the bowl of icy yogurt. It turned sour under the high temperature, so Lu Zhouxue simply threw it away.

The days that followed were much more uneventful. Chu Zhaoli went to school as usual. Because he brought Lu Zhouxue with him, the children of the noble families mocked him for a while. The Third Prince just stood by and watched as usual. Master Chen shook his head helplessly and said, "A rotten tree cannot be carved."

Lu Zhouxue could no longer bear it and said, "You all have been criticizing the prince. I would like to ask how much better you are than the prince? Have you made achievements or are you famous in the court?"

His sudden rebuke stunned the princes, princesses, and children of noble families. More than a dozen people couldn't find a word to refute. Instead, the fourth prince said in a sarcastic tone: "We have not made much achievements. After all, we are not as famous as our eldest brother, who has both good reputations and clean hands."

This sentence not only mocked Chu Zhaoli's bad reputation, but also laughed at his shabby clothes. A group of people laughed, and the Sixth Prince even winked and said, "Big brother is now 'famous for his romantic life'. Everyone in the capital knows that Big brother is obsessed with a eunuch and keeps him by his side every day."

"Sixth brother, what you said is actually my fault." Chu Zhaoli smiled good-naturedly, but his eyes were cold as if he wanted to kill someone. "It's only been less than half a year, and Sixth brother has healed his wounds and forgotten the pain. He has started to jump up and down again. Could it be that the house arrest punishment during those few days was too light?"

The Sixth Prince shuddered at Chu Zhaoli's cold gaze, and then became angry and wanted to curse: "Chu Zhaoli, you——"

At the critical moment, the Fourth Prince covered his mouth and pulled him behind him, glaring at him fiercely. The Sixth Prince was frightened by his brother and shut up. Then the Fourth Prince said to Chu Zhaoli with a fake smile: "Sixth brother is young and ignorant. Why did you bother with a child and scare him like this?"

The Fourth Prince turned right into wrong in just a few words, which made Lu Zhouxue amazed. He couldn't help but look at Chu Zhaoli, who was frail but had to protect him. He couldn't help but wonder how much injustice the other party had suffered in the past ten years.

Lu Zhouxue was about to refute on behalf of Chu Zhaoli, but since he never followed the rules, a voice interrupted her: "When the master is speaking, there is no room for a servant to interrupt. It seems that Big Brother can't manage the palace maids well."

Lu Zhouxue looked over in the direction of the voice, and saw the Third Prince holding a book in his hand, standing there calmly. When he saw him looking over, he frowned, a hint of disgust flashed in his eyes, and he turned to look at Chu Zhaoli: "Big brother, are you still not going to deal with such an unruly servant?"

The third prince is more vicious than the fourth and sixth princes. He is using excuses to force Chu Zhaoli to deal with Lu Zhouxue. If he does so, it would be considered as poor discipline and he would also want his younger brother to teach him how to deal with palace maids. If he does not do so, it would be considered as disregarding hierarchy and willingly being treated the same as slaves.

In the end, Chu Zhaoli was to blame for everything.

"Did he hit the sore spot of my third brother?" Although Chu Zhaoli was careful with his words and actions, he was not a softie after all. The emperor had favored him these days, so he dared to take advantage of his favor and act arrogantly. "Or did he hit the sore spot of my fourth brother, sixth brother, or the other young masters?"

No one had expected Chu Zhaoli to suddenly become tough. The Third Prince frowned, somewhat dissatisfied with Chu Zhaoli's attitude. Why would an unpopular puppet prince be so arrogant? "Brother, you——"

"Let alone my eunuchs who did nothing wrong, if we talk about rules, aren't you the ones who have no rules?" Chu Zhaoli was too lazy to listen to the Third Prince's sarcastic remarks, so he raised his hand to signal him to shut up and interrupted him, "I am the Crown Prince, but I have never seen proper etiquette from you."

"Ha." The Sixth Prince couldn't help laughing out loud, "Brother, you really don't blush when you say that."

Everyone present could understand the implication, and Chu Zhaoli did not bother with them, but just turned around and went back with Lu Zhouxue. The emperor had been very fond of him these days, but he also had a tentative attitude and secretly assigned a shadow guard to follow his daily movements.

I think what happened today will reach my father's ears tomorrow. Chu Zhaoli thought, it's a rare occasion that someone comes to him and asks him to act nice and clever, so he naturally has to go with the flow and complain to his father and emperor and ask for some real things.

Chu Zhaoli had a good idea, but he never thought that the news would reach the emperor's ears in the afternoon. He slammed the teacup heavily on the table and said angrily: "How can this be possible? You insult the crown prince and are so bold as to treat him presumptuously. Will you not take me seriously in the future?!"

"Chen Ping, go and announce the decree. Those who insulted the prince will be beaten with 20 sticks and imprisoned in the Dali Temple for ten days or half a month. If anyone pleads for mercy, you can ask those court officials whether they are dissatisfied with me!"

"Also, call the third, fourth and sixth brothers." The emperor said with a sullen face. Before today, how could he have imagined that the fatherly and filial sons, the brothers' friendship and respect for each other could actually be so unbearable behind the scenes. Just listening to the shadow guard's report, he felt furious.

The three princes were still confused when they entered Chengming Palace. They didn't understand why their king and father suddenly summoned them. The third prince thought about it carefully on the way and could only guess that he was going to be asked to take care of the matters related to the Dragon Boat Festival again. He was a little excited.

I never thought that as soon as I entered the palace, I would be met with the emperor's gloomy face: "Kneel down."

The three princes looked at each other, not knowing why the emperor was angry, but they knelt down obediently. The Sixth Prince was the youngest and had always been bolder. He faced the emperor's cold gaze and said, "May I ask, father? I don't know--"

"You don't know, the trouble you caused a few months ago was covered up by your eldest brother. Today you are still mocking him. How dare you say you don't know?" The emperor was so angry that he picked up the brush at hand and threw it at the sixth prince, hitting him right in the middle of the eyebrows and painting a big clown face on him.

The Sixth Prince was stunned for a moment, then flatly denied it: "Father, I didn't do that. Was it Chu Zhaoli, that bitch——"

Just as he was about to say something he shouldn't, the Fourth Prince beside him raised his eyebrows and quickly interrupted, "Father, please understand. We have never bullied you. Today we just had some arguments and a heated dispute."

The Third Prince naturally understood that the Emperor was here to call him to task, so he quickly agreed, "Yes, Father. I have always respected my elder brother, and he took care of me when I was a child. How could I repay my kindness with hatred and bully him?"

"You better not have any." The emperor looked at him meaningfully. After all, he was the one he loved the most, so he was reluctant to say harsh words. He turned to the fourth and sixth princes and was not so kind. "Quarrel? What kind of quarrel could make you say such a word as 'lowly' to the crown prince, huh?"

The fourth prince felt cold in his heart when he heard the emperor's words. It was over. His father knew everything. The third prince clenched his fists suddenly. "Crown Prince." His father said that his eldest brother was the crown prince, so what about him? What was the point of his planning and efforts over the years? Chu Zhaoli was a coward who didn't even dare to fight for it. Why?

The thoughts of the Third and Fourth Princes were unknown to outsiders, but the Sixth Prince felt extremely wronged. They had bullied the Crown Prince in the same way in the past, and your father had never intervened. Why did you have to bring an army to punish them this time? "Father, I am right. Chu Zhaoli is a lowly and cowardly person. Don't you dislike him too?"

"Just because I don't like him, you can bully my brother?" The emperor was shocked by the Sixth Prince's remarks, and then he became angry. Besides being angry, he also felt a huge sense of indebtedness to Chu Zhaoli. He could never have imagined that because of his dislike in the past, the prince had been bullied like this.

"Father, did Chu Zhaoli tell you some nonsense?" The Sixth Prince said with his neck stiff, as if answering the emperor's question with his actions: he can bully the prince.

"You bastard, that's your elder brother, Chu Zhaoli." The emperor kicked the Sixth Prince on the shoulder and scolded him, "I see that you are incorrigible. Go back and copy the scriptures three hundred times. You must stay in the palace until you finish copying. Don't let me catch you sneaking away."

"And you, as an elder brother, do not set a good example and team up with your brothers to insult the crown prince. Go and get ten beatings yourself." The emperor punished the fourth prince more severely. The sixth prince was a fool, so he was mostly given a light punishment and a stern warning. The fourth prince was of a different nature, so naturally he was punished more severely.

"Yun'er, don't worry about Jiangzhou's military affairs for now. Think about it carefully." The emperor stripped the Third Prince of his military power in Jiangzhou at once. His back stiffened, and he felt unwilling. He didn't understand why he was stripped of his military power just because of Chu Zhaoli, but he had to grit his teeth and say, "Your son obeys your order."