The years I was in the human world

The emperor did not forget to ask someone to investigate the prince's contacts with Xie. The commander of the imperial guards, Yan Xiao, was reliable and quick in his work. Before long, all the prince's private contacts in the past few months were investigated and neatly written on paper and presented to the emperor.

In fact, Chu Zhaoli's private relationships were very clean. He did not take advantage of the emperor's favor to become arrogant, nor did he form cliques for personal gain. The emperor thought that he had close contacts with Xie Yang, but in fact, they were limited to drinking tea and playing chess.

His friendship with Xie Yang was established after he sent Xie Fu to marry. Before that, he was not even as familiar with the Xie family as Chu Zhaoyun.

As for the white deer, he had indeed shot it himself. There was no need to investigate this matter because Yan Xiao was also there on the day of the hunt and he saw with his own eyes the prince drawing his bow and shooting the white deer.

"Except Xie Yang, does the prince have no other friends in the capital?" The emperor looked at the memorial in his hand that showed Chu Zhaoli had very few interpersonal relationships and could not help but click his tongue. The rage he had felt last night had subsided, and after calming down, he belatedly realized that he had wrongly blamed Chu Zhaoli.

Thinking of the prince kneeling in the snow last night, he quickly called the eunuch Chen Ping and asked, "Where is the prince? How long did he kneel last night?"

Chen Ping was not sure what the emperor meant by this. Was he going to settle the score later or give him a lighter sentence? So he could only say in a proper manner, "Your Highness the Crown Prince knelt until the hour of Yin today, but he could no longer hold on and fainted. He was sent back to the East Palace."

Considering that the emperor was averse to Chu Zhaoli being close to Xie, he did not mention that it was Concubine Shu who came to pick him up personally.

"Fainted? Have you called the imperial physician?" Upon hearing this, the emperor's face showed anxiety. It seemed that he treated Chu Zhaoli with some sincerity after all.

As the emperor was thinking this, he went to the East Palace.

Changle Palace was not as lively as he had imagined, or rather, the palace servants were quiet. It did not seem like the treatment a crown prince should receive, and the emperor gradually frowned.

Once inside the inner hall, there was even fewer people. A palace maid was dozing off and on against the prince's bed. The prince, with a haggard face, lay unconscious on the bed, sweating profusely, and no one helped him wipe the sweat.

"Is this how you take care of the prince?!" the emperor questioned angrily, frightening the dozing palace maid so much that she stood up and immediately knelt down, curling up on the ground and trembling.

Chu Zhaoli was startled by the sound. He moved his eyelids as if he wanted to wake up, but he did not open his eyes. His eyeballs kept rolling under his eyelids, as if he was trapped in a terrible nightmare.

The emperor felt Chu Zhaoli's forehead and found it was terribly hot. He couldn't help but ask, "Where is the imperial physician? The prince has such a fever, why isn't the imperial physician waiting in the palace?"

"Your Majesty, the Fifth Prince has a headache, so Madam Du invited all the imperial physicians over, saying that they wanted to examine the Fifth Prince first." The little palace maid replied tremblingly.

"Headache? That's reasonable." The emperor snorted coldly. How could he not know what Madam Du was planning? The so-called Fifth Prince's headache was nothing more than deliberately delaying the treatment and insisting that the Crown Prince would be burned into a fool.

"Chen Ping, go and ask Du Chunhua for me, what kind of headache would require a dozen doctors from the entire Imperial Hospital? Could it be that some little devil is causing trouble?"

The emperor's personal words were more effective than those of the powerless Chu Zhaoli. After a while, Chen Ping came with the imperial physician, followed by Concubine Xie.

"Why is my beloved concubine here?" The emperor was still surprised to see Concubine Xie here.

Concubine Xie was born into a military family and was often ostracized by the ladies from aristocratic families. She herself did not like to associate with them, and was not so keen on the imperial power. She has always been a person who does not care about anything and does not care much about anything.

I didn't expect that she would meddle in the prince's affairs. Could it be that the prince really had close contact with Xie? The emperor looked at Concubine Xie Shu and couldn't help but become suspicious again.

Concubine Xie was ostracized by the noble ladies from aristocratic families and had no children, but she was able to become the adoptive mother of the third prince and was always invincible in the harem ruled by Du Chunhua. Naturally, she was no ordinary person.

With just one glance, she knew that the emperor had started to make random suspicions again. Although she was annoyed by the emperor's suspicious and narrow-minded behavior, she still said patiently for the sake of the prince not being implicated, "Yang'er is ignorant and has implicated the prince. Please forgive me, Your Majesty."

It turned out that he felt that his nephew had gotten into trouble, so he took care of the prince. This was in line with the style of the Xie family. No matter how great their achievements were, they would always keep a low profile.

The emperor figured this out and felt relieved.

The imperial physician felt the prince's pulse and frowned, but he was unsure whether he should report this to the emperor. After all, the incident at the emperor's birthday banquet yesterday caused quite a stir.

"How is the prince?" Concubine Xie Shu had no such concerns. Seeing the imperial physician frowning, she couldn't help but feel a little worried. "Just tell me."

"Your Highness has many old illnesses, probably caused by being exposed to cold all year round. Last night, you knelt in the snow for a long time, which has damaged your health." With Concubine Xie's assurance, the imperial physician told the truth, "You need to take good care of yourself in the future. You must not be exposed to cold."

"How could this be possible? He is the crown prince, could someone have stolen his charcoal-fired clothes?" The emperor had the power of life and death in the previous dynasty, but he seldom cared about the disputes in the harem.

He couldn't understand it. Although he didn't like Chu Zhaoli, he was a prince after all. How could he be tortured like this? Even the second princess, whose biological mother was not famous, wouldn't be so embarrassed.

"Your Majesty, why don't you take a look at the Changle Palace? How does it look like the prince's residence?" Concubine Xie Shu spoke softly. She had wanted to take care of the prince over the years, but because the emperor had always been suspicious of him, she didn't dare to do too much.

When it came to matters that were life-threatening, she could still use the banner of the country's foundation to allow the prince to survive. As for those matters that were physically demanding but not fatal, Chu Zhaoli had to bear them herself.

"When Yun'er was young, he was helpless and alone, yet Your Majesty knew to raise him under my name. What will a child without a maternal family or a mother, but with the title of Crown Prince, suffer in the harem? Your Majesty is a man of great talent and vision, could it be that you really can't think of this?"

Concubine Xie had no intention of being aggressive, nor did she intend to defend the prince. Her expression remained cold, as if she was just calmly stating a fact.

But even so, her words sounded deafening to the emperor's ears.

He knew it, but he subconsciously ignored it, and then looked down on Chu Zhaoli's cautiousness, and denounced him as cowardly and useless. However, he forgot that Zhang Yang also needed confidence, otherwise, as a prince, why would he be ridiculed by even ordinary people in the capital?

"...Take good care of the prince." After saying this, the emperor turned around and fled in embarrassment.

Concubine Xie looked at the emperor's slightly embarrassed back as he left, and could not help but pull the corner of her mouth sarcastically. See, the emperor clearly knew everything, but he would not admit that he was the culprit that caused all the tragedies.

He likes to play the role of loving father and filial son with his ambitious sons, but he is reluctant to say to his truly obedient and respectful children: "I owe you."

Just like the white deer that brought disaster to Chu Zhaoli, the prince had nothing, and that was already the best gift he could offer to his king and father. However, the emperor did not see the prince's intentions, but suspected him of usurping power.

This in itself is actually a form of partiality. The prince has never been qualified to act willfully in front of the emperor.

"...Empress Shufei..." The hoarse voice of Chu Zhaoli on the bed brought Concubine Xie back to her senses. She sat down beside the prince's bed upon hearing the voice. She couldn't help feeling sad when she saw him becoming paler and thinner after he fell ill.

She pulled the quilt for Chu Zhaoli with a look of reluctance, and asked softly, "Your Highness is awake, are you still feeling uncomfortable?"

"It hurts..." Chu Zhaoli opened his mouth and let out a breath, but didn't say where it hurt.

Concubine Xie's eyes turned red first. She raised her hand and wiped his sweat with a handkerchief: "Good boy, drink the medicine first, then sleep for a while. When you wake up, you will be cured and the pain will go away."

As Concubine Xie was speaking, she took the medicine that the palace servant had handed over to her after testing the poison. During the fight, the spoon in the medicine bowl accidentally fell to the ground and got covered in dust.

"Your Majesty, please forgive me." The palace maid felt nervous and knelt down quickly.

Concubine Xie frowned, but did not embarrass her. She just said, "Nothing, why don't you go and change a spoon."

The palace maid hurried downstairs and replaced the spoon with one for Concubine Xie. She took it, stirred the medicine in the bowl, blew on it, and when she felt the temperature was about right, she handed the bowl to Chu Zhaoli.

Chu Zhaoli stood up, took the medicine bowl, raised his head and drank it all, then lay down again. Concubine Xie tucked the corner of the quilt for him again. Seeing that he looked sad, she knew that he was depressed, so she said, "Rest well, and think about other things after you recover, okay?"

"Empress Shufei, thank you. If it weren't for you, I would have been afraid..." Chu Zhaoli smiled bitterly and lay down. His expression was a little gloomy, as if he was disheartened.

Perhaps it was because of her illness, or perhaps it was because Concubine Xie Shu was not an ordinary person, Chu Zhaoli rarely said something angry: "Hasn't the imperial edict to depose the crown prince come yet?"

"What nonsense are you talking about?" Concubine Xie Shu patted his hand gently, thought for a moment, and said, "His Majesty came over just now and asked about your situation. You should have calmed down. I also asked Yang'er this morning. It was indeed you who beat the white deer. You have done nothing wrong. How could you depose the crown prince?"

"What difference does it make whether I am deposed as the crown prince or not?" Chu Zhaoli closed his eyes tiredly, "Madam Shufei, I don't want to be the crown prince anymore."

"Li'er doesn't want to be the crown prince. What does he want to do?" Seeing him like this, Concubine Xie Shu couldn't bear to persuade him anymore. She just asked Chu Zhaoli softly what he was thinking.

"To be honest, my father never intended to let me stay in the position of crown prince for long." Chu Zhaoli casually revealed his own shame. "Whether I am deposed or demoted, it doesn't matter. I will be satisfied to leave this cage-like palace."

"That day will come." Concubine Xie Shu responded softly to Chu Zhaoli's words. In fact, she knew very well that Chu Zhaoli could not get out. He would either die in the palace or live as a prisoner at the feet of the emperor.

No one dared to release a former crown prince who might be suspected of treason from the palace. Not to mention that none of the emperor's sons were tolerant and generous.

"Yes, I hope so." He understood what Concubine Xie Shu had not said yet. He was just muddling along with a slim hope. Chu Zhaoli smiled, and suddenly felt a surge of blood, followed by a sharp pain in his abdomen, and in an instant his mouth was full of scarlet blood.