Quick Transmigration: Why did you provoke him? He's love-struck!

The next day, Xiahou Che waited at the West Gate early in the morning. At dawn, Liu Su personally came to pick him up and take him to the training ground.

After a full day of training, Xiahou Che could clearly feel that Liu Su had become more patient with him.

He knew that yesterday's plan had worked.

He seized this opportunity and trained even more diligently, never complaining no matter how tired or painful he was.

Liu Su saw his hard work and dedication, and within half a month, he completely overturned his preconceived notions about Xiahou Che and became even more attentive in teaching him.

To make it easier for him to practice martial arts, Xiahou Che, after becoming Liu Su's apprentice for two months, decided to live with the soldiers in the military camp, eating rough communal meals and sleeping in smelly communal beds.

With his easygoing personality and good temper, he quickly became one with the soldiers.

Half a year has passed in the blink of an eye, and the Mid-Autumn Festival is here.

At night, bonfires were lit in the military camp, and the soldiers gathered together to drink and eat meat.

Xiahou Che, dressed in the uniform of an ordinary soldier, went to fetch wine with two other soldiers.

He carried a jar of wine, walking among the campfires, pouring wine for the soldiers and urging them to eat meat, showing no airs of a prince.

Before the wine jar was finished being poured, a voice came from behind: "Your Highness."

Xiahou Che turned around and saw Liu Su standing not far away. He immediately handed the wine jar to the soldier beside him and walked over quickly: "Master!"

"follow me."

Liu Su led him outside the training ground and handed him a carved redwood food box, saying, "His Majesty asked me to give this to you."

Xiahou Che took it, opened it, and unsurprisingly found several plates of exquisite food inside, all of which were his favorite dishes.

His face was expressionless as he closed the lid: "Thank you for your trouble, Master."

Liu Su looked at him, his eyes full of smiles.

Over the past six months, Liu Su has watched him grow step by step, his martial arts skills improving day by day, and his personality becoming more and more composed.

Compared to the princes who fought tooth and nail for the position of Crown Prince, Xiahou Che, who focused on martial arts and paid no attention to palace affairs, was an outlier.

“You haven’t been back to the palace for over a month, have you? His Majesty complained to me that I’m practically raising His Highness to be his own son.”

Xiahou Che smiled and said, "Master, please don't joke. If someone hears this, it won't be good for you."

Liu Su admired his cautious and self-disciplined spirit: "You can't fall behind in training, and the same goes for everything else. Go back and visit His Majesty more often; he's thinking of you."

Xiahou Che did not respond immediately.

Liu Su noticed his unusual expression and asked, "What's wrong?"

Xiahou Che was silent for a moment, then said, "Last month, when I returned to the palace to visit my father, assassins broke into Linzhi Palace at night."

Liu Su's expression hardened: "Did you catch him? Are you hurt?"

"I'm not hurt, and they caught me."

Liu Su roared, "What are the Imperial Guards doing? They actually let assassins into the Linzhi Palace..."

“No wonder.” Xiahou Che paused. “The assassins were palace servants responsible for cleaning my palace.”

Liu Su was taken aback, but in a short moment he understood the intricacies of the situation.

It's highly likely that this was arranged by the concubines and princes who viewed Xiahou Che as a potential rival.

"Is His Majesty aware of this matter?"

Xiahou Che shook his head: "I didn't make a fuss. I just dealt with the person and that was it. If we investigate further, the mastermind behind it won't get away with it, and I won't get any advantage either."

Since the former crown prince died in Sichuan last year, the position of the crown prince has been vacant. The princes of similar age in the palace have been fighting each other more and more fiercely, and there are undercurrents in the court.

The princes who dared to covet the position of Crown Prince were no pushovers. They were capable, had high-ranking consorts in the harem, and had powerful maternal families supporting them from outside the palace.

Xiahou Che lacked the latter two qualities. If he rashly got involved in the struggle for the throne, he would not only fail to seek justice for himself, but would also be used as a pawn. In that case, he would be too weak and powerless to even know how he died.

After clarifying the complex web of interests involved, Liu Su looked at Xiahou Che with a hint of heartache in his eyes.

No wonder he preferred to stay in the arduous military camp rather than return to the luxurious palace.

"Fine, if you don't want to go back, then don't," Liu Su said.

Seeing that Xiahou Che was just smiling, a bold question arose in Liu Su's mind.

He was always outspoken and not one to keep things bottled up, so he couldn't help but ask Xiahou Che, "Your Highness, there is something I wish to ask."

Seeing that he had even changed his self-reference from "I" to "your subject," Xiahou Che said solemnly, "Master, please speak."

"Did you join the army to train in martial arts, just like the other princes, hoping to compete for that position?"

Xiahou Che was taken aback, then shook his head: "No, I just want to live."

Liu Su stared intently at him, not missing a single change in his expression: "Really?"

Xiahou Che smiled bitterly: "Just living in the palace has already exhausted me. I have no interest in the position of Crown Prince, and I have even less interest in that position of being above the emperor and below thousands of others. Now I just want to keep my head down and hope that whichever of my brothers ascends the throne in the future will grant me a fiefdom. If there is no imperial summons, I will never set foot in the capital again until I die."

His eyes were clear and his attitude was open, which convinced Liu Su. He patted Xiahou Che on the shoulder and said, "Your Highness, rest assured, if this old minister is alive by then, I will do everything in my power to protect Your Highness."

Xiahou Che paused, then clasped his hands in thanks to Liu Su, saying, "Che'er thanks Master!"

The day after the master and apprentice talked late into the night, urgent military news came from the southwest: the enemy was invading.

Upon receiving the imperial decree to lead the expedition, Liu Su immediately began mobilizing troops and preparing to go to the southwest to provide support.

Xiahou Che, who was practicing archery at the training ground, learned of this and hurriedly returned to the palace.

At the entrance of the Imperial Study, he came face to face with Liu Su, who was walking out.

"Master!" Xiahou Che called out to him, "Wait for me, I'm going to ask my father for permission to go to the southwest with you."

Liu Su frowned, instinctively wanting to refuse. Xiahou Che was just over twelve years old; a child of that age was too inexperienced to go to the battlefield.

But considering his situation in the palace, it wouldn't be a bad thing to take him out to gain some experience, so he nodded and said, "Okay."

After Xiahou Che entered the imperial study, he mentioned his request to lead an expedition to the Jin Emperor, and unsurprisingly, he was refused.

Emperor Jin's original intention in sending him to practice martial arts was to improve his physical health and self-defense capabilities, not to send him to the battlefield to fight.

No matter how much Xiahou Che pleaded, Emperor Jin refused to budge.

At this moment, Liu Su returned: "Your Majesty, I have something to report."

Emperor Jin, thinking it was a military matter, immediately said, "Please speak, my dear minister."

Liu Su recounted the incident last month in which Xiahou Che encountered assassins at Linzhi Palace.

“Your Majesty loves your son dearly, and I understand that. However, it is not a wise move for Your Highness to stay in the palace. It would be better to let Your Highness come with me to the southwest for training. I dare not say anything else, but I can certainly protect Your Highness’s safety.”

Emperor Jin was taken aback.

He was well aware of the political situation in the court; his sons were fighting each other to the death.

Although he was annoyed, the position of crown prince had always been awarded to the most capable person, and he did not intend to interfere as long as it did not cross his bottom line.

After Xiahou Che was poisoned last time, he severely punished a group of people, thinking that after the reprimand, they would be more wary.

But to our surprise, they not only didn't restrain themselves, they became even more rampant.

Although it's hard to admit, it's true that staying in the capital wasn't the best option for Xiahou Che, who had no real power base.

After a long silence, Emperor Jin finally relented: "Very well, it's good for Che'er to go out and broaden his horizons."