Children of Loulan

Madam Taji looked up at the sundial and saw that it was almost time, so she clapped her hands to signal everyone to prepare to start practicing dancing. At this moment, the concubine who had been kicked before, after hearing the madam say that the time for standing in the corner was over, suddenly felt her legs go weak and she stumbled and almost fell to the ground.

Fortunately, the maid beside her reacted quickly and supported her. However, a sharp pain came from her ankle, which made her wake up instantly. She knew that if she continued to stay here, she would not be able to complete the dance movements in her current condition, and even taking a few more steps might draw attention to her foot injury.

In desperation, she had to lie to the maid that her menstruation had come and she needed to go back to her room to change clothes. The maid nodded in agreement, so she turned around and leaned all her weight on the maid, who carefully helped her leave the dance practice area.

But who would have thought that when she took each difficult step out of the dance practice room, there were several pairs of eyes staring at her from behind, and they keenly noticed the abnormality of her walking posture. These eyes revealed various complex emotions, some were full of curiosity, and some were a little cunning...

And the corners of the mouths under those eyes couldn't help but rise up.

However, just as she walked out of everyone's sight, she could no longer suppress her inner emotions. Her body seemed to lose support and she suddenly collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath, as if she wanted to release all her fatigue and pain.

With trembling hands, she gently lifted up her trouser legs, and where she looked, she saw that her originally white ankles had turned a heart-wrenching purple color.

"Ah! Miss, how could your foot be like this? The injury is so serious! Who did this to you?"

Seeing this, the maid looked at her mistress with a look of distress and anxiety, her heart full of doubts and confusion. She really couldn't imagine what had just happened.

But from beginning to end, he had been staying in the hall and did not see anyone being violent towards his young lady, so how did the young lady's foot get injured?

At this moment, Xiu Nu suppressed the anger and pain in her heart, and said in a low and firm voice:

"Help me up and go back to my room quickly. Also, remember not to make this known to anyone."

The maid nodded gently after hearing this, but then she thought again and felt that it seemed that she couldn't hide it anymore, so she asked:

"But young lady, your feet are so injured, how can you dance tomorrow?"

The young lady replied indifferently:

"It's okay, it's just a minor injury! When we get back to the room, apply some medicinal wine and have a good rest for the night. Tomorrow, the pain shouldn't be as unbearable as it is now."

Therefore, the maidservant had to carefully help the injured lady up again, and she slowly walked towards the room, staggering and limping.

After the two entered the house, the maid hurriedly took out the medicinal wine she brought from home. She poured a little into her palm, then covered the injured foot with her palm and began to rub it vigorously.

In an instant, a piercing pain came over her, causing the young lady to grit her teeth and utter dull groans, with a layer of fine beads of sweat oozing out of her forehead.

Seeing her young lady being tortured so painfully, the maid felt so distressed that her eyes could not help but turn red:

"Miss, how do you feel? If it hurts so much, why don't you just take a break..."

However, the concubine gritted her teeth and endured the severe pain, and anxiously urged the maid:

"Stop talking nonsense! Rub it harder! This bottle of medicinal wine was specially prepared for me by my father. It is the most effective in promoting blood circulation and removing blood stasis!"

When the heart-wrenching pain gradually subsided, she barely supported her body and slowly leaned against the bed. Her eyes wandered aimlessly, and finally stopped at the maid who was sorting the medicine box.

Suddenly, her eyes brightened up, and like two bolts of lightning, they pierced straight at the small and exquisite porcelain bottle in the maid's hand. At the same time, a sly and contemptuous smile crept onto her face.

But what she didn't know was that her every move was seen by others.

In a secluded corner of the Xiangyuan, a man turned around and went back to his room quietly, his footsteps as light as a ghost. There was no trace of his departure, as if he had never appeared in this place.

At this moment, the melodious sound of stringed instruments rang out in the dance practice hall, and many beautiful women stood up and waved their arms to the rhythm. Their movements were consistent and coordinated, and every movement of raising their hands, stretching their legs, and twisting their waists was so precise.

The punishment they had just experienced seemed to have been completely forgotten, and everyone was concentrating on the dance in front of them. Aunt Taji kept walking around the dance floor, looking around at each of the dancing girls.

Her eyes were as sharp as a hawk, not missing any details, and carefully observing the performance of each showgirl. However, although these showgirls seemed to be concentrating on practicing dance, they were actually always paying attention to every move of Aunt Taji.

After turning around twice, Aunt Taji felt thirsty and turned around to drink some water. Just as she turned around, she suddenly heard two strange noises coming from behind her:

“Ouch!” “Gulp!”

Aunt Taji was startled and turned around to check the situation. At this moment, she found that all the concubines were staring in the same direction, with surprise and curiosity in their eyes.

With a full heart of suspicion, Madam Taji slowly walked towards the place where the eyes of the concubines were gathered. When she got closer, she saw that it turned out to be a concubine lying on the ground in a miserable state.

"What are you doing?"

Aunt Taji had a gloomy face and questioned the concubine on the ground in a cold tone.

The concubine lying on the ground raised her head with difficulty, looked at Aunt Taji with horror and grievance, and stammered:

"Aunt Taji, I'm sorry, I seem to have tripped..."

"Why you again?"

When Tajima saw that the person lying on the ground was Hanguli, she could not help but feel very surprised. This Hanguli always seemed to be in a state of trouble, making people feel uneasy.

"You said you were tripped by someone, but did you see who tripped you?"

Aunt Taji stared at Hanguli and asked. She needed to find out the truth of the matter, not let innocent people suffer injustice, and not let anyone who made trouble go easily.

Hanguli looked at the concubines surrounding her with a slightly aggrieved look, and shook her head gently.

"Didn't see it!"

Aunt Taji looked at Hanguli with a gloomy face, looking at her aggrieved expression. Then she slowly swept her gaze over everyone present, her eyes full of majesty and dissatisfaction.

"What's going on? Isn't it enough to make you stand for half an hour?"

Her voice was cold, with a hint of anger that was hard to conceal.

Frightened by Aunt Taji's stern gaze, everyone lowered their heads, not daring to be negligent in the slightest.

Aunt Taji then turned to look at Hanguli who was still lying on the ground, and her tone became even more severe:

"The day has just begun and you have already fallen twice! Shouldn't you reflect on yourself?"

Facing the rebuke from Aunt Taji, Hanguli felt aggrieved, but she dared not complain. Her beautiful face was distorted by extreme sadness, and even through the veil one could clearly feel her inner pain and unwillingness.

However, out of awe for Aunt Taji, Hanguli could only endure it silently, lowering her head and answering softly:

"Yes."

Seeing this, Aunt Taji shook her head helplessly, then looked towards the door and raised her voice and shouted angrily:

"Where's the maid? Is she dead? Come over here and help your young lady back home!"

Her words exploded in the air like thunder, making people tremble with fear.

Dahl then ran in in a panic.

"Yes!"

She quickly went forward to help Hanguli up, and then walked back without hesitation. In fact, when the young lady fell just now, she was extremely anxious and wanted to rush in to help immediately. However, at that moment, she noticed that the young lady shook her head slightly at her, as if to signal her not to come in. So she had to suppress her inner anxiety and wait quietly outside the door.

After the master and servant left, Aunt Taji's stern voice echoed again:

"Do you find it funny? Do you think you are great? Do you think you are invincible? She is a newcomer who has just stepped into this place, but aren't you newcomers too? Do you think that bullying the weak and taking advantage of your power can make you feel proud?

Faced with Aunt Taji's fierce rebuke, no one present dared to raise their heads. They all shrank their necks like quails, not even daring to breathe.

"Regardless of who did this today, all of you are not allowed to eat at noon! If it happens again next time, you don't have to go to the palace, just pack up and leave!"

After saying these harsh words, Aunt Taji walked away without even looking back.

The remaining ladies looked at each other in bewilderment, their faces full of confusion. Finally, someone could no longer suppress her curiosity and murmured in a low voice:

"What is the relationship between this Madam Taji and that concubine? Why is she so partial to her?"

As soon as this person finished speaking, it was like a stone that caused a thousand waves, immediately causing a commotion among the people around him, and all kinds of speculations and discussions arose one after another.

"But I haven't heard that they have any relationship."

"I do not know"

"Maybe her family gave benefits to Aunt Taji."

"Then let's not mess with her anymore. She's just a fool anyway. Even if she enters the palace in the future, she won't be a threat to us."

"Well, okay, okay, let's go. There's no lunch today, so let's think about what to do!"

Everyone walked out of the dance floor while talking and returned to their own rooms.

But none of them noticed that at the corner of a wall, a figure had been standing there. She turned around and left after everyone left.

In the room, Hanguli rubbed her uninjured leg while listening to Bayer's description of what happened in the dance studio after she left.

After listening, she smiled

Baier: "Miss, I am also wondering why Aunt Taji wants to help you?"

Hanguli glanced at Bayer and said:

"She's not helping me, she's doing it for herself!"

"Ah? What do you mean, miss?"

"Each courtyard here has a head nanny, and this head nanny is not only responsible for teaching us, but also for our safety and preventing internal strife.

If there is a serious internal fight here, which results in serious harm to the concubines, the nanny in charge cannot escape responsibility and will also be punished.

So her words were a warning to those who wanted to take their anger out on me because of the punishment, and also a reminder to those who wanted to attack me from behind to think twice."

Listening to the lady's explanation, Bayer nodded thoughtfully.

"But I still have to thank Mammy. With her words, I will have less trouble. At least those who want to vent their anger won't dare to come here openly!"

Listening to the young lady's story, Bayer poured a cup of tea and handed it to Hanguli. He thought about the whole incident and asked:

"Will they come secretly?"

Hanguli took the teacup and chuckled. She replied:

"If it's just some minor fights, just bear with it. After all, life is bound to be full of bumps and bruises."

If it was just like today, and she fell or got hurt, she wouldn't mind...

But immediately, she was thinking about these things in her mind. The teacup was brought to her mouth. She was about to drink a sip of tea, but suddenly she smelled a hint of something wrong in the tea.

She frowned and sniffed carefully again to make sure she was not mistaken.