Children of Loulan

Ziya asked suspiciously, "Master, what do you want to investigate?"

Keremu did not raise his head and replied calmly: "Traitor."

"Wha...what? Traitor? Master, what happened?"

When Ziya heard the word "traitor", he was shocked, as if he couldn't believe his ears. Could it be that the surprise attack was not an accident? Just as he was thinking about it, Keremu told him what the enemy general said on the battlefield today. After Keremu finished speaking, Ziya couldn't help but fall into deep thought, and the more he thought about it, the more scared he became.

"It seems that this attack was no coincidence, but was aimed at these beautiful ladies. However, whether it is the accompanying beautiful ladies, soldiers, or servants, they are all citizens of Loulan. What benefits can such behavior bring to them?"

Keremu also frowned and agreed: "Yes, you might as well analyze the reason for me."

Ziya thought for a moment and replied, "If you want to understand the purpose behind a conspiracy, you need to look at who is the ultimate beneficiary."

Keremu frowned slightly and said thoughtfully: "Well, then who will benefit if the showgirl is harmed?"

Ziya fell into deep thought, and after a while he slowly spoke: "If something happens to the concubine, the king will definitely blame the master for not protecting her well enough, and he might even be punished. And once the master is punished, who will benefit? Ah... yes... yes... um!"

He was originally analyzing this complex web of relationships in a low voice, but when his thoughts suddenly became clear, he couldn't help but raise his voice and almost blurted out the answer.

It happened in a flash. Just as Ziya was about to shout out the names of "Second Prince" and "Third Prince", Keremu was quick to reach out and cover his mouth.

Ziya's reaction was equally quick. He understood immediately and nodded quickly to Keremu, indicating that he already understood it.

"Master, please spare my life. I am really stupid. Please forgive me!"

Keremu sat up again and picked up the book at hand, his eyes still fixed on the pages, as if nothing that had just happened had ever happened.

Then, he said to Ziya calmly, "You are getting smarter now. You can even think about such a deep problem."

Hearing the master's praise, Ziya couldn't help feeling embarrassed. He lowered his head slightly and replied shyly, "Yes...it's the master who taught me well."

Keremu frowned slightly and said in a serious tone: "I heard that many of the teaching maids who went to Mocheng this time are from Concubine Xian and Concubine Ru."

Ziya was secretly puzzled, not understanding why his master would mention this matter at this moment, but he still responded casually: "Well, I did hear a little about it."

As soon as he finished speaking, Ziya suddenly had an idea in his mind, as if he realized something. He widened his eyes and asked in surprise: "Do you mean that this was done by them?" Keremu looked at Ziya expressionlessly, neither nodding nor shaking his head.

Ziya took a deep breath and analyzed thoughtfully: "Yes, it must be them! Only when you, the master, make a mistake and displease the king, the second and third princes will have the opportunity to take advantage of it."

Keremu raised his lips slightly, revealing a barely perceptible smile, and replied softly: "Well, not too stupid. Then next, you need to investigate this matter secretly, but it is very likely that you will find nothing in the end."

Ziya was full of doubts, scratched his head, and asked in confusion: "Your Highness, if you know this, why do you have to do this?"

Keremu's eyes were firm as he slowly explained, "We just wanted to test it out to see if the other party had any omissions. If we are lucky enough, we might be able to find some clues. Even if we find nothing, at least we can let them know that we are not completely ignorant."

Although Keremu said this, he actually knew in his heart that his opponent would never leave any clues. He said this simply because he wanted Ziya to gain more experience.

That night, the two imperial doctors were extremely busy. They first hurriedly checked all the concubines, and then hurriedly directed the medicine boys and servants to make tranquilizers. You know, there are more than a hundred concubines here! Just imagining the amount of medicine required is enough to make people staggering.

After finishing the diagnosis of the concubines, they immediately rushed to assist the military doctors in treating the injured soldiers. In the past, the imperial doctors usually treated the nobles in the palace, and even if there were occasional injuries, there were only a few people. However, at this moment, they saw the ground full of wounded and bleeding soldiers, which made them feel unbearable. After all, these were all the brave warriors of Loulan! Not long ago, they were still guarding this group of people, including the imperial doctors, at the risk of their lives.

By the time all the wounded soldiers had been given medicine and the ladies had drunk the tranquilizer and fell asleep peacefully, the sky had already turned pale. Keremu immediately ordered the two teams to patrol in turns without stopping for a moment to prevent another attack from the enemy. As for the other personnel, they could take a short rest.

After taking the sedative, Hanguli fell asleep quietly, but her sleeping state was extremely restless. Dal held her hand tightly and could clearly feel her trembling and her palms were sweating.

Bayer also stood quietly by. The two sisters focused their attention on Hanguli, but they did not notice that behind them, there was a person staring at Hanguli with eyes full of resentment.

Gulixian clenched her fists, and the anger in her heart surged like a tide. She never expected that this Hanguli was so lucky that even the barbarians could not kill her.

Seeing that Gu Lixian was resentful, the maidservant gently comforted her, "Don't worry, young lady. She was lucky enough to escape this time because we didn't expect that she would have a servant who knows martial arts to protect her. But next time, she will definitely not be so lucky."

After hearing the maid's consolation, Gu Lixian seemed to calm down a little: "A poor girl with a humble background is actually qualified to be selected as a concubine. She really doesn't know how high the heaven is and how deep the earth is! She also made me lose two capable assistants. I can't get rid of the hatred in my heart unless I put her to death!"

The maid said: "Of course, anyone who goes against the young lady is doomed to have no good results. Young lady, just put your heart at ease. Why bother to hurt yourself for someone who is not worth it? Even if Hanguli has supernatural powers, she can never beat the virtuous concubine!"

When she heard the words "Xianfei Niangniang", Gu Lixian's expression instantly softened like a spring breeze. There was also a hint of mockery in her smile:

"Yes, we are the followers of Concubine Xian. If you dare to offend me, you will offend Concubine Xian. Well, let her jump around for a few more days. When she enters the palace, Concubine Xian will take action to deal with her. At that time, we just need to watch the show from the sidelines."

Maid: "Miss, you are wise!"

Hearing the maid's flattery, Gu Lixian felt like drinking sweet rain, and lay down to sleep contentedly.

The next day, the sun was shining brightly. Keremu did not order the departure, but instead sent people to find the people in the palace to meet them, urging them to come quickly. Not only that, he also told everyone that they could not rashly take the concubines with them, because it was unknown whether there would be an ambush on the way. Moreover, he could not take everyone away, and someone needed to stay in the garrison tent.

If we leave someone behind, the manpower to escort the girls will be greatly reduced, and there are many wounded soldiers, so it is difficult to do both. So in the current situation, we can only wait and wait until the contact person arrives before we can set off.

Two days later, the reinforcements finally arrived. They were General Ankar. Ankar's family had been generals for generations. His father was still guarding the border town for Loulan, and Ankar was also promoted to general last year, responsible for the security management of the capital.

Ankar knelt down and saluted, saying, "This subordinate greets the eldest prince."

Keremu quickly reached out his hand to help him up and said, "General, please stand up quickly. Thank you for your hard work this time."

Ankar said, "Your Highness, you are too kind. This is my duty. But I didn't expect that the barbarians would dare to attack openly. They are really bold and reckless. Your Highness, have you found out why they suddenly attacked?"

Keremu looked at Ankar inquiringly, shook his head and said, "Ah! It's embarrassing to say that they came so quickly and left so quickly. I really don't know why. We'll arrange for someone to investigate further later. Now we have to set off quickly. Not only have we wasted two days, but all the concubines have been crowded together during these two days. It's really unfair to them!"

After saying that, he looked at Xiang Ziya and said, "Since the general has arrived, you can give the order to set off." Ziya took the order and left.

Keremu turned his gaze to Ankar again and said, "I heard that in recent years, the foreigners here have often harassed our soldiers. In the past, they only harassed us in small fights, but I didn't expect that they would send out a thousand people this time, and they are serious about it."

Ankar asked doubtfully, "Are they coming for these concubines?"

Keremu thought about it, shook his head, and analyzed: "It doesn't seem likely. After all, there are more than a thousand people in our group. If they are here for the showgirls, there should be at least two or three thousand people."

Ankar immediately retorted: "But among these more than a thousand people, almost half of them have no fighting ability at all."

Keremu continued to explain: "Although our combat power has been reduced by half, there are many of our garrisons in this Gobi Desert. The enemy can't be so stupid. Unless they knew in advance the number of troops we were escorting, but I think this is unlikely. After all, our garrison tents are not far apart, so I guess they are probably just randomly increasing the harassment and happened to meet Xiu Nu."

What he said made sense. After all, many border wars started with small-scale harassment, then gradually intensified and eventually evolved into plundering cities. Keremu didn't want to tell the truth because he didn't know whether Ankar had been bribed by someone. Although his family had been generals for generations and never participated in the fights between the princes in the palace, and was only loyal to the court, no one could tell when he would be bribed.