Children of Loulan

The nanny bent her waist slightly, carefully held the queen's soft and boneless little hand, whispered a few words of comfort, and then turned to look at the head of the courtyard standing beside her.

Her eyes were as sharp as an eagle's. She stared at the other person and said slowly: "Master, what disease do I have? It is so difficult to cure!" While speaking, she deliberately shook her head to express her confusion and doubt.

Aunt Taji's words were meaningful, and her purpose was self-evident - she wanted to test whether the respected head of the academy could keep the secret that she was poisoned and the poison had penetrated into her bones. After all, this matter was of great importance, and the slightest mistake could cause an uproar.

Dawuti had been working in the palace for decades, so he was well aware of the interests involved. Facing the question from the nanny, he remained calm and answered calmly:

"Mammy, your illness is caused by your poor congenital constitution. When you were young and strong, you may not have paid attention to it, but because of overwork and neglect of recuperation, the root of the disease was deeply buried in your body. Now time is not forgiving, and you have been busy running around recently. Your body is finally overwhelmed and has a serious overdraft. But don't worry, as long as you rest and recuperate for a few months, don't overwork yourself, and ensure sufficient rest time, you will definitely get better."

Dawuti's words also contained a hidden meaning. As an experienced head of the hospital, after a careful diagnosis, he concluded that the nun was too tired and urgently needed to rest. Apart from that, he said he knew nothing about other issues. In this way, he avoided the trouble caused by saying the wrong thing and successfully kept the secret of the nun.

The nanny was very satisfied to hear the headmaster's answer. After comforting the queen, she personally sent the headmaster out.

The early morning sun shines on the earth, as if it has dressed the entire earth in a bright yellow robe. All the palace maids in the Palace of Fairy Maids begin to fetch water for the fairies to wash, put on makeup, and dress them up. After breakfast, the fairies put on veils again!

There is a special rule in Loulan: all women who participate in the selection are not allowed to take off their veils from the moment they leave their homes until they are selected by the king. If they are lucky enough to be selected, they can take off their veils; otherwise, they still need to wear veils and be escorted home by someone sent by the king.

Shortly after the hour of Chen, a palace attendant came to lead all the beauties to meet the most respected person in Loulan. They were led to the courtyard of a palace and lined up in order, with ten people in each group, making eleven groups.

Several important figures were sitting in the main hall, including the Queen Mother, the King, the Queen, Consort Xian, and Consort Zhu. The Queen Mother was particularly concerned about the selection. When she saw so many beautiful girls standing there, she smiled so happily that her eyes almost narrowed into slits. She turned to look at her son and said:

"My king, you might as well select a few more beauties to enter the palace to enrich your harem. Look at these young girls who are as beautiful as flowers. Your king must cherish and love them more! This way, we can better pass on our royal family and continue the royal family."

As soon as these words came out, the reactions of the people present were different. Except for the king and the queen, Concubine Xian's face instantly became extremely ugly, but she did not dare to complain at all and could only respond with a forced smile.

The queen saw the changes in the expressions of the virtuous concubines and knew what they were thinking. So, she said, "What the queen mother said is very true. There are few princes and princesses in the harem. It is really because the daughter-in-law is not competent enough and has failed to share the worries of the king."

Although the Queen Mother did not have much affection for the Queen, she had seen her every word and action over the years and could not find any major faults.

The Queen Mother snorted, her tone slightly dissatisfied: "Well, it is indeed your incompetence. There are so many concubines in the harem, but there are not even a few princes and princesses. As the queen, you really should reflect on yourself!"

Seeing the Queen Mother's displeasure, the King hurriedly stepped out to smooth things over, trying to change the subject: "Mother, I know that my vision is not as good as yours. Today, I hope that you can help me check and examine it carefully."

When the queen mother heard her son speak, the gloom on her face instantly disappeared, and she was replaced by a kind smile, looking at the king lovingly:

"I came here this time to help you screen people. You must not choose those who only know how to fight for favors and completely ignore the purity of the royal bloodline."

The Queen Mother's words clearly implied that Concubine Xian had been in the palace for some years but had not given birth to a child, and the second prince she raised was not her own flesh and blood. What's worse, this Concubine Xian was always jealous. Whenever any concubine was favored, she would either deliberately provoke trouble or make sarcastic remarks about others.

In the huge harem, she was the most spoiled and arrogant. The Queen Mother would occasionally come forward to discipline her, but she was unwilling to interfere too much. After all, she was her son's favorite, and she couldn't bear any grudges against her son because of other women in the harem.

Hearing his mother's words, the king knew that his mother had never had a good impression of the virtuous concubine, so he quickly stepped out to ease the atmosphere and said:

"Mother, stop talking about this and let's get started!"

The Queen Mother naturally knew that her son was defending Consort Xian, and she did not want to interfere. As the person involved, Consort Xian also knew that she could not get the Queen Mother's attention, so she usually tried to speak as little as possible when the Queen Mother was around. It was not because she was afraid of the Queen Mother, but because she did not want to embarrass the King.

Queen Mother: "Well, okay, let's get started!"

The eunuch sang loudly: "The selection begins!"

Following this call, the first group of ten beauties gently lifted their veils and walked into the inner hall with light steps. Their movements were graceful, like fairies descending from the earth, and then they stood in a row and knelt down to salute in unison.

The Queen Mother nodded slightly, showing her satisfaction, and said softly, "Well, everyone stand up!" Then, the eunuch standing by held the list and read out loudly, "Beicheng County Government, Baoerhan's daughter, Abidan Baoerhan, now sixteen years old."

Abidan responded, took a small step forward, then raised his head and chest, staring ahead with a firm yet gentle gaze.

She knelt on her knees and spoke in a clear and pleasant voice: "I, Abidan, pay my respects to the Queen Mother. May the Queen Mother have great fortune and a long life. I pay my respects to the King. May the King live a long life and his country be strong forever. I pay my respects to the Queen Mother. May the Queen Mother live a thousand years. I pay my respects to the Virtuous Consort and the Good Consort. I wish you both good luck, happiness, longevity and health."

The queen mother looked at the king with a smile on her face, her eyes full of love and joy, and said to him softly: "My king, look at how pretty this girl is! She is simply a natural beauty!"

Hearing the Queen Mother's words, Concubine Xian couldn't help but mutter in her heart: This old woman, in order to give the King more children, really praises everyone she sees as beautiful. However, she could only complain secretly in her heart. After all, the other party was the Queen Mother, with an extremely noble status, and she was not someone she could easily afford to provoke.

Concubine Ru beside her also praised in a sweet voice: "Well, she is indeed very beautiful. I have heard some sayings among the people before, saying that girls with such appearance are easy to give birth."

When the Queen Mother heard the words "easy to give birth to and raise a child", she smiled and became even happier. She hurriedly asked, "Oh? Is there such a saying?"

Seeing this, the queen also echoed, "Yes, mother, I have heard of this before. It seems that this saying originated from the Central Plains."

Xian Fei had always been respectful to the Queen Mother, but she was not tolerant of the Queen and Concubine Ru. At this moment, she could not help but sneer:

"Oh, look at what you said, could it be that the Queen and Concubine Ru are particularly fond of the Central Plains? They are even familiar with all the folk legends there. Excuse me, these folk rumors are nothing more than used to fool the ignorant people, but who would have thought that the Queen and Concubine Ru actually believed them so deeply."

Before she finished her words, the Queen Mother's face suddenly changed, becoming extremely gloomy. She then slammed the teacup in her hand back on the table, and there was a crisp "bang" sound.

"Well! Concubine Xian, how dare you insinuate that I am ignorant?" The Queen Mother glared at him and scolded him harshly.

The virtuous concubine was shocked and quickly apologized, "I dare not..."

Hearing the virtuous concubine's indifferent answer, the empress dowager felt a surge of anger in her heart.

"Humph! Don't dare?" The Queen Mother snorted coldly, with a hint of sternness in her eyes, "I think you are very daring! I have just said that you must not be jealous in the harem. Now that the selection has just begun, you are mocking and ridiculing. What's the matter? Are you unhappy that the king has a few more servants around him? Or... do you, the virtuous concubine, have other thoughts in mind?"

These words were like a blow to the head, catching Concubine Xian off guard. The Queen Mother did not want to embarrass her in this way, but this Concubine Xian really made her unhappy. Not only was she often disrespectful in her words, but she also repeatedly ruined her good mood in the morning.

Seeing that the situation was not good, Concubine Xian hurriedly stood up, fell to her knees with a plop, and kowtowed repeatedly to apologize: "Empress Dowager, please calm down. I know my crime! It was all because I spoke too quickly and said the wrong thing. I never intended to offend you! I hope you will be magnanimous and not hold it against me."

The Queen Mother really didn't want to say any more nonsense to her, so she turned her eyes to the King and asked in a cold tone: "What are your plans for this matter?"

Seeing this, the king immediately pretended to be serious and said in a deep voice: "What a bold Concubine! How dare you openly contradict the Queen Mother? This is a crime of great disrespect! Come, take Concubine away quickly and put her under house arrest in the palace for a month. You are not allowed to step out of the palace!"

Hearing this, Concubine Xian couldn't help but secretly rejoice in her heart, but on the surface she still pretended to be shocked and heartbroken, tears gushed out like a broken dam, and she begged in a sad voice: "My king, please have mercy! I know my crime, please forgive me this time..."

However, the king just waved his hand impatiently and urged: "Alright, alright, hurry up and take the people down! Go, go, go..."

Before she finished speaking, a palace maid and a nanny came forward, carried Concubine Xian and left quickly. Along the way, Concubine Xian still pretended to wipe away the tears that had not fallen at all, as if she had suffered a great injustice.

This dramatic scene happened to fall into the eyes of the Queen and Concubine Ru, who rolled their eyes at the same time and cursed in their hearts: "This woman is really good at acting!"