Children of Loulan

Seeing that both of them were so worried about her, Hanguli raised the corners of her mouth and smiled.

"It's okay. Don't worry too much. Now that you have come this far, you should face everything bravely. As the saying goes, when enemies come, we will fight them; when floods come, we will block them with earth." Her voice was firm and steady, as if conveying a sense of reassurance to everyone.

Bayer also smiled and nodded, expressing her agreement: "That's right! No matter how arrogant those monsters and demons are, if one comes, I will defeat one; if two come, I will beat them as well! I will definitely protect the young lady and make her sleep peaceful." As she spoke, she waved her hands and demonstrated her boxing and kicking skills. Her movements were exaggerated and a little funny, which made Dal and Hanguli laugh.

Seeing the young lady's happy smile, Bayer finally felt relieved.

Hanguli stroked her forehead and said softly, "Speaking of sleep, I do feel sleepy."

After saying that, she couldn't help but stretching, accompanied by a big yawn.

When Dahl heard what the young lady said, he was delighted and hurriedly tried to comfort her:

"Then Miss, please take a rest. You must be too tired from participating in the talent show today."

Bayer also echoed: "Yes, yes, Miss, please lie down and have a rest." After she finished speaking, she hurriedly helped Hanguli lie down slowly.

The two sisters gently helped Hanguli lie down slowly. Perhaps it was because she was too tired, or perhaps it was because she had not gotten enough rest during this period of time. Hanguli fell into a deep sleep just after lying on the bed for a quarter of an hour.

Dar and Baier did not leave too far, but sat quietly beside the bed to guard. They stared at Hanguli intently until they confirmed that her breathing became steady and long, and their hearts finally settled down.

The two looked at each other tacitly, Dahl's eyes were slightly red, and Bayer looked at her with concern: "Sister, what's wrong with you?"

Dar wiped away the tears from his eyes and replied with a smile: "I am happy. I am very relieved to see that the young lady can finally sleep peacefully."

Bayer looked at Hanguli again, thinking to himself. Indeed, since the last incident, the young lady has been restless all day, haunted by nightmares every night, and has always had trouble falling asleep. However, today, the young lady took the initiative to say the word "sleepy". Does this mean that she has recovered?

Thinking of this, a hint of joy appeared on Bayer's face. He hoped that everything would be as they wished, so that Hanguli could be free from the torture of illness and nightmares and regain a peaceful and beautiful life.

The two of them sat quietly beside the bed, staring closely at the young lady on the bed. After confirming that she had fallen into a deep sleep, they dared to get up and leave carefully and tiptoe. After all, no one could predict whether their young lady would be disturbed by nightmares again, so the two of them did not dare to leave easily.

Time passed quietly, and the night deepened. The king finally finished dealing with the busy government affairs. He slowly stood up, stretched his body a little, and then called out softly to the door: "Aishan!"

Aisan, the king's trusted personal eunuch, came in. The door hinge made a slight "twig" sound, and then the door was gently pushed open. A eunuch holding a whisk ran to the king, knelt down respectfully, and shouted: "King!"

The king nodded slightly, and then ordered: "Come with me to visit the virtuous concubine."

As soon as he finished speaking, Aisan immediately shouted: "Let's go to the Summer Palace!"

The Summer Palace is where Concubine Xian's bedroom is located. At this moment, Concubine Xian is lazily leaning on a soft couch with her eyes closed, as if she is resting. A palace maid is concentrating on fanning her gently, sending gusts of cool breeze; another palace maid is kneeling beside her, massaging her legs attentively. Just as Concubine Xian is enjoying this leisure and comfort, she suddenly feels that the force of the massage on her legs has changed.

However, she did not open her eyes, but just whispered: "Just keep the same strength, it's good like this."

She felt it carefully again, and still thought that this power was slightly off. So she slowly opened her eyes, ready to blame him. However, when she saw the person in front of her, she was stunned - it turned out to be the king! The king was sitting beside her, with a bright smile on his face, staring at her intently.

The virtuous concubine reacted instantly, quickly put on a flattering expression, and said in a tender voice: "Oh, why are you here, Your Majesty? I was unable to greet you in time, I hope Your Majesty will forgive me!"

As soon as she finished speaking, she quickly glanced at the palace maids in the room. These palace maids were all smart and knew what to do at this time. They turned around and left, closing the door tightly. After all the palace maids had left the room, she quickly put on a smiling face and pretended to stand up and salute the king.

The king was quick to reach out and hold her, saying softly, "Forget it, forget it. Why bother with this? There is no one else here. My beloved concubine does not need to always stick to those red tapes."

In fact, she was just pretending to stand up and salute. Hearing the king's words, Concubine Xian naturally followed the trend and moved closer to the king. Her smile became more charming and pitiful.

"Then I would like to thank the king in advance, but why did the king come here so early today?" The virtuous concubine said tenderly.

The king smiled and said, "I have finished my government affairs today and I can't wait to come and visit my beloved concubine. What's the matter? Could it be that my beloved concubine doesn't welcome me?"

Hearing this, Concubine Xian's face changed slightly, and she quickly put away her smile, replaced by a look of resentment and anger, and said coquettishly:

"Oh, my king, how can you tease me like this! How could I not want to see you? But at this time in the past, your king was still busy dealing with court affairs. I never thought that you would come so early today..."

Looking at the adorable appearance of Concubine Xian and the intimacy in her words, the king could not help but smile dotingly and responded:

"Haha, my beloved concubine, please don't blame me. It's just that today is the day of selecting concubines, and the number of memorials submitted to the court is much less than in the past. So, as soon as I got some free time, I hurried over to accompany my beloved concubine."

Upon hearing this, Concubine Xian blinked her beautiful eyes slightly, revealing a hint of cunning, and asked with a half-smile:

"Oh? Today is the day for the selection of concubines. Why doesn't Your Majesty go and take a look at the new sisters?"

The king's expression straightened up: "Oh! My beloved concubine is so generous today? Since my beloved concubine wants me to visit the newcomers, it is not a bad idea. After all, these women have just entered the palace, and they must not be left out. Then my beloved concubine should rest early, and I will come to visit another day."

After saying this, the king made a move to get up. Seeing that the king was really going to leave, Concubine Xian was startled and quickly reached out to grab his sleeve tightly, shouting in a panic, "Your Majesty!"

In fact, the king just wanted to tease the virtuous concubine, but when he saw her expression as he expected, he couldn't help but laugh with satisfaction.

Concubine Xian stared at the king's smile, and saw that he was full of pride. She immediately realized that she had been teased again. So, her expression changed rapidly, and she looked a little aggrieved and a little coquettish. She pouted her lips and muttered:

"Oh, your Majesty is so bad, always teasing me like this..."

The king couldn't help laughing when he saw this, "Hahahahaha, my beloved concubine, don't be angry. I won't leave today. But I may not be able to come to see you for a while~"

Upon hearing this, Concubine Xian understood the deep meaning in her heart, but she still pretended to be magnanimous on her face and said with a tense face: "Yes, I know. Your Majesty, you have a new love now, so naturally you have no time to care about me, your old love. As the saying goes, 'You only hear the new people laughing, but not the old people crying'!" After saying this, she still pretended to be stubborn and turned her head to one side.

The king saw this and stretched out his arm to gently hold her shoulders, and said softly, "You are always so jealous. In fact, I have no intention of choosing a concubine, but I was forced by the pressure from my mother and the ministers, and it was really difficult to refuse."

When Concubine Xian heard this, a trace of resentment flashed in her eyes, and she responded in a low voice: "I understand that I have never been favored by the Queen Mother..."

Before she finished her words, she was interrupted by the king: "Stop talking nonsense! You deliberately angered the Queen Mother at the concubine selection ceremony today. Wasn't it intentional? I haven't punished you yet, but you are mocking you here."

The virtuous concubine suddenly raised her head and looked directly into the king's eyes, tears welling up in her eyes. She said with a choked voice, "How can I bear to watch other women appear around the king? I am required to go to the selection site in person to select a beauty for my husband. This is tantamount to cutting out the flesh of my heart with a knife!

I know that I am not as broad-minded as the queen and my sister, Concubine Lu. I cannot watch my husband take a concubine and remain indifferent, or even be happy. "After saying this, she wiped the corners of her eyes gently, as if she had a lot of grievances that were hard to express.

However, it is undeniable that this virtuous concubine is well versed in the art of sowing discord. With just a few words, she successfully found an excuse for her own willful behavior, while at the same time implicitly hinting that the queen and Concubine Lu's feelings for the king were not deep and sincere.

Obviously, her words pleased the king. Not only did the king not blame her, but he loved her even more. After all, most men in the world long for the admiration and respect of women.

The king deliberately teased, "Aren't you deliberately going against the Queen Mother?"

The virtuous concubine responded coquettishly: "Oh, your Majesty, I know I was wrong! I only wanted to get away as soon as possible, and I never expected that the Queen Mother would favor the Queen." She pouted her lips, hugged the king's waist tightly, and showed the aggrieved expression on her face to the fullest. She kept muttering in her mouth and her body shook with it.

"Your Majesty, please forgive me. I will never do it again!" The virtuous concubine pleaded with tears in her eyes, her voice full of earnestness and self-blame.

The king originally planned to keep a straight face and scare Concubine Xian. However, when he saw the tears in Concubine Xian's eyes, his heart softened instantly. He hurriedly comforted her softly, "Oh, don't cry, my beloved concubine. I was just joking with you. Today, in front of the Queen Mother, I had to put you under house arrest. It was just a show for the Queen Mother. Look, didn't I come to visit you right away?"

Hearing this, Concubine Xian seemed to have just stopped crying, but her tears seemed to be hanging in the air, which made people feel distressed. She asked softly, "Is it really so? The king really didn't blame me?"

The king nodded quickly and replied, "Of course it's true! Think about it, I haven't had a sip of water since I stepped into your palace, and now my stomach is growling with hunger!" After saying this, he deliberately touched his shriveled belly.