Children of Loulan

The virtuous concubine said with a look of apology: "Oh, it's all my fault. I made you hungry. Yumei, hurry up and serve the meal!" After that, she hurriedly stood up from the couch, held the king's hand tightly, and walked out together.

At this time, the outer room had been carefully prepared by the palace maids. There was not only clean water for washing hands, but also various exquisite tea sets and snacks. Concubine Xian personally took the towel and carefully wiped the king's hands, while she kept apologizing: "It's all my fault for being careless. I was only concerned about my own sadness and forgot that the king was still hungry."

The king followed the concubine silently and let her clean his hands. After they were clean, the palace servants quickly filled the table with a sumptuous meal.

The king looked at the four dishes and one soup on the table, showing a little curiosity, and asked, "Why are there only four dishes today?"

A trace of shyness appeared on Concubine Xian's face, and she explained with a little embarrassment: "On weekdays, when I dine alone, I always order four simple dishes like this. After all, if there are more, it would be difficult for me to finish it. Wouldn't it be a pity? So..."

The king then asked, "So you didn't prepare a special banquet for me today? But why are there two dishes that I like?"

The virtuous concubine nodded slightly, a hint of shyness on her cheeks, and said softly: "The reason why I acted this way is that I am looking forward to the king's visit to my place all the time. However, I also know that the king does not belong to me alone. Therefore, whenever the king is not here, I will order the small kitchen to carefully cook two dishes that the king likes. The first is to express my deep concern and longing for the king; the second is that I secretly think that if the king suddenly comes one day and I fail to prepare the dishes that the king likes, then I will definitely feel guilty!"

The king could not help but be deeply moved by the gentle and virtuous Consort Xian. You know, on weekdays, no matter which concubine's palace he stepped into, there would be six dishes on the dining table, and four of them were exactly his favorite flavors. However, when he did not visit these palaces, those concubines often only cooked their favorite food and did not deliberately prepare a special dish for him. In the past, he had also visited the palaces of the queen and Consort Lu temporarily, but they also did not make an exception and did not carefully cook his favorite taste for him. At this moment, he stared at the table full of food in front of him, and his eyes slowly turned to Consort Xian, only to see that she was silently watching him, as if waiting for the king to start eating.

"My king, what's wrong? Are these two dishes not to your liking? How about I ask the kitchen to make a few new dishes?" After saying that, she wanted to get up and leave to call the servants, but her arm was held tightly by the king.

"Don't worry, my dear. I like these dishes very much and have no complaints. Thank you for your good intentions and consideration for me." The king responded with a smile.

The virtuous concubine said coquettishly, "Your Majesty, you are too kind. You are my husband and my heaven. I should always put Your Majesty first in everything." After that, she picked up the chopsticks beside her, picked up a piece of tender and juicy meat and put it into the king's bowl, and urged softly, "Your Majesty, please enjoy it quickly, otherwise the food will get cold and lose its taste."

The king picked up the chopsticks as he was told and put the slice of meat into his mouth, chewing and savoring it. The virtuous concubine gazed at the king eating with affection, a sly and complacent light flashing in her eyes.

She knew very well that this action once again hit the king's inner pain, and at the same time subtly put double pressure on the queen and concubine Lu.

Firstly, when the king was selecting beauties, they showed no jealousy at all, which showed that they did not have too much love for the king in their hearts; secondly, they were unable to prepare the king's favorite delicacies every day as carefully as they did.

In fact, when the king announced that he would put her under house arrest, she knew that the king would come to visit her quietly, so she had already prepared a sumptuous meal in advance.

Dar stayed by Hanguli's bedside the whole time, not leaving her side. After all, this was the first time that Hanguli fell asleep without the help of tranquilizers after the shock she suffered.

Although he was sleeping very deeply, Dahl was still worried that if he left for a moment, the young lady would fall into a nightmare again and there would be no one by her side. The young lady would then become even more frightened and uneasy.

At this moment, Bayer also returned from outside.

"Sister, just now..."

"what!"

Before Bayer finished speaking, he heard a scream from above the bed. The scream was filled with misery and fear, which frightened the two sisters so much that they rushed to the bed and asked anxiously:

"Miss, Miss, are you disturbed by nightmares again?"

Hanguli was lying on the bed, her face was as pale as paper, her forehead was covered with beads of sweat, her lips were bloodless, she was trembling slightly, she was breathing heavily, and her beautiful eyes were filled with undisguised fear. Seeing this, Darl's heart tightened, and he hurried forward, carefully helped her up, let her lean on his broad and solid shoulders, and gently picked up the towel, carefully wiped the sweat on her forehead and cheeks, and comforted her softly: "It's okay, miss, it's okay, it's just a nightmare, it's all over."

Bayer, who was standing by, quickly brought a cup of steaming hot tea and said with concern, "Miss, please drink some hot tea! It will make you feel better."

At this moment, Hanguli, who had just escaped from a terrible nightmare, gradually regained her clarity. She looked at the two people who cared about her, and a warm current surged in her heart, and she breathed a sigh of relief. Then, she slowly reached out to take the teacup and took a sip.

The warm tea flowed down her throat, instantly dispelling the coldness in her body, as if injecting new vitality into her body. She immediately felt refreshed, as if she had come back to life. After a short rest, Hanguli's breathing gradually stabilized. She forced a smile and said to Dar and Bayer, "Don't worry, I'm really fine."

Dar looked at Hanguli worriedly and asked softly, "Miss, are you hungry? Dinner is ready."

Hanguli shook her head gently, "I'm not hungry, you guys go eat."

Dahl frowned and said distressedly, "Miss, you haven't eaten much and haven't slept well recently. You have lost a lot of weight. You should eat something so that you can have strength."

Bayer: "Yes, Miss. If you continue like this, how can your body bear it? If the master, the mistress and the young master knew about it, they would be so distressed!"

The master, the lady and the young master mentioned by Bayer were undoubtedly Hanguli's biological parents and brother. When Hanguli thought of them, she felt a pang of sadness in her heart.

"Then... I'd better eat something." Hanguli said softly.

Hearing that she finally agreed to eat, Bayer was overjoyed and hurried forward to bring the food over.

"I know that the young lady has had a poor appetite recently, so I specifically asked the kitchen to make some meat porridge for her and also prepare some appetizers." Bayer introduced while placing the food on the table.

However, Darl on the side could not help but frown, looking at his sister and said worriedly: "Bail, Miss has a poor appetite to begin with, how can you give her pickles, which will affect her appetite? Take it away quickly!"

Bayer was stunned when he heard this, and said in a panic: "Ah? I... I don't know, it was... the cook in the kitchen who told me that people with no appetite usually like to eat this pickle. Then I'll take it away now."

Hanguli quickly called out to Bayer: "Hey, wait a minute."

Bayer stopped and looked at Hanguli with a little guilt: "Miss, what's wrong?"

Hanguli saw the yellow pickles on the plate and asked:

"What kind of pickled vegetable is this? It looks delicious. Let me try it."

Baier: “Oh, okay.”

She carefully brought the food back and put it on the table. Hanguli could not wait to pick up the chopsticks and quickly picked up a piece of food and put it into her mouth. A few crisp sounds came out of her mouth.

"Hmm...what is this? It tastes so special, it's really delicious! Quickly pass the porridge to me to try." Hanguli said vaguely while chewing the food in her mouth.

Seeing that their young lady finally had an appetite to eat, the sisters Bayer and Dale were extremely happy.

Baier quickly replied: "The cook said that this food is made from radish. She said that this combination makes the porridge most delicious."

Hanguli was very surprised after hearing this. She continued to taste the food while praising: "Radish? It's unbelievable, this is just an ordinary radish! This cook must have superb cooking skills!"

Dahl turned to look at his sister and suggested thoughtfully: "Since the young lady likes to eat it so much, why don't you go and learn how to make it secretly from the cook, so that we can make it for the young lady ourselves in the future."

Bayer looked at his sister with hesitation and said hesitantly, "I'll give it a try... But the cook said this is her family's secret recipe."

Dahl encouraged him, "That's why I asked you to learn from me! As long as you learn, we can eat such delicious food often."

Bayer frowned, looked at his sister with worry, and asked coquettishly: "What if we are discovered? If I really get beaten, can you let your sister bear the pain instead of me?" After saying that, he pulled Dal's sleeve tightly.

Hearing the conversation between the two sisters, Hanguli couldn't help laughing. Her clear and pleasant laughter echoed in the air, like a spring breeze blowing, making people feel happy.

Seeing their young lady finally smile, the worries in Dale and Bayer's hearts fell to the ground, and they both breathed a sigh of relief at the same time.

Bayer said softly, "Oh, by the way, Miss. This evening, someone came to tell me that the canonization ceremony will be held in three days."

Hanguli turned her gaze to Bayer and asked curiously, "Ceremony of enthronement? What is it for?"

Bayer quickly replied, "Well, it is said that they will confer titles on the young ladies and arrange accommodations for them according to their titles."

Hanguli nodded slightly to show that she understood. She thought that this was just a temporary place after all, and it was not suitable to stay for a long time. So she asked, "So how many people stayed this time?"

Dahl interjected, “I heard that forty-three people stayed.”

Hanguli opened her mouth in surprise: "There are so many people! Then... has the girl who once stood up for us been left behind as well?" There was a hint of expectation and concern in her eyes.

Dahl: "She stayed. Miss Xilin also stayed. But that Gu Lixian was not selected."

Hanguli frowned, revealing a bit of doubt: "She is not Xilin's, and Xilin is the cousin of the current Concubine Xian. With Concubine Xian's current status and power in the palace, it should not be difficult to keep her in the palace... right?"

Hanguli had just said half of her words when she suddenly stopped talking as if she realized something important.

Seeing this, Dale seemed to have seen through what Hanguli was thinking, and said softly: "Perhaps Miss Xilin had no intention of helping her from the beginning?"

Hanguli raised her head suddenly, with a hint of surprise in her eyes: "Yes, Xilin never thought of really winning her over. All along, Xilin just regarded Gulixian as a plaything for her own amusement. Watching her make a fool of herself in front of everyone like a clown, Xilin could get satisfaction from it. I didn't expect that Xilin was so scheming and clever!"