Children of Loulan

Concubine Ru looked at the woman kneeling below leisurely, gently picked up the teacup in her hand, slowly sipped the tea, and then spoke slowly:

"Oh, so you are from Lancai. It's so late now, what are you doing here?"

Her voice was gentle and melodious, as if with a hint of teasing.

Dalan lowered his head and answered respectfully:

"I came here this time to express my gratitude to Her Majesty the Concubine!"

Her tone was sincere and her eyes were firm, but she was secretly wondering what Concubine Ru meant by this.

Concubine Ru raised her eyebrows slightly and asked with a smile:

"Oh? What do you want to thank me for?"

As she spoke, she glanced at Dalan out of the corner of her eye, as if trying to find some clues from her expression and demeanor.

Dalan immediately understood Concubine Ru's thoughts and knew that she was deliberately testing her. But she was also prepared, so she replied calmly:

"I would like to thank Queen Ru for her care and advice. I have benefited a lot from it. I have come to visit you tonight to express my gratitude." After saying this, she bowed deeply to show her respect.

After hearing what Dalan said, Concubine Ru's mouth slightly raised, revealing a barely perceptible smile. She thought to herself, this Dalan is really smart, knowing to come to her late at night, and this is exactly what she wants. After all, in front of outsiders, she still has to be the non-competitive Concubine Ru. However, even if this Lan Cairen is somewhat smart, she still needs to observe and test her loyalty further.

She looked at Lan Cairen leisurely: "Well, you are quite sensible. You have been kneeling for so long, get up!"

After she finished speaking, she gave Wu Mei another look, and Wu Mei immediately understood and walked over to help Lan Cairen up. Wu Mei's help instantly made Dalan a little flattered, and it was also this help that made Dalan completely understand what Concubine Ru meant.

It turned out that she was not as non-competitive as the outside world said. It turned out that she was just hiding too deeply and too well as Hanguli said. Fortunately, I believed what Hanguli said, otherwise I might not know how I died.

Dalan put away her thoughts, and slowly stood up with Wumei's help. She gave Wumei a look of gratitude, and then leaned slightly towards Concubine Ru and said: "Thank you, Concubine Ru!"

As night fell, the bright moon hung high in the sky, casting a cool glow. The candles in the palaces gradually went out, but a few palaces were still brightly lit, including the Summer Palace where Concubine Xian was staying.

There was a peaceful and tranquil atmosphere in the Summer Palace. The virtuous concubine was sitting tenderly beside the king, with a flattering smile on her face, gently massaging the king's legs as he lay on the couch. At this moment, the king closed his eyes tightly, with a faint smile on his lips, as if he was enjoying the tranquility and comfort.

After a while, Concubine Xian stopped what she was doing, pretended to rub her wrist, and said in a coquettish tone:

"Oh, my king! You have punished me for such a long time, why are you still not angry? I know I was wrong, please forgive me..."

Her voice is melodious and pleasant, as beautiful as the song of a nightingale, which makes people feel pity and love for her.

After hearing this, the king slowly opened his eyes, which had been tightly closed, and his gaze fell on the virtuous concubine who was looking at him tenderly and pitifully. A faint smile appeared on the corners of his mouth:

"Hmm? Are you begging for mercy so soon? When you were deceiving me, did you ever think that I would punish you? Humph, you are so courageous that you actually lied to me and said that you were sick. You knew that I loved you the most, yet you still used your body to deceive me!"

When Concubine Xian heard this, her face instantly turned extremely sad, and a layer of mist quickly appeared in her beautiful eyes. She quickly reached out to take a silk handkerchief and gently wiped the non-existent tears from the corners of her eyes, and said with a pitiful and aggrieved look:

"But...I really miss you too much, my king! Now that you have so many young and beautiful new sisters around you, I am really worried that you will gradually forget me..."

Before she finished speaking, Concubine Xian turned her head again and continued to wipe the tears that kept rolling down with the silk handkerchief in her hand, while she whimpered from time to time. She continued:

"I...I am confined here and cannot go out. Even if I want to find the king, I can't. So...so I have no choice but to resort to this last resort...wuwuwu..."

Obviously, Concubine Xian is very good at controlling the king's mind. She knows that her crying will surely make the king feel pity. Over the years, she has relied on similar means to maintain her position of honor and favor.

As expected, when the king saw Concubine Xian crying, he immediately put down his majestic posture and comforted her softly:

"Don't be sad, my beloved concubine. How could I forget you? No matter when or where, I only have you in my heart. Okay, don't cry. Ah, it's all my fault. You offended the Queen Mother before, and I had no choice but to order you to be placed under house arrest in the palace. Moreover, many new concubines were present at the time and witnessed it. It was really inconvenient for me to openly favor you. Well, I will give the order to pardon your house arrest!"

As the king spoke, he wiped the tears from Concubine Xian's eyes, his eyes full of pity and love. When Concubine Xian heard that the king had exempted her from house arrest, she immediately wiped away her tears and looked at the king with a smile on her face, with a bit of unbelievable surprise. She asked:

"Is what the king said true?"

Hearing the question from Concubine Xian, the king immediately became serious and said in a deep voice:

"My words are the imperial decree. Why do you doubt it, my beloved concubine?"

The virtuous concubine knew that the king always kept his word, but she was just putting on a show. After all, the cause of this incident was the queen mother. Although she was not afraid of being criticized, she still had to respect the old woman, after all, she was the king's mother. She thought so in her heart, but she still said with a somewhat aggrieved look:

"But...but as for the Queen Mother...I know I was wrong. I really know I was wrong. I shouldn't have spoken to the Queen Mother and the Queen like that...wuwu!"

I have to say that this virtuous concubine is really good. As soon as she opened her mouth, she expressed whether the queen mother would have any objection if she lifted the house arrest. Although it was the king who personally asked to let her go, if the queen mother insisted on making trouble for her, the king might not necessarily stand on her side.

However, she was afraid that the king would change his mind and not let her go, so she quickly admitted her mistake with a very good attitude, pointed out where she was wrong, and finally used a crying voice that could soften the king's heart.

As expected, as soon as she said this, the king immediately hugged her in his arms, wiping her tears and saying:

"My word is as good as gold. If I say to lift the house arrest, then lift it. As for the Queen Mother, you have never been liked by her, so you don't have to go there. I will talk to her on your behalf. But as for the Queen, you must go and apologize to her in person. After all, she is the queen of a country.

You have to respect her for me. If it weren't for the support of her family, I might not have been able to ascend the throne! So I made a vow that she would be the queen forever! So my beloved, please be more generous and don't argue with the queen. Just bow your head for me, okay?"

Listening to the king's story, Concubine Xian was so angry that she wanted to chop off the old woman's hands and feet immediately, just like Empress Lu turned Concubine Qi into a human pig.

At the same time, she was very indignant in her heart. She wondered why she had not met the king earlier. If she had met the king earlier, that old woman would not have been a problem. She could also help the king win the throne, and she would be the best candidate for the queen.