Children of Loulan

Chapter 465: My father's hope has been shattered

The East Palace was filled with solemnity. The mourning hall had been set up. White curtains were hung all around, and plain lanterns dotted the space, making the entire mourning hall look particularly desolate.

Keremu knelt quietly beside the coffin, his body trembling slightly, as if he had lost all his strength. His eyes were empty and staring straight at the ground, as if the endless darkness could swallow up his pain. His lips became dry and cracked because he had not drunk water for too long, and there was even some blood oozing from the peeling parts.

Hawuer stood aside, looking at his father's haggard appearance, and felt a pang of sadness in his heart. He knew how important his mother was in his father's heart. Now his mother passed away suddenly, and was killed by someone, which was undoubtedly a heavy blow to his father.

Hawuer looked at his father distressedly, he knew that his father needed time to accept this cruel fact. However, he also knew that he couldn't let his father continue to be depressed like this, otherwise his body would definitely collapse.

After trying to persuade his father many times to no avail, Hawuer sighed helplessly. He silently took out a token from his pocket, handed it to Keremu carefully, and said softly: "Father, I found this in the ruins. I think it should be my mother's relic."

In the past two days, Hawuer has been searching in the ruins of the palace after the fire, hoping to find something left by his mother. Although most of the items had been burned, he was lucky enough to find some items that were not affected, and this token was one of them.

After hearing his son's words, Keremu slowly raised his head and stared at the token. It was a token carefully carved from flawless white jade, with Princess Xuan engraved on one side and a lifelike phoenix engraved on the other. It was crystal clear and exuded a faint luster.

He reached out his hand and carefully took the token, as if he was holding a rare treasure. He gently held the token in his palm, feeling its warmth and smoothness, and then said in a low and slightly choked voice: "This is the White Jade Phoenix Token that Grandmother Wang gave to your mother when she married me. Your mother always thought it was just an ordinary princess token, used to prove her identity and status."

His voice gradually became low, but tears flowed uncontrollably from the corners of his eyes like a flood. He suppressed his inner grief and continued, "However, this is not the case. This Phoenix Token was actually left to Grandmother Wang for self-defense when Grandfather Wang passed away. It is not only a token symbolizing power, but also a heavy responsibility and trust."

Keremu took a deep breath, calmed down his emotions, and then said: "This Phoenix Order has unparalleled power. It is the only thing that can directly bypass the king and command the soldiers of the entire Loulan, as well as all the imperial guards, including my father's secret guards. They must obey this white jade Phoenix Order unconditionally!"

After listening to his father's story, Ha Wuer was shocked. He looked at the small white jade token in disbelief, unable to imagine that such an ordinary token could contain such great power and influence.

"Since this was given by Great-grandfather Wang to Great-grandmother Wang for self-defense, why did she give it to my mother?" Hawule asked suspiciously.

Keremu was silent for a moment, then slowly closed his eyes, as if recalling something. After a while, he opened his eyes and explained, "The reason for this is naturally related to your mother's personality. Anyone with a discerning eye can tell what kind of person she is. Your great-grandmother Wang trusted her very much, so she handed over the White Jade Phoenix Order to her."

"Moreover, when this white jade phoenix token was in the hands of your great-grandmother, there were countless eyes in the harem secretly watching. Later, your great-grandmother was worried that someone would take it away by any means, so she secretly gave the token to your mother and ordered people to make two jade tokens for Princess Xin and Princess Cheng. However, the two jade tokens were made of ordinary materials and there was no phoenix pattern engraved on them, just to hide the whereabouts of the real token."

After listening to this, Ha Wuer nodded thoughtfully, but then he asked another question: "But, I remember that my great-grandfather was directly named the crown prince, not the king? Then why is there the token of 'Princess Xuan'?"

Keremu handed the token back to Hawule expressionlessly, and then slowly said: "In fact, there is an unknown story in this. Back then, before he was canonized as the crown prince, Emperor Gaozu originally planned to make him a prince. However, before he was officially canonized as a king, he won Emperor Gaozu's appreciation and respect for him with his outstanding military exploits and extraordinary wisdom. Therefore, Emperor Gaozu made a prompt decision and directly made him the crown prince, skipping the stage of canonizing him as a king. It seems that what Emperor Gaozu wanted in his heart back then was to make him the Xuan King!"

When Ha Wuer heard this, he seemed to have just woken up from a dream, and seemed to be very surprised by this sudden truth. After a long while, he came back to his senses and muttered to himself: "So that's it! No wonder when my father was going to be crowned as a king, my great-grandmother did not hesitate to choose the word "Xuan". It must be because my great-grandfather knew that he was going to be crowned as the "Xuan King", so he specially made this token of "Xuan Wangfei". But who could have expected that he would be directly crowned as the prince later!"

Keremuwei nodded, indicating his agreement with Hawul's inference. Then, he said to Hawul earnestly: "As the eldest son, you shoulder the responsibility and expectations of Loulan. This token is of great significance, so I'll leave it to you to keep. It will come in handy in the future!"

After hearing his father's words, Ha Wuer knelt down as if struck by lightning. He looked at his father in astonishment and said with trembling lips: "Father, what are you talking about! You are in your prime and the crown prince. You are the hope for the future of Loulan! Your son is still young, how can you take on such a heavy burden?"

Keremu slowly turned his head and his eyes fell on the dark coffin beside him. He stretched out his hand and gently stroked the coffin. Suddenly, a tear slid down his cheek and dripped onto the coffin, making a crisp sound.

"My father's hope has been shattered..." Keremu's voice was low and sad, as if the whole world had lost its color.

Hawuer also followed his father's gaze and looked at the coffin. In the past two days, he had been searching in the ruins of the bedroom where his mother lived after the fire. In addition to trying to dig out his mother's relics, he also wanted to see the secret passage. He prayed in his heart that his mother had escaped through the secret passage and was away from this terrible murder.

However, when he saw with his own eyes that the exit of the secret passage was locked from the outside, his heart sank instantly. This meant that no one had ever left the secret passage, and his mother had indeed met with misfortune.

Moreover, given her mother's character, if she had a chance to escape, she would never abandon Mammy Ba and Aunt Dar to face the raging fire alone. Thinking of this, Hawul's heart ached like a knife. He took a deep breath, tried to calm his inner grief, and then wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes.