The Abandoned Bride

Chapter 21

Once we make it to the path Changwei picks me up and carries me in his arms and we walk for a while.

"General please let me down" I say quickly and he lets me down. I feel so nauseous from being carried I walk over to some bushes and start throwing up. Changwei quickly comes over and holds my hair back for me.

"It's okay, it's better for her to throw up that medicine anyway" Zi-An says coming over and once I stop heaving I sit down on the ground exhausted. I start to shake from the cold as I am just wearing a thin nightgown. Changwei bends down and wraps his arms around as if to warm me up.

"Can I carry you again?" he says into my ear.

"I think it would be better if I was on your back and he turns his back to me and I climb onto it and I shiver the whole way back to our residence and he quickly puts me into bed.

"My lady I was so worried" Mimi says standing over me with tears in her eyes and I reach out my hand and she grabs it into hers.

"I am fine, don't worry" I say and then Zi-An comes over and takes my pulse and then announces he will make me some medicine and one of the Physicians is called in and gives me some acupuncture. Zi-An comes in later with the medicine and tells me that this should reduce the fever and I just nod and try to stomach the bitter medicine.

 Mimi then helps me take a bath and dresses me in some fresh clothes and helps me back to bed. I pull as many blankets as I can over me, but I am still so cold and find myself shivering.

"Danni" I hear my name and push some blankets down from my face and I see Changwei standing over me and I look up at him and I feel so relieved I start to cry.

"What is it Danni?" Changwei says coming over and sitting on the bed and I sit up to look at him.

" I kept dreaming that you had died and left me alone" I say turning into sobbing and he leans over and puts his arms around me.

"It's okay, I'm not dead, I'm right here" He says, patting my back trying to comfort me. I cry for a little while then slowly the tears stop. I wipe my eyes with my sleeves, he sits back up and hands me a handkerchief for my nose. I start to feel embarrassed so I start to cover my face with the blankets.

"I'm sorry, I think it's because of the fever" I say and then I feel the wave of nausea overcome me and my head starts pounding again and I lay back down shivering all over.

"Are you not feeling well again?" Changwei says looking concerned and I just nod my head. He then lies down beside me and pulls me into an embrace with my back to him, his arms wrapping around my front and he starts rubbing my arms to give me warmth. After a little while my shivering calms down and I just lay in his arms. I feel a bit uncomfortable as we have never been this close and yet I start to feel relaxed.

" I heard you were so brave Danni, you spoke to the emperor and convinced him to find Zi-An. You even went on the trip to get him yourself, you are more than I deserve" He says quietly into my ear.

"Have they figured out who did this to you?" I ask and I turn over to see his face.

" No, they haven't been able to find anything out" He says.

"You don't think it is Prince Sun Ying do you?" I say as a whisper.

"I really hope not, but you should never say this again" He says with a dark look passing across his face and I don't say anything else.

"I know that you might misunderstand the situation with Prince Sun Ying, but I have to say I didn't mean to do anything for him to think that I wanted a romantic relationship with him" I explain since I know Changwei is always quick to be suspicious of me.

"I know, I believe you and I see your sincerity for me. I promise not to doubt you anymore" He says and then pulls me close to his chest and whispers "You need to rest now" and gently pats my back and I eventually feel myself drifting off.

I wake up the next morning and there is no one around. I sit up in bed and find I am feeling much better than I did yesterday. I stand up and walk over to the water jug and pour myself a glass and as I set my cup down I knock over some of the paintings that were on a cabinet and they fall to the floor.

"Danni what are you doing out of bed" Changwei walks into the room with Zi-An and they both bend over and help me collect the paintings I had dropped. Zi-An stands up holding one of the paintings.

"Did you paint this My Lady?" Zi-An asks showing me one of Juli's paintings.

"No, my friend Juli painted these and was letting me borrow them to practice," I explain.

"This flower right here, do you know what this is?" He says pointing to a bright red flower in the corner of the painting.

"No, I just thought it was a normal flower" I say.

"This is the blood mask plant, it has these specific flowers with these 12 petals and these long stamens that stick out" He explains.

"Juli is a friend here, I don't know that much about her? Why would she try and poison the General?" I say confused.

"Do you know where she was staying?" Changwei asks.

"Yes we went over to visit her once, she lives in the western part of the palace" I explain.

"We need to go and talk to the Emperor, Danni, you need to stay here and rest" Changwei says in a rush.

"But I am feeling better" I say protesting and Changwei calls Mimi in and tells her to take care of me and they leave immediately.

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I leave Danni to rest while I make my way to the Imperial Court with Zi-An and I talk to the Eunuch in charge and I tell him I must speak to the Emperor about the poisoning right away. We wait for a while until we get called in and we make our way into the inner court.

"What is the matter General Song" The Emperor says and we both take a knee in front of him.

"Your Majesty we came across something and I would like to look into this matter" I say and the Emperor waves me to continue.

"My wife recently made a friend named Juli in the palace and she gave her some of her paintings to practice. Zi-An found the blood mask plant painted into the picture" I explain and Zi-An comes forward with the painting and hands it to the Eunuch who brings it to the Emperor.

"If you look at the red flower, this is very specifically the plant and I don't think this is a common plant that people would know about," Zi-An explains.

"I believe that this Juli woman is most likely to be the culprit and may have even approached my wife with these intentions to poison me as she must be from the Grasslands" I say and explain how my wife met her and where she lives.

"I will send some guards to look into this, you just need to focus on your own health right now. This sounds like it will be tricky as it has to do with our enemies. Juli is indeed from the Grasslands " He says.

"Thank you your majesty, I understand, but there is another sensitive topic I should address" I say unsure if I should bring this up.

"Yes I heard some rumors with the Prince Sun Ying, I don't want you to worry about this, nothing will change with you and your wife" He says and rubs his chin looking disheartened.

"Thank you your majesty, I was worried I had offended the royal family and was worried for my wife" I try to explain.

"Yes I will talk to Prince Sun Ying, you don't have to worry about this. You can just continue to focus on your own duties, nothing will happen because of this" He says and I thank him and we exit the royal court. I then go and find Rui-Chan and get him to go over and oversee the situation.