The Untamed Princess

Chapter Twenty-Six: The Slow Recovery

After she had bathed and changed, Ming Yue had insisted on returning to her own room.  It was just too awkward to stay in the prince's chambers, and it would have been virtually impossible to explain away if anyone had discovered her there.

Zhao Weisheng had let her go reluctantly, understanding her need for solitude, but he had organised for two guards to be stationed within sight of her door at all times.  He told her that she was to rest for at least another three days.  All food was to be delivered, and it had been arranged that Xu Rong would help change her dressings and bathe her wounds every day.

Ming Yue had agreed to everything, albeit under protest.  Despite the brave face she had put on things when she first regained consciousness, the fact that she'd had an extremely close call was now sinking in, and she was struggling to regain her usual, sunny disposition.

Fortunately, it was fairly easy to hide her misery from the prince now that she was back in her own room and Weisheng was busy with other matters.  This morning, one day into her three-day recuperation period, Xu Rong told her that he had gone somewhere in the palace grounds with Luo Jian, and Ming Yue stared absent-mindedly out of the window as she wondered what had captured his attention.

In fact, Zhao Weisheng and Luo Jian had not gone far.  They had made another journey to the summer house, this time in the full light of day.

When they had left the building with Ming Yue's unconscious body, they witnessed it being crushed by the woman's merciless protectors.  However, they expected to find the forest floor strewn with debris from the unlucky structure.  What they hadn't anticipated was that they would find absolutely nothing.  Not a single floorboard or soft furnishing.  Not even a solitary candlestick.  There wasn't even a hole where the building's foundations should have been.  It was simply as if the summer house had never existed.

Weisheng took a deep breath, and Luo Jian looked around at the trees apprehensively.  The prince noticed his uneasy stance.

"Don't worry, Luo Jian," he said.  "They wouldn't have let us take her away from here if they thought we had any ill intent.  I think we're among friends."

The other man visibly relaxed.

"But I wouldn't draw your sword," Weisheng said quickly.  "Just in case!"  Luo Jian gave him a look that said he was suitably unimpressed.

They investigated the path through the forest that lead back towards the inner palace, but there were no clues as to who else might have been at the summer house that day.  Then, as there was nothing further for them to see, they made their way back towards the prince's mansion, not without glancing back several times at the trees behind them.

***

The three days passed slowly for each of the three friends.   Weisheng worried about Ming Yue.  Ming Yue worried about Weisheng.  And Luo Jian was thoroughly sick of the both of them worrying about each other.  Consequently, everyone was heartily relieved when Ming Yue insisted that she was well enough to return to work as Weisheng's secretary and, even though he was privately concerned that she was still not sufficiently recovered, the prince agreed.

It would be easier to keep an eye on her when she was by his side, he reasoned, and Doctor Xiao had privately suggested to him that a return to some semblance of normality might aid with her emotional recovery after Weisheng had quietly raised concerns with him over Ming Yue's more subdued manner.

The days passed quickly now that they were back to a regular routine, and at the present time, they were immersed in finalising the running order of the performers on the evening of the queen's birthday celebration.  Zhao Weisheng had agreed that the acrobatic dance troupe should open the festivities, and they had correspondingly arranged for the more traditional dancers to perform at the end, finishing on a suitably patriotic note.  The musicians would play during the feast itself, and the singers would provide entertainment while the guests waited for new dishes to arrive.  In all, Weisheng was delighted with how things were shaping up.