The Abandoned Bride

Chapter 19

I wake with a start and find silence all around me and it has gotten dark so I run out of the room and into the yard.

"What's happened?" I say and I see everyone standing around.

"There are some herbs that I need to go and get, I don't know if I can fix the General's problem, but there may be a few things we can try," Zi-An explains.

"We can't go and get them now because it is dark, but at first light we will go and get the herbs and then head straight to the Palace" Rui-Chan explains.

"What do you think is the problem?" I say and turn to look at Zi-An.

"From the books and what I can gather is there is a herb, not that well known I may add, that grows in the eastern part of the Grasslands. When it mixes with Angelica Root which the General is currently on, it causes this problem of people going into a deep sleep.

 If these herbs get stuck in the body and cannot be moved out it can be dangerous. I have never come across anyone with this problem before so I can only make a educated guess at what could fix this"

"What herb is it?" I ask.

"They call it Blood Mask."

"Does it not grow around here?" I ask.

"No it comes from the Grasslands and I guess our land is not favorable to its growth. It generally works well with cleaning blood. It does not mix well with other herbs and would not be used for a blended medicine" Zi-An explains.

"So that is why it didn't affect Rui-Chan? Because he wasn't taking any herbs?" I say out loud.

"Yes, I have read that this is not a common herb to even find in the Grasslands, it has a red flower, but the people there know the dangers and don't really sell it to physicians" He explains.

"Okay then at first light we will come with you and collect the herbs" I say.

"I also need to come along to see the General.I need to be able to be there and check doses and if these don't work then I have to think of something else" He says.

"Thank you, We are in your debt" I say feeling relieved there is someone that has a plan.

We made it down the mountain the next day with the herbs in hand and we met the men with the horses waiting for us at the base of the mountain. We get Zi-An onto one of the horses and we start riding the horses as fast as we can to get back to the palace.

 We make it back by nightfall and we quickly make our way to our residences to find Changwei. We find him still in a coma and starting to have a fever.

"Mimi what is going on?" I ask when we get into the house.

"The General is still doing poorly, I am sorry My Lady" She says starting to tear up and Zi-An goes over to examine Changwei and feel his pulse.

"I need to make some medicine now" He says and I quickly show him over to where he can grind and cook the herbs and a servant joins him to help him make it. I go over to Changwei and sit on the bed and I feel his hot forehead and take the cool water and cloth and put it on his head. I take his hand in my hand and I trace over his rough and scarred hands with my fingers.

"You have to wake up" I say whispering to him and mainly to myself. Zi-An comes in sometime later with some medicine and I help him feed it to Changwei with some difficulty, but we seem to get a sufficient amount into him.

"Now we wait, give it some time to work and if it doesn't work then I will try another herbal remedy tomorrow" Zi-An says and then a servant goes to show him to his own quarters to have a rest as it is quite late into the night.