The Abandoned Bride

Chapter 5

When I get home from the restaurant I decide to hide my money in the trunk of the tree behind my house since no one really comes out here and I don't think they would ever look into it. It feels peaceful for a little while as I had finished my project and haven't been given a new one.

 I have some time to myself and decide to pack my few little things I own, but make sure to leave anything that doesn't belong to me. The day before I want to leave, Lin barges into my room and pulls me out with the help of other servants. I realize that I am going to be beat again because Mother-in-Law must want to release some of her stress.

 It seems to happen once a month that I get pulled in front of Mother-in-Law and the servants falsely accuse me of stealing something from the house. Of course I haven't been stealing anything, but they keep up the charade in case someone outside of the home would be notified of my beatings then it would be for a justified reason.

"Madam, she has stolen your earrings" Lin says with a smirk holding some earrings in her hand.

"Really? again? What an ungrateful daughter! stealing in my own home!" Mother-in-Law says then indicates to the servants to beat me.

Lin grabs a stick along with a couple of other servants and they hit me anywhere below the head since they don't want it to be visible to anyone else. The sticks are much worse then Lin beating me with her fists, they leave wounds and scars as they beat me pretty hard. It hurts terribly, but thankfully they don't take it as far breaking my bones. Lin runs out of strength fairly quickly this time and it ends.

"Well that should teach you a lesson to not be a thief" Mother-in-Law says indicating that she should stop and announces that she has a new project for me. I look up at Mother-in-Law and notice that she is wearing new jewelry. It is safe to say that my work is clearly going to her accessories and I smirk to myself knowing that I won't be funding her anymore and that this is the last time that she gets to beat me. 

I pick up the book and bow and hurry back to my house and pull out the medicine that I hid in the floorboards that Uncle had gotten for me since the beatings had become predictable. I cover the bruises and cuts with the medicine and then I lie down in bed.

 They tend to turn into scars because I never get to let them heal properly since Lin tends to beat me again fairly soon again. They should leave me alone for now since they have had their fun today.

Time passes quickly and I spend the remainder of my time packing up my things and planning out my escape. I do spend time transcribing as Lin still is coming around to check up on me and I try to act as normal as possible so she doesn't get suspicious of my actions.

 I wake up that morning excited that I get to leave and head into the kitchen after everyone else has eaten and try to get some food. I don't really feel hungry this morning, but I make sure to pack some food because I don't know when I will be able to get my next meal. I feel very cold today and wonder if the weather is already turning into autumn as the leaves are starting to turn. I decide I should put on my warmest clothes and pack my lighter ones. 

As night falls I start to feel really nervous and even throw up all the food I had eaten earlier which wasn't much so I try and drink some water. I wait until it is dark and then grab all my things including the money from the tree. I also had made sure to burn any letters or anything personal that I have previously kept. I grab my Identification Tag and put it in my sleeve pocket for easy access since I won't be able to get into other cities without it, I want it close to me at all times.

 I am able to get over the wall, but I can feel my head pounding in my ears and I feel dizzy as I readjust myself once I get on my feet. It is really dark outside this evening. I waited a long time before leaving today so I wouldn't get caught. I start walking down the road when I start to hear some heavy footsteps. I start running a bit not sure which way the sound is coming from and I run right into a heavy object and fall to the ground.

"Who are you and what are you running from?" A large man bellows out, scaring me out of my wits. He picks up my identity tag that had fallen out of my sleeve and reads my name out loud.

"Zhu Danni, wait General, is this not your wife's name?" He says looking at a man on a horse and the man starts getting closer to us.

"A wife, I would need a husband for that to be true" I say and scoff at his words. A large intimidating man comes close to me and shines his torch at me and I see something familiar in his face, but before I can say anything more the world starts spinning and everything goes black.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rui-Chan catches the woman in his arms. I come over and pull the torch closer to her face and I recognize the face of my wife Danni, even though I have been gone for a long time her face has been seared into my mind. I touch her face and she doesn't react and I realize that she has fainted.

 I grab her from Rui-Chan's arms and I proceed to walk her back into the manor despite the protests to let someone else carry her, but I ignore them and carry her into my old quarters. I tell Rui-Chan to quickly go and get to the local Physician. I can feel a slight pain in my shoulder, but I am more concerned about how light she weighed. 

I lay her down gently onto the bed and grab some blankets and a pillow from the cabinet and cover her up. I don't want to wake the whole household so I proceed to tell the few servants that are currently awake to be quiet and not wake up my Mother. One of my men brings me her belongings that were dropped and I open it up and find a large amount of money and clothes.

 I know something must have happened for her to run away in the darkness like this, I will thoroughly investigate what has been going on in my absence. The Physician is brought in by Rui-Chan and I lead him into the room and he examines her and takes her pulse. When he is finished he comes out of the room and tells me,

"She has a fever and a cold, I will give you some medicine today and the prescription."

"It is nothing serious then?" I ask, concerned.

"The cold is not serious, but I would say her body condition is not good and will take longer than normal to recover from this cold" The Physician explains.

"What do you mean in bad condition? Does she have some disease? Have you been treating her all along?" I ask.

"It is not that she has a disease, she just needs to have better nutrition and plenty of rest, she is able to recover easily if she can do those two things. No I have never treated her before, I have only treated the Madam before" He explains.

I do not know what else to ask so I let him go and make the medicine. He comes back later and hands me the bowl of the prescription of medicine with a spoon.

"I have left instructions with your servant Mimi, as she helped make this medicine" He says and Mimi comes in.

I thank the Physician and pay him for coming out at an inconvenient time. I come back in and find Mimi trying to feed Danni the medicine and struggling. I come over and sit behind Danni and lift her up against me and get up upright. Mimi has a better time of getting the liquid down her throat, Danni's eyes slightly open and she seems to understand that she needs to swallow the medicine. 

Mimi wipes her face when she is lying down again. We leave the room to let her sleep and I decide to go into the room next door to sleep. I fall asleep for a while until I am awakened by some noises, I immediately go over to where Danni is and find her talking in her sleep.

"Please take me with you, don't leave me behind" She says, reaching her hands up in the air and I grab them without thinking wondering what she is talking about.

"Danni, it's okay" I say unsure of whether I should wake her up.

"We can run away together and be a family, please" Danni mumbles while holding my hand and I move my hand from hers. I go and bring the water over and wipe her brows again and I wonder who she was planning to go away with? Did I stop her from running away with her lover? Did I wreck her carefully crafted plans?

 If I would have sent a letter with my plans to come home would she have left earlier? I feel awful as I wipe her brow with a cloth and some water one more time before leaving the room as she has settled down.