"Li Na"
General Li called out. His voice didn't have anger as well as any gentleness he had when he talked to his own daughter.
Li Na silently stepped forward and bowed a little to greet him.
"Greetings, Second Uncle."
General Li nodded his head in acknowledgment and then asked her
"The maid told me that she had seen you exiting Li Rui's courtyard. Do you know anything that happened inside the garden …something that could have triggered Li Rui to remember the incident from the Imperial Palace."
Li Na's fists were clenched inside her sleeve, however, on her face, she had a very innocent expression. Her eyes had the worry that a younger sister should have for her elder sister as she raised her head and answered General Li.
"Second Uncle, I have exited Elder Sister's courtyard with Li Chen and Li Caihong before Elder Sister went unconscious. So I don't know what really happened for Elder Sister to go in such a state. If only I knew that something like this would happen, then I would not have left Elder Sister alone."
She even took out her handkerchief and wiped the corner of her eyes with it.
Even Li Caihong who was standing behind her mother could not help but marvel at her sister's pretense.
General Li sighed after hearing Li Na's words. He glanced at the other children and his gaze suddenly paused at Li Chen who was peeking at him every now and then.
"Li Chen"
Li Na's face immediately went taut when she heard General Li calling for Li Chen.
Li Chen was also scared but he stepped forward ad bowed his head respectfully.
"Do you want to say something?"
The cold voice fell in his ears and he almost opened his mouth to say everything until Li Na's words flashed in his mind.
'They will either throw you out of Li Manor or sell you in the slave market.'
After leaving Li Ru's courtyard, Li Na had said these words to Li Chen so many times that now they were instilled there. His body trembled and he spat out stutteringly
"Second Un…cle…Can I go for training now?"
General Li didn't know whether he should laugh or get angry when he registered Li Chen's words in his mind.
"No, you can't"
He said firmly and then waved his hand to dismiss the children.
Li Rong sent her children back to the courtyard but she stayed there until the physician came out and told General Li about Li Rui's condition.
"General Li, your daughter seemed to have something in her mind. The fever is not because of the weather but it is there because of her own thoughts. And this one couldn't do anything to treat her as long as she would continue to ponder over this particular thing."
The physician said meaningfully.
The whole Imperial City knew what happened in the Imperial Palace banquet so the physician was also unaware of it.
After seeing Li Rui's situation, he couldn't help but pity the young girl even though in his eyes she was the girl who was daring enough to steal something from an Imperial Princess.
General Li also understood the physician's words and sighed heavily.
He asked the soldier to pay the physician and drop him back at his house. After that, he went inside Li Rui's room.
Li Rong also left the courtyard after some time.
Inside the room, General Li sat on the bed silently looking at Li Rui's unconscious face while Yi Jie changed the cloth on her forehead from time to time.
A few moments later, Li Mei and Li Hua stepped inside the room with a tray that had new cloth and a new bowl of cold water in their hands.
Yi Jie looked at their staggering steps and suddenly understood something. She looked at her husband in dismay, only to see that he had never looked away from Li Rui.
Even if General Li had noticed his wife's gaze, he would have said nothing because, in his eyes, he did nothing wrong. For his daughter, whose life was constantly in danger, he could not afford the ignorant servants and that's why he punished Li Hua and Li Mei for not being with Li Rui even if it was for only a few moments.
A moment later, General Li suddenly stood up from the bed. Yi Jie just looked at him thinking that he needed to go somewhere but she was startled when she suddenly saw him leaning down and throwing the cloth on Li Rui's away.
"Heng…what are y…
Yi Jie was forced to stop amidst her words when she saw General Li suddenly picking Li Rui with the blanket that covered her body her up from the bed.
Resting Li Rui's head on her shoulder, General Li started to walk towards the door of the room making everyone startled with his actions.
"Heng…Heng…where are you taking Rui?"
"Out is so cold, don't take her there."
However, General Li didn't stop no matter how much Yi Jie shouted for him. In the end, she could only wear her embroidered shoes and follow him out of the courtyard with Li Mei and Li Hua.
General Li walked very fast even though he had Li Rui in his arms who was completely covered with the thick blanket.
Until Yi Jie reached close enough to grab his arm and stop him, he had already stopped indicating that they had reached where he wanted to.
Yi Jie stopped as she panted and looked around. Her breathing stopped for a moment as she found that this place was behind Li Rui's courtyard.
The place where Li Zhan had been buried by them.
Yi Jie's lips quivered as she saw her husband walking to the left slowly where Li Zhan's grave was made.
Li Mei and Li Hua also looked at each other with teary-eyed.
They had visited this place since the day their Li Zhan Jiejie had been buried with their young Miss for a week. However, after a week, General Li suddenly asked them not to take Li Rui to Li Zhan's grave anymore. Both the maids could understand General Li.
So they and General Li did everything to make Li Rui so busy that she will not get the time to visit Li Zhan's grave.
However, when had they thought that the same General Li will bring Li Rui here …especially when she was in such a situation.
The source of this c𝐨ntent is freewe(b)nov𝒆l