The Wife of an Old Friend

General Huan Xuan rushed back from his garrison to see his dying friend one last time. They had been childhood companions, their bond deep and profound. His friend, pale and weak, grasped his hand and spoke in broken whispers: "My betrothed is all alone and pitiful. After I die, please take good care of her." Huan Xuan looked up and saw a woman with snow-white skin and dark hair hidden behind the curtain, her eyes swollen from crying. Fu Yunwan had suffered a lifetime of loneliness, her only stroke of luck being her betrothed, a man as noble as orchids and jade. She loved and respected him, longing only to marry him soon and stay by his side forever. But on the eve of their wedding, her b...