The meaning of "extreme sorrow turns to joy [1]", the meaning of "sincerity splits open gold and stone", the meaning of "hard work pays off for the resolute man", Wanyan Xu thoroughly understood the meaning of all such expressions in a split second. He was almost bursting with joy, and instinctively felt that he should cover his face with smiles and squeeze out two tears to express how moved he was. But all he did was to stare blankly at Su Yi; he didn't do anything, because he was incapable of doing anything.
After an inordinately long time has passed, just when Su Yi was wondering if the man before him had been suddenly struck by dementia, Wanyan Xu finally extended his arm, which was trembling slightly, and made a few movements before grabbing Su Yi in a hug. The force of the embrace nearly strangled Su Yi, such was Wanyan Xu's strength. Su Yi was alarmed but just as he was going to push away the man who was clinging to his body with a death grip, he heard Wanyan Xu whisper beside his ear, saying each word carefully: “Su Su, If I [2] can have you, I shall never want for anything else in my lifetime."
Su Yi was stunned, and abruptly halted all his movements. For some reason, this remark uttered at this time, did not arouse even a little of the usual humiliation in Su Yi. Instead he could only feel the truth of the statement resounding in each word. Sighing in his heart, he thought: although this man is the greatest enemy I shall have in this life, he is also a life-long close friend. Evidently, everything in this world cannot escape the words "fate makes playthings of men".
A little while later, when they came to the palace, they saw a crowd of palace administrators trot out from the gates. Stopping a short distance from Wanyan Xu, they knelt and a person near the front of the group said in a terrified manner: “Reporting to your Majesty, we had heard that your Majesty would arrive tomorrow, therefore we failed to travel out to receive your Majesty. Our crime is worthy of ten-thousand deaths, we request that your Majesty mete out punishment."
Wanyan Xu smiled amiably and said: “Please rise, I was impatient, and arrived ahead of schedule. Guarding this place with a skeleton crew must have been exhausting, there is no further need of reports. You have taken good care of this city, I have entered it in casual dress and I see that that the streets are bustling with activity even in normal circumstances. It has not been affected by the flames of war; this must be to your credit. You shall all be well rewarded.”
After hearing these words, the gathered administrators could finally relax, and crowded around Wanyan Xu as an escort as he entered the palace. At this point, it was getting late. After they had their meal, they randomly selected an outlying building in the palace complex to serve as their resting place for the night, waiting for the arrival of all the concubines and important officials on the morrow before making further arrangements.
Jin Liao has just moved her capital to Dou Yan, this matter alone caused much confusion and commotion. As the sovereign, Wanyan Xu did not have even a short moment of idleness, to the extent that he could not even visit Su Yi’s quarters to pester him. His absence was a relief to Su Yi, and he could begin to relax. Although Su Yi still had the wish to escape, he was prevented from doing so because, for one, Wanyan Xu had assigned guards to keep a close watch on him. For another, he knew full well that even if he should succeed in effecting his own escape, he could not possibly rescue all the people of Great Qi. His greatest weakness having been mastered by Wanyan Xu, for him to escape from the devil's palm was as difficult as scaling the heavens.
On this day, after the morning meal the little Crown Prince Wanyan Shuo again leisurely barged into Su Yi's quarters. He only smiled at Su Yi mysteriously, and continued to smile until Su Yi was totally baffled by his behaviour. Only then did Wanyan Shuo deign to speak, saying casually: "You still have the mood to read here? Can't you see that the Garden of Merriment just opposite has already been repaired and is ready for use?”
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