War Prisoner - Chapter 46

Here, we must remember the kind of child Wanyan Shuo was. Precocious and devious, he was just like a cunning little fox cub. When he saw that Su Yi was assuming such an unexpected demeanour after his teasing --- one wholly without shame or distress --- his alert mind registered that something unusual was about to happen and his heartbeat quickened and became stronger, like a drum had replaced his heart. He murmured to himself: “Don’t tell me that I pushed him too hard and now he’s determined to subdue me.” Sneaking another glance at Su Yi's face, he grew even more convinced that his hunch was correct and decided that it was time to apply the metaphorical oil to his soles for speed and beat a hasty retreat. He put on a winning smile and said: “Ah, Mother Empress, about that lesson... Your son and subject has suddenly remembered that there is an important thing that he has neglected to do, your son and subject must retire first to attend to that matter.” So saying, he turned and was about to take to his heels and escape.

Su Yi gave a cold laugh. Although his expertise in martial arts was greatly inferior when compared to Wanyan Xu's level of mastery, he was still a highly-skilled practitioner in his own right. Although Wanyan Shuo was fond of training in martial arts, he was still a small child and was of course no match for Su Yi. He only had time to give one yelp of "Aiyo!" as Su Yi caught him by his collar before he found himself dangling in the air, with Su Yi still holding onto his collar. Su Yi leaned closer to him before saying laughingly: “What’s that important matter? Was it to steal eggs from birds' nests or was it to cause trouble for that concubine? I distinctly remember that you should be attending lessons with the Imperial Tutor at this time, how could there be another matter that needs your urgent attention?” With that said, he tossed the boy to Zi Nong and said: “Follow me, and bring him along.”

Zi Nong answered in the affirmative, keeping a firm grip on Wanyan Shuo who was still trying to engineer an escape, she said softly to him: “Your Highness, it’s not that Big Sister does not want to help you. Although Young Master is usually genial and mellow, but when his anger has been provoked, he is extremely dangerous. Even His Majesty might have to make some concessions when he is like that. You should just be resigned to your fate, it's your fault that you chose to provoke him for fun anyway.” They followed behind Su Yi, until they came to the small study room that was used for Wanyan Shuo's lessons.

At the moment, the two Imperial Tutors were drinking tea and chatting. Wanyan Shuo disliked attending class, and these two tutors were also happy that they could take it easy when he decided to skip his lessons. Their lax attitude towards their job suited Wanyan Shuo perfectly and was the only reason why the little devil did not scheme of ways of forcing them to relinquish their posts. All the tutors that he had had before were serious and dedicated, and they had all been forced to resign through his ploys. When Su Yi stepped into the room and witnessed for himself how the two conducted their business, he couldn't help but to furrow his brows, thinking to himself: how can people like them be considered suitable for the job of educating the next monarch? Because his only intention had been to punish the little Crown Prince; and also because he was still ultimately unhappy and uncomfortable in his role as the new Empress, he did not give vent to such thoughts. Instead, he took a seat and said: “Crown Prince, didn’t you say that you wanted me to guide you? Today, I shall stay here and see how you go about your lessons.”

The two tutors already knew that the Emperor had gone to much trouble to wed the Empress and that he was the apple of the Emperor's eye, constantly showered with the Emperor's affection and favour. When the two of them saw that this very Empress Consort had arrived in the flesh and had witnessed their idleness, they were so terrified that they threw themselves to the ground and began kowtowing. They had only just regained their feet when they heard Su Yi say that he intended to stay in the study and observe Wanyan Shuo's lesson. Of course, to try to demonstrate their industriousness, they tried to keep the Crown Prince at his lessons for a longer time, but Wanyan Shuo naturally refused to comply. Met with his resistance and disobedience in front of the Empress, the Imperial Tutors were so anxious that cold sweat was beading on their brows.

By the end of the whole episode, Wanyan Shuo had experienced what Su Yi was capable of when he got serious and now knew how formidable he could be. To Wanyan Shuo's displeasure, not only did he dismiss these two slothful Imperial Tutors and he recall his former tutors, who Wanyan Shuo viewed as stodgy doddering old fellows who were always badgering him, but Su Yi also set Wanyan Shuo a task. If he couldn't complete it by the due date, he would be heavily punished by having to copy out The Analects of Confucius [1] five-hundred times. When he protested this treatment by saying: “Who are you to me, what gives you the right to control me like this”, Su Yi immediately rebutted by borrowing his own words, saying: “That’s a really funny question, am I not your Mother Empress? Since you had personally requested me to assume the responsibility of overseeing your education, how could I let you be disappointed?” Wanyan Shuo noticed that when the two words "Empress Mother" passed Su Yi's lips, they did so through gritted teeth and the expression that Su Yi was wearing gave him the distinct impression that Su Yi would like nothing more than to eat him for dinner. To Wanyan Shuo's chagrin, he came to the sad realisation that he had done something dumb; his actions had been so self-defeating that he might just as well have lifted up a large rock and dropped it on his own foot.

“Who knew that this Su Yi could be so vengeful!” Dolefully, he muttered this line quietly to himself, but when he looked at the departing Su Yi's receding back, he still could not admit defeat and said loudly: “You are going to so much trouble on my behalf, trying to educate me to become a wise and eminent ruler like my Imperial Father. Could it be that you no longer have any hopes of restoring the Great Qi?”

Su Yi did not bother to turn back, he only said coldly: “As your Imperial Father once said, ‘the people are most important, the state is second, and the monarch is the least important. As long as the people can enjoy peace and prosperity, the specifics of who is on the Dragon Throne is not important.’ I feel that there is some logic to his words. You should concentrate on your studies and learn well, don’t disappoint the expectations I have of you.”

Wanyan Shuo could only stare after him with utter bafflement. He had long known that Su Yi was not a simple character, but he was shocked because ever since his Imperial Father had taken up with Su Yi, he had only ever seen the pedantic side of Su Yi's personality. Although Wanyan Shuo knew that Su Yi could not be classed as being feeble or easily bullied, he thought that Su Yi only knew how to constantly grieve over his destroyed country, bemoan his lot in life, and indulge in self-pity and self-censure. No matter how he had tried, he had not been able to see how Su Yi's reputation as being outstandingly resourceful and surpassingly quick-witted was justified. That was the reason why he had the guts to bully and tease Su Yi to entertain himself in the first place, but it seems like he had badly misjudged this person and had been quickly served with his just desserts.

But the most pressing problem was this: If he didn't listen to Su Yi, all Su Yi had to do was give his Imperial Father a slight hint of what had happened and his Imperial Father, who had already long been dissatisfied with Wanyan Shuo's lackadaisical attitude towards his lessons, would certainly punish him severely. Hu Hu Hu.

By now, the reverence Zi Nong held for Su Yi could not possibly grow any deeper; as she accompanied him back to the Garden of Merriment, in her excitement, she chattered away merrily: “Young Master, I've never seen the Crown Prince be so obedient before, hahaha, he has finally experienced how formidable Young Master can be. You don't know the full extent of how undisciplined and out-of-control he can get. In the whole palace, His Majesty was the sole person that could ever control him, everybody else does not even dare to try. But His Majesty is always busy with other matters, and on account of the Crown Prince losing his mother at an early age and having many bouts of serious illnesses when he was younger, His Majesty inevitably tends to spoil him overmuch. Young Master, since he is also willing to listen to your directions now, you should also tell him not to keep bullying those long-suffering imperial concubines. But that is not an urgent matter, you can tell him that in future.”

Su Yi gave a grunt and said: “He won't have the time to go harass anybody else, if he can do the task I set for him in time and meet all the stipulations, he will already be considered accomplished, there won’t be enough time for him to go gallivanting off to play. This child is really too atrocious, he catches onto people's weaknesses and does not let go, it's time for him to be taken in hand. Admittedly, Wanyan Xu has many important things that need his attention, but he should not have indulged his son to this extent.”

As his words faded, he suddenly heard a gentle voice behind him. In a smiling tone, it said: “Yes yes yes, my dear Su Su, your husband admits his mistake, and wishes to thank you ten-thousand times for guiding Shuo Er on my behalf. You can have free reign over him, I [2] can only be grateful to you for your efforts.” The two of them were startled and turned back, to be met with the sight of Wanyan Xu --- Heaven only knew when he had appeared --- standing right behind them, wearing a huge smile on his face and staring fixatedly at Su Yi with eyes that were filled with infinite love. He was only preoccupied with looking at his inamorato, what he did not know was that Su Yi was actually just about to look for him.