War Prisoner - Chapter 48

It could be said that a mistimed remark could cause even Heaven and Earth to change their mood; upon hearing Su Yi's seemingly innocuous remark, Wanyan Xu's exultant comportment immediately changed. Like a mouse that had just spied a fierce hound close by, he began to cower, his previously gleeful high-spirits and bragging quickly replaced by a hemming and hawing stutter: “That... that... Su Su... you... you still... still don’t trust... don’t trust me [1]? What... what is there... that is so nice to see... the day... the day is getting late... we... should go back.”

Zi Nong was also terrified by the prospect, her usually rosy cheeks turned white and when she heard her Master's words, she hurried to echo his protests and said: “That’s right, Young Master, your humble servant is willing to guarantee with her life that those people are fine. His Majesty's words are reasonable, it is getting late. It is not right that we should leave the palace incognito for a jaunt in the city in the first place, to return back late would be even more unforgivable.”

But Su Yi heart was set on carrying out his plan, with a light chuckle he said: “Don't you feel that all your words would only serve to increase the misgivings I already have?” So saying, he ignored the two of them and left, heading towards the old neighbourhood where he used to reside.

Oh Young Master, whatever happens, you have to be clever. I pray ten-thousand times that you will not reveal the secret that Zi Liu and I share. These were Zi Nong's thoughts as she walked behind Su Yi, her anxiety rising the more she thought. She cast a look at her Master who was walking beside her, when she saw that he was wearing a similarly forlorn expression, in her heart she felt that there was something she did not quite understand. Stealthily, she touched him lightly and in a very small voice she asked: “Master, if Young Master learns the truth, it will only be advantageous to you. Why are you putting on such a gloomy face, is it really necessary?”

With wide eyes, Wanyan Xu looked at Zi Nong, in a lowered voice, he chided her: “Idiot, what advantage is there. If he had discovered the truth at the scene that day, maybe there would have been a possibility that he would have felt a bit comforted by the knowledge that I am not someone who is devoid of conscience. But now, the impression he has of me as a vicious and remorseless monster is firmly imprinted on his heart. Besides, because of this ploy, he has been forced to become the Empress, at this point of time if he manages to find those people and learn that they had joined forces with me to fool him, won’t this... won’t this mean that in his eyes, I will be guilty of yet another transgression? Also this charge being guilty of deception is not to be taken lightly, if he lets his imagination run wild, he might think that the love I have for him is just another one of my deceits. What do you... what do you think we should do now?”

Stupefied and dumbstruck, Zi Nong could only stare at her Master, who she had always found to be brilliant and farsighted man of meticulous methods, and thought: Heavens, Master doth think too much. Then, she heard Wanyan XU murmuring softly to himself again: “Amitabha [2], please bestow a million blessings on those people, do not let them give the game away. If Su Su finds out that they lied to him, and earned ten taels of silver in the process, not only will there be no benefit to them, but Su Su's feelings will also be hurt.”

As he made his way to his old neighbourhood, Su Yi noticed that on the whole, the city had changed very little from the time he left for the border. When he saw that that was true even for the very street where he had lived, the familiar sight caused his nose to feel a little bit sensitive and he was in serious danger of shedding tears. He slowly came to the mansion that used to be his home, only then did he realise that after he left for his post, the Qi Emperor must have expropriated his residence and awarded it to someone else. A man, who he recognised as an official who had served the Qi Emperor, and his family were living in this house now, and even all his old servants were gone. These circumstances evoked sad feelings, and he was unwilling to stay longer. Instead, he came to the house of the childless old lady that he had helped to support, only to find that coincidentally, most of his old neighbours were gathered there to socialise and were engaging in relaxing idle chat. Among them were the pregnant lady and the mother of the girl who had been "threatened" that day.

Wanyan Xu felt a cold hand close over his heart at this most unfortunate and unexpected development --- who could have thought that Su Yi would find every single one of the principal actors in his play at one fell swoop? His face turned white, while beside him, Zi Nong's face turned green. When the people in the house saw them, they were stunned by the surprise at first, but soon remembered their manners and hurried to pay their respects.

Wanyan Xu's heart was pounding like a drum that was being repeatedly struck, just as he was about to say something to those people to hint that they should keep up the act, Su Yi, who had already taken a good look around the house, smiled gently and said: “Now that I see that you are all living well, I am relieved.” As his words faded, he saw the pregnant lady step forward. With a look of shame blanketing her face, she said: “Big Brother Su, about the matter of us conspiring with the Emperor to deceive you, I was the one who made that decision for everybody. Please do not blame anyone else, I am here, you can punish me as you see fit.” With these words, she tried to kneel in front of Su Yi, but Su Yi caught her with one hand and prevented her from doing so.

As for Wanyan Xu, he had ascended the throne of Jin Liao during a tumultuous and troubled time and had experienced many different scenes. His attitude could be described as "I shall attain mastery of everything below Heaven and above the Earth." No one could have imagined that when he saw his web of lies being blown away so easily, he would feel like he was on the verge of collapsing himself. Luckily, Zi Nong had seen the danger and held him up, she thought to herself: This woman confessed immediately when she saw Young Master, she is very straightforward indeed but it might not be wise for her to assume responsibility. But since she has done this, Master would not suspect that Zi Liu and I had already exposed his secret, so this can be counted as a silver lining in the midst of misfortune. After these thoughts passed through her mind, she raised her head and saw that Su Yi was looking in their direction with eyes as clear as spring water.

Wanyan Xu looked at his sweetheart, but words failed him and he was unable to speak. He heard Su Yi ask him: “Wanyan Xu, Madam Lei said she helped you to deceive me, what is that all about?” Hurriedly, Wanyan Xu fought to recover a little bit of his shattered imperial dignity; after sneaking a resentful glare at Madam Lei, he plastered a smile on his face and said to Su Yi: “It’s... It’s nothing much, I just thought that if I really had really ended up cost any of them their lives, you would never have been able to forgive me for as long as you live. So I just thought... I only wanted to use them to scare you into submission. But I was afraid that they could not take the fright, if any of them really died of fear, this is not... that would still be counted as me killing them... that’s why... that’s why... that’s why... the rest, Su Su you should know very clearly.” When he finished speaking, he found that he did not dare to look at Su Yi any longer, and hung his head in guilt, expecting retribution from his beloved.

A long time passed but the angry snarls and loud abuse he was expecting did not materialise. As he was wondering why, he suddenly saw a long, slender yet strong hand reach out to clasp his own. When he raised his head and gazed in astonishment at Su Yi, to add to his surprise, Su Yi was wearing an expression that Wanyan had never seen on his face before --- it was soft and tender. With a gentle smile, Su Yi said: “You are the ruler of a nation, how can you look so disheartened? People will laugh when they see such a thing, you should put that expression away quickly.”

Wanyan Xu was by nature a cunning and clever person, and he couldn't but to feel a bit suspicious at this moment. As he looked at his beloved's face, which was as serene as a pool of limpid autumn water, he questioned whether this was just the calm before a violent storm, and Su Yi was simply waiting for them to return to the palace before calling him to account. The more he mulled over the strange happenings of today, the more uneasy he felt. As he watched Su Yi begin to converse happily with those people, he began to worry that he would reveal himself to be the henpecked husband that he had become in front of all these common folk. With Zi Nong in tow, they quickly made their retreat from the house and the two put their heads together to think hard of a way to deal with the situation but even after pondering for a long time, they could come up with nothing.

Contrary to Wanyan Xu's expectation, after they had returned to the palace, Su Yi did not even care to bring up the matter again. Wanyan Xu was on edge and spent a few days walking on eggshells around Su Yi, but Su Yi seemed to have completely forgotten about the whole incident and his attitude towards Wanyan Xu even softened --- it was far from the intense resentment and hatred that he had shown him previously. Feeling secretly delighted in his heart, he thought: Maybe after Su Su found out about the truth, he feels less disgusted with me. With that in mind, he could finally stop worrying and he showed even more favour and affection towards Su Yi. Sometimes, when he encountered some difficulties in his rule, he would discuss it with Su Yi and he came to find that his beloved really did live up to his reputation for being an expert in both civil and military matters. Unfortunately, he had been born at the wrong time in the wrong place, his talents had been thoroughly wasted by the fatuous Qi Emperor.

Su Yi's frame of mind was also undergoing a gradual change. The respect Wanyan Xu showed to Su Yi, the way he cherished and cared for Su Yi, all these demonstrated to Su Yi that Wanyan Xu was indeed in love with him, and his feelings were not merely an obsession born from a desire to conquer Su Yi. When Su Yi thought about it carefully, both as an Emperor and as a husband, this man was outstanding. The only thing he could fault Wanyan Xu for was that he had fallen in love with the wrong person. As a man, he should not have fallen in love with Su Yi, another man, but perhaps that choice was not something that he could be expected to control.

Every time he thought of this, Su Yi would find that his hatred towards Wanyan Xu had lessened by a little. Although the expression he wore on his face remained the same, the feelings in his heart had long began to heat up, could it be... could it be that he could really forget about all the various humiliations he had suffered, could it be that he was really going to fall in love with the enemy that had destroyed his country? No, he could not accept, nor could he dare to believe that this would be his answer.