War Prisoner - Chapter 49

They spent their days like this, time slipped by swiftly and without realising it, late summer was upon them. On this day, they had gone boating on the imperial lake, and Su Yi was admiring the lotus blossoms floating on the surface of the water while beside him, Wanyan Xu was reading a book. The Qi Palace had a huge collection of books, and because Wanyan Xu was fond of learning and self-improvement, he diligently studied them every day, and sometimes Su Yi even became his teacher.

The weather on that day was actually extremely hot, but the water of the pond was cool and a light breeze was stirring the air, making it incomparably comfortable to be on the boat. When Wanyan Xu had finished reading the scroll, he looked up and saw that Su Yi was beginning to doze off while leaning against the railing of the boat and he hurried to take Su Yi gently into his bosom. From admiring the lotus flowers, Su Yi had become relaxed, in addition he had consumed a few cups of osmanthus wine and now, he was feeling sleepy. Although he could feel that someone was holding him, he just opened his eyes slightly, fidgeted a little bit, tucked his head down and then began to sleep soundly in Wanyan Xu's arms. 

Wanyan Xu looked down at the man who was slumbering in his arms; the serene expression he wore in his sleep was vastly different to the one he wore when he was awake. He planted a light kiss on Su Yi's lip and sincerely felt in his heart that all he wished for was that Su Yi Su Yi would always sleep peacefully in his arms just like this for the rest of their lives and that Su Yi would share in the governance of this land, with its miles of lakes and hills, with him. If he could have these two things, he would wish for nothing else in his lifetime. He gave a contented sigh, and had Zi Nong bring over a cup of tea. Drinking it from her hands as he did not wish to relinquish his hold on Su Yi, he continued to read.

After an indeterminate length of time has passed, Su Yi began to awaken gradually. Opening his eyes, he was met with the sight of Wanyan Xu's handsome face just above his own. His eyes were fixed on the book he was reading, which rested on the table, while his strong-as-iron arms were gently encircling Su Yi, and were holding him in a position that was the most conducive for a comfortable sleep. Enthralled, he stared blankly at the sight before him. Waves of emotion rose in his heart, the silky threads of warm feeling could no longer be denied, strong enough to topple mountains and overturn seas, they spread to occupy every corner of his body.

Wanyan Xu's attention was still focused on his book, and he did not realise that Su Yi had awakened, until he happened to bow his head and saw that Su Yi was looking at him attentively with limpid eyes like clear water. He couldn't help but rejoice, gently propping Su Yi up, he said: “Are you still tired? Do you want to return to the palace for a rest? Although the weather is hot, and you are covered with this robe, you should still be careful or you might catch a cold.” 

Su Yi looked down, only then did he realise that without him knowing, Wanyan Xu had draped his own outer robe over Su Yi's body as a makeshift blanket. He quickly said: “No need, it is better to stay here; it will be too hot in the palace.” So saying, he took a piece of snack food from the dish Wanyan Xu offered to him, and ate it, accompanied by tea.

At the moment, Zi Yan, Zi Nong and Zi Liu were also on the boat, waiting on them. Zi Nong and Zi Liu gazed at the picture Wanyan Xu and Su Yi made, which could be considered harmonious and warm, and found that their hearts were gladdened. The exception was Zi Yan, who only cared to look at the sprawl of azure blue waters surrounding the boat. Suddenly a palace attendant came to report to Wanyan Xu, saying that various places in the Zhou province had been afflicted with plagues of locusts, and the local official there had dispatched emissaries to make a full report and they were waiting now in the Outer Court.

Wanyan Xu promptly stood up and said to Su Yi: “Accompany me and have a look?” Su Yi smiled and said: “You should go by yourself, as long as you keep the interests of the people in mind, I shall be grateful to you. Actually, I know that you will do that even without me saying.”

Wanyan Xu left, taking Zi Liu with him. Su Yi looked at Zi Nong and Zi Yan and said abruptly: “Zi Nong, go back and fetch me the two boxes of snacks that were delivered this morning, I suddenly have a craving for that type of food, and nobody else knows where I left it.” Zi Nong promptly agreed and left. After that, Su Yi looked at Zi Yan and said: “Miss, I've noticed that for a while now, you seem to have something to say to me whenever you happen to see me. Perhaps you hesitated because there were always other people around, but now that the two of us are alone, please don't refrain from speaking freely.”

With a cold smile, Zi Yan said: “Do you really wish to hear it? If you don't listen, you can continue to enjoy glory, splendour, wealth and rank with nary a care in the world, as well as the exclusive favour of His Majesty. Should you choose to listen, I'm afraid that an impending disaster that could cost you your life would be right in front of you. General Su, you must think it over carefully, I will only give you one opportunity to make your choice.”