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War Prisoner - Chapter 52




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The sound of Yu Cang's steady footsteps gradually grew louder as he approached and Zi Nong's heart grew ever more conflicted. What should she do, His Majesty has summoned Yu Cang, evidently he intends to take some action, but it's just that Young Master... Young Master… In her heart of hearts, Zi Nong had no intention of accepting Su Yi’s escape as fact.

“Your loyal subject Yu Cang kowtows and salutes the Emperor, may Your Majesty live ten-thousand years, ten-thousand years, ten-thousand ten-thousand years [1]!” As the sound of his voice faded, a tall, strong and vigorous figure knelt down in front of Wanyan Xu.

Wanyan Xu silently looked at this person, who could be counted among the most capable of his courtiers. He had once been a steadfast and unyielding captive too, but after he had surrendered, he had been loyal and devoted to Wanyan Xu. But as for Su Su, even until today, the two words "I surrender" had never passed his lips. Without exception, the only reason he had agreed to anything was because Wanyan Xu had employed force to get his way. Perhaps he should have expected that this would be the logical outcome of his actions, right from the beginning. 

“Yu Cang, receive my [2] Imperial decree.” Wanyan Xu slowly seated himself and said: “I order you to coordinate your efforts with the High Minister of Justice, and immediately start searching both in the city and beyond the city for the escaped… Empress Su Yi. If you find him, you are to arrest him immediately but bear in mind that you are not to cause him any bodily injuries, I want you to bring him before me without a single hair harmed.” 

When she heard these remarks, Zi Yan's heart began to sink. She did not expect that even when matters had come to this, the Emperor would still show such consideration towards Su Yi. He even referred to Su Yi as the Empress, obviously the notion of deposing Su Yi had never even crossed his mind. Zi Nong, on the other hand, felt slightly reassured. She stole a look at Wanyan Xu to assess his expression and the look in his eyes, but there was no trace of his thoughts or emotions. She thought to herself that although the Emperor was really enraged this time, but somehow he managed not to show any concern or hurt on his inscrutable face. 
Yu Cang pondered deeply over his strategy for a while, before saying hesitantly: “Your loyal subject will always carry out Your Majesty's directives to his fullest ability, but if that... that Empress chooses to resist arrest, when the fighting commences, with him being highly skilled in martial arts, your loyal subject does not dare to guarantee that he will not be totally unscathed. I fear that I might not be able to fulfil Your Majesty's wishes.”  

Wanyan Xu thought over the problem for a long time, he understood well the degree of Su Yi's proficiency in martial arts. Although he could not hope to match Wanyan Xu's prowess by a long shot, when compared to the man before him, Yu Cang, their levesl of skill were pretty much identical. He nodded his head and said: “Just do your best. There is strength in numbers but they do not have to lay down their lives to comply with my wishes. Just keep in mind the result that I desire. But there is one condition you must fulfill. You will not bring his corpse back to see me, nor will I accept that any serious injury is inflicted upon him. Or else, in spite of whatever difficulties you might have experienced, you will have to suffer heavy punishment.”

Yu Cang bent his head down and answered "yes". With a furtive look at Zi Yan, he thought: If I have to suffer heavy punishment, then so be it. A heaven-sent opportunity like this comes only once, if I do not take advantage of it, I will not have another chance to get rid of him. Although his heart set on this course, what he presented on the surface was deferential respect as he promised to obey Wanyan Xu's wishes.

Wanyan Xu waved his hand and said: “You can go, I shall wait for your news.” After Yu Cang had taken his leave and left, Wanyan Xu slumped into the chair in profound despair, unable to keep his hands from rubbing his temples repeatedly. Suddenly he heard an impatient shout coming from behind the door: “Imperial Father.” He hurried to sit up straight, only to see that the little Crown Prince Wanyan Shuo had come dashing into the room. In his haste, the distance that should have been covered with three steps was spanned in two steps.


“Shuo Er…” Before he could finish speaking, Wanyan Shuo interrupted anxiously: “Imperial Father, I went to look for Mother Empress, but he wasn’t there. The palace maids and eunuchs said that he had ran away, is that true Imperial Father, is that true?” His little face was hot and flushed, and tears were already pooled in his eyes but he prevented them from falling through sheer willpower.  

Wanyan Xu looked at his son, and the pain in his heart grew even more acute. He thought: Su Su oh Su Su, you are indeed artful, after you have won over this pair of father and son, as easily as you flick your sleeves you left in such a dashing and casual manner with nary a care for the relationships we have developed. With his ears, he could hear that Wanyan Shuo's voice was growing more agitated as he said: “Imperial Father, I don’t believe it, I don’t believe that Mother Empress would run away. Earlier today, he even said that he would give me a test in three days to determine how I was doing in my school work, he won't say such a thing if he didn’t mean to do it.” After he finished speaking, he could no longer contain his tears, and they began to fall onto the floor, each drop producing a audible sound as it hit the green tiles.

Zi Yan's heart grew even more surprised. She knew that this little Crown Prince had always been insolent and considered everyone else to be beneath him, with the exception of his father. So why has he developed such a deep attachment to Su Yi? Hurriedly, she said to him in a low voice: “Crown Prince, what they said is correct, Empress Su Yi has indeed escaped. His Majesty has ordered General Yu to pursue and arrest him, I believe that he would be captured soon. A person like him, whose heart still belongs to the old Dynasty, is just the stubborn and unchanging surviving member of the evil former regime. There is really no need for the Crown Prince to shed tears for him.”

Wanyan Shuo glared fiercely at Zi Yan and suddenly gave a loud outburst: “I don’t believe it, I don’t believe that my Mother Empress is that type of person.” After that, he turned towards Wanyan Xu and said: “Imperial Father, how could you order Yu Cang to apprehend Mother Empress? His hatred for Mother Empress is as deep as the ocean, he will definitely take this opportunity to harm Mother Empress.”

Zi Yan's shock was great when she heard these words, and her eyes darted to Wanyan Shuo. But she heard Wanyan Xu's voice say soothingly: “That won’t happen, Imperial Father has already stipulated that General Yu is not to harm the Empress, he won't dare to disobey my instructions. You should return to your studies quickly, perhaps Su Su has been entrapped by someone, when he returns and wants to test you on your homework, what will you do then if you are not prepared?” So saying, he ordered Zi Nong: “Bring the Crown Prince back to his residence, also, go and tell those palace maids and eunuchs that they are not to spew nonsense, or else I won't let them off lightly.”  

Fear was creeping into Zi Yan's heart at a steady pace, she had never expected that even under such circumstances, Wanyan Xu would still retain faith in Su Yi. She thought that the situation was getting dangerous, but luckily, Yu Cang and her had made very careful arrangements, if they hadn't done so, perhaps not only would all their efforts have gone to waste, but they were likely to have brought upon a fatal disaster upon themselves.

Here, Zi Nong was leading Wanyan Shuo out by the hand. They had just reached the door when he suddenly wrenched himself free and said: “This won’t do, I must follow Yu Cang and find Mother Empress.” He ordered his personal guard Xiao Yan, who was the same age as himself: “Yan Yan, go with me, we need to hurry up and catch up with General Yu before he finds Mother Empress. Humph humph, if he thinks he can play tricks right under my eyes, he has another think coming.” So saying, he didn’t wait for Wanyan Xu to raise any objections and hurriedly sped off.

Zi Yan turned pale with fright at this development, and hurriedly said to Wanyan Xu: “Your Majesty, the Crown Prince is still young and is still not very sensible. It would not be good if he runs into any mishap. Even worse, if he should be taken hostage by that Su Yi and used as a tool to threaten us, the consequences don't bear thinking about. Your humble servant will go and retrieve him right away.”

Wanyan Xu waved his hand and said: “No need for that, let him do as he pleases, it's good for him to learn through experience, even if... even if Su Su has really defected, he also… he also needs to see it with his own eyes before he will believe it.” So saying, he heaved a heavy sigh. Zi Yan could only stand there feeling increasingly frantic, but she also did not dare to give chase after the little Crown Prince in open defiance of Wanyan Xu’s wishes.



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