War Prisoner - Chapter 53

With a belly full of hopeful expectations and counting his chickens before they are hatched, Yu Cang set off to deal with his bête noir once and for all. But before he was even half-a-mile into his journey, he heard the thundering of horses' hooves behind him, when he turn back for a look, he saw that the Crown Prince Wanyan Shuo and his personal bodyguard Xiao Yan had caught up to him. Shocked and dismayed, he hurried to dismount from his horse to formally greet Wanyan Shuo, before saying: “The body of the Crown Prince is more valuable than ten-thousand taels of gold, I wonder what is the important matter that has caused you to come here personally?”

Wanyan Shuo gave a “humph” and said: “My heart is troubled over my Mother Empress and I want to go with you to chase after him. General Yu please rise, it is important that we find Mother Empress as soon as possible.”

In his heart, Yu Cang thought: If you are to go with me, won’t my plan be ruined? Therefore he hurried to raise his objections: “The Crown Prince must not do that. You must be mindful of your exalted status, it is not appropriate for you to take risks casually. If that treacherous subject should...”

Before he could finish that line, he was impatiently interrupted by Wanyan Xu who said: “Stop spouting nonsense. My Imperial Father has not even deposed the Empress yet, but you dare to refer to him as a treacherous subject. You are guilty of the crime of showing great disrespect, aren't you afraid of the consequences? If you defer to my wishes today, I shall not pursue this further. But if not, then be prepared for me to lodge a complaint against you in front of my Imperial Father, and you can be sure that I will embellish the tale to present you in the worst possible light. As you well know, I’m not a very reasonable person.” With that said, he gave a sinister laugh, and spurring his horse on, he passed by Yu Cang.

Of course, Yu Cang knew full well just how formidable this little demon king could be and he did not dare to obstruct him any further. He could only suffer in silence as he proceeded to "search" for Su Yi in Wanyan Shuo's company. His heart was filled with hate, but he could only grind his teeth helplessly. It would seem like his scheme was going to fail, all because of a hiccup when it was time for the final push. The only silver lining he could see was that if he executed his plans well, when the time came, it would be Wanyan Xu who would be demanding that Su Yi be put to death.

Speaking of Su Yi, he did not know how much time had passed after he had been knocked senseless by the airborne drug before he began to gradually stir himself and regain consciousness. His eyes registered that he was in a large hall and a group of people were peering at him intently. He could not tell who they were affiliated with, since they were all dressed differently. When they saw that he was awake, their eyes filled with ridicule and one of them said in a malicious voice: “Empress Consort, my humble self was ordered by General Yu to make a request of the Empress Consort on his behalf. He requests that the Empress Consort put on a performance with us. General Yu said that for the sake of the lives of your compatriots, the Empress Consort will definitely be willing to comply with this request.”

Su Yi gave a protracted sigh, understanding in his heart that Zi Yan and Yu Cang had finally launched their operation to remove him. In his heart he thought: could it be possible that this was the fated course of his life? In becoming the Empress of Jin Liao, he had earned the rebuke of the intelligentsia that were loyal to the Great Qi. Now he had been entrapped, and he was going to be forced to say that he had betrayed Wanyan Xu. The common people of Great Qi, who supported Wanyan Xu's rule by large, would undoubtedly also rebuke him for this. Was it that from the moment he was taken captive, he had been doomed to this fate, the fate of becoming an object of scorn and derision of everybody under Heaven?

But at the moment, he only said blandly: “I already know what type of role you want me to play in your performance. Su Yi is just one person; my life is not even worth mentioning as long as it means that my countrymen will remain unharmed. Rest assured, I will wait for General Yu to come here and kill me.”

The people in the hall exchanged a few surprised glances and the man who had originally spoken said: “Good, General Su lives up to his reputation indeed.” So saying, he turned to his accomplices and said: “Since General Su has already agreed, you should hurry off and make the necessary preparations. The person who was assigned to make the report to General Yu should lead him here soon.” Before his words had faded, they heard raucous voices ringing out from the street.

At that moment, in the street corner Wanyan Shuo was looking coldly at the "house servant" that had approached them with a report. In a strident voice he said: “This is the place? After Mother Empress escaped, he met up with your master to plot in secret about how to bring about a rebellion to overthrow Jin Liao, all that took place in this mansion? Are you sure you are not lying?”

The "house servant" who had ran out to them in the middle of their search said: “That’s right. Your humble servant does not dare to tell lies, it was here. My master keeps a close eye on all his servants, it was with difficulty that I managed to bribe the doorman to let me out, I had to lie that I needed to return home urgently because my old mother has taken ill. But from what the Crown Prince said, you suspect your humble servant? No matter how much courage your humble servant has, he will not dare to lie to the Crown Prince and General Yu.”

Wanyan Shuo gave a cold laugh and said: “I think Mother Empress is really inside this house, but your appearance is really too much of a coincidence. General Yu and I had only just started to search for Mother Empress's whereabouts when you showed up. Even if you truly wished to make a report, how would you know where we would be? It looks more like somebody had arranged for you to be there in advance.”

That "house servant" and Yu Cang both felt a jolt of fright in their hearts, but that fellow was also possessed of a cunning nature, after he heard Wanyan Shuo's words he quickly said laughingly: “How would your humble servant know where General Yu and Your Royal Highness the Crown Prince would be? But that is the road leading to the Shun Tian Prefect Office. Your humble servant usually would not even dare to approach the General's door, much less the Imperial Palace. So I had intended to make my way to the Shun Tian Prefect Office to make a report to the high official in charge of the county. But as it happened, I saw Your Highness and General Yu, so I came forward to make my report to you.”

Wanyan Shuo nodded and said: “That being so, could General Yu please knock on the door.” 

Yu Cang hurriedly replied: “Yes.” And then he ordered his men to break down the door to force their entry. Wanyan Shuo said furiously: “I only asked you to knock on the door, what is all this commotion for? What shall we do if Mother Empress is frightened? How dare you defy my instructions?”　　

Yu Cang hurried to bend his body in a bow to Wanyan Shuo and said: “This insignificant general would never dare. But there is one thing we have to keep in mind when dealing with these traitors. That is, they are all exceptionally sly. If they hear a knock on the door and see so many uniformed troops outside, they would certainly know that their plot has been uncovered. At that point, they would certainly scatter and flee. The Empress is accomplished in martial arts, if he has the opportunity to escape, we wouldn't know where to find him.”

Wanyan Shuo gave a peeved “humph” but he had to concede that there was logic in Yu Cang’s words. Unable to nitpick further, he walked in with a sullen look on his face, only to be confronted with the sight of several men engaging the uniformed Jin Liao troops in a fierce battle. Among them was a man dressed in white, his robes fluttered in the wind and his entire appearance was as attractive as jade. Although he was engaged in a fight to the death with his enemies, every single stroke and every move he made was imbued with grace and beauty. When Wanyan Shuo's attention was drawn to him, his heart was shaken to its core and without meaning to, he blurted out: “Mother Empress... You... You... You...” His heart overcome by excruciating pain, he could not continue to speak.

Su Yi gave a long exhale, and turned back to look. However, the guard that was by his side whispered to him: “The consort should fight more seriously, if the Crown Prince sees that something is wrong, don't imagine that even a single one of your compatriots would be able to preserve their lives.” His heart quaked, and he recovered his concentration. Although suffering boundless anguish in his heart, he had no choice but to act as though he was trying his utmost to break out of his encirclement.

Wanyan Shuo looked on blankly, all the while feeling that his heart was sinking slowly but inexorably, as if it was sinking into an abyss that was so deep that the eye could not see where it ended, until his whole body felt devoid of all warmth. He almost didn't even have the strength to sit up, luckily Xiao Yan noticed the state he was in and quickly stepped forward to support him.