War Prisoner - Chapter 72

“Su... Su Su...” Wanyan Xu was so horror-struck by this situation that had arisen so abruptly that he had almost lost his wits. He persisted in this state until Su Yi, who had finally used up the last of his strength and could no longer hold himself up, toppled softly into his arms. Only then did he seem to awake from his trance and at long last, his mind came to process all that had transpired. All of a sudden, he gave a forceful roar that tore at one's heart and cracked one's lungs: “Su Su...” And then he tightly hugged Su Yi's broken and limp body, in panic he wildly cried out: “Somebody come... Zi Liu... Zi Liu... Su Su, what happened to you? What is happening to you?”

Blood was still spilling out in large spurts from Su Yi's mouth, with movements that were clumsy from being flustered, Wanyan Xu hurriedly covered his mouth. Tears of fright were slipping down his face and he implored Su Yi with a choked voice: “Su Su... Su Su... don’t throw up anymore, I beg you not to throw up anymore...” Wanyan Shuo, Zi Nong and the rest, who had been standing to the side had also rushed to crowd around Su Yi. Suddenly, they heard a genteel voice say loudly: “Everybody, give way. Your Majesty please remove your hand, let Young Master get rid of all the residual blood in his body.” As it turned out, the voice belonged to none other than Zi Liu. She had gone to the back room to fetch a cloak for Wanyan Xu when she suddenly heard his voice coming from the hall in front. His tone of his voice had changed drastically and he was calling for her. When she came back to the hall, with a single look, she roughly understood what had happened. Now, she quickly stepped forward and saw that Su Yi's chest, as well as Wanyan Xu's robes, was sodden with fresh blood. At the sight, Zi Liu could not stop her own face from turning pale; lifting Su Yi's wrist, she took his pulse [1] for a little while before slowly getting back onto her feet, while hanging her head.

Just from her actions, Wanyan Xu and Zi Nong, etcetera could clearly understand how the situation stood. Wanyan Xu embraced Su Yi even more tightly. He suddenly tugged at the front of Zi Liu's jacket and looked at her with crazed eyes as he loudly hissed between his teeth: “No... Su Su’s only vomiting blood, Zi Liu, I [2] order you to save his life... I know you will be able to save his life... Zi Liu...” 

Suddenly he heard a small, reedy voice coming from below, saying: “Wanyan [3], don’t be like this...” He quickly looked down at Su Yi, only to see that a melancholic smile had taken up residence at the corners of Su Yi's blood-stained lips. Laboriously, Su Yi raised a hand and wiped away the tears that had covered Wanyan Xu's face before saying tenderly: “Everyone has to die at some point, don’t be sad, or else... or else when I go... I will not be at peace.” Su Yi took a glance around the whole room and saw Wanyan Shuo. The boy had been scared silly and at this time, he could only weep. Quickly, Su Yi grabbed his hand and said: “Child, don’t cry. You should... you should forget all about me quickly... I... in this life, I am already deeply in the debt of you and your father... if... if you still shed tears over me... it is not worth it... moreover... moreover it is not... something that a monarch should do...” 

At this point, he had to stop and gasp a few times for air, suddenly a fresh burst of fishy sweetness rose in his throat and again, he spit out another large mouthful of blood. At the moment, in his heart, he had ten-thousand words that he wished to say, but he was unable to speak even one word and could only try to convey them with his eyes by looking at Wanyan Xu over and over again. The look in his eyes was one of manifold reluctance to part, but also said that he was helpless to prevent it.

Zi Liu's heart was greatly pained; this disease that caused the afflicted to vomit blood in such quantity was invariably a death sentence, but when she saw the look in Su Yi's eyes, a feeling of adamantine resolution unexpectedly took hold in her heart and she was determined to pit all the healing skills she had learned in her lifetime against the disease in a bid to save his life. Therefore, she quickly said: “Your Majesty, since Young Master is not vomiting blood for now, quickly carry him to the bed on the second floor. It is important that he can lie down horizontally now. Your servant... your servant... will do her utmost to try to save his life.”　

Wanyan Xu hurriedly picked up Su Yi and made to carry him to the second storey, but suddenly, he saw that all the ministers were standing in front of him. In unison, they said: “Your Majesty, Su Yi is guilty of a heinous crime. By right, he should have been put to death but because of Your Majesty's magnanimity, he was spared the death penalty. Now that he is beset with serious illness, it must be Heaven's will. We beseech Your Majesty to do what is best for our state and our lands [4].” The meaning behind their words was crystal clear --- it didn’t matter if Su Yi died because he was merely a criminal that should have died long ago.

“All of you... give way, I demand of you...” Wanyan Xu looked at these important ministers viciously, the look in his eyes was akin to a wild wolf mother whose cubs were being threatened with death. His Su Su, his pitiful Su Su, he was the one who had caused Su Su’s doom and these people had been his accomplices. Why bring up the country and the land, why bring up guilty of a heinous crime. His Su Su's time on earth was already running out, why did these people still refuse to let him off, why did they still refuse to let Wanyan Xu off? He saw that the ministers were still bowing with their hands cupped in a gesture of obeisance, but they made no move to get out of his way. 

Fury and panic finally overtook his heart and he yelled: “All of you... will you only be satisfied when he breathes his last in front of your eyes? Just how far do you intend to push me? Get lost, I want all of you to get lost. At the most I won’t be the Emperor anymore, I don’t want the throne anymore, alright?” He looked at Su Yi, who had fallen into an unconscious state in his embrace and felt that his own liver and guts were being cut into pieces, such was his pain. He pressed his face against that icy-cold cheek, with tears pouring down his face like rain, he said: “Su Su, I won’t be the Emperor anymore, I will go with you. We'll look for a place that is just like the Garden of the Peaches of Immortality [5] and we'll live there, just the two of us. We will no longer be burdened with responsibility towards the country and people, we will no longer be constrained by the etiquette required of us by ministers, we... just the two of us...”

The gathered ministers looked at each other, but none of them were willing to step aside. Yu Cang and Concubine Yin looked upon this scene and their hearts were secretly rejoicing. Suddenly they saw that Zi Yan had stepped forward, after looking around at all the ministers she said in a solemn voice: “Honourable sirs, please leave. The most important thing now is to save a life. Shortly, when the dust has settled, His Majesty will naturally give an account of this matter to all of you.” When the crowd heard her words, they did not find them remarkable, except for Yu Cang, who got a shock. He stared at her closely, but Zi Yan did not give him even a single glance.

“I’ll say it one more time; all of you get out of my way, or else don’t blame me for being merciless.” Wanyan Xu raised his head once again and the tone of his words harboured a sinister coldness that had not been present before. He didn't care anymore, what of courtiers, what of criminals; they could all go to hell for all he cared. He only wanted his Su Su, as long as he could once again have his Su Su standing in front of him with a gentle smile, he would do anything. If anyone dared to hinder him, he would kill that person.

“Withdraw, all of you. Or are you trying to force an abdication? As Zi Yan has said, you will have an explanation in the days to come. At the moment, the Emperor is indisposed from heartache, and he is not in the right frame of mind. There is no need for you to press him so insistently. I [6] will have all of you withdraw now. Or do you mean to say that just because the Emperor wishes to save someone, you all feel that it is necessary to stage a rebellion?” At this critical juncture, the Empress Dowager finally stepped up. After the ministers exchanged a few more glances with each other, they finally hastily withdrew and said as one: “Your subject would never dare.”