War Prisoner - Chapter 89

Soon after, He Jian entered into the room, after he had paid homage to the Imperial personages in the room he said: “Reporting to Your Majesty, The guard we had apprehended who was in charge of securing the scholars is still refusing to make a confession but the scholars themselves have already told us the truth. They have confirmed that Honourable Minister Yu was behind the plot to frame the Empress; they even said that Honourable Minister Yu had personally led the operation to capture them. To prevent word from leaking out, he only brought along a few trusted aides. Although the number of scholars outnumbered them by many counts, they were all physically very weak and thus were helpless when faced with men who were well-versed in martial arts and were easily captured. Because General Yu has an elevated status, so this old minister has come to ask for Your Majesty's instructions. Does Your Majesty wish to have the General arrested and brought in for questioning?”

Wanyan Xu said: “Why did those scholars only speak up now? Is there any possibility that they are making a false statement?”

He Jian bowed and said: “This is an oversight of this old minister, I had concentrated all my efforts towards the man guarding the scholars and only thought of questioning the scholars when I returned to the ministry after our earlier audience. This old minister has questioned them separately and their stories corroborated each other's. Therefore I can confidently say that I do not suspect them of collusion.”

In actual fact, Wanyan Xu had only tossed out the question casually. Zi Yan had already told him about everything; there could be no doubt about Yu Cang's involvement. For a long time, the only sound from him was a long "hmmm" as he pondered before issuing his command: “Even when the Son of Heaven has committed a crime, his punishment should be the same as that meted out to the common man. Besides, he is only a general. When my [1] own Empress was framed by him, did he not also have to endure suffering that was unprecedented in his life? For the Honourable Minister He to seek advice on this matter, he is being overly cautious. On well, it doesn't matter since you have already come. That Yu Cang is still invested with military authority at the moment, I think that the guards in his manor would surely be difficult to deal with. I will give you a secret Imperial Decree now, you are to go in all haste to find the Minister Lin Ye, who is in charge of the Ministry of War and show it to him. Yu Cang must be captured in one fell swoop.” 

So it transpired that Wanyan Xu had been very cautious when it came to administering his Empire. Military power in the realm had been divided into three portions --- big, medium and small. He had personally assumed control of the largest share. Although Yu Cang was an enemy general who had surrendered and then switched his loyalties, he had proven himself by accomplishing exceptionally meritorious deeds in the service of Jin Liao time and again. Therefore he had been awarded the medium portion of military power. As for the Minister of War Lin Ye, he controlled the smallest share. However the troops that were part of Yu Cang's command were largely stationed outside the capital, therefore even though it was Lin Ye's small portion of military command that was dispatched to capture Yu Cang, the force at their disposal was more than enough to accomplish their goal.

After He Jian had received the edict, he left to carry out Wanyan Xu's instructions, leaving Wanyan Xu to pace around the Imperial Study as he silently stewed in his anger. He was thinking to himself that he had always treated Yu Cang with generosity and Su Yi had never been in conflict with him so why should he have such rapacious designs? Suddenly he remembered that on the day all it all went down, Wanyan Shuo had been deeply mistrustful of Yu Cang's intentions. Could it be that he was privy to some insider information? Thinking of this, he quickly sent somebody to summon the Crown Prince.

The Inner Court attendant that he had sent on this errand soon came back to make a report: “His Highness the Crown Prince is currently reading in the residence of the Second Prince. He asked your humble servant the reason for his summons, and your humble servant told him. He then instructed your humble servant to come back and relay this message to the Emperor. He said that there was only one reason for Yu Cang to harm the Empress. That is, he was jealous that the Empress Consort was unyielding unto death and faced with the same situation, he had been much more heroic than Yu Cang had been. On the day of the grand wedding ceremony, he had also been disrespectful of the Consort because of this.”

Only then did Wanyan Xu suddenly see the light. He couldn't help but to feel roaring anger, banging his fist on the table in rage he said: “For such a grand general, he could actually be so narrow-minded. This is really too appalling.” Suddenly he saw Su Yi stepping out from behind the screen wearing an expression that showed traces of compassion. In his heart, he knew that once again, his beloved's natural inclination towards excessive clemency had been triggered and he now wished to save Yu Cang. At first, he wanted to reject the idea decisively without giving Su Yi even a chance to speak but on further thought, he was afraid that he would end up feeling sympathy with a like-minded [2] person who is in distress. Of course, it was unavoidable that Wanyan Xu would want to ease Su Yi's anxieties as much as possible. Hence, he dismissed all the servants before saying gently: “Su Su, what do you have to say this time?”

Sure enough, Su Yi said haltingly: “Wanyan, I think... is it not possible that on account of General Yu’s... on account of his service... to spare him...” Before he could finish, he had been interrupted by a wave of Wanyan Xu's hand and heard him say in a grave tone of voice: “Even if he has rendered service that is as high as the heavens, it would be difficult to make up for the sin he has committed this time.”

With a face that was full of sorrow, he sighed and said: “A defeated enemy general is still a defeated enemy general in the end.”

Wanyan Xu thought in his heart: it is just as I had thought. Hurriedly he grabbed his lover in a hug and a long time passed before he said in a low voice: “Su Su, I consider you to be my closest confidant, don’t tell me that actually, you still don’t understand me? Although Yu Cang is a surrendered enemy general, I have never treated him as such. His rank is high and his position is glorified. Not to mention, I have entrusted him with important missions numerous times. I have never had the slightest misgivings about him just because he is a surrendered enemy general. But this person is really petty, he developed malice towards you just because of your unflinching loyalty. In the final analysis, the person that minded his status as a surrendered general was him. Even more grievously, he dared to frame you even though you have become my Empress. This is a monstrous crime that deserves the punishment of having one's family exterminated. If I were to execute just him, it is already to be considered a mercy that oversteps the boundaries of law. If I do not execute him, then how can the laws and decrees of Jin Liao be taken seriously and also, how could I account for my failing to the courtiers and the common people? Furthermore, if we are to consider his selfishness, since Yu Cang dares to frame the Empress today, in future he will also be capable of causing harm to other courtiers who do not submit to him. To leave a man like him among the Imperial Court will only cause internal strife and chaos but if we were to release him to roam the world of martial artists, he would still be resentful and it is inevitable that he would attempt to effect a rebellion. Therefore no matter how I look at it, he must die.” After having said all this, he could not but but to give a heavy sigh. Embracing Su Yi tightly, he said: “Su Su, do you understand what is in my heart now?”

Su Yi remained silent but after a long time, he returned Wanyan Xu's embrace and said sadly: “I understand.”

The two people were finally on the same page and feeling more sweet affection for the other. Just when they were relishing the taste of this congenial atmosphere, suddenly, they heard an Inner Court Attendant make a report: “Reporting to the Emperor and Empress, Honourable Minister He has sent someone to make this report: early this morning, General Yu had already committed suicide by hanging himself in his manor.”

Wanyan Su and Su Yi exchanged a look. Both of them were greatly shocked, both of them had thought that with Yu Cang's skill in martial arts he would either manage to escape, or he would give a good battle before he gave up his life. Suddenly Wanyan Xu was heard to give a long laugh and say: “Good, good, he has proven to be a minister worthy of me. Although many of his words and deeds were shameful, in the end he still cannot be regarded as just a lowly rat; he has not lost the inherent courage of a real man.” So saying, he turned his head towards the attendant and said: “Send down this edict. Yu Cang has paid for his crime with his life, on account of his outstanding military service and brilliant feats on the battlefield in the service of Jin Liao, his family will be allowed to bury him with a whole corpse.”