War Prisoner Chapter 59

Wanyan Xu and the Empress Dowager were pointing out particularly impressive specimens of lotus flowers in the pond to each other and joking light-heartedly at the same time when Su Yi blundered into them. Both of them were stunned upon the chance encounter, but soon after, the surprise gave way to a wave of sorrow that surged up from the bottom of their hearts. They could only stare dumbly at each other for a spell, as all the attendants bowed their heads and averted their eyes at the awkwardness of the situation, not even daring to breathe too loudly. A heavy pall of silence descended, though the garden was a large venue, if a pin had dropped anywhere the sound it would produce would have been audible. The Empress Dowager just watched them with cold eyes, but she did not speak.

After an indeterminate amount of time pa.s.sed, Wanyan Xu managed to force himself to recover his senses. "Hai..." he sighed and turned to speak to the Empress Dowager: “Mother Empress, it's not very interesting to just keep looking at the lotus flowers, how about we go boating on the lake? There are gentle waves today, it will be quite fun.” Having said that, without sparing Su Yi even a single glance more, he bade Zi Nong to go to Madam Jia and instruct her to ready the boat. Wanyan Xu was wearing a smile on his face, and his steps were steady and even. He presented a convincing image that he had not been affected in the slightest by Su Yi, and only he knew just how deeply he had been shaken --- in his heart was a singular taste of bitterness that could not be adequately described with words.

Su Yi could only look on helplessly as Wanyan Xu brushed past Su Yi with an air of forced gaiety. He felt like his chest was being crushed under a large boulder, but at the same time he also felt like it had been stuffed full of cotton, so that his whole body felt like it had been suffocated and there was no room for even a breath of air. He struggled desperately to maintain control over himself, if he did not, he was afraid that he would throw all caution to the wind and fling himself into the embrace of that man and tell him about all the injustice he had had to suffer.

Su Yi was still frozen to the spot, still struggling with his internal turmoil, but Gui Lin had grown impatient. Tugging at Su Yi's sleeve, in a tone that suggested that he was both mystified and cynical, he said: “What’s up? Why are you still looking there? Aren't you supposed to be hard and unyielding? Didn't you disdain being the Empress of our Jin Liao Empire? Why do you look at our Emperor in such a soulful and caring fas.h.i.+on now? Are you hoping that the Emperor will fall under your spell again, so that you can trick him another time? Ha ha, how you do underestimate our Emperor. There are many handsome men and beautiful women in the world who will be only too willing to take your place by his side, do you really think that only you, Su Yi, will do for him?” So saying, he ill-temperedly grabbed Su Yi and dragged him along.

Since one of Su Yi's legs was now lame, he already had difficulty walking. With that tug from Gui Lin, he immediately stumbled for a few steps. Only then did he recover the ability to think coherently, thinking in his heart: that’s right, what am I looking at him for? That person... does not belong to me anymore... he stopped belonging to me long ago, at the very moment I chose to save the lives of those literati. Su Yi oh Su Yi, it was your own decision to sacrifice him, all the longing and nostalgia you feel now, is just a form of punishment and mockery that you deserve.

The two contingents proceeded on their separate ways, and gradually drew further and further apart. What n.o.body noticed was that among the crowd, Wanyan Shuo kept looking back over his shoulder at Su Yi. But since the Empress Dowager --- Wanyan Shuo know that she was not sympathetic towards Su Yi at all --- was present, and also because he was afraid of causing his Imperial Father more distress, he had forced himself to put on a façade of indifference in front of Su Yi. Later, as his party began to leave for the boat-house, he began to lag behind, taking advantage of the times when n.o.body was paying attention to him to look back at Su Yi. When he saw that Su Yi and Gui Lin were also beginning to leave, he could bear it no longer and gave an alarmed cry of "AH!", which he prompted tried to stifle by clamping his hand over his mouth. In his large eyes, two large watery beads began to form, but he stubbornly refused to let them fall.

However, his exclamation had been heard by the Empress Dowager and Wanyan Xu, who turned back to investigate. Wanyan Shuo looked at his Imperial Father tearfully, but he refused to say anything. After a long time, he pointed to Su Yi's retreating figure, which would soon disappear completely from view, with a trembling finger.　

Wanyan Xu was highly skilled in martial arts, and naturally, his eyesight was also vastly superior to that of ordinary people. The Empress Dowager looked at Su Yi, and did not find anything to be amiss, but Wanyan Xu immediately discerned that there was something off about Su Yi's gait. One step would be long, and the next one would be short, like he was dragging one of his legs along. A moment's thought, and his heart immediately understood the cause. At once, the heartache at the realisation became too hard to bear, and he reeled, almost blacking out. When she saw that his body was swaying, Zi Yan hurried forward to prop him up. She had already made up her mind to eliminate Su Yi long ago. This man was the enemy that had felled her brother in battle; therefore her determination to kill him has never wavered. But for some reason, this time, when she witnessed the grief of her master and saw Su Yi's lonely and desolate figure bent under all the grievances that had been inflicted upon him, she began to feel pain p.r.i.c.king her heart. Granted, the feeling was faint, but it was also unprecedented for her to feel any compa.s.sion for Su Yi at all.

Wanyan Xu managed to steady his mind and slowly straightened out his body. Looking at Zi Yan, he said warmly: “I [1] am alright now, let us go, Zi Nong should have gotten the boat ready by now.” At his words, the crowd of attendants quickly gathered around them as they continued on their way to the "Pavilion for the Appreciation of Waves".

When Wanyan Shuo's playmate and bodyguard Xiao Yan saw that the Empress Dowager and Wanyan Xu were already leaving but his little master was still staring blankly after Su Yi, he hurriedly tugged at him and pitching his voice low, he said: “Crown Prince, let’s go.”　

Wanyan Shuo followed his little bodyguard's lead for a few steps, but then he abruptly halted his steps and twisting his body, turned and ran in the opposite direction. In his alarm, Xiao Yan gave a shout, causing the Empress Dowager and Wanyan Xu to look back inquisitively. The Empress Dowager was the first to heave a sigh and as if thinking aloud, she murmured: “Aii, this child...” After that, she looked towards her son, to see what he would say. Instead, Wanyan Xu just stood by impa.s.sively for a while before turning back and walking towards the pavilion as he said: "Let's just let him be."

Not turning back for a single look as he ran, Wanyan Shuo stopped only when he had reached Su Yi’s side, by that time he was already panting hard for breath. When he heard footsteps approaching from his back, Su Yi had turned his head back for a look. When he saw that it was none other than Wanyan Shuo, he could not help but to stop dead in his tracks. Gui Lin also turned back, when he saw that it was the Crown Prince, in his panic he tripped over his own feet and stamped his foot in anger. He said: “Aiyo, you little devil, how come you ran over here without anyone accompanying you? This is a criminal, it is not appropriate for your sacred body, more precious than ten-thousand taels of gold, to be close to him.” So saying he quickly tried to grab Wanyan Shuo. 　

Wanyan Shuo shook his fist threateningly, and glared at Gui Lin ferociously. Frightened into submission, Guilin cowered and did not dare to make another sound. Wanyan Shuo came to stand in front of Su Yi, after raising his head to meet Su Yi's eyes for a moment, he suddenly crouched down and began to roll up Su Yi's pant leg. In a strangled voice he said: “How could... how could this have happened? Won’t... won’t this heal with further treatment?”

When Su Yi saw that Wanyan Shuo br.i.m.m.i.n.g with genuine distress, his own heart couldn't help but to give a corresponding burst of agitation. He bent over and pulled Wanyan Shuo up, forcing a smile, he said: “How is this important? It is not worth crying over, have you forgotten that you have to be mindful of your own status? How could you let your tears fall so easily over such a trivial matter?” His words stirred up many emotions within Wanyan Shuo, with a "whoosh" he stood up, and looked straight at Su Yi. His eyes flashed with complicated emotions, they could have been love, could have been hate, could have been pain, could have been respect, or perhaps even a mixture of all of them, it was hard to tell.