War Prisoner Chapter 93

Su Yi's shock was extraordinary in its intensity. He quickly let go and said in distress: “You’ve gone mad, what do you think you’re doing? His spirits were so highly agitated that he actually forgot about the pain in his body and instead he was busy with lifting Wanyan Xu's arm and checking it over for injury. Zi Nong and the rest had also been startled awake by Su Yi's cry and when they came in to have a look, they could not help but to panic as well. Wanyan Xu quickly said: “Hush, there's no point in alarming everyone into waking up. Zi Nong, you can go back to sleep, I [1] can handle things from here.”

After Zi Nong had left, he hugged Su Yi, who was still wearing a look of panic on his face, close and said: “Look at you, you were scolding me, but how come you have also lost your head in panic at this time?” So saying, he held Su Yi's body upright, looking into his eyes, he forced a smile and said: “Su Su, I said before that if you are in pain, I will accompany you in pain. Did you think that if you deliberately pretended to sleep, I will not know that you are actually hurting? No matter how good you are at disguise, could you really hide from me the fact that cold sweat that is covering your body time and again? I was only pretending to sleep because I was worried that you were forcing yourself to appear normal because you were afraid of causing me distress. Sure enough, you soon showed your hand.”

Su Yi found that he had no answer for Wanyan Xu. Although the pain had increased by a few degrees again, he was still afraid that Wanyan Xu would be anxious and he could only say: “You now should make the same effort as I did into not letting you worry. You still said that you would treat me with honesty. Be sensible and go to sleep, that way I can also stop worrying. Even though it hurts, how bad can it get?” Although his lips were saying these words, his leg had already started giving a few uncontrollable trembles. He could not help but to smile bitterly and say: “So it seems, I am really not the equal of Lord Guan, who could still joke happily as poison was being sc.r.a.ped off his bones. This pain should be nothing in comparison, but I am already feeling so uncomfortable.”

Wanyan Xu took exception to his statement and said: “Not so, that is merely a story that was made up. There is no one who could verify that tale [2]. Even if it is true, how do you know that the pain he had to endure was worse than yours, perhaps it was actually much less intense than the pain in your leg.” So saying, he raised his arm to Su Yi's lips again, and said solemnly: “Su Su, bite on me. You have been biting so hard on your lips, have you seen the state they are in now?” 

Su Yi hurriedly pushed his arm away and said in frustration: “It that is so, then have somebody fetch a towel for me to bite down on. I won't force myself to suffer in silence anymore; this is really an incomparably powerful medicine.” He was in such pain that he again had to gasp a few times, but he saw that Wanyan Xu was remaining silent. Just as he was feeling surprised, he suddenly heard him say sincerely: “Su Su, do you know something? If you bite me, and let me share in your pain, my heart would actually feel a little more comfortable, otherwise... otherwise, do you understand how miserable my heart feels?”

Su Yi gave a sigh and said with a slight smile: “If I were to bite you, then how would my heart feel? You are thinking of yourself and not of me...” Before he could finish, suddenly, he saw Wanyan Xu tug viciously on his own hair as he shouted loudly: “That’s not right, not right, Su Su, you don’t understand my feelings. Do you know? Your leg is broken because of me, I was the one who ordered people to hit you.” He saw that Su Yi was quickly gearing up to refute his claim, and hurriedly he covered his mouth and said with pain: “Please let me finish. Yes, you can help me find a thousand reasons to say that this had nothing to do with me. But what use is that? I understand the situation clearly in my heart. At that time, if I did not jump to conclusions if I could investigate this case carefully, perhaps none of this would have happened and you would not need to suffer like this. Every time I think of this, my heart would feel as if it is being tossed around in a vat of boiling oil.” 　

Su Yi's heart also began to throb in pain --- to think that such a domineering man would have taken this matter to heart so much that he was still unable to get over it. Feeling guilty, he hugged Wanyan Xu and said softly: “It was my own choice, to save those scholars, I did not take you or Shuo Er into consideration, and confessed to the crime. Wanyan, actually I am the one who let you down...” Suddenly, he felt his waist being clutched tightly and he heard Wanyan Xu say despairingly: “But my heart aches. Regardless of who is to blame, I feel as though my heart is dripping with blood from lacerations. Su Su, this pain.... cannot be dispelled ah.”

Su Yi was silent for a long time before he suddenly grabbed his beloved's arm and said tearfully: “If... if this is the only way to alleviate your anguish, well, what will I not do for you? Wanyan...” With that abruptly he bit down, and the remaining words that he did not know how to say remained lodged in his throat.

On this late night, even the splendid beauty of the Garden of Merriment could not conceal the fact that behind the muslin canopy of the bed the two people were both being torment by pain. Even more so, it could not conceal that even in the midst of their suffering, the two hearts were beating as one, communicating their deep affection towards the other. Truly it was “hand in hand, eyes locked on eyes, words stay frozen in my mouth” [3].

Zi Nong, who was stationed outside the room, had already burst into tears long ago when she suddenly the sound of rapidly approaching footsteps. Zi Yan was coming towards the room in a rush, stopping short of the door, she reported in a grave voice: “Reporting to Your Majesty, there is an urgent battlefield report from the border. Deputy General Yu [4] is waiting outside the Garden of Merriment for instructions.” Once she had said these words, Zi Nong and the rest were all greatly shocked, without exception. One has to understand that after Jin Liao had conquered the Great Qi and moved her capital to Dou Yan, although it could be said that the roots of their new empire had not grown deep yet, but Wanyan Xu had governed benevolently and had won over the hearts of the populace. The national strength of Jin Liao was at its zenith and the country and people were now enjoying unprecedented prosperity, so why was there a report of battle at this time?

As they were still feeling stunned, suddenly they saw Wanyan Xu emerge from between the gauzy canopy and say in a solemn voice: “Bring him to the adjoining hall and have him wait there. I will proceed there immediately.” So saying, he turned back to Su Yi and said: “Su Su, you... do you want to go with me?” It turned out that although he had set up Su Yi as his Empress, he knew that his lover did not like this status. Therefore by asking him this question, he meant to imply that he still respected Su Yi's status as a general. Besides, although Su Yi should be resting at the moment, at this moment his pain was too unbearable for him to do that. By bringing him along to listen to the battlefield report, he might be able to direct some of his attention to other things, distracting and releasing him from suffering some of the pain. Although that was his very well-thought out plan, he did not know what Su Yi's reply would be.