WAR PRISONER

War Prisoner Chapter 66

Author: 梨花烟雨(Li Hua Yan Yu) /Lê Hoa Yên Vũ

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War Prisoner Chapter 66

With the idea in mind, Wanyan Shuo smiled coldly and said: "Why would Mother Concubine say that? It just occurred to my mind that when the weather is so bitterly cold, the herdsmen of Jin Liao who wander the northern plains would have to endure even more hardship than usual. I am the person who will inherit the throne, naturally I have been taught from a young age to be concerned about national affairs. I am not as fortunate as Mother Concubine, who only has to win the favour of Imperial Grandma and Imperial Father to be able to live a free and easy life, not having to give a care about anything else. Speaking of this, you can now be considered the most senior consort in the Imperial Harem, as such you should also spare some consideration about our country. But you invariably choose to eat, drink and make merry. Humph humph, since you are the one who brought up the former Empress, I might as well bring him into the conversation. If... if he were here, I wonder if he would be as uncaring to the pain and difficulties faced by the common folk as you? Although he has betrayed Imperial Father, but when it comes to this point, he is really much superior to you."　

By the time he had finished, Concubine Yin was so apoplectic with rage that she could not say a word. But the Empress Dowager smiled and said: "Shuo Er is still so combative. Your Mother Concubine only made an innocent comment, but just look at you. That's enough, that person is guilty of a heinous crime, we should not spare him another thought." With that said, she went over and hugged this grandson, whom she doted on, and said: "But I am really very happy to see that Shuo Er is concerned about the people, my grandson is finally growing up. From your words, I know that when you ascend the throne in future, you achievements would not be lesser than your Imperial Father's." She then looked at Wanyan Xu and said: "How come you always say the Shuo Er only wishes to have fun, isn't he behaving like a proper heir to the throne now?"

Wanyan Shuo's words had also brought back many memories to Wanyan Xu's mind, when he heard the Empress Dowager's question, he had to quickly gather up his wits to muster a reply. Smiling, he said: "Yes, Mother Empress can carry on spoiling him, he's getting ever more undisciplined and out-of-control." With that said, he looked back to his son. He saw that Wanyan Shuo's eyes were still fixed on Concubine Yin, looking her up and down, as if sizing her up. Wanyan Xu knew his son well enough to immediately understand that Wanyan Shuo still had a few tricks up his sleeve in store for her. But Wanyan Xu was touched to see that he still missed Su Yi, and a sudden wave of affection washed over him. Although he knew that Wanyan Shuo was deliberately taunting Concubine Yin to vent his anger, he decided not to stop him, instead he looked on with a smile on his face.

As he expected, Wanyan Shuo piped up again and said: "But Imperial Grandma, what's the use of us sitting here and worrying about it? The herdsmen in the north are really in dire straits, if their cattle and sheep should freeze to death in this weather, then their existence would become quite hopeless." So saying, he jumped out of the Empress Dowager's embrace and said: "Imperial Grandma, I have a good idea, we can set aside some money and give them subsidies so that they can build warm bullpens and barns for their animals. Their livestock is also their lifeblood, if we can prevent even some of them from freezing to death, their livelihood would be more secure." After that, he stared at Concubine Yin with bright and sparkling eyes and after a few chortles, he said: "I know that after Imperial Father moved the capital to Dou Yan, he granted a lot of tax breaks and exemptions to the people. Although there is still a lot of silver in the Imperial Treasury, we need to have plenty of reserves to cope with sudden emergencies like war or natural disasters, it is really not prudent to disburse money from the treasury for this matter at this time. But I see that Imperial Father has rewarded many of my Mother Concubines with rare jewels that used to belong to the previous dynasty. Why don't we sell those jewels instead, and use the funds raised to provide subsidies to the northern plainsmen? Well, since I'm the person who came up with this proposal, I'll take the lead and donate the ink slab and writing brush that Imperial Father presented to me, this writing set is said to have belonged to the legendary Fu Xi Emperor [3]. Hehe, it can be considered my most prized possession, a priceless treasure indeed. My Mother Concubines should not try to selfishly squirrel away their own treasures too."