WAR PRISONER

War Prisoner Chapter 73

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

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War Prisoner Chapter 73

Here Wanyan Xu carried Su Yi in his arms and hurried to the second floor. After Wanyan Xu had laid him flat on the bed, he saw that his beloved had already entered into a coma. In panic and anxiety, he jerked his head up abruptly only to be met with a very familiar scene. As it turns out, this was the very bedroom that they had shared when Su Yi was the Empress. After Su Yi had been relegated to the position of a slave, Wanyan Xu had never again stepped foot into this place. Now, he could see familiar objects everywhere he looked, reminders of happier times, but the owner of this house was now faced with dangerous circumstances where there were nine possibilities of death and only one path to life. At this thought, the griping pain in his heart increased by a measure; knocking the wind out of his sails, causing him to feel as though he could hardly breathe and leaving him gasping for air.

By this time, Zi Liu had already begun to busy herself with trying to treat Su Yi. With silver needles, she administered acupuncture and she ordered servants to go to the study in her own residence and fetch her medicines that might help Su Yi. The Empress Dowager, Wanyan Xu, his son and the rest of the people were all watching intently as Zi Liu worked, but they could see that Su Yi's internal bleeding had not been stemmed even a little. At regular intervals, he would spit out a large mouthful of blood. This continued till midnight, whereupon Zi Liu stood up and even before she spoke, tears had begun to stream down her face. She turned to Wanyan Xu and said: "Your Majesty, your humble servant has done all that she can, but since... since Young Master no longer has the strength to reverse this desperate situation, it is better... better to start making preparations... I think." So saying, she couldn't stop herself from bursting into tears, but still, the three words "for the funeral" refused to leave her lips.

Wanyan Xu felt like he was no longer in possession of a heart, that he was no longer in possession of a soul. With wooden steps, he walked to Su Yi's side and sat down. He saw that his beloved had now regained his consciousness and his eyes were opened slightly. He gripped Su Yi's thin hands --- so withered and dried out by the cold that thin cracks had appeared in the skin --- with his own and said in a gentle murmur: "Su Su... let's go... let's go to a place that is like the fabled Garden of the Peaches of Immortality, when you are well... we shall leave immediately, alright? Will you still be willing to be by my [1] side?"

Wanyan Shuo had begun to bawl loudly some time ago, but fortunately, the Empress Dowager had taken him into her arms and cuddled him in an effort to comfort him. Now, when she saw the way her son was behaving like this, so clearly very different from his usual manner, she couldn't help but be struck by fear for him in her heart. She saw that Su Yi was giving Wanyan Xu a weak smile and he whispered to him softly: "Wanyan, don't be like this. Although I cannot be by your side and watch over you in future, you should not be regretful."

Here, he had to stop and take a few deeps breaths before he could continue. He sighed and then said faintly: "Wanyan, don't be sad. In life the most important things can be summed up by two words, love and devotion. Admittedly, my devotion has been given to my doomed country and the people of that defeated homeland. But as for that word 'love', I have given it to somebody else. That person is the single most important enemy and opponent I have encountered in my life. He is the ruler of all under Heaven, he defeated me as quickly as a snap of the finger and furthermore, he obliterated my Great Qi. Overnight, he wrested control of everything that I held to be of utmost import in my life. But... this is also the man that gave to me the most beautiful memories of my life. I can still remember how, when I lay in his arms, I would get the most comfortable and warm feeling. When he was being gentle, he could really make me drunk on the infinite affection he showed me. No matter how much I admonished myself, the final outcome was inevitable; I could not restrain my own emotions. Wanyan Xu, I... I am still but an ordinary man after all."

Su Yi looked straight into his beloved's eyes and a gently smile suddenly blossomed on his face. Saying each word clearly, he said: "Do you know who that person is?" And then, he slowly closed his eyes again, after giving a relieved sigh, he said: "Actually, you should be thankful that I have come to this stage of my life. Otherwise, as you well know... these words, I would never... never have said any of them to you."

When he finished his speech, there was not a dry eye among all who heard it. Even the Empress Dowager's heart felt distressed and she came to the side of the bed and gently comforted Su Yi, saying: "Good child, don't let yourself think about only the worst outcomes. Zi Liu might have failed, but my Imperial Son and I [2] will find other famous doctors for you."

Although she said that, but when she saw that Su Yi's wan face was now as white as paper and that his body had become emaciated after these months as a slave she understood that even if there were famous doctors who could help him, it was clear that they could not reach him in the time that he had left. There was nothing she else she could do at this time but to sigh incessantly in her heart.

There was no way that this fact would escape Su Yi, but he saw that Wanyan Xu already gotten to his feet. He said: "That's right, I will issue a decree immediately... issue a decree seeking out all the famous doctors under Heaven..." Confronted with the sight of this sovereign ruler, erstwhile so powerful and confident but now reduced to such a distraught state, Su Yi really could not bring himself to tell him the truth --- that he was about to leave the mortal realm soon. He could only tug at him and say with a forced smile: "Leave these matters to Zi Nong and the rest, you... you come here and sit with me for a while... could you do that instead?" These were the last moments the two of them would ever have together; he really abhorred the thought of wasting even half a second of this precious time.

Su Yi's gaze now wandered over to Wanyan Shuo and when their eyes met, this little Crown Prince could contain himself no longer and bounded over to Su Yi's side. While crying loudly, he said: "Mother Empress is not allowed to die, I don't allow you to die. You don't know this but ever since you have been gone, I have been neglecting my studies and I've forgotten much of my lessons. I am waiting for you to supervise me before I will agree to attend to them again, if you don't, I refuse to study ever again. Hu hu hu," He was still a little child, and could only come up with this as a reason to compel Su Yi to stay and not leave him.

Su Yi was also feeling heartsick at the thought of parting; he dearly wished to tell Wanyan Shuo that he also could not bear to leave him. However, if he said such things at a time like this, besides causing even more heartache for the little Crown Prince in future, what else would it accomplish? He thought that this child was indeed pitiable; not only did his birth mother depart this world early, but when he became attached to Su Yi, Su Yi had hurt him instead. And now, he was about to experience being parted from another loved one by death once again. Thinking about all the suffering that he was about to inflict upon this child, and how he was helpless to prevent any of it, he could no longer restrain his tears and they flowed freely from his eyes.

To a person, everybody in the room was laden with grief. At this time, Zi Nan came into the room. She had stayed at the hall to arrange for the dispersal of the disgruntled ministers and could only rejoin them at this time. When she was met with this sombre scene, she hurriedly pulled Zi Liu to the side and made a few enquiries of her. But Zi Liu could only shake her head, unable to speak while she was still weeping uncontrollably. At this, in her heart, Zi Nan immediately knew the score. Therefore, she walked to face Wanyan Xu. After nervously twisting the corner of her clothes for a while, as if throwing caution to the wind, she suddenly said explosively: "Although Zi Liu's skill in medicine is superior to all the Imperial Doctors we have in the palace, but, in fact... in fact there is somebody within the palace whose skill in medicine she cannot match. Young Master's illness might not necessarily be so hopeless in that person's eyes." After she said these words, everybody in the room was both surprised and delighted. Hurriedly, they urged her to explain what she meant in detail.

End of Chapter 73

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[1]: Wanyan Xu uses the royal "I/Me/my" throughout this chapter when he is speaking.

[2]: The Empress Dowager refers to herself as "哀家 (āi jiā)", the "I/Me/my" used only by Empress Dowagers.

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