WAR PRISONER

War Prisoner Chapter 77

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

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War Prisoner Chapter 77

It was already high noon. Wanyan Xia stared at the dishes of exquisite food laid out on the table for his mid-day repast but he did not feel even the slightest desire to employ his chopsticks and partake of the meal. Instead, his gaze drifted over to the window, and he saw that that person was still kneeling in the snow. A thick layer of snow had already accumulated over his body, but he still kept his waist ram-rod straight as he balanced upon his knees, just as if he was giving expression to his determination to never give up.

"Just what kind of person is that Empress? What kind of person could inspire him to make such sacrifices?" Wanyan Xia gave a light sigh. He, who had craved for the warmth of familial love ever since his childhood but had ultimately been unable to obtain even a scrap of it, could not understand how this older brother, who had always appeared to be as dominant and proud as the suzerains [1] of yore, would be willing to kneel down in front of him for the sake of his beloved. Did he forget his own status as the Emperor, and at the same time, had he also forgotten that Wanyan Xia was the greatest shame of the Jin Liao Royal Family, whose very origins had to be kept a secret from the populace for all eternity?

His servant girl approached timidly. Although she knew that her Master's current mood was extremely agitated, she could not contain herself and said: "Your Highness should stop engaging the Emperor in a battle of wills; he is the Emperor after all."

Wanyan Xia only glared at her and said: "What's there to be scared of? He now has a favour to ask of me, even if he hates me so much that his teeth itch at the mere thought of me, at the very least, he has to wait until I have cured that fortunate Empress of his before he can kill me." His eyes were drawn to the scene outside the window again and the feeling of upset in his heart grew stronger. Unable to help himself, he gave a cold "humph" and said: "That Empress has already obtained a love that transcends boundaries. What then, is death?"

Lifting up the cup of wine on the table, he downed it in one gulp. The man who had been as cold as ice and frost in front of Wanyan Xu now had tears clinging to his eyelashes. Waving a hand to dismiss his servant girl, he finally allowed himself to lean over the table and have a good cry. "All of you are only concerned with getting me to save someone, but in these twenty-odd years has the thought ever occurred to any of you whether there was anybody who would come and save me? All of you only know that I am highly skilled in the medical arts, but do any of you know how I came by my skills? The palace maids that looked after me during my childhood were only concerned with making sure that I got enough to eat and drink but they took no notice of me otherwise. It's been so many years that I spent without any companionship. The only means I had of allaying my loneliness was to study the houseful of medical texts that my Mother Concubine left behind. Do you know that the very sight of medical texts makes me retch now? Do you know that when I get bored now, I will practice my acupuncture techniques on myself, and to test my medicines I came close to losing my life several times? Do any of you know this?"

Since his emotions were already hopelessly in flux, he decided that he might as well indulge himself. Lifting up the jug of wine on the table, he emptied its contents in large gulps before standing up and dashing outside. He shouted: "Wanyan Xu, since you are willing to kneel, then continue kneeling. It's a rare wind that brings you here to see me today, so let this little brother have a chance to take a few more looks at his older brother lest I don't recognise you if we should meet again in future."