War Prisoner

Chapter 28 - 29

Su Yi, still tied up, was confined to his room. Although he refused to eat, the attendants who brought him his meals did not try to force the issue. Three days passed like this, and he was feeling dizzy and seeing stars as a result of hunger. In his heart he thought: "if I can continue staying here without having to care about other matters, I won't mind starving to death." But every time he thought of how Wanyan Xu's eyes had cycled through a myriad of emotions before finally turning cold on that fateful night, his heart would begin to throb faintly with pain. Wedged in between was a sense of dread that innocent people would have to pay the price for his attempt at suicide.

On the fourth day, Zi Liu came by to apply a fresh coat of ointment to his wounds. Su Yi could not speak, and Zi Liu remained silent as well. When she had finished bandaging his wounds, she started to stand, but eventually chose to sit down again. She hesitated a while before suddenly speaking: "Young Master, please forgive Zi Liu for speaking out of turn... The matter about becoming the Empress, you should agree to it as fast as possible. You will have to agree sooner or later, so why put yourself through all this suffering?"

Su Yi sensed that there was a hidden meaning behind her words, and couldn't help looking at her inquisitively but Zi Liu was evidently unwilling to say any more. Su Yi gazed at her and suddenly shook his head. Zi Liu, having understood that he was refusing to compromise, gave a sigh and departed, leaving Su Yi alone to mull over his misgivings inwardly.

By the time afternoon rolled around, the weather had changed. Dark clouds were blanketing the sky and unusually for spring, strong gusts of wind had begun blowing from the north. Looking out through the window at the gloomy sky, Su Yi suddenly felt uneasy for reasons he could not explain. To him, the weather seemed to be an ominous portent of things to come. With a sudden "zhi ya" sound, the door opened and a few imperial bodyguards walked in. They did not speak as they approached and after making sure to support Su Yi's weight between them, they led him out. Since a wad of silk was still stuffed in Su Yi's mouth, he was obviously unable to ask any questions of them.

When they had reached the square used for arms drills, Su Yi saw Wanyan Xu seated on his dragon throne on a raised platform. Wanyan Xu smiled coldly when he saw Su Yi and with a wave of his hand, a palace maid approached Su Yi and removed the gag from his mouth. Su Yi had endured having his mouth forced open by the gag for three days, with the sudden removal of the silk handkerchief; he felt acute pain in his cheeks while his teeth and tongue felt numb. For the moment, he was unable to close his mouth. He saw that the palace maid had taken out a pair of braces used in dentistry and she now fitted them over his teeth. With a smile, she said: "the King has said, there will be a good show shortly and he's afraid that you will not be able to restrain yourself from biting your tongue."

The anxiety and fear in Su Yi's heart increased, when Wanyan Xu saw that his face had began to betray traces of his horror and panic, he grew more pleased with himself. He knew Su Yi all too well. Neither the promise of torture nor personal profit had any chance of success with him, but he had a deadly weakness; that is, he was too soft-hearted. Wanyan Xu knew that he only had to exploit this single weakness for Su Yi to acquiesce to his demands.

The large square was totally empty save for Wanyan Xu, Su Yi and a few imperial bodyguards and palace maids. Su Yi was still trying to puzzle out what mischief Wanyan Xu was about to spring upon himself when he noticed that Zi Nong, Zi Liu, Zi Yan and Zi Nan were all absent. This only added to his bewilderment, he knew that these four females were Wanyan Xu's most trusted aides, at any given moment, at least one of them would usually be on hand to serve him. Also, the little Crown Prince, who usually loved nothing more than to be in the thick of the action, was nowhere to be seen which only served to increase Su Yi's misgivings.

When Wanyan Xu saw that Su Yi's eyes were flickering back and forth as if he were searching for something, he immediately understood what was on his mind. With a faint smile he said: "Su Su, you are really strange. You are questioning why Shuo Er as well as Zi Nong and the rest of my [1] personal attendants are absent, correct? To tell you the truth, it is because the programme I have planned is really too cruel and I have no wish for them to witness it. Su Su, you must brace yourself for what's about to follow as well." With that, he casually clapped his hands a couple of times and a group of people in chains were prodded out from behind the platform by more than a dozen guards. The group comprised of both males and females, and people of all ages.

When Su Yi raised his head and took a look, his heart quaked in his chest. Before he could take a more careful look, a mournful wail was suddenly heard from the group: "Big Brother Su [2], save me... please save me..."

Su Yi staggered for a bit, ten-thousand thoughts could pass his mind but he would never have thought that Wanyan Xu would ever capture his all old friends and neighbours. The woman who had just called out was none other than the daughter of Uncle Wang, his neighbour of yore. They had played together since they were children. Although men and women should maintain a distance, their relationship was always close without being improper; even after she had gotten married, she still lived in the house behind Su Yi's. The two families maintained a very amiable relationship, only when Su Yi left for the border, did they lose touch with each other. Suddenly coming face to face with his old acquaintance at this time and place, Su Yi felt a million different feelings circulating within his heart that eventually crystallized into wrenching sorrow and dread. Loudly, he called out to Wanyan Xu: "What do you want? If you have guts, focus your attacks directly at me, why do you even not let off women and children?"

Wanyan Xu stood up in a leisurely fashion, he approached the group of hostages, and while pacing by each and every one of them, he said slowly: "Su Su, you tricked me into releasing your soldiers, to recapture them would really be a troublesome matter. Besides, they should all be stout-hearted men like you; it wouldn't be very gratifying to torture them. But it is different for your old friends and their families, they live right here in the capital, capturing them was easy. Moreover, every one of them is timid and fearful, when the killing begins, I think their heart-rending screams of terror will be very affecting indeed." So saying, he stopped right in front of an elderly madam. Turning back to look at Su Yi, he said smilingly: "I heard that this old lady has no sons or daughters, but you have been taking care of her as if she was your own mother. Even after you have been stationed at the border, every year you would entrust somebody with bringing her some money to help with her living expenses. Is that right? Such an old and useless thing, having her alive on this earth is nothing more than a burden. Why not let her go to the Heavens sooner, it also saves her from having to suffer on in this mortal coil." So saying, he extended a hand back and a palace maid immediately stepped forward to place a Bull's Ear Sword into his hand. Wanyan Xu wore a chiling smile as he stroked the blade of the knife and he said cruelly: "Su Su, how about I disembowel her right in front of you today?" 　

End of Chapter 28

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

[2]: These people were not necessarily related to Su Yi. Brother/sister/uncle/auntie was a common and respectful way to address acquaintances or friends. These terms of address were not about familial relationships, rather it was acknowledging that someone is older (and thus senior) or younger (and thus junior). One way of differentiating when they are indeed indicating a familial relationship is from the word that accompanies the term. If you are referring to someone who is not family, their name or surname would likely be added – eg. Big Brother Su. If the person is family, you would more likely just use the term by itself or add a number to the term – eg. Second Brother.