With these words, Zi Yan monopolised Su Yi’s attention. This was the very matter than he agonized over day and night, feeling that with his disadvantaged position he had no means of gaining the upper hand. If Wanyan Xu insisted on taking his pleasure with Su Yi, Su Yi could see no means of escape other than death. Although Su Yi was not afraid of dying, he could not bring himself to take that route, afraid that Wanyan Xu"s wrath would be vented on his people.
Zi Yan smiled coldly and said: “I don’t need your grat.i.tude; I’m not doing this for you. My brother fell at your hands on the battlefield; there are no words that could adequately describe the depth of my hatred for you. By teaching you this method today, I merely wish to remove your proximity to his Majesty"s person. I served General Yu in his campaign to vanquish the Great Qi; naturally you would hate me to my bones. There is no need for you to feel embarra.s.sed or grateful should I succeed in saving you today.”
Her frank words were uttered with the utmost conviction; Su Yi couldn"t help but to regard her with great esteem. In a low tone he said: “since Miss has put it this way, Su Yi will naturally obey”
For the first time, Zi Yan allowed a genuine smile to brighten her whole face, while replying: “It’s good that you agree. Even if you really do become the new favourite of our king, I will still devote my energies towards finding a way to harm you, whatever the risks may be. If that comes to pa.s.s, don’t blame me for employing ruthless methods.” Looking at Su Yi, she continued: “Being an intelligent man, do you really not understand the reason why our King is so fixated on you?”
Su Yi thought to himself: “Of course I don"t know, otherwise I would not be resigned to awaiting my fate with bound hands.” Zi Yan could guess at his thoughts, laughing she said: “You are also a man, surely you know that the harder something is to obtain, the more attractive it is? Because you put up such fierce opposition to everything, you have inadvertently stoked our King"s taste for conquest, bringing this disaster upon yourself. Now all you need to do is to present yourself as an abject snivelling coward, his Majesty would not even care to spare you a glace then.”
Su Yi’s eyes widened, so shocked he could barely speak. “What? You want me to show weakness in front of him? That’s impossible, a proper soldier can be killed, but he shall not be humiliated! He has even destroyed my nation the Great Qi, in the process forcing me to become the instrument of my country’s doom, for me to bend and sc.r.a.pe before him, that"s absolutely impossible.”
Zi Yan laughed derisively: “If you don"t show weakness to his Majesty, does that mean that you will not suffer humiliation? Forgive me for saying something unpleasant. For an imposing seven-foot tall [1] man to be used like a woman, even if he was being forced, how can he have the wherewithal to live on and face the world? Won’t that be even more disgraceful? Besides, you only need to pretend to yield. As long as his Majesty has lost interest in you, all he would do is to kill you, imprison you or release you. Which of these options is not preferable to your current dilemma? This is all Zi Yan has to say, I will leave General Su to think it over.” With these words, she stood up and not bothering to take her leave, glided out of the courtyard.
A thousand feelings and thoughts were racing in Su Yi"s heart and mind. The more he mulled over Zi Yan"s words the more reasonable he found them; it was just that he had always been possessed of a lofty pride, so much so that even though he only needed to pretend to demonstrate weakness in front of Wanyan Xu, his heart was ill at ease with such a notion. But if he did not show weakness, as Zi Yan rightly said, he could not escape from an even worse insult. Just as he was vacillating, a bright voice cheerily said: “What are you thinking of? You look totally lost in your own world. I [2] sent you out here because I wanted you to absorb some sunshine. The sun has now set but you are still lying here, are you deliberately trying to catch a cold? Even if you want to, I will not allow it; I have waited a long time for this day to come.”
Raising his head, Su Yi found himself looking at Wanyan Xu"s handsome smiling face, which was mere inches away from his own. Picking Su Yi up with his large hands, he laughed gleefully: “You have indeed put on some weight; this time you should allow me to have my way!”
Su Yi looked into Wanyan Xu"s eyes, they resembled those of a starving wolf, as if he was about to devour Su Yi. Although Su Yi was unworldly with regards to the domains of l.u.s.t and love, after having been hara.s.sed by Wanyan Xu for the past month, he could understand the hidden intentions behind such a gaze. He could not help but begin to panic, quickly getting a hold of himself, he calmly said: “Please put me down for the moment, I have something I would like to say to you."
Su Yi"s solemn tone held no traces of shame or embarra.s.sment. This was so unlike his past behaviour that Wanyan Xu"s curiosity was piqued. Setting Su Yi down, he said: “What do you wish to say? Don"t tell me that you have acknowledged the inevitable, and want to profess your love to me?” After saying that, Wanyan Xu"s face was filled with mirth; evidently he found the very thought rather ridiculous. Entering the bedchamber side by side with Su Yi, he commanded the palace maidservants to send up some tea and snacks. After they had seated themselves and were facing each other across the table, Wanyan Xu said: "Don’t you have something to say? What are you dawdling for?”
Su Yi hesitated for a long while, thinking to himself: “If I have to grovel and beg to show submission, I would rather die. But if I don"t, I’m worried that a bigger insult would be heaped upon me instead. Perhaps another tactic is worth a try, I could try telling him my true feelings although I have never been willing to admit to them. In all likelihood, my honest admiration is equivalent to weakness; he will certainly lose interest in me.”
Having thought of such a solution, he said: “Wanyan Xu, the two of us were destined by heaven to be sworn enemies. From the day the late King died after losing the battle where I was the opposing commander, it has probably been a foregone conclusion. Now you have captured me and destroyed Great Qi, you can consider yourself to have avenged your father. Because my ancient country has met its end at your hands, I too, hate you to the core. Anyway, the grievances and animosity between us only grow, like a knot getting more binding as its ends are pulled. Su Yi is untalented, however what little ability I have can never be used to further the aims of the enemy that annihilated my country. Do you understand what I’m saying? I could never surrender to you. No matter what methods you choose to employ, they will fail; I advise you to give up any such ideas. But…”
Wanyan Xu was wearing a very proper expression on his face, pouring himself a cup of tea, he made no comment, only an "o" sound, keeping his thoughts to himself, he asked: "But what?"