At the sound, Su Yi"s heart, which had been lodged in his throat, now began to sink, sinking straight into a bottomless abyss. Slowly, Su Yi turned and saw that Wanyan Xu was leaning heavily against the door, as if he lacked the strength to hold himself upright. His head was bowed and his eyes were fixed on the blood-stained sword. Although blood was still flowing from the wound on Su Yi’s neck, and the handkerchief bandaging Zi Nong’s hand had already been soaked through with blood, Wanyan Xu did not care to spare them a glance.
Su Yi was utterly silent, in these circ.u.mstances, he did not know what he should say. Enough time pa.s.sed that Zi Nong was able to release her own acupoints, but like Su Yi, she made no further move. It was so quiet in the room that a pin dropping would have been heard. Wanyan Xu slowly raised his head to look at Su Yi, his eyes were filled with emotion, but they were indiscernible. Su Yi looked back at him steadily; if one were to look at Su Yi’s eyes, one got the impression of a man who was set on his path and had no intention of turning back.
They stared at each other for a long time before Wanyan Xu suddenly started to laugh softly. Shaking his head he slowly said: “Su Su, you have such beautiful eyes, they are just as I [1] remembered from that night in the jail. So... So you have never changed, it is I who have changed... changed to become tender-hearted, changed to... so easily have... trusted you. When you promised to become my Empress, all you wanted was for me to release your soldiers... after that you can die as a martyr with no further worries... ha ha ha... What is laughable is that I actually fell for such an obvious lie, am I really Wanyan Xu? Zi Nong, what do you think, am I really the Jin Liao monarch that you have been serving for so long? Ha ha ha...”
Su Yi watched as Wanyan Xu continued to laugh maniacally, this laughter caused Su Yi to feel his own heart start to throb with pain but when he spoke, his voice was still hard and unyielding: “Wanyan Xu, since you have seen through and foiled my plan, I can have no complaints. But I can tell you that no matter what, as a man, I cannot become your Empress. Even more importantly, I can never become the male wife of the king of Jin Liao.”
Wanyan Xu"s laughter cut off abruptly and he stared at Su Yi with chilly eyes. Clearly articulating each word, he said: “My heart can be as hard as iron, you can try it out if you don’t believe me.” After saying that, he looked at Zi Nong and said: “What are you still standing there stunned for, do you want him to have another chance at suicide?"
Zi Nong hastily sounded a reply, before coming to stand in front of Su Yi and saying in a low voice: “Young Master... please excuse Zi Nong’s rudeness.” So saying, she produced a strip of white silk and bound him up, stuffing another wad of thin white silk into his mouth before she helped him to lie on the bed. Su Yi did not bother to struggle, knowing that it would be futile. From the fact that Wanyan Xu was able to remove the prized sword from his side without Su Yi hearing or sensing his movements, Su Yi knew that Wanyan Xu"s skill in martial arts greatly surpa.s.sed his own.
Wanyan Xu grunted, suddenly twisting his thumb and middle finger together. With a "zheng" sound, the prized sword which could pare gold and cut jade was broken into two sections by him. Tossing them aside, he rose and in a cold voice, gave Zi Nong instructions: “Find Zi Liu and have her tend to his wounds, the coronation ceremony for the Empress cannot be delayed. Everything that he might need to be ready, have it prepared.”
Zi Nong cast a look at Su Yi, and said awkwardly: “But... But Young Master...”
Wanyan Xu gave her a look and said with a cold smile: “What are you worried about? Are you afraid that I cannot bring him under control? What a joke. Just do as I say.” After saying this, he looked at Su Yi and said: “Do you really think that the only thing I could use to threaten you is the lives of your soldiers?” After saying that, he gave a couple more sinister laughs and turned to leave.
Looking at Wanyan Xu"s eyes which were as cold as the winter frosts, and then hearing his laughs which were devoid of emotions, Su Yi"s heart rapidly began to feel fear. But his soldiers had long been released and had scattered to the winds; he did not think Wanyan Xu could be able to capture all of them back, especially as he would have to do so one-by-one. In addition, he had just moved his capital to the former territories of Great Qi, and had to depend on the people to go about their business as usual to maintain peace. To prove himself as a sagacious monarch, he certainly could not engage in a ma.s.s-slaughter of innocents. In fact, Su Yi had dared to attempt suicide only because he had taken these factors into account. Besides the lives of his soldiers and common people, he really could not think of anything else that Wanyan Xu could use as a bargaining chip against him but the expression he wore as he had left really made Su Yi supremely uneasy.
Su Yi lay there while his imagination ran wild, only dimly aware that Zi Liu had come to treat his wounds. She seemed to have prepared two batches of medicine for him, and had addressed many words to him, but Su Yi could not have told anyone of anything she had said because all her words went in one ear and out the next without registering in Su Yi’s mind.
After Wanyan Xu had left Su Yi"s residence, he immediately went to his study and sent for He Jian, the government minister in charge of the Ministry of Justice. At first, when he had heard from Zi Nong that Su Yi had gazed after him longingly when he departed, a feeling of sweetness had radiated through his heart, as if it had just ingested honey. Although he sent Zi Nong back without intending to return himself, in the end, he was unable to resist and had blissfully returned to Su Yi"s residence himself, only to be met with that scene. Thinking of how he had trusted Su Yi, and the efforts he had made to please Su Yi every day, he felt as if his soul had been broken and his spirit wounded. A tumultuous mixture of rage and hatred swirled within him and when He Jian presented himself in the study, Wanyan Xu said harshly: “He Jian, receive my decree. I command that within three days, you must capture all the close friends and relatives of the war prisoner Su Yi that are living in Dou Yan. This includes all his old friends and close neighbours as well as their families, every single one of them must all be apprehended. If a single one is missing, you will answer with your life. Also, this whole operation must be carried out with utmost secrecy, so that there will be no unrest amongst the populace. Do you understand my intentions?”
He Jian after having been roused this late in the night and rushing post-haste to the Royal Study, had not expected that such a matter would be the cause of all this activity. Although he was puzzled, he could tell from the Emperor"s face that something was wrong so he certainly did not have the nerve to question him or offer consultation. After receiving the imperial decree, he obediently pledged to fulfil it and then promptly left to carry out his task. Some officials who had served the Great Qi were currently being detained in jail, when he had returned to his own residence, he immediately ordered people to bring them in for questioning. After they had listed all those people who had any close affiliation with Su Yi, on the second day, He Jian began the operation to capture them.