At this moment, all sorts of different feelings welled up in Wanyan Xu"s heart, and he sighed faintly. Wanyan Shuo had sharp ears, on picking up his Imperial Father"s faint sigh, he quickly came over to investigate and immediately fell silent as well. When the Empress Dowager, Concubine Yin and the rest noticed the pair of them acting so peculiarly, they were inevitable curious. The hall was set with windows all along its walls, so glancing in the same direction, the crowd could see what it was that had arrested the attention of Wanyan Xu and his son. When they saw the lonely figure in the snow, they were similarly stumped.
At the moment, the weather was bitterly cold; a thick mantle of snow had covered the grounds as far as the eye could see, seemingly forming a layer of solid ice. Su Yi was hauling two large buckets of water; his body was laden down, his legs were already unsound, therefore he could only slowly and deliberately take each step as he made his way along the stone path. His clothes were thin and worn, unable to provide much protection against the cold. Fortunately, due to his former position as a military man, he had been obliged to practice martial arts religiously and he could deploy his inner force to help in resisting the chill. If it wasn"t so, he would have been frozen to death.
But the stone steps were narrow; covered with a layer of snow and ice, they were quite hazardous. After a moment of inattention, they say Su Yi"s foot slip on the slippery ground, and he tumbled to the ground. Zi Nong gave an alarmed cry, and hurriedly covered her mouth to m.u.f.fle the sound but it was too late. Everyone looked towards Su Yi again, and saw that after being jostled, half of the water had spilled out from both of the buckets. In the cold weather, the water formed into ice in mere moments. Quite a large quant.i.ty of water had also spilled onto Su Yi’s clothes, and now, they were similarly frosted over. Su Yi quickly extended his hand to grab hold of the buckets, and managed to steady himself with much difficulty. However, because of his damaged leg, he could not manage to crawl up again and in a blink of an eye, he had taken a few more tumbles. As for the water, it had been thoroughly spilled.
Wanyan Xu couldn"t bear to see anymore; turning his head and averting his eyes. Because he was fighting back hot tears, he eyes soon turned red and slightly swollen. The Empress Dowager was by nature compa.s.sionate and merciful, when she saw this scene, her heart couldn"t help but be distressed. Although the Empress Dowager hated Su Yi for what he had done, she could not help but to take pity on him when she saw this scene.
She glanced towards her son and sighed: “I wonder he still feels that this is worth his trouble? He could have been an honoured Empress, but instead he has to suffer a hard life now.” So saying, she called over her personal maid, Xiao Chu, and instructed her: “Find someone to go and help him up. This is a cold day, we should not make someone suffer like this. By right, he should have been executed. In any case, he was a general with great strength of character, he should have preferred death over suffering this kind of humiliation and becoming an object of pity. It makes one"s heart uncomfortable to look at him now.”
Wanyan Xu had nothing to say. Intellectually speaking, he had to admit that his Mother Empress was correct. But emotionally, he still could not countenance the thought of Su Yi dying. Seeing that Xiao Chu was about to depart from the hall, he hurriedly stopped her. Facing the Empress Dowager, he said with a smile: “Mother Empress, what did you think of the two tunes you have just heard?”
The Empress Dowager nodded and said: “Naturally, they were considered good. Although they can"t be said to have the power to transport one to Heaven, such a degree of skill is rare.” Contrary to her expectations, Wanyan Xu smiled and said: “Naturally, these two tunes we just heard can be considered rare. However, your child knows of a person who can be said to have achieved perfection when it comes to playing the flute. Truly, a person with such superlative skill comes by only a few times in history.”
The Empress Dowager was extremely delighted and said smilingly: “Oh, there is such a person? Quickly call that person here and let me [1] listen to his music. I can be considered to have heard much flute music, but I cannot imagine someone being as good as you say. Let me have an eye-opening experience today.” With that, she reproached Wanyan Xu, saying: “I can see that Imperial Son does not have me in his heart. You know that I love listening to the flute, why did you not send such a virtuoso to play for me sooner?”
Wanyan Xu said: “Your child would never dare to not keep Mother Empress in my heart. It is actually because I [2] too have only heard him play once, and it only happened by chance during the autumn of last year. Mother Empress knows that your child does not pay much mind to such things; I tend to forget them quickly as time pa.s.ses. I am only reminded of that incident today because I heard these tunes. But Empress Mother, it is quite difficult to send for this person.”
The Empress Dowager gave a “humph” and said: “What do you mean that it"s difficult to send for him, don"t tell me that he gives himself airs and graces? Among people who practice the arts, there will be some that are aloof and proud but they should not look down on the ma.s.ses; that would cause people to be disgusted with them” So saying she furrowed her brows and frowned. Wanyan Xu hurried to clarify, saying: “Reporting to Mother Empress, this person is really very easy-going, it"s just that he"s now... he"s now been condemned as a criminal, your child is afraid that Mother Empress would not approve of his presence.” So saying, he looked out at the window again and saw that Su Yi had finally regained his feet after much difficulty. Still carrying the two buckets, he was making his way back down the stairs with great caution but going back down was even more difficult for him. In the blink of an eye, he was sprawled out on the ground again. Then, he seemed to have decided that it would be easier for him to get down in a sitting position and proceeded to manoeuvre himself down the steps that way. Fortunately the buckets were already empty and no water will spill out.
From the look in Wanyan Xu’s eyes, the Empress Dowager already understood. In her heart, she understood that her son was saddened when he saw Su Yi suffering and specifically wished to have him come over to the hall to warm up. However, he could not say this out loud; instead he was using his skills with the flute as a cover to achieve that aim. Although her first inclination was to agree, she hesitated, thinking: No matter what, Su Yi is a traitor of the state now, how can he be permitted to be in the presence of the Emperor just because I wish to listen to the flute. It would not look good in front of these concubines. But if she did not allow it, her son would not have a way out of this embarra.s.sing situation, and furthermore she felt that both of them were to be pitied. Unable to make up her mind, she pondered in silence.
Wanyan Shuo had also understood his father"s intentions at once. His own heart was also churning with emotion but because of the presence of his Imperial Grandma, he did not dare to let them show. Just when he was trying to suppress his feelings, he suddenly saw an opportunity. Somehow, Imperial Grandmother looked as though she was wavering. Pretending to be oblivious to his Imperial Father"s plan, he said: “Ah, there is person like that? Quickly send for him, I want to hear him play.” So saying, he further urged Wanyan Xu: “Imperial Father, quickly ask Big Sister Xiao Chu to fetch that person here since she"s on the way out. I"m impatient and want to listen to such a wonderful song.”
The Empress Dowager looked at her grandson, in the end, she could not bear to gainsay him and finally relented, saying: “No matter who that person is, there is no reason why I cannot see him. My Imperial Son, tell Xiao Chu who that person is and she can send for that person when she goes out.” With that said, she addressed the concubines, saying: “We can take the opportunity and broaden our knowledge and experience.”
Wanyan Xu was overjoyed at this unexpected turn of events and promptly agreed. He went up to Xiao Chu and said something to her, after which she left to carry out her orders. By this time, Wanyan Shuo and Zi Nong had been reduced to the same state as him and were filled with impatience as well as antic.i.p.ation. Even the Empress Dowager was curious, wondering how good a flutist a general could be. For a time, the gathered crowd was casting looks at the door with impatience; in their eagerness, they had lost all interest in the victuals. After a long time, they finally heard Xiao Chu"s voice at the door, saying: “Reporting to the Empress Dowager and the Emperor, on your orders, your humble servant has brought forth the slave Su Yi for an audience.” The Empress Dowager gave an "en" [3] sound before saying: “Bring him in.” At once, everybody"s eyes were fixed upon the curtains hanging above the doorway.