Although Su Yi had speculated on whether this Second Prince with the surpa.s.sing medical skills that they were speaking of was none other than the Prince he had encountered before while Zi Nong and the rest were discussing the matter, but when he actually saw Wanyan Xia, he was still taken aback. On the other hand, Wanyan Xia regained his equilibrium in the time it took to blink. Looking at Su Yi, he frowned and said: “So you are the Empress? I instructed you to watch your diet previously, so how did you still manage to land yourself into this state because of your eating habits? Although your previous condition was serious, it was still not life-threatening; it was nothing compared to now.” He went up to Su Yi, and read his pulse. After a long time, he sighed and said to Wanyan Xu: “I know that your deep love for him is genuine. Since that is so, how did you come to let your Empress serve in the laundry service when banishment to the Cold Palace [1] should have been the heaviest punishment? What could make you hate him enough to punish him like that, and yet still care enough to beg me to save his life today?”
Wanyan Xu said: “About that... Aii, it’s hard to explain in a few words. Hopefully worthy little brother will use your miraculous hands of a healer and save his life. As for the answers to your questions, I [2] will tell you at a later date.”
Wanyan Xia gave a cold laugh, thinking in his heart: Later Date? Presently, I am the only living being under Heaven who has received a kneel from you, will I live to see a later date? However he did not give voice to these thoughts, instead he opened the little box that he had brought with him. Taking out a small porcelain bottle, he poured out two pills and fed them to Su Yi. After that, he went to a table in the room outside of the bedchamber and wrote out a prescription and ordered people to brew the medicine and bring it to him. Going back into the bedchamber, he said to Su Yi: “Even if you are maddened by hunger, you are not to consume any food or water. I have to determine exactly how far the disease has progressed before proceeding further.”
Everybody in the room watched Su Yi curiously, not believing that after Zi Liu had administered medicines and applied needles to Su Yi to no avail, his disease could be controlled with two small pills. For Su Yi to maintain consciousness to this point had not been easy; after he had consumed the two pills, he felt drowsiness overtaking his body. With both of his hands were clasped in Wanyan XU's large ones, he felt incomparably comfortable and warm. Unable to hold out any longer, after giving two yawns, he fell into a deep sleep.
Wanyan Xu received from Zi Nong the warm wet towel she had prepared and wiped away the cold sweat that had gathered on Su Yi's brow. Standing to the side, Wanyan Xia observed his careful and tender actions silently, before suddenly saying: “It would seem that he is also very much attached to you. Judging by his condition, he would not have been able to hold on for so long otherwise. Now we have to see if his internal bleeding can be stemmed. Only if the bleeding stops, will it be possible for the disease to be cured.”
He added: “I have met him once before, it was on an afternoon during late autumn. At that time the disease was not very serious, or at least, it should not have progressed to this stage at such a rapid pace. I also specifically warned him that he needed to watch his diet. But from what I observe now, he has obviously endured long-term malnutrition and the food that he did eat was too rough. That is the only reason that the disease could have progressed to this stage within such a short period of time. As far as I know, even for slaves, their diet should not be this poor and meagre and they should not be lacking food and warm clothes. Take me, for example. Even though I have been eating these meals [3] for so many years, they have not caused any problems for me.”
As he listened to Wanyan Xia making such statements, Wanyan Xu was drawing a few conclusions of his own in his heart. With a forbidding expression on his face, he gave Zi Nong a few instructions in a low voice. She then left hurriedly. Although Wanyan Xia did not let the expression on his face change, in his heart, he was feeling very pleased with himself. In his heart, he felt that those people of the laundry service were bullies who picked on the weak but feared people more powerful than themselves. They were truly despicable, and now he could finally take revenge on them, courtesy of Su Yi. He knew that Wanyan Xu was by nature cold and unforgiving, if he came to find that someone had really taking the opportunity to surrept.i.tiously abuse Su Yi, he would definitely not let them off lightly. As he thought of this, he couldn't help but to wear a slight smile on his face.
By now, the Empress Dowager had already long since departed for her own palace as she found it hard to be in the same room as Wanyan Xia [4]. The little Crown Prince Wanyan Shuo had been staring intently at Su Yi, his eyes never once leaving that paper-white face but now, he suddenly looked up and gave Wanyan Xia a pleasant smile, before saying: “Uncle [5], after consuming your medicine, will Mother Empress get better?”
Wanyan Xia stared blankly at Wanyan Shuo for a moment. At this time, if it had been Wanyan Xu who had called into question his medical knowledge in this fashion, he would have left with a flick of his sleeves at once. But when he saw Wanyan Shuo smiling at him so sweetly and genuinely, a feeling of warmth suddenly rose up from the bottom of his heart. He couldn't help but to soften his own expression, and said with a gentle smile: “I guess so, this medicine is specially formulated to treat this very type of disease that causes people to vomit blood. I concocted it from rare herbs that I stole as they were being transported to the Imperial Infirmary.”
He now considered himself as one who will undoubtedly be condemned to death, so he did not bother to hide anything. And also this nephew of his, who was his nephew in name only, did not show even a little bit of revulsion for him, just like... just like how he would behave if Wanyan Xia was really his kin uncle. How could this not move him? And so, at this time, his manner actually became amiable and his countenance was pleasant, both of which had hitherto been unseen by any in the room. How could he know that the little devil known as Wanyan Shuo was doing this because he had deduced that Wanyan Xia was the only person who could save Su Yi and so, he had decided that it was prudent to seize the moment and develop a relationship with him so that he will become amenable and continue to give Su Yi medical treatment.
As for Wanyan Xu, at this moment, he did not care about anything else. He only kept staring at Su Yi, deathly afraid that when he next woke up, it would again be with a big mouthful of blood. At this time, the sky was already bright but everybody had been without rest for a long time. Zi Yan hurriedly dispatched the palace maids to have a rest and also, sent for a new complement to replace them. Fortunately, Su Yi had yet to throw up blood again, and everybody could feel slightly more rea.s.sured.
Suddenly, they heard a eunuch of the Inner Palace report from beyond the door: “Reporting to Your Majesty, it is time for the morning court. Many ministers are already waiting outside the hall.” Wanyan Xu exchanged a glance with Zi Liu, in their hearts both of them understood clearly that the ministers had come to hear the news. If Su Yi was still alive, they fully intended to carry out a so-called “Purge of Evil People around the Emperor [6]”.
When he thought of this, the Dragon could not help but to be enraged, thinking in his heart:Â Here I am beseeching deities and worshipping Buddha, praying that Su Su will be safe from harm, but they can't wait for him to die. Today is only the second day of the New Year, not to mention, on the night before Mother Empress had already told them clearly that I will give an account of myself once the matter is settled but they are still trying to force the matter. Really, they are pushing me too far. Looks like if I don't teach them a lesson, sooner or later they will forget what kind of person I really am.
All at once, he stood up wearing an expression that was as bleak as the ocean’s depths and in a low voice he said: “Since matters have come to this, Zi Yan, help me dress. I would like to go forth to the morning court and meet this gang of unfailingly loyal courtiers. I would like to see if they think that just because I always appoint people that show ability to high positions and accept their advice if I think it's sound, do they take it to mean that I am not capable of distemper.”
After he was properly dressed and made ready, Wanyan Xu said to the crowd: “Look after him well, I will be back soon.” So saying, he walked out of the room, with his head held high. At this juncture, when Zi Yan noticed that n.o.body was paying them much mind, she took the opportunity to drag Wanyan Shuo outside and in a quiet voice, she whispered a few sentences into his ear. She looked on as Wanyan Shuo's eyes grew bigger and bigger, and his little face began to take on a look of suspicion as he looked at her. She gave a bitter laugh, thinking to herself that as matters had come to this, there was no need for her to say anything further. She hurried to catch up to Wanyan Xu, and kept pace with him as they proceeded to the hall. When she thought of how a monstrous wave that could submerge the sky was going to be unleashed upon the morning court in a short while, even she, who had been through countless momentous occasions, could not help but to feel tense.