Chapter 56 (1/1)
Courtesy of Yu Cang's loose and ue, news of the Empress's defection had spread like wildfire in the reception roo court in thehad his own plans for Su Yi; taking advantage of the fact that Wanyan Xu had neglected to explicitly order him to keep this athered in that roo up ani wished to happen That way, even if Wanyan Xu was still inclined to show favouritism towards Su Yi, all of the ministers would vehe
For the moment, the rooh everybody had so to say When the ministers remembered how the Emperor had shown this Empress so much favour and love, without exception, they could not help but to feel fury and loathing towards that ungrateful E Su Yi for being ungrateful and saying that he htly There were even soe of the Ministry of Justice to prepare all the i out ”Death by a Thousand Cuts”, so veheonism towards Su Yi
Suddenly a high voice was heard saying: “Court will coin to proceed into the large hall in single file and in accordance to their rank with the highest ranking officials in front When they saw that Wanyan Xu's eyes were swollen and bloodshot, they couldn't help but to feel sad on behalf of the Erew more intense
After the si the empire had been presented and dealt with, he saw that none of the ministers had any more memorial scrolls in hand to sub at hi with fury He heaved a heavy sigh, knowing that these courtiersno recourse, he had to ask: “The Empress Su Yi's heart is still loyal to his destroyed country Yesterday, he defected and escaped froiven to the Honourable Minister Yu, due to his tireless efforts in searching everywhere for the Eht As for how he should be punished, let's see what the High Official in charge of the Ministry of Justice has to say” [1]
He Jian stepped forward and in a grave voice he said: “The Empress is the Mother of the Nation; as such he should have assisted and supported the E of the Inner Court and also setting an example for everybody under Heaven But not only did he spurn His Majesty's kindness, he secretly fore of the Emperor's favour and trust, he absconded His actions show that his heart is evensuch a heinous criainst Heaven's Son, he deserves the punishchi [2]; he should be sentenced to be executed through Death by a Thousand Cuts
Wanyan Xu could only laugh bitterly for a while, truth be told, he had already anticipated what kind of answer He Jian would give him Even worse, he knew that by the laws of the land, he could not refuse to mete out such a punishht: Wanyan Xu, oh Wanyan Xu, even at this stage you cannot bear to part with him Whenever you think of his death, all you wish to do is to follow his of Hades so that he will not have to make the journey alone, you you are in no way the sa of Jin Liao that you used to beHe was still determined to save Su Yi's life, but he had always ruled the country with impartiality and in accordance with the established laws If he, as thethe law today, in future how could hehis officials or co the common people?
Several important officials immediately saw that the E the Empress, and quickly stepped out from the lines to fall upon their knees One after another, they implored Wanyan Xu to sentence Su Yi to death When Wanyan Xu saw that the outrage of his court was of such violent intensity, he instinctively knew that this time, he really could not preserve Su Yi's life However, although he opened his mouth a few times, he was still unable to say the tords ”bestow death” [3] Before he could speak those words, tears elling up in his eyes, threatening to spill over He lowered his head and hurriedly pretended to cough behind his sleeves, but in actual fact, he iping his eyes dry
Divided over what to do with Su Yi, the Emperor and his ministers were deadlocked At this juncture, they saw that the little Crown Prince Wanyan Shuo had entered into the palace hall Without preamble, he knelt stiffly on the floor and said: “Imperial Father, your Son and Subject knows that Mother Euilty of is so serious that it really cannot be pardoned But on account of the effective guidance he has given to me, I hope that Imperial Father will spare his life and sentence him to live out the rest of his life in hardshi+p instead Your Son and Subject begs I, he knocked his forehead on the ground three times
The gathered ministers all looked at Wanyan Shuo in ahness the Crown Prince had all pointed to hi eccentric and antisocial, so they could not understand how he had developed such a deep attachratification and pride shone in Wanyan Xu's eyes and he could take so more sensible The clever child had co him a way out
Wanyan Xu surveyed the congregation of courtiers with a glance before slowly opening hischild, and his htest bit of warmth and affection from any of the other concubines, only the E his education in addition to showing him care and concern It would be pointless for me [4] to execute the Empress today, he welcomes death anyway Instead it will inevitably cast a shadow over the rest of the Crown Prince's life Besides, ed by si hi with a rod and after that, he will be demoted to become a slave in the palace, so that he will have to endure the pain of huht for the rest of his life This way, the law pertaining to the punishment of traitors is not circuh his continual suffering but at the same time, the rest of the Crown Prince's life will not be marred This course of action has threefold benefits, what do all the honoured officials here think of it?”
All the officials looked at each other doubtfully They were all equally aware that even at this stage, Wanyan Xu was still biased towards Su Yi but even if they were to protest, the Emperor's , they saw that Wanyan Shuo had quickly knelt down again, and then he said in a loud voice: “Iathered officials were obliged to give the Crown Prince so his lead, they reiterated: “The Eood”
Yu Cang could only grind his teeth in frustration, although he had no recourse but to accept Wanyan Xu's decision With a roll of his eyes, a new idea suddenly cae of the fact that everybody was occupied with discussing the new develop hiuard who had come into the hall to receive instructions on how tosaid to hith, and hit only his legs” Hoould the coeneral? Moreover, Wanyan Xu had not stipulated where or how Su Yi was to be hit, therefore the guard cheerfully accepted Yu Cang's order and left
Wanyan Xu and his son watched as Su Yi, attired in a white prison unifore hall After that, two people went up to re a rope around him, they pulled him out As all of this transpired, the hearts of both father and son felt like they were being sliced with sharp knives but they could do nothinghim from death’s maw had already been no easy task Wanyan Xu had already been presumptive when he had acted on his own initiative and decreed that Su Yi would have to suffer sixty strokes of the rod but if he had not done so, if the sentence had been set by the Minister of Justice, he was afraid that even one hundred strokes would have been dee and healthy, he would still have suffered permanent disability at that point For the lack of better options, Wanyan Xu's decree was the best Su Yi could hope for under the circumstances
Leave aside how, at thisterribly upset and confused Going back to the gathered officials, they were still buzzing with conversation and discussion Suddenly, the distinctive ”pa pa” sound of wood striking against flesh was heard from the courtyard Wanyan Xu's chest constricted and he folded his hands together, tightly, as if his life depended on it On the corners of Yu Cang's mouth floated the hint of a sinister smile, but it was too subtle to be easily detected As for the little Crown Prince Wanyan Shuo, he had co his head, he could no longer contain his tears and they streamed down his face freely
Beyond the palace doors, ”pa pa” sounds were still co Wanyan Xu to feel excruciating pain, as if so out his soul froht: Su Su, why don’t you cry out? Maybe if you let yourself cry out, the pain ht be more bearable, Su Su, why don’t you scream in pain? You you should shout out!
Each blow of the rod descended on Su Yi's body, but each and every one of them also delivered a hard knock at Wanyan Xu's heart His expression remained stoic Only the paleness of his co of his lips, which he couldn't control, try as he ave any clue to his state oftormented, he suddenly saw Wanyan Shuo stand up so abruptly that his chair made a harsh noise as it scraped the floor In a loud voice, he said: “Soht” Before his sentence was coh the door