Chapter 69 (1/1)
A few young maids lifted the curtains and showed them into the hall After Su Yi had paid his respects, he stood to the side and said calmly: “To send for Su Yi today, I wonder what instructions the E-to-the-death character, naturally he would refuse to refer to hier did not quibble over this, instead she looked hi hiing respect for hi: no wonder Imperial Son is still obsessed with him to this day, and even Shuo Er is no exception Indeed, he has an exceptionally distinguished bearing Just fro at him here and now, even with his present status, he is still neither servile nor overbearing; not resentful or combative Doubtlessly, these concubines cannot compare with him in terms of character
Therefore, she said: I have not su else, just that I [1] have heard fro the flute Therefore I wished to hear yourto play a tune for oodwill towards Su Yi, therefore a srace her face as she spoke to him She even referred to hi that he had a noble character that would never admit defeat and orthy of respect
Su Yi quickly raised his head; he had never expected that this Enanimous After he had been crowned as the Empress, he had not had er, since she tended not to venture out from her palace very often and also, she had not required that he visit her to pay his respects daily At this ratitude and he said sincerely: “Su Yi is unworthy of being thus honoured by receiving such lavish praise froer and the Emperor, and wishes only to co time Also, the tune is simple and unpolished, I am afraid that it would cause offence to your sacred ears” As he was saying this, his heart was feeling bewildered --- he had never, not once, played the flute since he had been taken prisoner, so how did Wanyan Xu know that he had that ability?
The Eer s said that, she proo and fetch a flute but Wanyan Xu said: “Mother Empress, that would not be necessary, I [2] have already ordered Zi Nong to fetch one” Su Yi felt even yetreturned; in her hands, she was holding a flute crafted of black barew evenapproached hi the flute to Su Yi with both hands, she said: “When Young Master was captured, all yourto preserve There has been no wear and tear on them General Su, please test the sound and see if the sound this flute produces is the same as you remember from days past”
Su Yi took a look at Zi Nong, before he had to avert his gaze In his heart a hundred different sensations were churning, and si up violently Su Yi did not speak further, holding the flute horizontally across his lips, he started to play In an instant, wisps of musical notes wafted froertips, quiet yet evocative, like whispered secrets on an otherwise silent night In that melody, hard-to-describe passions were faintly discernible, hidden through a veil ofall who heard it After Su Yi had played for a while, without exception, everybody in that room was totally enthralled They felt like the h their ears, and was sloinding its way through to their tendons and organs Just as they were absorbed in this feeling, suddenly the tune took a turn The tehout the hall The tune now took on the flavour of Bai Juyi's [1] line “a silver bottle is sushes forth, armoured horse of a thousand weapons”, it was like claps of thunder and whipping winds rolling in from the Heavens Yet another turn, and the i the winds and rains, then sweet and hts, then love and hate without reason, and finally of clouds dispersing and rain ceasing, leaving a few strands of residual hate and love to re in the ith no anchor to rely on At the finish, all was quiet
Su Yi had poured out all of his own feelings into this song; the notes had flowed sht When he was spent, and the song finished, he put away the flute Without exception, everybody in the hall was entranced and deeplywhen he had described his skill as ”a person with such superlative skill co the circu stirred up even more emotions in Wanyan Xu than the rest of the audience and he was almost in a stupor
Presently, the Eer was the first to recover her senses, and exclaimed her praise: “Indeed, this must be the peak of perfection! It has the power to move deities and spirits Only today, do I truly understand what can be considered a good song, and what good skills are But General Su, I do not know the na; I am puzzled as to why I have never heard this masterpiece before”
Su Yi said subduedly: “This song has no name; it was a composition that I had just made up on the spur of the er’s ridicule through his poor performance At thethe Eer for permission to retire”
A soer's face, after a long pause, she said: “Alright, but since General Su had to co on the spot for us, you , she called Xiao Chu over and said: “Go and instruct the overseers that they are not to let General Su get more tired today” She then turned back to Su Yi and said: “General, please proceed”
After Su Yi forhout the entire affair, he had not looked at Wanyan Xu even once, but on Wanyan Xu's part, his eyes had never strayed fro, both of them tacitly understood the affection and painful difficulties that lay between theed theer could not help but to feel troubled when she looked at these two men, and could only think ruefully to herself that fate s of all men
For a time, nobody spoke and the hall was silent The spell was broken when Wanyan Shuo hastily went up and said: “Imperial Grandma, why don't you allowhe played” When he saw that the Eer had been pleased by Su Yi's perforht to seize the opportunity to help Su Yi escape fro But contrary to his expectations, the Eer shook her head and said: “That cannot be permitted Even if we don't consider that he now has the status of a traitor and slave, it will still be inappropriate You are the Crown Prince; the responsibility of governing the country will be yours in future The flute is just an instruies on it I do not wish to see you become absorbed by this hobby and play a tune that would cause the fall of our nation”
There was no hiddenWanyan Xu misunderstood them In a low tone, he said: “Mother Empress's words are off the mark Su Yi's defeat was caused by domestic issues within the country of Qi The weak and fatuous Eht the disaster, it had no relationshi+p to Su Yi's playing the flute If his troops had not been deprived of food and other military supplies in the days before our battle, even if it was I who fought against him, I do not dare to say with certainty that I would have been the victor”
The Elance and understood that his heart was still occupied with thoughts of Su Yi She made no co thethe flute, why is I, she stood up and said: “We have thoroughly amused ourselves for the whole day, it is about ti The New Year will come soon, there is no reason to be afraid that there will be no further opportunities to have fun, is there?” The assereeer and Wanyan Xu as they departed At this point, no one would have thought that it would be during the co New Year's Eve that the palace would be thrown in complete confusion because of Su Yi But of course, these words can only be spoken with the benefit of hindsight