"Your Highness... Your Highness!"
Slowly, Zhu Su opened his eyes. He started to regain consciousness. He saw Wu Qi, Hu Nayin, Li Heng, Guo Songmi, and many other people were surrounding him.
"I am... still alive..." He muffled in a weak voice.
"Exactly, Your Highness! You are still alive!" Wu Qi cheered joyously. The others also shouted, "Long live Your Highness! All blessings for Your Highness forever and ever!"
Zhu Su himself felt very grateful as well, he continuously thanked Heaven for saving him. Needless to say that he was scared witless earlier. The suffocation and the extreme pressure of water that he felt was so horrific, his body still shivered with fear if he recalled the experience he had just now. When he regained consciousness, he thought that he had arrived in the afterlife and now was facing God. He was truly grateful that God returned him to this world, thence, even though he still felt strain and painful on his chest, he tried to get up immediately, unwilling to be like dying person any longer.
"Your Highness! You just come to senses, don't be hard to yourself!" Hu Nayin quickly held him back.
"It's okay... Nayin..." Zhu Su still tried to lift up until he had now been in a sitting position. "I'm fine... what has happened no..."
His question stopped abruptly. Eyes widened, Zhu Su now stared in great disbelief at someone who was standing in front of him.
"Fu Huang?..." Zhu Su's voice turned hoarse as he called his father.
The emperor looked back at Zhu Su, his face was indeed rigid and emotionless, but the look in his eyes was so difficult to be understood. It was a blend of various contradictive look, containing anger, irritation, worry, relief... and love.
"You have come to your senses, my son." The emperor's voice was full of weariness. "You know, you make me scared to death... I thought you will follow your two brothers into the afterlife and leave us... "
Don't tell me, Fu Huang is actually worried about me? But, how come?! It is him who orders to exile me here in Yunnan and makes me almost get killed by Xie Wang? After everything he has done, he is still worried about me?!...
"... After all, the benchmark of the children who have been devoted successfully to their parents is merely their commitment to giving happiness for their parents..."
Zhu Su could not immediately reply to his father. A few seconds then passed with thick silence, however, it was an unusual silence containing thousands of feelings and impressions. But Zhu Su could not deny that the butterflies were flying back and forth in his stomach, and his feelings were so difficult to describe in human words.
The feelings which arose after noticing that his father still loved him.
"Fu Huang..." Finally Zhu Su decided to open his mouth. "How... do you know that I am captured by Xie Wang?..." Actually what Zhu Su wanted to ask was why his father could still worry about him to the extent that the emperor was willing to come to Yunnan merely to save him, but his tongue felt tight to ask that full-of-prejudice question, so he changed the topic.
The Hongwu Emperor stepped closer to Zhu Su. He stared closely at his son, as if he had not seen him for several years. There was silence again, and only the sound of fierce battle around them could be heard at that moment.
"Actually, what I heard at the capital was, the traitor Lan Yu joins forces with the former Yuan prince to destroy Ming."
"Fu Huang learns that Lan Yu is a traitor?!"
"Indeed. I've even suspected him for a long time." The emperor snorted. "I've heard that he abuses his power as Guo Gong (imperial duke) to recruit troops and build an army. I just don't expect that he will also collaborate with the former Yuan prince, who is basically his bitter enemy since long ago... But you also learn that Lan Yu is a traitor?"
"I figure it out because Xie Wang's subordinate - who was imprisoned together with me - told me about that."
Suddenly the emperor shouted, very loudly. "You are a real fool! How can you get caught by Turgen?! And thus screws me up like this?!"
Being scolded as that way, the dancing butterflies in Zhu Su's stomach soon vanished, replaced with a feeling of irritation. "I don't want to be caught by him, Fu Huang!" He replied furiously.
"Humph! You have to thank God that you're still fine! You... why do you never stop doing silly things?! First, you went to Fengyang, got utilized by your father-in-law, and now you are even caught by the enemy! You are an adult, yet you can't act appropriate to your real age!..."
Zhu Su cursed with annoyance inside his mind. Just now he was so touched by his father because he was worried with him and even willing to go to Yunnan only to save him... but it turned out, not a hug of affection he got, instead it was a scold that he accepted. And that scold was also based on the emperor's prejudices that did not make sense.
His anger exploded, he was so furious that he could stand up right away.
"I know, I'm not a filial child. Different from the pious and also kindhearted first brother, yes, it is me." Zhu Su smiled cynically. "Well... maybe, being arrested by Turgen is indeed my karma since I've made my parents angry... You don't need to be bothered to save me, then..."
"You!... You really don't respect your father who is so worried about you!..."
"If you are really worried about me, then you won't exile me here! The reason why I can experience this bad thing is actually because I am exiled here!"
Finally. All of his anger and sadness that was only buried deep down inside his heart before, now flared up like the erupted volcano. The anger caused by the injustice he must suffer, the frustration for having a father who suspected him and even exiled him, the scare he must endure when he was almost killed by Xie Wang... Everything that was buried at first, he took it all out right now.
He did not care anymore whether his words implied the apostasy towards his father. His heartache had reached its peak. He did not care about anything, really did not care.
"Your Highness! You can't say such horrible words!" Li Heng joined in the argumentation. "His Majesty the Emperor has made his best effort to save your life, it has proven that he loves you so much!"
Zhu Su bit his lip. "But...!"
"Never mind, Tai Yi (Imperial physician)! No need to advise this oblivious boy!" The emperor growled angrily. "Besides... let's say that my main purpose coming here is only to get the evidence of Lan Yu's betrayal! And not to save this boy!"
"Your Highness... Instead of nagging him, You are supposed to thank His Majesty for saving you..." Li Heng tried to persuade.
Look! Fu Huang has just admitted that his main goal is to get evidence of Lan Yu's betrayal, saving me is an additional thing he does parenthetically!
"Die you, Zhu Yuanzhang!"
Zhu Su felt that he seemingly changed to be like a dumbfounded person as he was watching an arrow glided quickly through his view, and then attacked his father. The disaster happened so quickly. Before he could move his lips to warn, the arrow Xie Wang ambushed had pierced into the emperor's upper arm.
"Your Majesty!!!" Everyone soon busy rescued the emperor who was soon kneeling down, his right hand held the injured left upper arm. Xie Wang himself was now combating fiercely with Mu Ying who got agitated as the former Yuan prince had hurt his adoptive father.
"Fu... Fu Huang..." Zhu Su automatically ran towards the emperor. His initially frozen tongue could move again. In fact, he became the most hysterical person amongst others. "Fu Huang! Are you alright?! Fu Huang!!!"
"I'm fine... don't be so panic... oouchh!" Emperor grimaced in pain. While Li Heng quickly examined the emperor.
"N... no..." Li Heng looked terrified. "His Majesty is hit by a poisoned arrow..."
Zhu Su felt his blood ran cold. "Po... poison you say?! Then... is it dangerous?! It mustn't, must it?..."
"Hurry up and bring His Majesty to the medical center!" Li Heng immediately gave an order, which was immediately obeyed by everyone in the spot.