an ancient chinese story

19

it was  a silent night before the screams screeched and the houses were ablaze with flames. 

it was the day wang shu had arrived to the countryside village where he had been banished to. his title of being royal second price of Qu empire was a forever gone part of his life now and his mother,who was everything in his life was taken away from him in the blink of an eye. his mother had been killed by his father. his father had disowned him from being his own child. now an orphan and a nobody , wang shu's life had turned into nothing. his world had fallen apart. he was nothing but a child who had no one for himself, all alone. it seemed days of crying had dried him all up inside. he didnt feel resentment from being kicked out of the palace, in fact he never felt he belonged there. his only resentment was for the death of his mother.

the execution taken place a few days ago, in the midst of everyone was a tradegy he had never even imagined. though his mother had stood strong to her ground through the execution, he still had seen the lone tear his mother forced not to fall. he still saw the loving and beautiful mother of his who had taught  him everything and loved him when the world seemed so dark, the only light in his life. and now his beloved mother was to end her own life. his own  world was coming to an end.

wang shu had wailed and pushed ---trudged --- forward to stop the insanity . stop his mother from taking the poison, but had been pulled and taken away before he could even see her mother take the poison. while being taken away, he had seen the emperor, the emperor who had never been a father to him. the emperor with the ever present cold look had sat upright  as always and had kept on watching . 

he never believed the crime imposed on his mother. he knew in his heart his mother would never attempt to do any harm to the empress.he believed in his mother, when his mother had pleaded her own innocence. she had pleaded her innocence till the end but no one believed her. the emperor didnt believe anything she said but kept watching as if it was an execution of a criminal. 

wang shu believed that the emperor though not a father to him , wasnt a cold person. he believed he would let his mother live, believe her words and punish the actual criminal. but the man didnt even move.  wang shu had even pleaded  to take the poison himself. he had begged and kowtowed his head in front of the emperor's palace all day the day before till he lost his conciousness but the man , his father , did nothing  but watch his wife die as if it didnt matter to him  at all. wangshu had never resented any one in his life. but he had promised to himself and his dying mother  that one day ,  he would avenge his mother's death and  take back from the emperor and the culprit what had been taken away from him.

wang shu was jolted out of him thoughts when the screams increased and the flames grew nearer and nearer. the few guards stationed to watch after him rushed and took him at the back of the house to protect him. though he was banished and now considered a common man, he was still thought to  be kept under strict eyes to control his movements. but as they moved, the house was broken in by men on horses who seemed to have been the cause of the fire.

there wasnt enough time for the soldiers as they were now in combat with the raiders. wang shu was at the back watching and more confused by the sudden raid. in the confusion, a hand covered his mouth and swiftly took him out of the house. wang shu was a royal and had been allowed to learn martial arts from a young age but what was hidden from the public was that he was a very sick child from birth. that is why, though he was the first son of the emperor, he wasnt fit to be the crown prince and had a weak constitution not being to learn martial arts. and so, though he was in struggle he couldnt fight back.  soon he was carried off in a cage with  the other captive villagers.soon not being able to think of his situation, the heat and smoke made wang shu loose consciousness.

when wang shu woke up, he was still in the cage. the carriage had been in the move for some time so he felt his whole body ache.  as soon as he woke up he heard a man say.

"we are all gonna die......we are doomed." a man said with in the cage. 

"they are gonna sell us. we are going to be slaves . i had heard of how the bandits from the borders were now raiding small villages and ............selling the people. i never thought it would  ........happen to..... us." another man said and at the end he couldnt stop himself from crying. 

wang shu just listened as, some women there also started crying. but wangshu could only laugh at how the fate had turned out for him and could only wait to see what else was to unfold.