The Prince Is Abolished

Chapter 5

The man and his horse were both unconscious after falling in a ditch. 

This informer wanted to tell Prince Xi Mang about his brother's growing connection with the Lu family but instead went down a hole along with his horse. It was already night and with no soul in sight, any means of rescuing them were non-existent.

The next day, late evening, Sayari Hall was ready to witness poets in action.

Xi Mang and many court officials were there.

Song Wu also got an invite after the prince sent him one, and was excited to rub shoulders with the best and the most powerful of the Mi kingdom.

He was eager to see Lu Xang's appearance and how the nobles will fawn over him. This was his first invite even after many years in the business, hence, Wu didn't know that no one from the Lu family except the daughter ever appeared at these poetic duels.

Lu family was both a source of inspiration for him due to their power and prestige, and also an entity that made him feel small, thus, he never left any chance to observe them and collect tit-bits that could bring them down.

He always hid the fact that it was the Lu family's generosity in providing food security that aided him in surviving when the Mi kingdom went to battle with Avang. His father, a mere foot soldier, died in this battle, and his mother died after failing to eat for many days. The Lu family was not at the peak of resources it enjoyed now, but put everything on line to provide food at this dire time. Lu Xang often went far away to distant lands to seek grains for this free food security cover that covered every bit of the Mi.

Community kitchens organized by the Lu family helped orphans like him who didn't know how to cook. For families, grains, lentils, vegetables, and some salt would be given to each household for 15 days. All they needed to do was put their thumbprint against their addresses.

Lu Family Clinics were also opened by them during this phase. This was the phase where if  Lu Xang would have overthrown the Emperor, even then the people would have only sung his praise. But Song Wu felt that Xang was not a wise man, for he chose to back the weak emperor.

He also felt that Lu Xang should never have let go of the chance of overthrowing the emperor and monopolizing all power. This is what an intelligent man will always do.

As he grew older, Wu became a harsher critic of the Lu family as he felt that their spending model could never be beneficial for people like him.

Why should anyone take it on himself to feed everyone? Free food only makes one lazy and disorganized. Even I didn't work till 18 and had no intention of working for a long time because food was always at hand! Thanks to this Lu Xang!

But what he forgot was that after the free food cover, the Lus became so powerful that even the Royal Family couldn't touch them. The family was wealthier than the state and did all the welfare programs for which the Royal Court didn't have to pay even a single silver coin. Naturally, everyone sang their praises and this made Song Wu feel that he would never be able to rise to prominence.

Song Wu's big break came only at the age of 19 when Xi Mang offered him a loan to do business and this ignited in him a desire to better himself and now he was prosperous. 

But still he was shunned by nobles and anyone with a conscience, hence, an invitation to witness poetry among this group would have never been given to a pariah like him. It was due to Xi Mang's backdoor maneuver that he could come here at all and sit with the best of Mi.

As his mind kept going back and forth on the Lu family and his own background, the arrival of Prince Xi Mang was announced and he saw him sit down in the heavily guarded Royal Box. Prince motioned everyone to sit down after they had greeted him. Just as the crowd settled down, Lu Ran appeared like the full moon in a dark room.