POV: XU Chu (Captain of the second Prince militia)
Location: Nagin (A farmers district close to the crannies)
Time: Three days after the visit to the imperial palace
As soon as you return from the imperial palace the first thing you did is to take your wounded cousin to one of the doctors who is under the permanent payment of the second prince. There you watch and pray by his side along with his wife and sons, while constantly sending Shang to the imperial court to inquire about the emperor's decision on the issue you presented before him.
"Doctor, will my father recover?" One of his younger sons asked in a sad voice
"Your father has strong chi my boy." The doctor replies
"I believe he will recover."
Even though the doctor said this with a smile, one look at him and you are sure that even he knows better than to believe those words. However since you know that he is just trying to console the little boy, you feel obliged to support the lie.
" The doctor is right little Ni." You add
"Your father is a strong man. If anyone can survive this it is him."
"You really think so uncle Xu"
The boy's eyes were full of hope.
"I know so." You reply with confidence and then whisper to yourself
"I pray so."
Just those words alone were enough to cheer the little child and he looked on with renewed hope until his mother sent him and his siblings out.
"Don't you know any better than to lie to little children?" Ni Wa's angry voice rings in your ears.
"Don't you believe your husband will recover?" You ask gently
"I am not blind Xu Chu."
She counters hotly
"I can clearly that he is not in a good state."
"True." You admit
"But the doctor will take of him. You have to trust that....."
"I don't care about that." She cries out in rage
"What I want to know is what is to be done to the men who did this to my husband?"
"The matter has been brought before the emperor's attention and we are waiting for his wisdom on the matter." you reply
"And you think he would do anything about it?" she counters
"You think that high and mighty emperor will care about the affairs of common farmers?"
"The emperor? No. Prince Liu Xie? Yes" You calmly reply
"He has made it clear time and again that the crannies is under his protection and being related to me means you are under his protection as well. I can guarantee that he will get justice for your husband even if he has to kill somebody to do it."
Ni Wa dose not say another word in reply but her body posture tells you that she has become more relaxed after hearing those words from you.
You simply leave her to your husband.
"Wouldn't it just be great if we are all as confident in the prince as you are?" A voice calls out to you as soon leave the room.
"What is that supposed to mean?" You ask Ming who was feeding a tiger the size of a full grown wolf
"What it means is that you are trusting him too much." She replies coldly
"Do you think he would be doing any of this if stands to gain nothing at all?"
"The second prince swore that he would not rest until he sees this matter to completion." You counter
"Are you calling him a liar?"
"I am calling him an aristocrat Xu Chu." She replies
"And judging from my experience they do not do anything they don't stand to gain from."
"Okay assuming you are right, what gain could he possibly get from aiding us?" You spit
"Where you not there with me when the court nearly stabbed him for siding with us? What gain could he possibly get from going against his own kin?"
"Just because you do not see them doesn't mean they are not there XU Chu." Her voice gets gentle
"I merely seek to warn you lest you learn the way I did."
She then reaches up to her face and began scratching behind her mask at an itch that always seems to be there.
"Are you ever going to tell me about that burn?"
You try to keep the concern from your tone
"In due time" She simply said
"Make way!! Make way!!" You both turn to see Shang riding towards you at full speed. "I have news!!!""Has the imperial court finally made a decision?"You ask in a low tone as soon as he got closer"Yes Captain"He nods his head lightly"And Prince Chenliu has given me a decree which is for our ears alone""Where is the decree?" Ming demands"Here." Shang hands it to her You watch in silence as Ming's careful eyes rove over the scroll then her expression turns anxious due to what she reads. "Does the scroll brings bad news?" You manage to askRather than reply, she simply leaned close to your ear, whisper the words of the scroll and before long your face becomes anxious as well."Send word to every farmer in Nagin. Let them gather under the peach tree immediately.""Yes Captain." They both reply and set off....Some moments later every farmer in Nagin gathered under a peach tree.....and they were far from happy when Ming rede the imperial judgement."So you mean to tell me that the emperor will do nothing about our predicament?" A farmer yelled at the top of his voice"I mean to say that the prince is still trying his best to change the emperor's mind." You reply calmly"Curses to that." Another cries "If your Prince truly cared about our predicament he would have done something by now.""Yes!!!!!" The others agreed "These things take time my brothers." You plead"Are you asking the prince to rush into action?""if this was done in the crannies, do you think he would have delayed the matter till now?" Another farmer askedThis question brought an uproar that took some time and a lot of noise to subside."Silence everyone!!!" You yell hotly"Prince Liu Xie has gone out of his way to provide soup kitchens not only for the crannies but also for all of you who had nothing to eat. And you dare mistrust his intentions?""So what then?" Another farmer asked"We simply ignore the hunger in our bellies and wait until we are dead?""We wait until the second Prince rescues us." You clarify"That is our only choice.""You have another choice!!!" A loud voice calls from the rear of the gathering.You turn to see which farmer had spoken but instead you see a plump man dressed in red silk. While his silk is not of the same quality as the officials you have seen and he looked a bit haggered due to his running around, it did not take you much to know that he was not a farmer."And who gave a merchant the right to speak in a farmers meeting?" You ask"does this look like a trading post to you?""Why should you trust the second prince?" He countered "is he not an aristocrat? The son of an aristocrat? The grandson of an aristocrat? When has he ever tilled a field with his own hands?""Prince Liu Xie has given us food and wine." You counter"He has given us doctors to heal our illness. He has given us....""And you think that is enough?" He cried"You think that the Prince is not feeding fat while he feeds you scraps? There are thousands of bags of rice wasting away in each Yan Hi distribution center and you are happy with two square meals a day? You should be fighting to take what is yours."The insult of this merchant towards your Prince caused a major murmuring amidst the farmers and boiled your blood to no end, but you swiftly remember the words of the letter and forced yourself to keep calm."Even if that was true, those centers are guarded by hundreds of well armed soldiers." You add "How can one man approach that place and remain alive?"This reasoning appeared to sway some people."One man cannot." The merchant admits "Ten men cannot. A hundred men cannot. But a thousand? I believe that if every man standing here were to rush out and claim what belongs to him then those cowardly guards will flee at the mere sight of you."The whispers and murmuring broke out anew and Shang signalled you that the farmers were no longer on your side. The bad thing was, you were not the only one who realized that."Are you tired of being hungry?" The merchant cried "Yes!!" The farmers replied"I said are you tired of being hungry?" "Yessss!!!!""Then reach out in your anger and take what is yours!!!" The crowd broke into a loud roar and you watch in disappointment as they grabbed anything that could serve as a weapon and rushed to attack the nearest distribution center in the Nang district."Are you sure that merchant was the man the prince mentioned in his letter?"You ask Ming who was nonchallant as ever about the whole matter"Yes." She replied bluntly"And it seems that this riot was what he wanted all along.""Well if that is the case then we must obey his command."Shang cried"Saddle your horses my friends we leave for the crannies immediately."