THE REALITY OF POLITICS

"Fifth Brother, do you know the Ava Envoy well?" Zhu Hui asked quietly.

Zhu Su nodded. "When I was exiled, for some reason I was once stranded to Ava." Then he told the story of his adventure in Ava to Zhu Hui.

"Oh, I see. Ava King is truly a kind man. Ava is a very good country with very good relation with us, back in the days of Fu Huang's reign, the king came to Yingtian to strengthen relations between the two countries." Zhu Hui looked at the Ava Envoy, who was laughing cheerfully with the ministers. "But I heard that the situation has changed recently."

"Ha? What do you mean, Hui?"

"Ava is one of the strongest countries in the south. It has an immense ambition to expand its power. I have heard that it has targeted the area in its northern part... To be precise Mohnyin, which is our satellite state." Mohnyin is one of the six regions of modern Myanmar that had once become a Ming satellite state.

"Do you mean, Ava is against us?!"

"Not at all... We still maintain a good relationship with them. Ava still respects the sovereignty of our satellite states, after all, Ming is a superpower country, and all countries in the south respect us, but who knows what will happen in the future...."

Zhu Youdun, who also followed their conversation, chimed in, "But fortunately Fu Wang did not follow Sir Gao's advice and returned to Ming. Otherwise, in such tense political against Ming they would extremely hate us and make our lives in danger."

Zhu Youdun was quite reasonable. Zhu Su remembered that there were lots of senior officials who hated him just because he was a Ming. He somehow believed that it was these people who incited the king to have a conflict with Ming.

"For that," said Zhu Su slowly. "I have to thank Fu Huang and Mu Hou who gave me the enlightenment and guidance."

Zhu Hui sighed. "Well! That is politics, the struggle for power. Politics is cruel. Close friends can kill each other for the purpose of defending their own countries. Such a pity, it is very pitiful. Those two people are close friends, but different nationalities force them to do that, even though they aren't the rulers of their respective countries and the armed conflicts should only apply to the rulers themselves. Politics is also bizarre. Anything can happen here. We were used to be friends previously, but later we can be foes. Or we were used to fighting each other previously but later we can become friends. And the most ridiculous thing is, we can be friends and foes at the same time!"

Zhu Su also sighed, "I could not agree with you more, nothing is dirtier than politics. In this world, let alone with other countries, citizens of the same country can fight each other... even the family members can kill each other." He really understood the last part.

"But because we have got involved in that world, we can't escape from it. The only thing we can do is adjust to it properly, for avoiding to be carried away and die because of it."

The sound of others' loud laughter filled the silence resulting from the emptiness of the conversation. Zhu Su took a glass of water and had a sip of it. His eyes were wandering aimlessly when suddenly watched Zhu Yi.

And Zhu Yi himself, also had realized his gaze.

All Fan Wangs are invited to this party, I should not be surprised to meet that kid now. Zhu Su watched Zhu Yi, who laughed happily with Zhu Di and the other officials just now, were smiling and nodding respectfully at him and Zhu Hui.

"Greetings to Fifth Brother and Nineteenth Brother!" Zhu Yi bowed in respect to him, as if nothing had happened between them. Zhu Hui immediately replied, "It is so nice to see you again, little brother."

"How are you, Yi?" Zhu Su also replied Zhu Yi's greeting. Zhu Yi was still polite and kind to him, of course, he had to return the hospitality. Who knew, Zhu Yi had thought his advice thoroughly, and felt grateful because he had helped enlighten him, so now treated him well in return.

"I feel marvelous! My great delight to meet with you my brothers, especially with the Emperor!" Zhu Yi replied enthusiastically.

Zhu Di said, "We are all busy in our own activities. I am in Yingtian, while you are in your own Fan Wang Guos separating very far from me. No news we get among ourselves except a little information. That's why I'm very happy to meet all my younger brothers again!"

Zhu Su and the other Fan Wangs replied respectfully, "Thank you for Your Majesty's attention."

"By the way, Su, I heard that Kaifeng has been flooded again, right? They said, it was so big that it almost submerged your palace?"

Everyone turned their heads to Zhu Su.

"That's right, Sire. But the problem has been solved," Zhu Su answered.

"The history of Kaifeng is filled with floods, even since the Song Dynasty," Zhu Hui chimed in. "It must be a hard time for Fifth Brother to live in that place."

"Well, it might be a bit difficult, but even the Song Emperors could be fine there. So I also must be able to survive in Kaifeng."

"Anyway, I agree with Hui. Su, why don't you move to Luoyang?"

Zhu Su blinked as Zhu Di asked that question. "But Sire... it has been the edict issued by Fu Huang, hasn't it?..."

"Just move to Luoyang, Su!" Zhu Di said firmly. "I have planned this for long. Kaifeng is not suitable for living due to the plentiful of disasters, even your palace has been almost destroyed. And there are rebellions too. I have sent the architects and artists to design a new palace for you, and we can build it shortly! So you will be able to live there soon!"