The Ballad of Gu Wei - part I
From a young age, Gu Wei knew he wasn't wanted.
He came from a poor family and was born in a rural, sleepy village -- li away from the nearest city. It was said that their little village was so remote that the gaze of the Zui King didn't even fall on them, and as such they could do as they pleased.
The downside to that was that there wasn't any infrastructure. Their anonymity came with plenty of deaths during the harshest winters, and with famines when some plague hit the crops. Being far away from the King's gaze, also meant they were far away from his aid.
No one in their little village ever went into the city to do anything besides sell their wares -- and so they endured. More or less left to their own devices for centuries.
Gu Wei's dad spoke of this proudly. He liked that their village was so self-reliant ; his mother less so. Sometimes she'd tell Gu Wei that she felt that even the gods had abandoned them.