The Prince's Dilemma

In a mansion somewhere within the inner city.

"I greet the first prince." A soldier exuding an aura of strength bowed before a young man who had sharp eyebrows pitch black hair and piercing eyes.

"Quit with the pleasantries general Hua, tell me the bad news."

The man who was bowing stood up sand spoke with a sullen expression.

"I beg your forgiveness Prince but the drought has been killing our crops indiscriminately, I've done as you instructed and reached to chamber of commerce to increase import of food items but it's eating through your personal treasury."

The prince fiddled with the golden chain around his neck and let out a deep sigh "it's fine, for now my funds can last at least a few months to sustain my corner of the kingdom, this much investment is important to gain the support of the commoners."

"Forgive me if I am overstepping here but would it now be beneficial to reach out to them. Or at least cut off food supply to some of the slums, it's not sustainable I fear." general Hua spoke with a conflicted expression.

"you mean to reach out to the cultivators, please general let's not overestimate ourselves although we are both within the late stages of body refinement and my father has reached the peak of Qi condensation."

The prince slowly walked towards the minister and spoke to him face to face with a serious expression.

"To those sects we are nothing more than a form of entertainment and amusement, hear me when I say this, the moment this country falls into their debt is the moment this country will cease to exist." Silence overtook the room for a moment before the prince followed up quickly.

"And about the slums, while my siblings are still supporting them I cannot stop, this would only increase their public appeal."

The prince rubbed his temple "Not to mention that bastard prime minister who's also lusting for the throne."

"I understand prince I will continue to communicate with the chamber of commerce to find a way to resolve this famine." the general spoke and stormed off in a hurry.

The prince watched as the man left and removed what seemed to be a glowing pill from his robe promptly shifting it around his palm "ah, decisions, decisions, so many decisions to make. Indecisiveness could be the death of me." he said before returning to the pile of paperwork he had been working on.

….

"Out of the way carriage coming through!"

The loud shout was but a drop in the bucket for the street that was bustling with people, there was stalls set up left and right, all anyone could hear was the incessant bargaining.

"This is it kid, the center of the inner city, our merchant's district, look around, you can find anything from spices to swords." Old man Zhang bragged shamelessly to Zhishi Wu.

"I see." this was all Zhishi Wu said as he continued to scan the area around the carriage, a sort of gaze that indiscriminately committed everything to memory, from the forgettable faces of strangers to rare and exotic fruits that he had never seen before.

As for the other passengers on the carriage little Hanyi was cuddled up with secretary Lan as she had a very bad reaction to riding the carriage.

"My mom told me the world is very colorful. Miss is it very colorful outside? " She asked with a lowered voice reflecting her current condition.

"I guess it is kind of." Secretary Lan responded with a confused expression, she wasn't sure how to explain the idea of colors to a blind child.

"Alright kid listen up, I'm going to send you along with Little Lan to first get washed up, and secondly change out of those rags, of course I'll put the costs on your tab hahaha." old man Zhang stated as the carriage came to a stop.

"Understood." Zhishi Wu responded as he turned to follow secretary Lan and Hanyi into what seemed like a bathhouse.

"The men's side is on the left, when you come out your clothes should be laid out accordingly along with a few silver coins, take the currency and eat something before I call you to meet with the council." Secretary Lan stated as little Hanyi was pulling the side of her dress trying to drag her into the bath.

"The words and the scene don't really match." Zhishi Wu thought as he saw the comical sight. After he had been told what to do he washed up quickly and saw the clothes laid out for him.

"At least the old man didn't skimp out on buying clothes." he said as he saw the silk based robe with a white base accompanied by black embroidery. Although his limbs still looked very thin and the malnutrition was evident, the clothes managed to make him seem like a rich heir.

He found himself back out on the street with a few silver coins and looking for something to stuff into his stomach, he had already suppressed his hunger for far too long.

"Let's see, the way he explained it I have 10 silver coins and each of the silver coins is worth a 100 bronze, this should be enough to eat something decent."

As he was searching he caught sight of a small building that seemed to be pretty popular.

"A potential hotspot for information and noodles this seems like a fine place to eat." he thought to himself.

The restaurant he had arrived to seemed to be a place where a lot of commoners gathered, there were around 15 tables and 12 of them were full, to have such business they must have been doing something right.

He sat down at the table and despite a few probing gazes he eventually ended up with a large bowl of noodles that seemed like it could have been shared among 3 adult men, while he was in the middle of devouring said dish he overheard a conversation between two men he named baldy and hairy.

"It's time to stockpile vegetables, the drought doesn't seem to be going anywhere." baldy said while in between chugging a beer.

"You're telling me, my brother is a guard for a minister's house and he overheard him saying that import is going to increase 10-fold in the next few months." hairy responded like they were two little schoolgirls gossiping or something.

"Well, at least we don't have to turn to those sec-." Baldy was cut short by a sudden interjection

A soldier dressed in armor that seemed ten times more expensive than the ones Zhishi Wu had seen stepped into the restaurant and shouted. "BOW BEFORE THE PRINCESS!"

A set of five similar soldiers barged into the restaurant with a person in the middle. Zhishi Wu had his head bowed and thus did not get a clear look at her face.

The princess started to walk towards the main reception of the restaurant and started talking to the person sitting there, the words exchanged were near inaudible, but Zhishi Wu by an incredible stroke of luck was sitting really close to where the conversation was and his body had been so incredibly weak and thin that he was overlooked and seen as a non factor by all parties present.

"Has the south sent the guide yet?" the princess spoke in a hopeful tone

"Unfortunately it seems they are also in the middle of, how you say? Uhh negotiations with your second brother, they have requested 15 instead of 10." the man at the counter replied.

"What! We had a deal" CRACK! The princess gripped the wooden counter so hard it started to crack and tear.

"Tell them that I'll do 15 but I want it within the next 2 days or they can forget this deal." she said with a reluctant tone.

The princess then turned and barged out of the restaurant along with the 6 guards she had alongside her. Everything quickly turned back to normal as the people there started to speculate on why the princess had shown up. Zhishi Wu took advantage of the slight chaos to slip out of the restaurant and return to secretary Lan.

….

Inside the chamber of commerce headquarters

The interior of the council's meeting room was grand, the entirety of the area was decorated with various trinkets and objects, there was things that could be considered historical artifacts simply put up for display, the most prominent feature of the room was the long table in the middle surround by luxurious chairs.

There were five figures seated on the chairs and at the head of the table sat Old man Zhang who seemed to be describing his experience of the slums to the council.

"It's simply impossible, are you sure you're not going senile in your old age." An Old man with black hair that had begun to grey spoke in a concerned tone. He fit the appearance of an old man far more than boss Zhang, the weak and frail limbs and long bread that he often stroked were hallmarks of his appearance.

"A child having such ability is already insane to believe but you expect us to believe that he is also an orphan from the slums. Is this some elaborate joke, if so I don't see the humor." A lady who looked like the older version of secretary Lan responded, although this woman also wore glasses and dressed in a far more expensive robe.

"This may seem unbelievable, but if the chamber was to nurture this sort of intelligent child, I believe that would increase our standing in the eyes of the parent branch. An opportunity that must be utilized." A man with a monocle on his left eye spoke in a a daze of sorts, his appearance was a little unnatural even his hair seemed to be clumped together in a Afro.

"Down south we have many intelligent children, this doesn't seem to be too much of a reach." A man dressed in a lightweight tunic style top and loose lightweight trousers fitted at the ankle replied with a relaxed expression, from his clothing, accent, manner of speech and even the tanned skin tone he had it was apparent that he was not a local, but the most telling factor was his age, everyone on the council seemed to have reached their 60's but this man was barely touching his 30's.

"Regardless I have given my word, this council will evaluate his performance and then we shall decide on how to best utilize him. I have sent someone to summon him forth. We will reconvene in 5 minutes, set your affairs in order." old man Zhang declared.

While most of the council had left to instruct their subordinates on what to do in their absence the young man approached old man Zhang.

"There's no way you granted him the audience based off his mathematical abilities, a mere accountant wouldn't warrant this treatment." he asked with a gleam of curiosity in his eye.

Boss Zhang looked at him for a moment before taking a deep breath in and out and replying "It's true that his mathematical skills are impressive, but you are correct they aren't the reason I've called this council."

he leaned back on his chair and continued speaking "The kid, his actions and appearance wasn't a coincidence, it felt like the entirety of our interaction was planned. In a sense I felt as though I met with a small business which convinced me to invest with not much trouble."

The young man clapped his hands together grinned and replied "I knew it there was no way this kid was as ordinary as you made him out to be haha."

The room quickly returned to its previous professional appearance as the other members of the council returned and assumed their previous seats.

A soldier wearing a pattern that seemed exclusive to the chamber of commerce an iconic blend of green and yellow entered and announced loudly.

"The council's hearing regarding the Fate of the child of the slums known as Zhishi Wu or little Wu to others shall now take place."

Following this announcement the door to the room swung open and a child weaning dressed in black and white entered the room and bowed slightly towards the table.

"I Zhishi Wu present my self to the council of the chamber of commerce of Tianchi Kingdom."