Enlightened Empire 61 The Ape King's Banque

Once he had left the warehouse, Corco shied back, for the sunlight had launched an attack on his face. Out in the open, his eyes had to take some time to readjust to the world of the day walkers. Squinting to fight back the UV-rays, he looked over his shoulder to make sure the kid had followed along. Only then did he go on his way.

"Crown Prince... Is it truly prudent to walk in the open like this?" his companion asked.

"Not a problem. I've been away for seven years, so who's gonna recognize me? Just... stop using my title please. That would be helpful," Corco said with a troubled smile as he looked around the bustling street.

Murmurs of the Argu River to their feet were overpowered by the babble of the masses in the streets. Unbelievable, since the two main roads of Arguna were built along either side of the forceful strean. Not only was the water drowned out by the street's customers, but also by the various shops and stalls they frequented.

Along the road, one could find tea shops, restaurants, lecturing halls, shrines, diviners, chess shops, bath houses and brothels, frequented by all manner of folk, many of them as luxurious in their decorations as the shops themselves. However, merchants in simple clothes and bald headed priests found their wishes fulfilled just as much as the show-offish nobles. From all of them, Corco could hear the same topics of conversation:

"Did you hear? The emperor has been desecrated..."

"Unbelievable!"

"At his banquet, the crown prince..."

"...salted!"

"Impossible."

"Shhhh... don't let the guards hear you."

"...salted!"

"To speak about the emperor like this! The commoners should be ashamed," Primus complained.

"You really can't deny the people their gossip. It's all they have, really. Not like there's much entertainment here otherwise. Did you know that the Ancestral Hall even banned open air theater in the common quarters? Apparently it's considered improper now."

"But Crow... but master, the gossip is still-"

"I released the news." Corco decided to go with the truth so he could interrupt his companion's whining. Feeling the presence in his back disappear, the prince turned around to find Primus frozen in shock. His eyes stared wide ope, as they swam all over Corco's person in search of an explanation. After a light sigh, the prince obliged.

"Look, my father isn't coming back. I thought it would be best to keep the news of his mummification a secret until we can find the killer, but it's no longer an option now. It's already become public knowledge among the nobles," Corco said with a bitter smile.

On the day after the banquet, news of the emperor's state had already spread all across the inner city. To him, this was an obvious attempt to make his search for the culprit even more difficult.

"So this is our next best move. Instead of telling the truth to a select few, the culprit among them, just let everyone know instead and have the people make their own guesses. After all, there aren't too many who could have ordered the desecration, so they'll find an appropriate target soon enough."

"...the princes."

In response to Primus' whisper, Corco smiled. At last his companion had reset his program and followed Corco's steps, just as he followed his thoughts.

"That's right. Could have been one of the princes. Which one? Sure as hell wasn't me, I wasn't even in the country. So I'll just let the rumor mill turn for a bit. Now you might think the commoners have no influence on the lords, that it doesn't matter what they do. But the commoners influence the warriors and the warriors influence their lords. It's subtle, but this will put pressure on middlest and the littlest prince."

"But Prin... How could lord make word spread this fast?" Confused, the kids head whipped around to keep up with the buzz of gossip all around them.

"I have my ways." Rather than burden the kid with knowledge which would only harm him in front of his own father, Corco chose to remain vague. Luckily he didn't have to deal with the details, since the conversation had run its course.

"Eyes up front. We're here." Since they had reached the goal of their journey, they walked up the wide steps towards the entrance of the Ape King's Banquet, the greatest restaurant in all of Medala. With the dexterity of cultivators, they snaked their way through the crowd of onlookers and onsmellers spread across the steps. This was a sporadic phenomenon on these steps: Sometimes, crowds would form in front of the famous restaurant and could only be broken up by the city guards. Corco could already spot them in the back, ready and waiting until they could earn some extra coin for their troubles from the helpless restaurant staff. After all, the guards of Arguna would never work for free.

As he climbed up further, Corco grasped his money pouch. Not only the guards would make a killing on days like these, the pickpockets would also run rampant. Finally, the two reached the top of the stairs, where a bamboo fence had been erected to prevent any disturbance for the guests inside. A few more steps through the crowd and at last they would find access to the establishment and be able to leave the discomfort of the masses. Corco really didn't like crowds much.

"Prince Corco!" The voice created a ripple in the harmonious chaos of the mob. Everyone reordered themselves as all eyes followed a stout, red robed man and his attendant step towards Corco and Primus.

"Lord Betucio. The shaven beard suits you well," Corco joked to his former debate partner.

"Haha, it seems Prince wishes to jest. Thinking back on it, the entire matter of the beards has been exceedingly silly," the lord answered in reference to the chutwstyle beard he had worn up until a few days ago.

After he had given a proper and respectful greeting, Corco sneaked a quick look around. Right away he felt like the center of a spiral made of people, all eyes were focused on the middle, on him.

"Maybe we should speak inside. And please, don't be so formal. I can't stand the way our courts operate."

"As you wish." Still stiff, but at least with acceptable pronouns, the Governor of the North led the way towards the little gate in the fence. Since the two men had a reservation for the day, they passed the gatekeeper without much trouble and entered through the ochre colored archway into the spacious interior, where a waiter passed them off to guide them to their assigned room.

As they crossed the large common hall which was meant for the simpler guests, Corco almost shouted over the buzz of conversation. He wasn't only talking to Betucio after all. His next words were meant for everyone in Medala.

"Lord Betucio, I'm happy we can meet again like this. I thought our last debate at the banquet was quite fruitful. I look forward to a more in-depth discussion today."

"No no, Prince Corco. The honor is mine. After Prince showed his wisdom and courage, this Lord had already hoped to ask for advice on several matters of curiosity."

"Of course, Lord Betucio. Please, after you." After their little play, they arrived at their private room. Corco gestured for Betucio to enter before he, the two attendants and finally the waiter followed along.

Once inside, the two nobles sat on the upholstered cherry wood chairs at large table. Meanwhile, Primus and Betucio's attendant took their seats at a smaller table to the side, as their status demanded. While Corco took a look out of the window, onto the calm stream of the river, the governor ordered various dishes from the waiter. His duties fulfilled, he left the room for the kitchen right after. Now that they were done with the banalities and with some privacy secured, Betucio interrupted Corco's wistful gaze onto the Argu.

"Prince Corco, please accept this Lords deepest gratitude for this act of kindness." As he spoke, the lord stood up and offered a deep bow, even bending his knees.

"It's no big deal. It really isn't." Corco was about to give a hint with his eyes, but Primus had already rushed over to help the Lord back up. "And I already said: I don't really care about any of the formalities. Please just talk freely. The stiff speech was just for outside. So people would see."

"Prince has inconvenienced himself just to save this old man's reputation," the not-so-old lord replied after he had sat back down.

"This is something I wanted to do anyways. Free us from our social constraints. Today was just a good way to start, that's all."

"Constraints? What might prince be speaking of?" Since the Lord showed interest in one of his ideas, Corco would absolutely not spare him of the details.

"Simple, really. If you want to argue on anything in this country, you always have to consider far too much. What is the other side's status? How old is he? Does he stand to gain from the argument? How does he orate his argument? All of these can be much more important than the validity of the actual argument. If I hadn't been a royal prince, no one would have considered me the winner of the debate that evening."

For a while Betucio mulled the prince's words over, before he nodded with a hum.

"So, what do you think about this state of affairs?" Corco asked. "Is it easy to find optimal solutions like this? Or determine the truth of the matter, of any matter?"

"It is exceedingly problematic. I myself had been blinded by Ichtaka's age and status. Thus I believed without thought," Betucio conceded.

"This doesn't only go for the scholars though. Just look at my father's salting. Does anyone actually know what happened? What's going on inside the Moonlight Ziggurat or the Ancestral Hall? Or what about the silver palace as a whole? This state of secrecy only helps those with power in the palace. Like this, they can bend and distort the truth however much they please."

His obvious hint at the attempted takeover by the Ichilia clan wouldn't leave Betucio nonplussed, of that Corco was convinced.

"Since prince has thought about matters this much, surely he must have a solution."

Even though it proved the exact problem he was determined to solve, Corco grinned from ear to ear at the blind trust the Lord showed in him.

"Instead of a recourse to authority, what I want during arguments is the death of the author. Except, you know, with everything. Here's what I mean by that: Personal interests, personal grudges, personal status, age, weight, gender, none of it matters. An argument's content doesn't change no matter who says it, so it should only be evaluated on its own merit. That's why we're here. I need to show the whole capital: Our differences during the banquet had nothing to do with any hatred we might have towards one another. It was simply a difference in opinion. Opposing each other on one certain viewpoint doesn't make us enemies. It can't. Otherwise, we'll never have a truly open discourse in this country."

As the prince spoke, a servant entered the room to bring the wine and dried fruits. appetizers before the main course. Quick on his feet, Primus blocked his way as the servant tried to crane his head past the entry and get a good look at the scene inside. Annoyed, the attendant took the tray and shooed off the bothersome waiter. Corco couldn't be prouder. The kid was growing up so fast. Unaware of Corco's strange thoughts, Primus filled the cups in accordance with proper etiquette. To the backdrop of the gurgling cups, Corco continued his explanation.

"Our territories aren't about to start a war. We just had a simple difference in opinion on one specific issue. After we argued said issue thoroughly, we have come to a mutual understanding. Believe me, Medala will do a lot better if we can foster a culture like this... which makes today a historic moment."

Corco's lofty spirit raised the cup high in the air. His hand helped a bit too.

"Salute," he said with a smile.

"Salute," Betucio smiled back.

Chapter end