The noon sun hang high above the sky and inside the living room, Wang-Yi sat at his desk, with his small council surrounding him, their mind heavy with the weight of the impending food shortage.
Just then, Jiang-Yi entered the room, her face serious and her expression grim. The prince could see from her demeanor that she had some serious news to share.
"My prince," she said, bowing respectfully. "I'm afraid I have some bad news."
The prince braced himself, knowing what was coming. "What is it, Jiang-Yi?"
"Our food supplies are dwindling faster than expected," she said. "Despite the rationing, we're running out of food much quicker than anticipated."
"How much do we have left?" The prince asked, his voice barely above a whisper.
Jiang-Yi hesitated before responding. "We have enough food for two more days, my prince."
The prince rested his chin on his fist, his face deep in thought.
About a minute into the silence, Lin-Lin spoke up:
"My prince," Lin-Lin said, bowing before him. "I also have a report to make."
"Go on." The prince looked to her.
"The situation on the streets is dire," Lin-Lin said. "People are hungry and desperate. Many have lost their homes to the floods, and the ones who still have homes are afraid to leave them because of looters."
"En…" The prince nodded in acknowledgement.
"I know, my prince," Lin-Lin said. "But people are getting impatient. They're starting to protest and demand that we do something more."
"What kind of protests?" The prince asked.
"Mostly peaceful ones so far," Lin-Lin said. "But there have been a few incidents of violence. We need to act quickly before things get worse."
"What do you suggest we do?" The prince asks.
"My prince, there is still the aristocrats." Lin-Lin pointed out. "They have plenty of food. Can't we force them to donate more?"
Wang-Yi shook his head. "No, we cannot force them. It would only incite rebellion."
The room went as silent as a grave again, after what felt like eternity, a single figure stepped through the room, breaking the silence.
It was none other than, the prince's humble servant, Shi-Er-Wa, whom held a plate of red apples slices. Upon seeing the prince, she bowed to the prince.
"My prince, I have brought you some apples," Shi-Er-Wa said timidly.
Wang-Yi looked up from his desk and smiled at her. "Thank you, Shi-Er-Wa. You always know how to bring a smile to my face."
Shi-Er-Wa's cheeks flushed with pleasure at the prince's words, and she carefully placed the plate of apples on his desk.
"Is there anything else you need, my prince?" she asked.
Wang-Yi shook his head. "No, Shi-Er-Wa. Thank you."
Shi-Er-Wa bowed again and turned to leave the room, but before she could step out, Wang-Yi called out to her:
"Wait, I have a question for you." The prince asked.
"Yes, my prince?" Shi-Er-Wa stopped in her tracks at once, then turned and faced the prince.
"Let's say if you were starving and there was no food, what would you do in this type of situation?"
Shi-Er-Wa looked down at the ground for a moment, seemingly lost in thought before answering. "I would try to find food wherever I could, my prince," she said softly. "But if there is truly no food to be found, I would try to find a way to endure the hunger, to wait it out until there is food again."
"How would you endure the hunger?" there was a pique of interest in the prince's tone.
Shi-Er-Wa thought for a moment before answering, "I would endure it as long as I can, my prince. I believe that in difficult times, we must have patience and faith that things will get better."
"What kind of faith?" the prince asked.
Shi-Er-Wa smiled and looked up at the prince, her eyes shining with determination. "The kind of faith that tells you that things will get better, that there is always hope, even in the darkest of times," she replied.
The prince lowered his head and took a moment to digest her answer.
"Faith…" The prince muttered. Then all of sudden the prince lifted his head, his eyes bright with revelation.
"Thank you Shi-Er-Wa, you gave me just the plan." The prince said with a massive grin on his face.
Shi-Er-Wa's cheeks turned even redder with embarrassment, and she lowered her gaze to the floor. "I-I didn't do anything, my prince," she said softly. "I'm just a humble servant girl."
"You helped me more then you imagined." The prince said as he got up from his chair. "Yu-Xiao-Xi, I want you to draft up an announcement for me."
"Yes, my prince." Yu-Xiao-Xi quickly scrambled to get the ink and paper.
"Here is what I want you to write." The prince grinned.