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The Eighth God is Man
The Little Prince (part 3)

The Little Prince (part 3)

The second time the king called the little prince to court, it was already widely acknowledged among the ministers that at only a tender age of six, the prince could not only differentiate the logic of a child from that of an adult, but could also use it to his advantage. He purposely acted dumb and they were all fooled by it, they knew that now! So this time they were very wary and united in their intention to refute any childish argument that comes out of his mouth. After last time, they kept an eye out and found out that the little prince could trounce a Brahmin scholar in the subject of the origin of the universe, forget about little things like who should be the king's favorite. He can definitely hold his own in court! But a child is still a child. He performed the same trick again and fell into their trap. The ministers uniformly refused to accept the childish argument. So the child asked why. The ministers explained. The child picked a point and asked the next question. They patiently answered. And then he asked a series of questions. He didn't introduce any ideas or opinions of his own and kept to the same childish tune. 'Why is that?' 'What is that?' 'Why would it happen that way?' 'Why can't you stop it?' 'So what should we do?' 'Why can't we do this instead?'

The ministers laughingly indulged him, knowing they were in the stronger position and explained everything patiently, detailing every single aspect of the problem, in all possible directions. Slowly but subtly, they even uttered the true logical solution.

This is when the prince stopped. His figure straightened and his eyes like straight beams, caught the eyes of everyone present over there. He repeated the original problem and the solution that had just been uniformly introduced by all conflicting parties…who sadly forgot they were in conflict and were swept away by their tune of logic.

'So according to logic and reason, according to Dharma, the laws set by the king and the path shown by our ancestors, according to what you all agreed together as courtiers of this fair court, this is the fair and just solution,' the boy spoke succinctly, his tone no longer cute or childlike. 'So why are you still wasting the court's time by arguing?'

His imposing form at that moment nearly eclipsed his own father! The stateliness and majesty emanating from his little body was sharp and burning as though originating from the desert's midday sun under which nothing could hide. Anything spoken by that rigorous young sapling with a straight back and penetrating eyes was impossible to refute, for such grandeur can only be possessed by the one who stands on the side of courage and justice. It was impossible to believe he was a child who just turned eight!

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The ministers knew they fell into his trap again…

Such is the story of Prince Vajradandaka. Not one that bards can sing of exactly, not full of valor and heroics like his older brother. The people don't exactly like him, nor do they know much of him. No plays have been written about him, no poems describe his birth. He was certainly nothing the shining star that people love and worship like they do his brother. But those who need to know, know that he was the one they need to look out for among the two brothers. Even when Prince Vajradhaara succeeds the throne or especially when he does, it was estimated that his little brother Vajradandaka would serve as this country's pillar by making up what the heir apparently lacks. It wasn't that Vajradhaara was stupid. He was an honest and upright person who takes a straight approach to everything. At a young age of sixteen, he led a legion into the battlefield and came out victorious. He has participated in numerous duels and is widely recognised as the epitome of honour and chivalry among the masses. As such, he can serve as the spiritual pillar of the country, probably more brilliantly than his father. Sadly, he lacks any cunning. It was said that he had already been plotted upon a few times in the inner court after his mother's early death. It was only because of his responsibility to protect his brother that he wised up a little. But he supposedly didn't do very well until the child turned four or five. Or perhaps he never succeeded at all…It was only known that the little prince's wits were recognised in the inner court as early as four. Who knows? Maybe it was the little prince protecting his big brother instead.

It was precisely knowing all this that made the captain of the guards extremely uneasy when the kid yelled angrily, saying that a truly loyal person would never say what he did. He thought he was being loyal by reminding the little prince not to trust someone easily! If it was someone else, especially with the political environment these days, not to mention the war at the border which the king himself led the troops to, what is the guarantee that they would catch him? The prince jumped on his own accord from a great height. It is estimated that not everyone can hinder his fall and make him land safely. If someone had evil intentions, all they had to do was to pretend to trip! Who can blame them when the prince acts so recklessly?

The prince chiding him so harshly, isn't this just a child acting willfully? The captain was still very confused. This wasn't the wise Prince Vajradandaka that he heard about. "Why? Why wouldn't a truly loyal person say something like this?"

"Because a truly loyal person is blind! Which is an indicator of being stupid! How could a stupid person say what you did?" the prince said heatedly with nose crooked in anger. Jeh-shaan instantly recognised the unreasonable logic that the prince was famous for. He could feel for a second, the helplessness of all the courtiers who didn't know what to make of the prince's statements. Jeh-shaan didn't think the prince will explain himself. He loved leaving people speechless.

But this time, the prince added sadly in a low voice, "A truly loyal person cannot know so clearly as you where disloyalty stems from!" He paused and then shouted at the top of his voice for all the ramparts to hear, "Because it never happened to him, he doesn't know that if his heart hesitates for one second, disaster happens! He is ignorant, because his heart never hesitates! Because it so firm and unshakeable, he is ignorant to the possibility of hesitation. It simply does not occur to him! He is stupid!"