I was born into a family of military commanders, and I was betrothed as a child to my childhood friend, the Sixth Prince.
But after the Sixth Prince won a military honor and was named Crown Prince, he petitioned to marry the female general who had fought alongside him. The entire capital waited to see me make a fool of myself.
Me: Don’t panic, don’t panic. Time to slack off.
And it wasn’t just me. My whole family started slacking off.
The frontier was under threat. My father and brother said, “We have old injuries and can’t get out of bed.”
The national treasury was running dry. My mother said, “Our family is poor. We have nothing to lend.”
After the drought, an irrigation project needed to be built. My grandfather said, “I’m old and useless, and lately my mind has been getting foggy.”
The Crown Prince flew into a rage. “You really think you’re indispensable! I have plenty of other people!”
I smiled calmly.
The one who didn’t know his own worth had never been me. It was him.
Without our family, he’d be crushed into the dirt.
A son-in-law like him might have caught a lucky break, but his abilities were limited. In the end, he’d only be knocked back to where he started.
