Shortly after Mua Kong left, the King pondered on the sudden change of his second son. He never thought that within four months time, Mua Kong would change this much compared to how he used to be in the last three years.

The King"s wish is to have Mua Kong marry the daughter of one of the ministers or upper elite cla.s.s but what if Mua Kong does not like any of them? Although, he knew that having a powerful wife would help support Mua Kong to rule the country, Mua Kong has never showed interest in all the daughters that come and go through the Palace. Mua Kong is so strong minded and he acc.u.mulated enough strength to not waver by others people"s decision. making the King felt like Mua Kong would be ok to choose his own wife.

The King knew that his decision would upset the ministers and upper elite cla.s.s and there would be great set back. He took some setbacks when he declined to have a harem, but, for the first time, he want to put the interest of his child first. So if he should ever meet his wife in the underworld, he can proudly tell his wife that he had done something great for his children and not for the country.

The King originally never wanted the throne if it wasn"t to acquire power to protect his mother and himself, he would never take over the throne.

The other reason the King took the throne was because of how he grew up during the time the country was in dire problems. He saw the many flaws the country have, the corruptions and suffering of the people. As a young child at the time, he could relate to citizens as he has the least power among his siblings. And that experience influence him to build a great nations that citizens will not have to suffer.

When he became King, he spent all of his time and energy on the country that after his wife pa.s.sed away, he regrets not having spend time with her or his children. By the time his wife left the world, his children already build characters and opinions of their own that even the King could not influence. Mua Kong was upset at him for that and so Mua Kong has never really opened up to him.

And so the King thought about opening the festival to the middle cla.s.s commoner citizens to allow more options for Mua Kong.

The King never wanted to see Mua Kong in the state he has been for the last three years. Thus, he summoned his right hand adviser to consult about the Annual festivals of his decision. He wanted to make the festival very grand, invite lots of people, all the middle cla.s.s commoners to attend with their daughters.

Allowing commoners to attend means more s.p.a.ce will be needed, the main Palace will not be able to accommodate the citizens and usual Palace workers. The adviser suggested, tearing down the area outside of the palace gate to accommodate the guests, renovate one side of the palace and leaving that area to accommodate future celebration involving the citizens. The King very much like this idea and so he agreed on the plan. Once the plan was drawn out, the King summoned an order for the construction to take place and he wanted it done in two weeks.

When the news spread throughout the palace and the country, the ministers, upper elite cla.s.s who have daughters were outrage by this decision without consulting them first. Although the whole country will celebrate in their own town at the same time as the palace, the upper elite cla.s.s and ministers did not like that the King has opened up the festival for commoners to attend. It was already compet.i.tive enough among themselves to get Mua Kong to look at their daughter, let alone allowing commoners to compete.

Although many of the upper elite cla.s.s and palace ministers did not think that commoners would catch Prince Mua Kong"s attention, they were familiar of Mua Kong"s history. He picked up an ordinary commoner with no origin as wife. He was so protective of her, he refused to let anyone know who she is or what she looks like for fear that people will find trouble for her.

However, at the time, he was still young. The minsters and upper elite cla.s.s thought they will have time to persuade Mua Kong to take in another wife. They had thought that once when he gets tired of Hli Ja, his eyes will eventually drift away from her to seek someone else. Then, they could push their daughter into his sight. Majority of the ministers and upper elite cla.s.s crave for power and status related to King and if they have to use their daughter to get that power, they will do so.

But over the years, since the disappearance of Hli Ja, Mua Kong was never around making it hard for the ministers and upper elite to show their daughter to him. What if Mua Kong choose a commoner as his wife like the previous woman they all heard of but never seen? They knew Mua Kong does not like to follow orders from the King, what are the chances of Mua Kong listening to them or be persuaded by them? Using power and money to threat Mua Kong may not work as Mua Kong already have a strong foundation in the military and enough influence among the citizens.

Going up against the person who is the most capable and likely to take over the throne is not ideal, the ministers and upper elite would like to avoid that if possible.

Since the news was spread throughout the country, the citizens were restless, every town was busy preparing for the festival. Many families with daughter of marriage age was busy preparing to glam up their daughter for the festivals. Some families who live a little farther out had already made their way to the palace in advance to attend the festival in time.

Because of the time constrains on the renovation project, the palace was bustling, busy preparing just as much as the citizens. The surrounding yards outside of the palace was reconstructed. Many trees cut down to make rolls of pavilions outside the palace.