Jia Shifei Comes Seeking Counsel

In the dead of night.

What else could it have been for?

Naturally, it was the art of balancing one's subordinates!

Sun Shaozong had gone south to quell the rebellion and won unparalleled merit; Sun Shaozu had gone northeast for field training and happened to reap considerable achievements as well—these two brothers were now shining together, utterly stealing the spotlight.

His elder brother was one thing. After all, he was nearly forty, so serving as a third-rank commander was hardly excessive.

But Sun Shaozong was only in his early twenties, and he had already risen to become a Fourth Rank Official. If he were sent out again and won some extraordinary merit, was he to be promoted to the third rank next?

By the time he reached thirty, Sun Shaozong would have accumulated enough seniority to qualify for a position among the Six Ministries Hall Officials.

And then what about thirty-five? Forty?

Could a military man who had never passed the imperial examinations truly enter the Grand Secretariat?

Thus, without the court needing to say so outright, Sun Shaozong knew that barring special circumstances, he would have no further chance to earn military merit in the coming years.

His elder brother, on the other hand, might have an opportunity to advance further.

Of course, he probably could not hope for the second-rank post of Capital Garrison Commander. At most, he might become a deputy in a second-rank position.

Still, these matters were not easy to explain plainly to Liu Xianglian and Xue Pan.

Especially Xue Pan. The fellow had never been able to keep his mouth shut. If he spread Sun Shaozong's words around, it would cause quite a stir.

So Sun Shaozong merely offered some other excuse to fob them off—for instance, that the Emperor intended for him to