This winter's weather had indeed been rather strange.
The night had been perfectly clear, yet just as dawn broke, dark clouds suddenly gathered. By the time Sun Shaozong left home, sparse snowflakes had already begun to drift down.
Yawning all the way to the stables, Sun Shaozong saw Liu Quan talking to Zhang Cheng beneath the thatched shelter, his tone noticeably ingratiating.
"What is it?"
Sun Shaozong called out directly, "Couldn't stand being idle after only a few days?"
The two men in the shelter both jumped. Liu Quan hurried over with a broad smile. "As expected, nothing can be hidden from Second Master—this lowly one was born with a cheap hide. When I'm busy running about, I don't feel much, but once I'm idle, my whole body starts to feel wrong."
His body feeling wrong was a lie. What truly worried him was Wang Jin taking away the position of second steward.
After all, Wang Jin had been bustling about everywhere lately, gathering quite a few supporters within the residence. Though Liu Quan prided himself on his merits, he could not help feeling uneasy.
"Not being able to sit idle is a good thing."
Just then, Zhang Cheng led out the carriage he had prepared earlier. As Sun Shaozong climbed aboard, he said, "Go see Steward Zhao and find out what arrangements he has for you."
Upon hearing this, Liu Quan clearly seemed to want to say something but held himself back.
In his view, the second steward and chief steward were basically rivals, not superior and subordinate. Now that Second Master had sent him off to Zhao Zhongji, did that mean the position of second steward had fallen through?
Yet Liu Quan did not dare voice these doubts before Sun Shaozong. At most, he could ask Zhang Cheng