After leaving the sitting room, Sun Shaozong headed toward Jia Yingchun's quarters in the rear courtyard, mulling over his conversation with Yu Qian and Li Xian.
Though the two had arrived together, their purposes had been different.
As his father Li Sheng's condition worsened, Li Xian had grown increasingly homesick. In recent days, he had even kept muttering that he would rather be a ghost in his homeland than a wanderer abroad.
Though Li Sheng's condition truly made long-distance travel unsuitable, pressed hard enough, Li Xian could only agree—after all, Li Sheng's illness was beyond cure. Even if he remained in the capital, he would merely linger a few more days.
Thus, Li Xian had come today mainly to bid Sun Shaozong farewell.
After learning the full story, Sun Shaozong naturally gave him an earnest lecture, ordering him not to grow arrogant and neglect his studies after returning home.
He then had Zhao Zhongji prepare life-preserving medicinal supplies, along with three thousand taels of silver for Li Xian's travel expenses and mourning period.
Li Xian did not offer thanks. Before leaving, he merely kowtowed three times with utmost respect.
Only after Li Xian had departed did Yu Qian explain his purpose—he had hurried over to warn Sun Shaozong not to have any dealings with Wang Ziteng in the near future.
Fortune and misfortune truly went hand in hand.
The Southeast Fleet Wang Ziteng had built by pouring in the resources of the entire southeastern region had originally drawn considerable criticism from southerners, with censors denouncing it every few days.
Only recently, after the Southeast Fleet drove through the northern seas, swept across Kyushu, and shook Joseon with its might, had those criticisms fallen silent.
But who could have expected the good times to end so quickly?
At the beginning of