"His Majesty sent me out this time to serve as an envoy to the Yuezhi."
"I am to go as chief envoy. If this succeeds, my clan can be preserved..."
Zhuge Xu spoke with considerable anxiety about what had happened since he had been brought out.
Zhong Hui had brought him out, and his words had been very direct: if he wanted to preserve his clan, he would lead the diplomatic mission to the Yuezhi and reopen the trade route.
Naturally, Zhuge Xu had not dared refuse. He could only agree.
He had come to see Zhuge Dan this time to obtain his forgiveness before leaving, lest his family suffer retaliation after his departure...
Yet even at the end, Zhuge Dan had not explicitly said whether he forgave him. He merely pleaded ill health and had Zhuge Jing see the fellow out.
Zhuge Dan's feelings remained particularly complicated.
There was dread over his lost reputation, as well as bewilderment about everything that lay ahead.
And now, he could not even find anyone to blame.
If he had to blame someone, it seemed he could only blame himself for so readily writing those things in his letters.
Zhuge Jing stood in the courtyard, his feelings even more complicated.
"Young master..."
A servant suddenly approached him. "There is someone at the gate asking to..."
"I already said my father is not receiving visitors!"
"The visitor is here to see you."
Zhuge Jing froze. "Who?"
Ever since the incident involving his father, his old friends had suddenly vanished without a trace and no longer appeared.
And Zhuge Jing had remained at his father's side, attending to him without ever going out. Who would still come to visit him?
He decided to go welcome the visitor himself.
As soon as the gate came into