A Love Never Lost Episode 24 Recap
> A Love Never Lost Recap
Song Baoquan greatly admired Xie Shuhong for her boldness. In her, he saw something that his son Song Chen lacked—though what exactly it was, Song Baoquan had yet to determine. Take the concubine, for example—she was a picky woman, yet when it came to Xie Shuhong, every word she spoke was praise. Song Baoquan wanted to take Xie Shuhong as his disciple.
To avoid any misunderstandings from either his concubine or Xie Shuhong, he specifically invited the concubine to serve as a witness to this arrangement. Fortunately, before taking action, Wu Tianbai and Qiu Jin had already removed Yang Yifan from his position. Otherwise, Yang Yifan and his entire family would have been arrested and imprisoned. Yang Yifan now believed that only education could change the public. Blind sacrifice would not awaken the people; saving their hearts was of the utmost importance.
Late at night, Liang Xiang went to visit Yang Kaizhi but didn’t find him. Instead, he saw Xue Qing and Xie Shuhong’s son, Yu Bugu. At this point, he didn’t yet know that Yu Bugu was his own flesh and blood—he only felt the child was unusually endearing and familiar. Yu Bugu asked for the beads on Liang Xiang’s clothes, and Liang Xiang cheerfully took them off and gave them to him.
Before leaving, Liang Xiang asked Xue Qing to tell Yang Kaizhi to come find him immediately upon his return, as he had urgent matters to discuss. Liang Xiang’s memorial convinced the Empress Dowager to make a firm decision—to establish a new Imperial Guard composed entirely of Bannermen, replacing the previous system in which the First and Sixth Beiyang Divisions alternated in guarding the capital. The position of Commander of the Imperial Guard suddenly became highly coveted.
Prince Zai Feng also came to attend Liang Xiang’s lectures, hoping to compete for this crucial role. Before officially appointing the commander, an acting official was needed. Zai Feng recommended Liang Xiang for the role, and to his surprise, Yuan Xiangcheng supported the proposal. A letter from Wu Tianbai arrived, saying his life was no longer in danger. Xie Shuhong missed her child deeply.
Song Baoquan told her that Yang Kaizhi had written, saying Yang Yifan was staying at his home with Xue Qing and Yu Bugu. Knowing Yu Bugu was safe, Xie Shuhong felt at ease. Song Baoquan and Zhang Jizhi from Nantong agreed to launch a low-profile newspaper in Shanghai, aiming to turn it into a nationally influential publication in a short time.
Xie Shuhong was needed to help with the effort—she sent some issues to Wanshan in Japan, asking him to help with reprints. Soon after, news from the Shanghai Bulletin became front-page headlines in major Tokyo newspapers. Song Baoquan was delighted and immediately gave Xie Shuhong twenty thousand yuan. He suggested that Xie Shuhong could use the money to reclaim the electronics store Xue Qing once had in Shanghai, giving them a base to grow in the city.
Wanshan also needed a favor from Xie Shuhong—Japanese military attaché Hirata Ichiro wanted to meet Zhang Jian. When Xie Shuhong relayed this, Song Baoquan said it would be no problem. Hirata Ichiro brought Yoshiko with him to Beijing and temporarily stayed at Liang Xiang’s residence. Hirata Ichiro told Liang Xiang that China was at a critical juncture. According to Japanese intelligence experts, if the current ruler were to die, the one residing in the Yingtai would certainly die first.
Liang Xiang’s mother couldn’t believe it and thought Hirata was spouting nonsense, suspecting ulterior motives from the Japanese. Liang Xiang said he would judge for himself. He went to see Yang Kaizhi and brought up the child. Yang Kaizhi said the boy had already moved to the Imperial University with relatives. Liang Xiang didn’t press further and moved on to the main topic, asking Yang Kaizhi if he would be willing to join his Imperial Guard. Yang Kaizhi considered himself a low-born man and thought he was unfit to join a force composed entirely of royal clan members.
