A Love Never Lost Episode 27 Recap
> A Love Never Lost Recap
Li Renjun was gambling with his life this time—if he won, he’d gain wealth and status; if he lost, it’d be the end of him. He asked Xiao Fenglan whether she was willing to take the risk with him. The Prince Regent appointed his own seventh younger brother, Zai Tao, to take charge of training the Imperial Guards. Zai Tao had been Liang Xiang’s student, and Liang Xiang knew exactly what he was capable of.
Yang Kaizhi was also furious and simply threw in the towel. Zai Feng was just that kind of temperament, and Liang Xiang’s mother consoled him not to take it to heart. Liang Xiang learned from Duo Mei that many people had recently come to their home. Among the familiar ones was Li Renjun, who had sent a lot of gifts to the Liang residence, clearly wanting to ask Liang Xiang for help with something.
Liang Xiang saw through it immediately—other than that Master Yuan of his, Li Renjun had nothing else to ask. As for Yang Kaizhi, Liang Xiang wanted to tie him down through a marriage connection, so he had long instructed Duo Mei to find a suitable candidate—not within their circle, but through Duo Mei’s mother in Wanping City. Li Renjun was too naive to see the current situation clearly.
Yang Kaizhi reminded him that after the deaths of both Empress Dowagers, the Prince Regent and Yuan Shikai were bound to clash. While Empress Dowager Cixi was alive, Master Yuan still had her protection, but now that the old lady was gone, Master Yuan’s future was as obvious as lice on a bald man’s head. Whether he sticks his neck out or not, it’s a knife either way.
Li Renjun never imagined the matter was this serious, and he deeply regretted his actions. In the twelfth lunar month of the 34th year of the Guangxu reign, the Imperial Guards Training Office was officially established. Zai Feng consulted Liang Xiang about Yuan Shikai’s issue.
Liang Xiang said that, on the surface, Yuan Shikai’s post in the Beiyang Army had already been removed, but the Yuan faction had already spread its wings within the army and held elite units in key positions, making it extremely difficult to weaken them. Therefore, Liang Xiang believed the problem must be resolved at the root. The most direct and simple solution was to execute one as a warning to the others.
Liang Xiang suggested executing Yuan Shikai for having offended the late emperor during the Hundred Days’ Reform. But Zai Feng, considering the wide implications, decided instead to remove Yuan Shikai using the least justified excuse. On January 2, 1909, the Prince Regent issued an imperial decree: Grand Councilor Yuan Shikai was now suffering from a foot ailment, finding it hard to walk, and was unfit for his duties.
He was to be dismissed and sent home to recuperate, as a show of imperial compassion. Wu Tianbai wished to meet Zhang Jian of the Constitutionalists. Knowing Zhang Jian was not inclined to meet him at the moment, Song Baoquan met with Wu Tianbai on Zhang Jian’s behalf. Wu Tianbai tried to persuade Song Baoquan to side with the revolutionaries, but Song Baoquan, from Zhang Jian’s standpoint, declined.
Song Chen, worried that the court might take action against Song Baoquan because of this, warned his father to be careful. Huang Fusheng came to Wu Tianbai and brought up two matters: one was a new type of remote-controlled bomb, and the other was the need to find someone to run a photography studio in Beijing. Coincidentally, Wu Tianbai could solve both. Xie Shuhong knew photography and had experience running a studio.
Wu Tianbai gave her plenty of time to consider whether to go to Beijing. Yang Yifan decided to go to Germany to pursue a career in education and had no choice but to temporarily leave Yu Bugu with Yang Kaizhi. Yang Kaizhi neither understood nor agreed with Yang Yifan’s decision. It was Yang Yifan who had roped him into the revolution in the first place, yet now Yang Yifan was choosing to abandon it.
However, Yang Kaizhi came to terms with it quickly. He took Yu Bugu to the Liang residence to meet Liang Xiang and left Yu Bugu in Duo Mei’s care for the time being. The Second Prince was also at the Liang residence. Upon seeing Yang Kaizhi, he made a pointed remark, saying Yang Kaizhi was a renowned frontier hero who had fought the Japanese with real weapons on the battlefield, yet his position wasn’t as high as the Second Prince’s.
