Stephen Sullivan, Lord of Guichang called for George Sullivan at this time to discuss precisely this matter...

However, for Richard Sullivan, whatever choice The Sullivan Family made, he could not participate, nor did he have the power to do so.

A few days later, Richard Sullivan received his household registration and was officially registered under The Sullivan Family.

……

As Richard Sullivan had expected, the death of the Crown Princess marked the beginning of the struggle between Prince Jin, Yang Guang, and Crown Prince Yang Yong.

And within The Sullivan Family, there was also a huge split regarding the choice between Yang Yong and Yang Guang. Stephen Sullivan, Patriarch of the Sullivans strongly advocated for continued support of Crown Prince Yang Yong. George Sullivan and Philip Sullivan, however, believed that Yang Yong was ambitious but lacked talent, had offended Empress Dugu, and was likely doomed. Most importantly, although Yang Yong had always assisted Yang Jian in governance, in terms of prestige, he was far inferior to Prince Jin, Yang Guang. Even with the support of important ministers like Gao Ying, He Ruobi, and Shi Wansui, he was still no match for Yang Guang.

Looking at those around Yang Guang, there were also capable men like Yang Su and Han Qinhu.

Moreover, Yang Guang had military achievements from his campaigns against Southern Chen, and especially during his time stationed in Jiangdu, he attracted a large number of renowned scholars from the Southern Dynasties. Yang Guang himself was also skilled in scheming and was greatly favored by Empress Dugu. Yang Yong was likely to have a hard time holding onto his position as Crown Prince.

These two outcomes, to some extent, caused internal division within the The Sullivan Family.

Philip Sullivan and others began to look for opportunities to befriend Yang Guang, while Stephen Sullivan continued to openly support Yang Yong.

In the twentieth year of the Kaihuang era, in October, which was the third year since Richard Sullivan came to The Sullivan Family, Emperor Wen of Sui deposed Yang Yong and his children, stripping them of their titles and making them commoners. In November, Prince Jin, Yang Guang, was made Crown Prince, and the following year, the era name was changed to Renshou, ending the three-year-long struggle for the position of Crown Prince.

The Sullivan Family was not significantly affected by this conflict.

Although Stephen Sullivan had chosen the wrong side, Emperor Wen of Sui did not blame him too much. On the contrary, he granted Stephen Sullivan's two brothers, Raymond Sullivan and Patrick Sullivan, the titles of Duke of Chenggao and Baron of Yong'an. In the eyes of the entire court, the Xingyang The Sullivans seemed to be even more favored.

“To take, one must first give!”

In private, George Sullivan said to David Sullivan, “Stephen supported the Crown Prince and has already offended the Empress and Prince Jin. I'm afraid it won't last long.”

Richard Sullivan agreed with George Sullivan's view in his heart.

However, Richard Sullivan could not focus his energy on such matters now, as he had many other things to consider.

The fate of The Sullivan Family was for the The Sullivan Family themselves to worry about.

A noble family with hundreds of years of history would naturally have their own ways of self-preservation.

In the blink of an eye, Richard Sullivan was three years old. According to the Sui dynasty's way of calculating age, he was actually already five.

Thanks to David Sullivan, although Richard Sullivan was only a servant of The Sullivan Family, he lived very comfortably.

George Sullivan selected a residence in Anyuan Hall and gave it to David Sullivan. It was a long, narrow siheyuan-style courtyard, not very large, but fully equipped. Entering from the main gate, there was the central hall, the backyard, and the main bedroom in sequence. On both the east and west sides, there were two corridor rooms each, which could be used for living or for keeping livestock.

Mrs. Cooper and her daughter lived in the corridor rooms of the front yard.

What Richard Sullivan cared about also stemmed from Mrs. Cooper and her daughter.

Mrs. Cooper was no longer a wet nurse.

After Richard Sullivan was weaned, David Sullivan let Mrs. Cooper continue to stay in his residence.

Mending clothes, washing, cleaning... In David Sullivan's view, although Richard Sullivan was weaned, he was still young and needed someone to look after him.

And David Sullivan's status in The Sullivan Family was extremely special. Although he was also of lowly birth and a servant of The Sullivan Family, in Anyuan Hall, apart from George Sullivan and Samuel Sullivan and his son, David Sullivan had the most authority. Even though Samuel Sullivan remarried and his new wife, the daughter of the Cui family of Qinghe, was very shrewd, it was by no means easy to replace David Sullivan's position in Anyuan Hall.

Therefore, although Richard Sullivan was also of lowly birth, he lived a carefree life in Anyuan Hall.

The reason he was interested in Mrs. Cooper and her daughter was because he discovered that they harbored many secrets.

One day in March of the first year of Renshou, dressed in white, Richard Sullivan sat on the steps at the entrance of the central hall, watching Lily practicing martial arts in front of the hall. Lily was already eight years old, and perhaps because of her martial arts training, she developed early. Though only eight, she was already quite tall, almost a head taller than Richard Sullivan, and had the appearance of a budding beauty.

Lily's boxing technique was not very complicated.

Her eyes were fixed on her palms. When she punched, it seemed slow, but when she retracted her hand, it was as fast as lightning.

With each extension and retraction, one slow and one fast, the changes were unpredictable, creating a strong visual impact. This was not the first time Richard Sullivan had watched Lily practice. In fact, he had discovered her martial arts secret two years ago. Because of this, he became even more curious about Mrs. Cooper and her daughter, and had often speculated about their origins.

“Lily jie, what are you practicing?”

In his previous life, Richard Sullivan knew nothing about martial arts, but he was extremely curious and fascinated by it.

Isn't there a saying: Every man has a martial arts dream in his heart...

Even someone as reserved as Richard Sullivan was no exception. For the past two years, he often sat on the steps watching Lily practice, and as for Lily, from initially rejecting him, she had now grown used to his presence and completely ignored him.

“Dragon Subduing Technique!”

Lily answered casually.