I'd like to point that the Southwest choice is actually the more political one as it is tying Hanyi's idol career to reformist actions of the Meng, and be done on the much more Imperial aligned Southwest, which will cause issues with peak aligned nobility/clergy.
Also Xiangmen has been under the influence of Shenhua who have little room for intrigue of such nature in the capital something that is unlikely to have changed since her departure south, and the purpose remains largely about promoting Hanyi. Furthermore the Meng are an isolationist clan who are good at intrigue, and thus getting indirectly involved in a high level political dispute within their clan makes sabotage from one of their internal faction possible.
[x] Open the southwest (Lesser boost in popularity for Hanyi, may boost Weilu Reformer support in long term. Bond 1 with Meng Diu)
That being said conflict from a difference in opinions was somewhat inevitable from the decisions made in the Three Moon road-trip, and well we have to deal with Meng intrigue at some point if Ling Qi wishes to make changes.