A Pawn's Passage

Zhang Yuelu wanted to seal off the villa to thoroughly investigate the case and find out who was involved in the secret society. Tang Yongde dared not object, but some people did.

Tang Yongde was the superintendent of Yong’an Palace, and Baidi City was on the boundary of Shuzhou, so he had a mother-child talisman to contact the Shuzhou Daoist Mansion. Zhang Yuelu used this talisman to contact the Shuzhou Daoist Mansion so that they could send someone over to handle the case. However, before their people arrived, the villa’s backer came first.

A tall woman disguised as a man came over, surrounded by bodyguards. She was dressed in luxurious fabric and looked quite snobbish. Of course, everyone knew that she was not the manager of this upscale brothel, because no manager would dare challenge Zhang Yuelu so blatantly.

In fact, this woman was the daughter of the villa’s backer, who was none other than the Governor of Shuzhou. There was no doubt that this villa was a profitable business, with clients consisting of the rich and noble. Thus, without solid backing, it would be almost impossible to get involved in this kind of business.

The Great Xuan Dynasty had nine governors of different regions, namely Jingji, Jiangnan, Liaodong, Xiliang, Youyan, Qinzhong, Lingnan, Yunmeng, and Shuzhou.

Among them, the Governor of Jingji was the head of the nine governors, in charge of the districts surrounding the Imperial Capital, including Qizhou and the Donghai Navy. The Governor of Jiangnan was in charge of Jiangzhou, Chuzhou, and the Nanhai Navy. The Governor of Liaodong was in charge of Liaozhou, Fengzhou, and the Beihai Navy. These three governors controlled the three major navies of the empire and were responsible for maritime trade between the East and the West. Thus, they were regarded as the top three governors.

The next most powerful governors were the Governors of Xiliang, Youyan, and Qinzhong.

The Governor of Xiliang was in charge of Xizhou and Liangzhou, as well as the Xizhou Protectorate. The Governor of Youyan was in charge of Youzhou and Yanzhou, while the Governor of Qinzhong was in charge of Qinzhou and Zhongzhou. These three governors worked together to defend against the Golden Horde in the north.

Although they did not have control of the navy, they had one-third of the empire’s elite warriors stationed at borders and trade routes in the Western Region. These were the mid-range governors.

Finally, there were the Governors of Lingnan, Yunmeng, and Shuzhou, who were regarded as the bottom three governors.

The Governor of Lingnan was in charge of Duanzhou and Wuzhou, while the Governor of Yunmeng was in charge of Huzhou and Xiaozhou. Since there were few wars in these two places, these two governors did not hold much military power.

The Governor of Shuzhou held the least power among the nine governors. Most of the other governors were in charge of two states, but the Governor of Shuzhou was only in charge of one state. One reason for that was that Shuzhou covered a vast area.

Although Shuzhou was slightly smaller than Xizhou, it was still far larger than other states. In terms of population, Shuzhou far exceeded Xizhou. The second reason was that Shuzhou, being connected to the southern border, was always the first region to have an uprising. That was because the local chieftains often rebelled against the Imperial Court, so the Imperial Court set up a governor to control this area.

Although the nine governors were categorized, they were the same in rank. To ordinary people, these nine governors had the highest rank among the local officials. The next step up was a cabinet minister. One could only imagine how much power they had.

The current Governor of Shuzhou was a military general. In his early years, he accompanied the Emperor on an expedition to Xizhou to suppress an uprising. At the time, he was a Deputy Chief Military Officer. After the war, he was promoted to Chief Military Officer. He continued to be promoted until he became the Chief Admiral of Shuzhou in the 32nd year of the Jiushi Era. He quelled another rebellion on the southern border and was finally promoted to Governor of Shuzhou in the 39th year of the Jiushi Era.

With his achievements, he was inevitably arrogant. His children were brought up with the same attitude. They saw themselves as above the law and did whatever they liked. They openly established upscale brothels, banks, pawn shops, and other profitable businesses within the region, which were frowned upon. However, the governor was in the emperor’s favor at the moment, so no one could say otherwise.

The Governor of Shuzhou had three sons and one daughter. His eldest son followed in his footsteps by becoming a military official. He was a Mobile Corps General. Without the emperor’s decree, immediate male family members were not allowed to serve as officials in the same place, aside from the Imperial Capital. Thus, the eldest son was not in Shuzhou.

The Governor’s second son took a different path to become an imperial guard. He was directly under the command of the Green Phoenix Guard Lord Commander, responsible for the palace guards and the emperor’s guards of honor.

His second son was working in close quarters with the Emperor, so although it was a tough job, he had a bright future to be promoted to a higher-ranking official. The Governor used a lot of effort to arrange for his second son to assume this position. Thus, his second son was also not in Shuzhou, but far away in the Imperial Capital.

At the moment, the Governor only had his youngest son and daughter by his side. His third son was a stereotypical, unaccomplished scion who relied on his father’s name to get by. His only advantage was that he was good at business. Using his father’s name, he set up many businesses, trading with the Golden Horde, the Western Region, and even the Western Continent.

The Governor’s third son dabbled in everything and made a lot of money. He was also doted on by his grandmother and mother, so the Governor turned a blind eye to whatever he did.

Being the favorite child, the Governor’s youngest daughter was a spoiled, arrogant, and willful young lady.

The young lady’s gaze fell on Zhang Yuelu as soon as she entered the room. She asked coldly, “Who are you?”

Zhang Yuelu hated such entitled young ladies. She raised her eyebrows and retorted, “Who are you?”

Tang Yongde hurriedly stepped forward to smooth things over. “Let me introduce you two. This is Wang Ruyi, the Fourth Young Lady of the Governor’s Mansion. This is Zhang Yuelu, the Deputy Hall Master of the Daoist Order’s Tiangang Hall.”

“A Zhang? Since you’ve become a Deputy Hall Master at such a young age, you must be from the Dazhen Mansion. Are you the granddaughter or great-granddaughter of the Heavenly Preceptor?”

It was clear that Wang Ruyi understood the Daoist Order’s politics. She was not afraid of Zhang Yuelu either. “People in Shuzhou don’t follow the Zhengyi Sect. We believe in the Quanzhen Sect. No matter how powerful the Heavenly Preceptor is, he can’t control the Earthly Preceptor’s territory.”

This young lady from the Wang family was domineering and quite clever. Even if word of this spread, the Daoist disciples would agree since this was a fact. In recent years, complicated undercurrents surged between the three major sects, and the three Great Sages were also at odds with each other.

Zhang Yuelu said calmly, “I am a Deputy Hall Master of Tiangang Hall, directly subordinate to the Grand Master. It doesn’t have anything to do with the Daoist sects. Superintendent Tang, when Shibo Hall does business with others, do you only do business with the Quanzhen Sect disciples?”

Tang Yongde dared not claim this, so he quickly said, “Of course not! We do business with everyone.”

Zhang Yuelu’s face turned cold as she declared, “That had better be the case. Back then, the Holy Xuan integrated the Daoist sects and established three major sects. It was clearly stated that the three major sects had their own responsibilities.

“Zhengyi Sect was in charge of matters relating to the ghosts and gods; Quanzhen Sect was in charge of inventions; and Taiping Sect was in charge of secular affairs. When did the Holy Xuan say that the Zhengyi Sect was in charge of Wuzhou and the Quanzhen Sect was in charge of Shuzhou? If the regions were split by sects, why would we still need local Daoist mansions?”

For a while, no one dared to make a sound. Everyone’s face was solemn.

Within the Daoist community, the Holy Xuan’s words were the law, similar to the ancestral decrees of the Imperial Court. No one could refute it.

Wang Ruyi’s face paled slightly, and she was speechless for a moment.

Zhang Yuelu stared at Wang Ruyi. “Miss Wang, you’re not a member of the Daoist community, so you may not be aware of the Holy Xuan’s decree. I won’t argue with you since you don’t know the rules. But if you still try to sow discord between the Zhengyi Sect and the Quanzhen Sect again, I won’t let you get away with it.”

“Who are you threatening?” A deep voice suddenly interjected.

It did not sound harsh or sharp. It was rather casual, like a greeting between friends. Everyone turned their attention to the uninvited guest at the door. The man was in the uniform of a military official from the Imperial Court, but it did not disclose his rank. He was standing in a dimly lit place with his hands behind his back.

No one knew when he had arrived. Zhang Yuelu was shocked to see the man because he was a Heavenly Being.

This man stepped forward slowly, walking out of the shadows. He came to Wang Ruyi’s side, looking strong and imposing with his sword.

When Wang Ruyi saw him, she seemed to have found a backer. She discarded her arrogant attitude from earlier and acted like a demure young lady. “Nice to see you, Uncle Zhao.”

This man smiled slightly at Wang Ruyi, then turned to Zhang Yuelu. “I’m Zhao Fu’an, the Chief Military Officer of Shuzhong. Deputy Hall Master Zhang, who are you trying to threaten earlier?”

Qi Xuansu only felt Chief Zhao’s overwhelming aura. However, Zhang Yuelu was not afraid of that man. She had seen her fair share of powerful individuals and Heavenly Beings in Jade Capital. Just in Tiangang Hall alone, all the other eight Deputy Hall Masters were Heavenly Beings. The Hall Master was a Heavenly Being in the Zaohua stage, which was only one step away from being a Pseudo-Immortal.

Zhang Yuelu said, “You don’t have to scare me. If you dare to sow discord between the Zhengyi Sect and the Quanzhen Sect, I won’t let you go either.”

“And how do you plan to do that?” Zhao Fu’an laughed as if he just heard a joke. He pointed at his own nose and said, “Are you threatening me or the Imperial Court?”

Zhang Yuelu stared at him. “You don’t have to bring out the Imperial Court. It was just a warning, not a threat. Moreover, you alone don’t represent the Imperial Court.”

Zhao Fu’an narrowed his eyes. “If I can’t represent the Imperial Court, how can you represent the Daoist Order? Although I don’t have the power to deal with people from the Daoist Order, I can arrest you first on grounds of threatening court officials. Then someone from the Daoist Order can bail you out.”

Zhang Yuelu responded tit-for-tat. “Chief Zhao, I think you’re the one trying to threaten me here. Go ahead and arrest me if you want. When my Hall Master and the Heavenly Preceptor arrive, we can discuss at length who is at fault. If I am found to be at fault, I will gladly accept any punishment. But if you are at fault, the Daoist Order will have the right to arrest you and report your misdeed to the Great Sage Ziji. By then, we shall see if you still get to keep your position.”

Tang Yongde’s face turned pale, while Zhao Fu’an looked vexed and slowly clenched his fists.

At this moment, Qi Xuansu suddenly interjected, “Chief Zhao, this case involves the secret societies. If it is found that the operation is delayed because of you, people will inevitably suspect that you are involved with the secret societies. Otherwise, why would you try to obstruct us in every possible way? Chief Zhao, even if we can’t arrest you today, someone with authority will do so later.”

Zhao Fu’an suddenly looked at Qi Xuansu, who did not show the slightest fear.

Qi Xuansu continued, “If you let the cult demons get away this time, the Daoist Order will investigate this matter thoroughly. Chief Zhao, you can certainly arrest us today and let the Daoist Order bail us out. But I’m afraid that you will be arrested by the Daoist Order tomorrow. In that case, someone from the Imperial Court will have to bail you out too. Chief Zhao, please think twice about your actions.”