A Pawn's Passage

Qin Wubing’s subordinate asked, “General, how should we reply to this letter?”

Qin Wubing leaned back on his chair and pondered for a moment before he dictated.

“To the Xiliang Governor’s Office:

I have received and duly noted your letter dated the 26th of January in the 42nd year of the Jiushi Era. In compliance with the letter, I have decided to halt all cult-elimination operations in the West Gobi to conduct an internal audit within the army. We are willing to accept an investigation at any time of your convenience. I will send a separate letter regarding the results of the internal audit.

Best regards,

The Deputy Protector of the Xizhou Protectorate.”

The subordinate quickly transcribed the letter and read it out loud to ensure the accuracy of the contents. Then he left the Innkeeper’s office to send the letter to the Xiliang Governor’s Office.

With the development of this society, official documents and letters were no longer delivered manually in many cases. The days when urgent letters were delivered using fast horses were in the past. Instead, letters were sent through the air.

The earliest version was attaching letters to flying swords, which was similar to the carrier pigeons. Later, the flying sword was abandoned, and only a small talisman was needed to transmit documents.

The Daoist Order called this kind of talisman the rapid post talisman. Each rapid post talisman could connect to multiple rapid post talismans, which were numbered accordingly. When posting the letter, one could freely choose the number corresponding to the recipient’s rapid post talisman.

The only shortcoming was the cost price of this talisman, which reached up to tens of thousands of Taiping coins. Thus, not everyone had the privilege to use this form of communication.

The Mobile Corps General of the Black Robes, the Lieutenant Colonels of the Green Phoenix Guard, and the local government offices still used human couriers to deliver letters. However, it could take as short as half a day or as long as two or three days to deliver a letter from the county to the prefectural city, which was good enough in most cases.

There were many reasons why the mother-child talisman could not be used to replace the rapid post talisman. Firstly, the mother-child talisman was a one-time-use item, while the rapid post talisman could be reused repeatedly.

Secondly, there was no proof of communication for mother-child talismans. The rapid post talisman provided black-and-white evidence to prevent blame-shifting or scapegoating.

After his subordinate left, Qin Wubing took out a mother-child talisman and held it between his fingers, seemingly hesitant.

Which was more important? His future career path or his loyalty to friends?

There was an old saying that there were no true friends in officialdom. However, there were brothers in arms. One should distrust colleagues in the officialdom, but one should not distrust a comrade.

Qin Wubing stared at the mother-child talisman in his hand, frowning. In the end, he injected some qi into it.

After a moment, the mother-child talisman turned into a ball of flame, projecting Shangguan Jing’s upper body.

“What’s the matter?” The Tiangang Hall Daoist priests had many similarities with the military attachés of the Imperial Court in the sense that they disliked pleasantries. It was especially true for people like Shangguan Jing, who had just returned from the frontier war.

Qin Wubing did not mind Shangguan Jing’s frankness and chuckled. “You’re not a world-class beauty or a goddess, so I wouldn’t have bothered talking to you if nothing was going on.”

Shangguan Jing laughed. “Then talk.”

Qin Wubing asked, “Where are you now?”

Shangguan Jing replied honestly, “We’ve just stopped at Cuowenbu to replenish moisture for the flying ship.”

Qin Wubing probed. “You haven’t been back to Jade Capital for a while, right?”

“I haven’t been back for a while, but why do you care?” Shangguan Jing finally noticed something was off. “Even if something happens in the Jade Capital, you wouldn’t be the first to get the news.”

“It’s hard to say.” Qin Wubing was cryptic. ”The wind starts at the edge of a pond. It’ll be too late by the time it turns into a storm that can capsize a ship.”

Shangguan Jing remained silent, sensing the ominous undertones in Qin Wubing’s words.

Qin Wubing muttered, “From now on, I’m going to stop all operations and restrategize.”

“What do you mean?” Shangguan Jing followed up.

Qin Wubing gave unwarranted advice. “It’s best if you can take extra precautions in your operations. Don’t make a mistake, even if it comes at the cost of your merits.”

Shangguan Jing was not a fool, having heard the warning that Qin Wubing implied. He stared at Qin Wubing with a solemn expression.

However, Qin Wubing avoided Shangguan Jing’s gaze and added, “I am not joking right now. Since you and I have been friends for more than a decade, I’m going out of my way to remind you that the higher-ups wrote to me, asking me to stop all operations to catch a spy.”

“Who?” Shangguan Jing’s eyes flashed.

Qin Wubing said calmly, “Is this even important at this point? Don’t ask.”

“Is it the Western Region Protectorate? Or the Cabinet?” Shangguan Jing cut to the chase.

Qin Wubing pondered for a while before he said, “Are you really not understanding what I’m hinting at, or are you pretending not to understand? This isn’t a battle against the Golden Horde. The waters are deeper than you can imagine.”

Shangguan Jing muttered, “I’m not asking you to wade in the waters with me or pull me up from the waters. I just want you to warn me from the shore.”

Qin Wubing was silent for a moment before he sighed. “Fine, then I’ll tell you. It’s the Xiliang Governor’s Office and Beichen Hall.”

There was a long silence on Shangguan Jing’s end before he said, “I figured. Since you told me, I could confirm that I didn’t lose you as a friend.”

Qin Wubing felt a myriad of emotions. “You and I have been in the army for so long that we know impulsiveness won’t get us anywhere. With an official note from above, we must follow orders even if we don’t believe in the cause. All I can do is keep you well-informed so that you can make preemptive measures. If you can retreat, you should do so immediately.”

Shangguan Jing shook his head and sighed. “I appreciate your kindness, brother. Even if I want to retreat, where can I retreat to? Jade Capital?”

Qin Wubing’s tone turned serious. “The situation is clear now. Taking revenge on the secret societies is just a high-sounding excuse. The Taiping Sect wants to make a big fuss about this matter and suppress the two other sects so that they can elect a Grand Master from the Li family. They even wish that the position of Grand Master will be hereditary, like the imperial throne. Anyone who blocks their path will be crushed to death, and neither you nor I can stop it.”

Shangguan Jing remained silent.

Qin Wubing’s voice deepened. “Retreating to Jade Capital and losing your position as Deputy Hall Master is better than losing your life.”

......

Qi Xuansu came to the second floor of The Inn and gently knocked on the door to Qin Xiang’s room.

“Are you alright?” Qin Xiang opened the door and sized Qi Xuansu up to see if he was missing any limbs.

“I’m fine. I was lucky enough to escape danger.”

“Come in and talk.” Qin Xiang let Qi Xuansu in and was about to close the door when Qi Xuansu raised his hand to stop her.

Qin Xiang looked at Qi Xuansu doubtfully.

“Leave it open. We have nothing to hide.” Qi Xuansu explained.

Qin Xiang was startled for a moment before she grunted. “You’re such a prude! We’re no longer in a world ruled by Confucians.”

Qi Xuansu smiled and did not refute, but he insisted on keeping the door open anyway.

The two of them sat facing each other with the door open. Qin Xiang said, “I didn’t expect the Little Prince to invite you here. But since you’re here, I’d like to thank you properly. What do you want?”

Although it was a little condescending to assume that Qi Xuansu expected repayment for helping her, Qi Xuansu did not feel offended. He knew that the silly District Princess did not mean it that way.

Qi Xuansu did not refuse the offer and thought carefully before replying, “Taiping coins.”

Qin Xiang immediately asked, “How much is appropriate?”

Qi Xuansu estimated his savings and found that he still had 800 Taiping coins left on him. This District Princess did not seem very rich, either. So he thought of asking for 200 Taiping coins, which seemed affordable enough. Therefore, Qi Xuansu stretched out two fingers.

“2,000 Taiping coins?” Qin Xiang breathed a sigh of relief and said with a relaxed expression, “That’s not much. Actually, you don’t need to be so polite with me.”

Qi Xuansu’s two fingers stiffened. He suddenly realized that he had lowballed himself. However, he was not to blame because he had not interacted with rich people.

Madam Qi was certainly rich, but she was a stingy miser that should not be judged by normal standards. Meanwhile, Zhang Yuelu’s high moral standards bound her to a minimalist lifestyle, so she only fared slightly better than Qi Xuansu monetarily.

Qin Xiang was different. Although 2,000 Taiping coins was not a small sum of money, it was not considered much either. The Great Xuan Dynasty abolished the concept of fiefdoms, and only a select few royal family members were allowed to participate in political affairs.

Thus, the rest of the imperial clan got involved in various businesses. They did not operate businesses but acted as silent investors, hiring professional shopkeepers and holding shares in various companies. Most of them would sit back and enjoy the dividends.

Qin Xiang was just a pampered District Princess. Her parents gave her some shares, so her annual income was about 5,000 Taiping coins. As such, 2,000 Taiping coins was less than half a year’s worth of her annual dividends. Moreover, she did not usually spend much, so she had accumulated some savings amounting to 10,000 Taiping coins.

In the end, Qi Xuansu accepted her offer with a slight nod.