A Pawn's Passage

A flying ship pierced through the sea of clouds. Droplets of water fell off continuously from its hull, creating a faint drizzle over the lake beneath as the flying ship slowly descended. Moments later, the flying ship successfully landed on the lake’s surface and slowly approached the shore. A ramp was then lowered to connect with the dock.

Qi Xuansu was dressed in the formal attire of a fourth-rank Jijiu Daoist master, which included the hechang, the Chunyang headdress, and the Novice License hanging at his waist. He trailed behind the group while walking down the ramp.

Ahead of him was the Deputy Imperial Capital Daoist Mansion Master Shi Bingyun, who would serve as his superior for the foreseeable future.

This was a flying ship specially chartered for Daoist priests transferring from Jade Capital to assume their posts in the Imperial Capital. Most were official reassignments, with only a few being temporary transfers.

There were two types of temporary transfers—to gild one’s résumé or to do the dirty, exhausting work. The former would undoubtedly return to their home department eventually, while the latter usually hoped to stay. But more often than not, they would not be able to stay in these temporary roles, making all their efforts futile. That was because a temporary transfer meant lending a helping hand when certain institutions were overwhelmed and short-staffed yet could not freely recruit due to various constraints. As such, these institutions would draw manpower from other departments, and the transferred personnel would still retain their original benefits and salary.

For instance, if a Superintendent from Ciji Hall was transferred to the sought-after Ziwei Hall, their salary would still be paid by the former. Given the brighter prospects in Ziwei Hall, the transferred personnel would likely try to seize the opportunity to remain in the head of the Nine Halls, so they would put in extra effort to perform well.

However, Ziwei Hall would not treat transferred personnel as their own. They would order the transferred personnel around without restraint, dumping all the dirty and exhausting tasks on the newbies while drawing grand visions under the pretext of rigorous training for the chance to stay. Once the dirty work was done, they would kick these transferred personnel back to their respective departments, so all efforts often amounted to nothing.

But there were exceptions to this. Normally, a rare few stood out through exceptional performance, catching the eye of a Deputy Hall Master or even the Hall Master themselves. Moved by talent, the Deputies or the Hall Master would then retain them. Some transferred individuals also had strong backing and used the opportunity to maneuver their way into staying. That said, truly capable people were considered treasures by their original departments, so they were seldom picked for a temporary transfer. After all, those with strong connections could be transferred directly without all the twists and turns.

This time, Qi Xuansu was temporarily transferred to do the dirty work and gild his resume, embodying both roles with a special mission. If successful, he would surely be promoted to a Deputy Mansion Master, a Deputy Hall Master, or a Deputy Palace Master. If he failed, he would return to Ziwei Hall as a Superintendent. Even if the Imperial Capital Daoist Mansion wished to keep him, Sage Donghua would be reluctant to let him go since he was such a young fourth-rank Jijiu Daoist master.

In short, Qi Xuansu would not be putting down roots in the Imperial Capital Daoist Mansion. Whether for a few months or several years, he would eventually return to Jade Capital.

As Qi Xuansu stepped down the ramp, it marked his official arrival in the Imperial Capital.

This place was called the Penglai Pool, located within the inner city of the Imperial Capital and connected to the Taiqing Pool within the Imperial City.

The Imperial Capital had already served as the capital for three consecutive dynasties, counting from the Golden Horde’s brief occupation of the Central Plains. In its early days, the layout of Imperial Capital was square, with only nine city gates. The central axis of the city started from Zhengyang Gate in the south, ran through the Imperial Palace, and extended northward to the Bell Tower.

The nation was strong in the early years of the Wei Dynasty, with Emperor Taizong launching aggressive campaigns against the Golden Horde and personally leading five expeditions northward without major issues. Later, as the Wei Dynasty weakened in the Mingyong Era and faced repeated threats of invasion by Golden Horde forces, the Wei Dynasty officials proposed constructing an outer city wall about 40 kilometers around the Imperial Capital to bolster its defenses.

As such, construction of the outer city began in the 32nd year of the Mingyong Era. As the southern suburbs were more developed and housed royal altars like the Temple of Heaven and the Ancestral Temple, the project started from there. But not long after, the construction stalled due to insufficient funds.

Helpless, the Imperial Court revised its plan to build extra defenses only for the southern wall, postponing the remaining three sides for the future. The length of the southern wall was reduced from the planned 10 kilometers to around 6.5 kilometers. Its eastern and western ends curved northward to connect with the southeast and southwest corner towers of the inner city. By the 43rd year of the Mingyong Era, the outer city of the Imperial Capital was completed, stretching 14 kilometers with seven gates. As its purpose was to enhance the security of the inner city, the gate names often symbolized peace or stability. Examples of this were the Guangning[1] Gate and the Yongding[2] Gate.

After the outer city was completed, the central axis of the Imperial Capital extended from the Zhengyang Gate to Yongding Gate, with a total north-south span of 8 kilometers to the Bell Tower.

Since only the southern part of the outer city was constructed, the resulting layout of the Imperial Capital resembled a small square stacked on a larger square. Additionally, the name outer city was somewhat misleading, as it was not built entirely around the inner city but only on its southern side. Thus, the outer city was also known as the South City.

When the Great Xuan Dynasty replaced the Wei Dynasty and the nation regained strength, it began expanding the Imperial Capital, completing the eastern, western, and northern city walls that the Wei Dynasty court had been unable to build due to the lack of funds. Thus, its completed shape resembled a full concentric square.

In this way, the original ancient Imperial Capital was completely encased. The new Imperial Capital’s total area more than doubled, surpassing both Xijing Prefecture and Jinling Prefecture, becoming the undisputed largest city in the empire. Although Jade Capital was often mentioned alongside it, the Daoist capital could not match the Imperial Capital in scale due to the geographical constraints of Yuxu Peak.

Typically, a capital city would follow a three-tier structure, consisting of the outer city, inner city, and Imperial City. The terms Imperial City and Palace City were often interchangeable. However, after the Great Xuan Dynasty transformed the Imperial Capital into a four-tier structure, the former outer city became the inner city, the former inner city became the Imperial City, and the former Imperial City became the Palace City. From then on, the Imperial City and Palace City were clearly distinguished, with the Palace City located within the Imperial City.

The new outer city was divided into four sections—east, south, west, and north. Following the naming convention of the former South City, these sections were named accordingly. The inner city was now called the Central City.

Generally speaking, the royal family resided in the Palace City, while the imperial clans and various government offices were located in the Imperial City. The mansions of nobles, court officials, and wealthy merchants, as well as Daoist temples, Daoist Palaces, guild halls, pleasure houses, shops, some government offices, the Taiping Bank, the Taiping Inn, and warehouses were situated in the inner city. Meanwhile, ordinary citizens lived in the outer city.

The inner city was formerly the ancient Imperial Capital, covering a vast area and further divided based on the cardinal directions into eight major districts surrounding the Imperial City, which were the Yubao East District, Duxian Northeast District, Wuliang Northwest District, Taimiao West District, Tailing Southwest District, Xuanzhen South District, Xuanshang North District, and Haosheng Southeast District.

In general, the residences of nobles occupied the Yubao East District; officials lived in Duxian Northeast District; wealthy merchants congregated in the Wuliang Northwest District; various shops and warehouses were located in the Taimiao West District; the Taiping Inn and pleasure houses were found in the Tailing Southwest District; the Taiping Bank and some government offices were in the Xuanzhen South District; and the Imperial Capital Daoist Mansion exclusively occupied the Xuanshang North District. Most of the Haosheng Southeast District was taken up by Penglai Pool. Surrounding its shores were mansions of the rich and powerful and a branch of the Taiping Inn.

Those who first arrived in the Imperial Capital could easily get lost in its vastness, especially without someone to guide them.

Numerous other Daoist temples were scattered across the five outer districts and various counties. The famous Taiping Temple within the Palace City nominally belonged to the Imperial Capital Daoist Mansion, but due to its exceptional status, the Imperial Capital Daoist Mansion would not interfere in its affairs.

The Daoist Palace of the Imperial Capital Daoist Mansion was named Yuhuang Palace. Though it held the status of a state palace, it was more limited in space due to its location within the inner city. Thus, it lacked some of the ethereal aura typical of Daoist Palaces and instead bore more of the opulent grandeur associated with imperial architecture. As such, the Yuhuang Palace could not compare to the Taiping Palace in the Luzhou Daoist Mansion, the Summer Palace in the Zhongzhou Daoist Mansion, or the Daxue Mountain Palace in the Western Region Daoist Mansion.

At this moment, Qi Xuansu and the group arrived in the Haosheng Southeast District. To reach the Xuanshang North District on foot, they would have to pass through the Yubao East District and the Duxian Northeast District. However, by taking the water route along Penglai Pool, they could reach the Xuanshang North District directly.

An ornate boat was docked not far away. However, before heading to the Xuanshang North District, the Imperial Capital Daoist Mansion had already prepared a welcome banquet at the Taiping Inn by the lakeside for the newly arrived personnel. This banquet hall was styled after Western architecture, with floor-to-ceiling glass windows.

Since it was nighttime, the vast lake outside reflected the starry sky. The lights of the Imperial City in the distance glowed, blending almost seamlessly with the stars above.

Clearly, the Imperial Capital Daoist Mansion had put considerable thought into organizing this welcome banquet.

Qi Xuansu could not help but sigh in admiration. This was truly an eye-opening experience.

Shi Bingyun had spent many years in the Imperial Capital, so she was used to such things. She explained to Qi Xuansu, “This branch of the Taiping Inn by Penglai Pool usually doesn’t receive outside guests. It’s reserved for us Daoists. When high-ranking Daoists arrive in the Imperial Capital, they can temporarily lodge here if they don’t wish to stay in the Yuhuang Palace.”

Before leaving Jade Capital, Zhang Yuelu had introduced Qi Xuansu to Sage Shi Bingyun. Prior to that, Zhang Yuelu had also shared many glorious deeds of her martial aunt with him.

Qi Xuansu harbored no bias, especially after learning that Shi Bingyun had personally traveled to the Western Region to collect the remains of her beloved. Instead, he greatly admired her passion and genuine character.

After a short period of interaction, Qi Xuansu and Shi Bingyun got along fairly well. At the very least, there was no open conflict between them.

Shi Bingyun held a fairly favorable view of Qi Xuansu. While her connection with Zhang Yuelu played a part, the greater reason lay in his undeniable merit. After all, achieving the fourth rank at such a young age was a feat that made him stand out like a towering tree in the forest. In the Daoist community, such visibility required either solid accomplishments or a Heavenly-Being level of cultivation. Otherwise, one would easily become a target of ridicule. Qi Xuansu had both merit and cultivation, making him a truly outstanding young talent.

1. 广宁(Guǎngníng) means everlasting peace. ☜

2.永定(Yǒngdìng) means eternal stability. ☜