A Pawn's Passage

When Qi Xuansu returned to the Yuhuang Palace, it was already past midnight.

Today was December 20th in the 42nd year of the Jiushi Era. The five-person delegation from the Golden Tower Council had arrived in the Imperial Capital on November 7th. In the blink of an eye, a month and a half had flown by.

The next day would be the day the Imperial Capital’s government offices closed, signifying the beginning of the New Year holiday. Thus, many matters had to be rushed to completion before the break. The Ministry of Revenue had to finalize each state’s tax tallies, while the Censorate would conduct annual performance evaluations of government officials to be distributed to the ministries on January 16th. At dawn on that day, the Chief and Deputy Ministers of the Six Ministries, as well as the censors, would all gather at the Censorate’s main hall. The twenty-odd days between now and then were the officials’ vacation time.

After today, the entire capital would shift into holiday mode, and the undercurrents that had been surging for months would finally reach their peak.

Most notably, the atmosphere within the Yuhuang Palace held not a trace of festive cheer. Instead, it had become increasingly tense.

Although Daoists did not place importance on the New Year, local Daoist mansions would typically organize festive celebrations to cater to the general populace. This was the first time ever that the tensions ran high, so much so that even the dullest people could sense something was wrong.

The source of this tension was, of course, the top leadership of the Imperial Capital Daoist Mansion, more specifically, the Mansion Master Li Ruoshui and the Second Deputy Mansion Master Shi Bingyun.

Ever since the last incident where Qi Xuansu was suspended, the two had shed all pretenses, with no need to maintain a superficial courtesy. Their escalating conflict surprised no one.

By convention, Mansion Masters were Omniscient Sages, so to maintain the tripartite balance of local Daoist mansions, the Second Deputy had to be carefully chosen. It was typically someone of exalted status, strong background, and formidable strength, not yet an official Omniscient Sage, but equivalent to one, such as Li Tianlan of the Jiangnan Daoist Mansion.

The Imperial Capital Daoist Mansion was no different. Shi Bingyun had nearly become the Sage Cihang in her time. She lacked nothing in terms of status, background, and cultivation. However, she was bold and unconventional, bordering on reckless, which was why she still had not become an Omniscient Sage after so many years. While the Imperial Capital was nominally the Li family’s home turf, Shi Bingyun had the backing of her lover, Prince Jin. Moreover, the various powerhouses within the Li family often quarreled among themselves. Though they would not openly sabotage each other, they would not sincerely assist each other either. So overall, the two sides were balanced.

With the two leaders locking horns, their two factions also showed animosity toward the other side. The air was thick with the smell of gunpowder, just waiting for the final spark to explode. In contrast, Chief Deputy Zhou Jiaoxian stayed out of it, and his faction largely maintained neutrality.

Qi Xuansu’s position was particularly interesting. He held the command of both Shi Bingyun’s and Li Ruoshui’s people. Both sides, influenced by their leaders, were itching for conflict, but Qi Xuansu swiftly crushed the unrest. He did not bother persuading or reasoning with them. It was literal suppression by force, with both the authority of a superior and the power of a Heaven Being.

Furthermore, by official post, Qi Xuansu was under Shi Bingyun. But by faction, he should align with Zhou Jiaoxian, representing the Quanzhen Sect. In truth, Qi Xuansu had not engaged in the power struggle between the two because he understood that Shi Bingyun’s role was simply to pin down Li Ruoshui, thereby leaving Zhou Jiaoxian plenty of maneuvering space.

In this way, though Qi Xuansu realized it belatedly, he could deduce that Zhou Jiaoxian was either the Index Finger or the Thumb in the Buddha’s Five Fingers. Someone reputable had finally joined them. It seemed absurd that only a bunch of third-rank and fourth-rank juniors were tasked with suppressing the Monkey.

Qi Xuansu rarely returned to his own residence. Instead, he spent most nights in his office for convenience in handling affairs. Sure enough, as soon as he returned, he saw Zhang Yuelu once again sitting in his chair.

This time, he was not surprised. He was already used to it.

He thought to himself, That girl Ke Qingqing is so unreliable. She certainly has the potential to be a traitor. Whenever she sees Qing Xiao, she forgets who she’s working for and rushes to help her idol. Now, she has even handed Qing Xiao the keys to my office, allowing her to walk in anytime.

Though husband and wife were meant to be one entity, they had yet to marry. Even after marriage, they would still need personal space. Could they really be so integrated that they could share everything openly? That thought sure was terrifying to him.

At this moment, Zhang Yuelu looked pale.

Qi Xuansu set aside these random thoughts and asked with concern, “Are you hurt?”

“I’m not hurt. It’s a good thing.” Zhang Yuelu used the key Ke Qingqing had given her to activate the privacy barrier formation in the office. “I followed the Heavenly Preceptor’s instructions and went to meet...”

She wrote “Zi” on the table.

Qi Xuansu was not surprised. In fact, he nearly blurted out in excitement, “You joined a secret society too?”

Fortunately, he stopped himself just in time. Otherwise, he would have exposed himself with that word “too.”

Qi Xuansu paused to reorganize his wording. To Zhang Yuelu, it seemed like Qi Xuansu was thoroughly shocked, as if he could not believe that she, the righteous Deputy Tiangang Hall Master, had also stooped so low as to strike a deal with a secret society.

Zhang Yuelu gave a bitter laugh, not knowing what to say.

Once caught up in the arena of fame and power, who could truly remain unstained?

In a sense, the Heavenly Preceptor was already arranging his affairs for after his passing. By tasking Zhang Yuelu with liaising with the Ziguang Society, he was effectively giving her their backing. No matter how unwilling the main branch of the Zhang family might be, they would have to acknowledge Zhang Yuelu. Even if she could not inherit the Heavenly Preceptor’s seat and become the head of the Zhang family, she would at least serve as their inside force. Of course, if Zhang Yuelu found other opportunities, the Ziguang Society could become her leverage to take the seat as well.

Currently, the Heavenly Preceptor was concurrently handling both outward-facing and inward-facing roles. In the end, he passed the inward position to Zhang Yuelu. Unlike the Qingping Society or the Heavenly Court, the Ziguang Society was far more dangerous. They were a true double-edged sword. The main branch of the Zhang family had always been highly conflicted. They wanted to use the Ziguang Society, but they also feared being hegemonized. Letting Zhang Yuelu take over would solve this dilemma, as it showed they valued her while maintaining ties with the Ziguang Society, resolving the deadlock.

Zhang Yuelu also understood the Heavenly Preceptor’s difficulties. If the Heavenly Preceptor still had 20 or 30 years, he would not need to yield so much to the main branch of the Zhang family. Unfortunately, he no longer had that time.

As for why the Heavenly Preceptor had not laid out these plans years ago was because he had been busy dealing with the fifth and sixth generation Grand Masters. Though the sixth-generation Grand Master was considered weak, it still took the combined effort of the three Deputy Grand Masters to keep him in check. If even one had broken ranks, the Grand Master’s word would have prevailed. The three Deputy Grand Masters had not even been able to restrain or resist the fifth-generation Grand Master. They merely preserved themselves while waiting for his ascension. Moreover, at that time, Zhang Yuelu had not been born. The Heavenly Preceptor could not have planned in advance for someone whose birth he had not foreseen.

Zhang Yuelu gave Qi Xuansu a rough summary of what had happened.

After listening, Qi Xuansu smiled and said, “It’s indeed good news.”

Zhang Yuelu rested her hand on her forehead and sighed. “But it’s still a bit too heavy a burden for me to fuse with that Thunder Talisman.”

“Burden?” Qi Xuansu asked, puzzled.

Zhang Yuelu explained, “To put it simply, it’s like overeating. It sounds crude, but I can’t think of a better analogy. I can usually only consume two buns, but now, they’ve now stuffed a third one down my throat. I can’t spit it out, so I just have to endure the bloating and wait for all three to digest slowly.”

Qi Xuansu walked over to her and pressed her lower belly. “Once you’ve digested it, you’ll be at the Wuliang Stage, right?”

Zhang Yuelu slapped his hand away and replied, “In theory, yes. But what she gave me is the original version of the Five Thunder Celestial Heart Method from before the Holy Xuan integrated the Five Lineages. I don’t know if it will have any conflict with the lineage that the Holy Xuan left behind.”

Qi Xuansu said, “You can find an opportunity to ask the Heavenly Preceptor.”

“I was thinking the same, but I’ll wait until the affairs in the capital are settled.” Zhang Yuelu had not brought this up just to talk about herself. It was just an opening. She smoothly shifted the topic. “That’s just a bonus. The key point is that they’ve agreed to help us, and we’ve established contact. What about you? Any progress on your side?”

Zhang Yuelu knew that it was inevitable for the Qingping Society to step in. She just did not know whether it was Yao Pei or Qi Xuansu handling the liaison.

As for the notion that Qi Xuansu had nothing to do with the Qingping Society, Zhang Yuelu did not believe it for a second. The real question was how deep the connection ran. Was he merely a simple liaison like her? Or had he become one of their core members? After all, she had nearly become part of the Ziguang Society herself, but she narrowly won her gamble.

Qi Xuansu’s expression was unchanged as he admitted, “I also met one of the leaders of the Qingping Society.”

Zhang Yuelu asked, “Is it convenient to tell me who this leader is?”

“No.” Qi Xuansu shook his head. “But if you really want to know, I can tell you.”

Over the past few days, Qi Xuansu had been to many places, not just the Xie Residence, making it difficult for outsiders to deduce who the Qingping Society’s leader was from his movements. Moreover, Qi Xuansu was not planning to betray Xie Linyuan, also known as Saintly Peace. Instead, he was prepared to expose Madam Qi. After all, this mother of his kept setting him up, so turnabout was fair play. They were family, after all. Sooner or later, the awkward daughter-in-law would eventually have to meet the stingy mother-in-law.

“Then forget it.” Zhang Yuelu refused. “Since it concerns the Quanzhen Sect and Sage Donghua, it’s better if I don’t know.”

This was a tacit sense of boundaries. Even if the Zhengyi Sect and the Quanzhen Sect were allies, they should not overstep their bounds. Even spouses had to leave each other a bit of personal space, let alone these two colossal powers.