A Pawn's Passage

Lust became a blade that hung above Zhao Changlao’s head.

A thousand Taiping coins was no small amount. Back then, Qi Xuansu had struggled greatly over this sum. Even now, as a Sage, he could not produce 1,000 Taiping coins in cash because he had used up his money to buy a house.

Due to this debt, Zhao Changlao had even considered stealing items from home to sell. However, he feared Sun Yaozhen would notice. She might be wealthy, but that did not mean she did not care about money. The slightest slip would expose him.

After all, such items could only be pawned, but most pawnshops in Lion City were owned by the Nanyang United Trading Company, making it very easy for Sun Yaozhen to trace.

He wanted to flee, yet could not bear to leave behind the pleasures of Lion City.

There were better places in the world, but not within Nanyang. After all, he was not some Immortal who could roam freely across oceans. If he fled without a word, Sun Yaozhen would never let him go. With the Sun family’s influence, they could easily discover which ship he boarded, and he would likely be caught before reaching the Old Port.

At this point, Zhao Changlao couldn’t help regretting—why hadn’t he used Sun Yaozhen’s name to befriend capable people? He spent his days seducing married women, and now, when trouble came, he had no one to advise him.

For two nights in a row, Zhao Changlao barely slept. Whenever he closed his eyes, he dreamed of Sun Yaozhen in a fury, whipping him with a thorned lash.

That promissory note detailing his adultery was a ticking time bomb. Once placed before Sun Yaozhen, he would probably be murdered.

After two days of this, Zhao Changlao had dark circles under his eyes and bloodshot pupils.

Fortunately, Sun Yaozhen had recently become obsessed with opera and hired a famous performer to teach her singing. She had not visited Zhao Changlao in days, which prevented her from discovering anything amiss.

On the third day, the debt collectors arrived. Zhao Changlao had no choice but to kneel and beg for more time.

These men claimed affiliation with the Yao family, though none bore the Yao last name. They were not even minor branches and were merely vassal powers attached to the Yao family due to geographical ties. They were not even Daoists. Their leader, Ruan Fengjue, had once belonged to a local gang in Nanyang. But when that gang crossed the Sun family and was annihilated, he alone survived by defecting to a Yao-affiliated household as a retainer.

Upon hearing they were to deal with the Sun family, Ruan Fengjue became the most enthusiastic and struck ruthlessly. Now that Young Lady Yao had personally intervened, this was considered a great opportunity for peripheral forces like them. If they handled the matter cleanly and earned her favorable impression, their future would be far smoother.

Without another word, Ruan Fengjue drew his knife again and threatened to kill Zhao Changlao.

Zhao Changlao was terrified, crying and sniffling as he begged nonstop for mercy.

Seeing that his intimidation tactic had worked, Ruan Fengjue finally eased his tone. “Brother Zhao, this matter is simple. As long as you help us with a small favor, the whole incident will be forgotten. We won’t even ask for the thousand Taiping coins.”

Zhao Changlao became spirited at once. He wiped his face and asked eagerly, “What do you need? I’ll do my best.”

Ruan Fengjue chuckled. “It’s simple. Though the Sun family’s young lady hasn’t involved herself much in business these past years, she still understands some of it. Now that the Sun family’s eldest son has landed in Sage Qi’s hands, he won’t be getting out anytime soon. The young lady will have to shoulder some of Old Master Sun’s burdens. To be frank, we’re also business people. We wish to know a bit of inside information. As her bed partner, that shouldn’t be too difficult for you, right?”

Zhao Changlao hesitated briefly, then agreed.

A bit of inside information was indeed not difficult.

Ruan Fengjue then explained in detail what information they wanted.

This so-called “inside information” had little to do with the actual case. It was mainly a method to tighten control over Zhao Changlao. If they asked him from the start to go against Sun Yaozhen, he would refuse, which might risk mutual destruction. But if they dragged him in step by step, threatening him while offering small benefits, then by the time he could no longer turn back, everything would fall into place.

It was like fishing. When the fish bites the bait, one should not reel it in immediately. One had to wait until the fish was tired out, which would make pulling it up effortless.

This was Jianghu, where shady and unsavory methods were common.

However, Yao Pei did not know of these details, nor did she care to know. She only cared about the results. From the moment she decided to use these forces, she already understood the methods would not be clean.

Due to the Taishang Emotionless Sutra, Yao Pei was somewhat cold beneath her listless exterior, making it hard for others to perceive her thoughts. She used pure rationale to sort through matters and was never driven by emotion.

In her view, right or wrong was secondary. This was a life-and-death struggle. So morality should only be discussed after victory.

The Yao family had no need to boast about being a righteous hero purging the world of filth. That was because the Lis, Yaos, and Zhangs were not necessarily spotless. If the Wang family was wrong and deserved to be destroyed, why not destroy and investigate the Lis, Yaos, and Zhangs as well?

If so, the whole game would collapse. Brandishing moral righteousness was the easiest way to set oneself on fire.

Thus, the more appropriate reasoning was that the Wang family went too far and behaved too greedily. At its core, the Wang family failed to recognize its proper place.

Qi Xuansu understood this clearly. He only climbed to his position with the help of others, so he could not bite the hand that fed him. If he did that, he would lose all support in the future.

More importantly, if he constantly judged others with lofty moral righteousness, then others would hold him to those standards as well. The moment he fell short, they would tear you apart with moral condemnation.

In contrast, if a villain occasionally did a few good deeds, they might even receive sympathy and praise. Such was the difference in expectations.

Thus, one should be an ordinary person and not strive to be a saint.

One could have a conscience and a bottom line, but one must never believe themself to be the embodiment of righteousness. Avoiding extremes and finding the middle ground was the best choice.

Thus, after arriving in Poluo, Qi Xuansu stuck to the rules. But when extraordinary times demanded it, he still used extraordinary means.

War was the art of deception, and debating procedural propriety at such moments was wholly inappropriate.

After giving her orders, Yao Pei had time to spare, so she did not remain idle. She personally went to Thanglong Prefecture to meet Wang Jiaohe and to coordinate with Xu Jiaorong.

Upon hearing that Yao Pei was coming to Thanglong Prefecture, Wang Danqing became deeply unsettled. His mood turned gloomy. Not long ago, he had bragged confidently in front of Sun Yaozhen that Yao Pei coming to Poluo was nothing to worry about. But he never expected she would actually come here.

Although Yao Pei did not have much experience in Fengxian Hall and lacked Zhang Yuelu’s fame, her methods were anything but ordinary. Her very first case as Deputy Fengxian Hall Master was to investigate the Junior Imperial Preceptor Li Changge, delaying him for over a month in Jiangnan, which in turn allowed Qi Xuansu to seize more opportunities on the Fenglin battlefield and ultimately surpassing the Three Prodigies.

Wang Danqing also understood why his family had fallen into its current predicament. It was certainly not because Qi Xuansu had the power to move against them. It was because the people behind Qi Xuansu intended to bring the Wang family down.

The person behind Qi Xuansu was Sage Donghua, who was ultimately tied to the Yao family.

Thus, Yao Pei was essentially stepping in for her family’s interests, so it was expected that she would give it her full effort.

Wang Danqing had enough self-awareness to know that Deputy Hall Master Yao might very well target him next. How could he not worry?

On the other side, Qi Xuansu delegated tasks one by one. Lu Yuting was in charge of investigating the Nanyang United Trading Company; Li Zhuyu was to identify the Holy Court’s infiltrators within the city; and Yao Pei was to investigate the internal corruption in the Daoist Mansion. Zhang Yuelu would handle issues involving the Heavenly Court with the help of the Ziguang Society.

Having bought himself some free time, Qi Xuansu resumed tending to his injuries, hoping to restore his cultivation as soon as possible. He did not want Spirit Guard Jia Yin shadowing him all day. After all, a dignified first-rank Spirit Guard would surely feel awkward. Qi Xuansu himself found it uncomfortable as well.