A Pawn's Passage

Whether the Confucian School was powerful or not was a rather interesting topic.

On the battlefield with blades and bloodshed, the Confucian School would certainly rank last among the Three Religions, perhaps even to the point of being negligible. But in terms of doctrine and influence, the Confucian School was exceedingly powerful. After all, it had set the rules of the world for 2,000 years.

This time, Zhang Yuelu stirred up a grand debate on the spirit of equality. Her original intention was merely to divert attention, and the scope of discussion was limited to the civilians.

What she did not anticipate was that Qin Lingge and others from the Confucian School harbored ulterior motives, seizing this opportunity to shift the focus directly from “what is equality” to “should equality exist at all.” This went beyond her control, as it was enough to shake the foundations of the state.

Zhang Yuelu had no choice but to offer a corresponding rebuttal. Otherwise, the fault would lie with her.

Qin Lingge then composed another essay, further elaborating his views based on his earlier arguments. “People do not need this false equality. They need rules, protection, and order. To uphold such rules and order, people will inevitably be divided into ranks. This is the moral hierarchy. A snake cannot move without a head. After establishing rules and order, there must also be a sovereign to provide protection and restraint for the people.”

Afterward, Zhang Yuelu publicly wrote an essay in the gazette of the Qingping Publishing House to refute Qin Lingge. “Equality is, in fact, a manifestation of fairness and also part of human nature. Are kings and nobles born of a different kind? The inner core of this statement is equality. Are those kings and nobles necessarily more noble than us?

“Within the Confucian framework, moral hierarchy justifies a sovereign and officials oppressing the people. Only the people’s rebellion is unjustified because it disrupts the hierarchy and is deemed a great act of treason.

“This is precisely why the Daoist Order proposes equality. Though there are countless arguments, they all boil down to one thing: rebellion is justified. Thus, the Confucian School labels all acts of rebellion as cosmic obstruction and disorder that violates moral norms. However, we Daoists call it uprising, changing the old ways and going with the Heavenly Dao.

“Perhaps uprisings are accompanied by chaos and various errors, but it cannot be denied that an uprising itself is an act of desperation by the common people when they can no longer survive. This is the people’s right that cannot be denied. This is the origin of equality. We are all equal, so when others oppress us, we may resist. That is justice.

“But with moral hierarchy, parents and the sovereign are always seen to be correct, so oppression becomes natural and justified, while resistance becomes wrong. It then turns into the idea that people were born to be oppressed.

“For nearly 200 years, the Daoist Order has sought to instill the concept of equality into the people. To break such a moral hierarchy is to grant everyone the right to resist oppression. Could that possibly be wrong?”

Once Zhang Yuelu’s essay was published, it shook the entire world.

Qin Lingge was challenging the Daoist foundation of equality, but Zhang Yuelu was challenging the very foundation of imperial authority. It was as if each of them was wielding a sharp sword and thrusting straight at the other’s weak point.

The Great Xuan Minister of Rites immediately lodged a report to the Daoist Order, demanding severe punishment for Zhang Yuelu.

Even within the Daoist Order, there were many differing opinions. Quite a few people criticized Zhang Yuelu’s stance as deeply problematic, warning that if it were allowed to continue, the consequences would be terrifying.

Many people also felt nervous for Zhang Yuelu. Such words were not technically wrong. It merely depended on who was saying them. If the Holy Xuan had said it, it would not have been a problem and might even have been enshrined as an immutable doctrine. But Zhang Yuelu was a junior. Was she really not afraid of losing her head?

Among the Daoist upper echelons, the Heavenly Preceptor was the first to state his view, with a brief sentence. “The fault is not with the writer.”

Great Sage Jiang likewise stated, “The Daoist Order never punishes people for their opinions.”

Great Sage Shi also chimed in. “This is merely a debate, nothing more than a collision and exploration of two different ideas. Moreover, it concerns matters of the past, not the present. It has no bearing on current realities, and even less on national policy, politics, or institutions. From a theoretical standpoint, equality and moral hierarchy are like yin and yang, mutually generating and restraining each other.”

This seemed to set the tone, and the dispute within the Daoist Order temporarily subsided.

However, the debate did not stop and continued to ferment.

This allowed Zhang Yuelu to achieve her original purpose. No one paid any further attention to a baseless, hearsay accusation about Qi Xuansu.

After all, the Great Sages and Grand Libationers chimed in on the debate, so who would still care about a Chief Deputy Mansion Master’s scandals? The latter might have originally been considered major affairs, but in comparison, they all became trivial.

Still, Zhang Yuelu felt some lingering fear. She had not anticipated that the Confucians would seize such an opportunity to stir up trouble. If matters truly spiraled out of control, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Engaging Qin Lingge in doctrinal debate had not been Zhang Yuelu’s original intention. While writing her essay, she also ordered that the truth behind Qi Xuansu’s accusation be investigated as quickly as possible, to uncover the facts before the heat of the great debate fully dissipated.

Of course, it was not only Zhang Yuelu doing all the work. Xu Jiaorong would also help. With two Second Deputies jointly conducting a thorough investigation, it was unlikely that nothing would be found. The key point was that Qi Xuansu had not done these things. Although he had fallen into the predicament of having to prove his own innocence, there was no need to verify every claim of this denunciation. So long as they can prove one or two key points to be completely baseless, the entire accusation letter could be discredited.

In fact, the essence of this denunciation was not to bring down Qi Xuansu but to damage his reputation. Qi Xuansu had already risen to a high position at a young age. Once such matters surfaced, whether true or false, people would inevitably associate him with figures like a “crown prince.” Once a fixed stereotype formed, even if the denunciation were later proven false, it would no longer matter.

Therefore, when Zhang Yuelu took the enormous risk of jeopardizing her future and successfully diverting attention, they had already overcome half of this hurdle.

This further proved that Zhang Yuelu was not merely Qi Xuansu’s Daoist companion. She was also his steadfast ally.

Meanwhile, Qi Xuansu had no idea that so much had transpired outside. At this moment, he and Qi Jiaoyao were taking shelter from the Blood Moon in a shrine of an encampment.

This was an abandoned camp that was utterly deserted. Yet as the Blood Moon rose, the deathly silent camp suddenly gained a semblance of life, as one shadow after another appeared.

The knowledgeable Qi Jiaoyao said, “The world of shadows is encroaching upon the real world. The two have begun to merge.”

A pocket realm was a massive form of subspace. In the vast majority of cases, subspace ran parallel to reality, overlapping with it only under extremely rare circumstances. In the history of the Daoist Order, a large-scale spatial overlap occurred only once—when the Kunlun Paradise descended. Though called a descent, it was in fact the overlap of the Kunlun Paradise with the real world.

Since the Kunlun Paradise was far too vast, the entire overlapping process became extraordinarily prolonged, measured in centuries. As a result, Kunlun Paradise has been steadily shrinking. Once the overlap was completed, it would signify the total extinction of the Kunlun Paradise.

Similarly, the Lingshan Paradise was also a subspace. When Qi Jiaoyao said that the world of shadows was encroaching upon the real world, the “real world” she referred to was the Lingshan Paradise that they were in, not the mortal realm. This interpretation also made sense. Massive pocket realms like Kunlun and Lingshan had sub-pocket realms. The major pocket realms were attached to the mortal world, while sub-pocket realms were attached to the major ones. The so-called “world of shadows” here was, in fact, a sub-pocket realm attached to the Lingshan Paradise.

As a high-ranking Daoist who had studied in the Wanxiang Daoist Palace on three occasions, Qi Xuansu naturally understood these concepts and did not require further explanation from Qi Jiaoyao.

He said, “It seems we have already entered Wu Zhen’s domain.”

Qi Jiaoyao said, “Wu Ji was the first to fall in battle. In the first great battle, when the Heavenly Sect attacked Lingshan, she was the only one killed on the spot. After her death, the suppression imposed upon her was the most severe. Coupled with Elder Yao’s thorough transformation of her remains, they pose little danger as long as we have the Jianxiu Mountain Class-C access. But Wu Zhen is different. She was most likely never modified, so it’ll be extremely dangerous for us.”

Qi Xuansu asked, “Then how did you pass through before?”

Qi Jiaoyao replied, “Although Elder Yao didn’t modify Wu Zhen’s remains, she built a Rainbow Bridge here. It appears once every 60 Blood Moons. I’ve always traveled through this bridge to and from Lingshan. There are still a few weeks until the next appearance. Do you want to wait?”

Qi Xuansu shook his head. “I don’t have that much time. Let’s not wait.”

The Heavenly Preceptor had given him 300 days, which seemed ample. But he was still only on the outer perimeter of Lingshan Paradise and still had some ways to go before reaching the mountain. So he wanted to reserve a larger margin for the main event. There was no way he could wait here for weeks.

As the two spoke, the shadows outside grew more numerous. Even within the shrine they were in, a shadow began to form.

Judging from its outline, it appeared to be a Wuist, devoutly worshipping the totem within the shrine.

Qi Xuansu and Qi Jiaoyao both turned to look at this figure, only to hear it muttering to itself, “Supreme Human Sovereign, the four Ancestral Witches conspired and slew the leader you personally appointed. Such an act has indeed brought calamity. The Heavenly Sect claims to act on heaven’s behalf. You are the Human Sovereign, the Heavenly Emperor. Is the destruction of the Wuist Sect truly your will? If this is your will, then what crime did those of us who did not take part in the murder of the leader bear? If this isn’t your will, then where should we go, and what path should we follow? Human Sovereign of the past, Heavenly Emperor of the present—please bestow your decree and guide the road that lies ahead for us.”