A Pawn's Passage

The heavy rain over Nanyang left Zhang Yuelu in a gloomy mood. It was not that she had run out of options, but rather that the series of setbacks and blows she had suffered recently had left her somewhat disheartened.

However, Zhang Yuelu quickly pulled herself together and resolved to overcome this difficult situation.

Zhang Yuelu had experienced moments of doubt and retreat. It was only through one internal struggle after another that she had persevered, with her convictions growing ever firmer in the process.

This did not mean that Zhang Yuelu was devoid of emotion. She still experienced all the emotions one would expect because she was only human. Even Qi Xuansu had badly lost his composure upon learning about Zhou Mengyao, experiencing shock, anger, grief, and indignation all at once.

However, when it came to experience in political struggle, Qi Xuansu still had the upper hand. In fact, among the prodigies, Qi Xuansu could be considered exceptionally gifted in this regard. Though Qi Xuansu’s natural aptitude for cultivation was poor, when it came to such matters, he seemed almost naturally adept without needing anyone to teach him. By contrast, the Three Prodigies had powerful families supporting them, so others would steer clear of them. They had relatively few opportunities to temper themselves through real struggles, which had instead become a disadvantage.

Zhang Yuelu composed herself and returned to her office in the Sheji Palace. After calming down, she began analyzing the overall situation.

In truth, the current situation could be described as such—while the clam and crane fought, the fisherman stood to reap the benefits.

The so-called clam and crane were the forces behind Zhang Yuelu and the Taiping Sect forces that had taken the initiative to attack, while the fisherman waiting to reap the benefits was Yao Shu.

Yao Shu was neither on Zhang Yuelu’s side nor on the Taiping Sect’s side. He stood only on his own side.

In fact, the key to resolving the situation lay with Yao Shu. After all, he was the Mansion Master. As long as Yao Shu changed his mind, everyone in the Poluo Daoist Mansion would stand united. Once the entire Daoist Mansion stood in solidarity, it would hold the initiative. Unless Sage Qingwei or someone of Great Sage Jiang’s level personally intervened, neither the Fengxian Hall nor the Beichen Hall could prevail against a local Daoist Mansion overseen by a Great Sage.

Zhang Yuelu tried putting herself in Yao Shu’s shoes. What would she do if she were in his position?

Under normal circumstances, the Taiping Sect was determined to thoroughly humiliate Zhang Yuelu in Nanyang, so they certainly would not show her any mercy. Given Zhang Yuelu’s personality and style, she would inevitably fight back with everything she had, while the forces behind her, including Qi Xuansu, would certainly launch their own counterattack. With both sides locked in a bloody struggle, this was a perfect opportunity for a third party to reap the benefits.

The most likely outcome of such a bitter struggle was mutual destruction. The balance of power in Poluo that Sage Donghua and Qi Xuansu had painstakingly constructed would be shattered, allowing Yao Shu to seize the opportunity to reclaim power and restore the authority of the Mansion Master.

The Daoist Order emphasized checks and balances between higher and lower offices. The Chief and Second Deputy Mansion Masters were powerful checks on the Mansion Master, while the Mansion Master was likewise a powerful check on the Great Sage of the Daoist Mansion. As long as proper procedure was followed, even the Great Sage of the Daoist Mansion could hardly object.

Zhang Yuelu fell into deep thought.

How could she make the fisherman, who was waiting to reap the spoils, back down?

If the two feuding sides turned around and united against the outsider, then the fisherman hoping to reap the benefits would be the one to suffer.

But given the current situation, how could the two sides possibly unite against a common foe? Unless there were sufficiently great benefits at stake. Was Zhang Yuelu supposed to voluntarily withdraw from the competition? There was no sense in that.

Since this path was impossible, could applying pressure from the upper echelons work?

Sage Donghua was among those capable of putting pressure on Yao Shu. But that was in the past, and things were harder to say now. Great Sage Lan was Yao Shu’s current superior, and what he had said during the meeting was already quite severe. Could Yao Shu really have failed to understand his meaning? As far as Yao Shu was concerned, whether it was his current superior or his former superior, he could choose to listen, or not.

The other person was the Earthly Preceptor. There was no doubt that Yao Shu would have to obey the Earthly Preceptor.

Although Zhang Yuelu had some ties with the Earthly Preceptor, they had gradually drifted apart, especially after the Heavenly Preceptor intervened.

For Zhang Yuelu, there was no way to have the best of both worlds. She could only choose between the Heavenly Preceptor and the Earthly Preceptor.

Now, it seemed only the worst strategy remained. She would have to find something on Yao Shu and use it to force him into a compromise. That was the only way she could bring the Poluo Daoist Mansion together against the external threat.

What vulnerabilities did Yao Shu have?

After spending so many years in the Daoist Order, could someone be completely clean? Though such people did exist, they were exceedingly rare.

Qi Xuansu neither took illicit wealth nor indulged in women because his ambitions were far greater. His sights were set on becoming the Grand Master. Thus, deep down, Qi Xuansu simply did not care for such things and even regarded them as obstacles on his path to the exalted position of Grand Master. Yet even someone like Qi Xuansu had matters that could be dug into, such as his involvement with secret societies, his murder of Wan Xiuwu, and so on.

Yao Shu was most likely no saint. As long as no one investigated him, there would certainly be no problem. But if someone started digging deeply, that would be another matter entirely.

Zhang Yuelu had no choice but to force Yao Shu into a compromise because his position was both unique and irreplaceable. The Fengxian Hall and Beichen Hall had plenty of personnel who could handle the case. For a temporary position like the person convening the investigation, they could simply replace him with another. But there was only one Mansion Master, and replacing the Mansion Master without a valid reason was simply not an option.

Given how suddenly everything had happened, this approach probably would not yield immediate results. Still, it could serve as a contingency. If the situation developed into a prolonged tug-of-war, it could prove effective.

Zhang Yuelu certainly could not handle this matter personally. She neither had the time nor the necessary expertise. After all, every profession has its own specialization, and specialized work should be left to the professionals.

Once she decided to resolve the problem, she had Ke Qingqing contact Zhang Jucheng’s secretary.

There was a reason why everyone said she was the future leader of the Zhang family. Just because she rarely invoked the Zhang family’s name did not mean the Zhang family was merely for show.

A matter like this was not serious enough to trouble the Heavenly Preceptor. Someone at Zhang Jucheng’s level would be more than sufficient.

Zhang Jucheng would make the necessary arrangements to handle this matter. After all, he was the heir of the Zhang family’s main branch.

Ke Qingqing soon got in touch with Zhang Jucheng’s secretary. After the two secretaries coordinated, Zhang Yuelu began speaking with Zhang Jucheng.

“Uncle, it’s Yuelu.” Zhang Yuelu spoke first.

Zhang Jucheng asked, despite already knowing the answer, “Qingxiao, what a rare surprise. What brings you to me?”

Zhang Yuelu knew that she was somewhat lacking when it came to interpersonal relationships, so she did not beat around the bush. Instead, she went straight to the point and laid out both the difficulty she was facing and her own thoughts on the matter.

Zhang Jucheng was still trustworthy. Whatever conflicts they might have had in the past, Zhang Jucheng would still show consideration for the Heavenly Preceptor, as well as Qi Xuansu. No matter how one looked at it, Qi Xuansu’s meteoric rise was already an indisputable fact. No one could continue pretending to be blind to it, nor could anyone afford to disregard his growing influence. Though the Heavenly Preceptor was powerful, his remaining time was limited. On the other hand, Qi Xuansu was about to enter the Daoist Order’s decision-making echelon, so his prospects were boundless. One always had to look at the long term and plan for the future.

After listening to her explanation, Zhang Jucheng said, “I actually know a thing or two about this. Before Yao Shu became the Chief Deputy Ziwer Hall Master, he served a term as Chief Deputy of the Zhongzhou Daoist Mansion. At the time, he had a secretary named Shi Jiaosan, who was arrested over a certain case. The final conclusion was that Shi Jiaosan had committed various misdeeds under Yao Shu’s name without Yao Shu himself knowing about them. Yao Shu was merely held responsible for failing to exercise proper oversight, so the matter had little impact on him personally.”

Zhang Yuelu’s heart stirred at this revelation.

Judging from the timeline, Zhang Yuelu had still been very young at the time, so there was no way she could have known about such matters. Since the incident had little impact on Yao Shu, few people would have mentioned it again afterward. For juniors of their generation, unless they deliberately investigated it, it would be difficult to learn about such old affairs. But Yao Shu’s peers like Zhang Jucheng would not have forgotten. In fact, they remembered such things quite clearly. That was a basic quality expected of people at their level.

Zhang Jucheng continued, “There were actually many suspicious aspects to that case, so the Taiping Sect was not being entirely unreasonable in refusing to let the matter go. It was just that they had no concrete evidence, and Shi Jiaosan kept his mouth shut and took all the blame upon himself. Moreover, with the Quanzhen Sect watching closely, the Taiping Sect could not very well use harsher methods on Shi Jiaosan. So in the end, the matter simply fizzled out without a resolution.”

Zhang Yuelu asked, “Uncle, are you saying there was something wrong with that case?”

“There might be, or there might not. But that’s not important. We can try mentioning it to Yao Shu and see how he reacts,” Zhang Jucheng said.

Zhang Yuelu said, “So many years have passed. Yao Shu may simply refuse to acknowledge it.”

Zhang Jucheng smiled. “The reason I remember it so clearly is because I was involved in that case.”

Zhang Yuelu could not help but pause in surprise.

“At the time, the Taiping Sect and the Quanzhen Sect became locked in a standoff over this matter. Neither side was willing to yield, and neither trusted the other, so the situation reached an impasse. The best solution was to have a third party handle the matter, which meant having the Zhengyi Sect step in. Back then, we were more inclined toward the Quanzhen Sect and decided to suppress the matter. After all, even at that time, the Heavenly Preceptor was already considering an alliance with the Quanzhen Sect to counterbalance the Taiping Sect. This was also a way of doing them a favor and extending goodwill,” Zhang Jucheng explained.

Zhang Yuelu had not expected there to be such an inside story. Yet there was also something rather intriguing about it. There was no way Zhang Jucheng could have been unaware of the predicament she was facing, yet he had simply watched from the sidelines, waiting until Zhang Yuelu came to him for help before revealing all of this. Naturally, his intention was also to have Zhang Yuelu owe him a favor.

Zhang Jucheng continued, “But at the time, I took an extra precaution and secretly transferred Shi Jiaosan from the Kunlun Daoist Mansion to the first level of the Demon-Vanquishing Cave. Shi Jiaosan has been imprisoned there all these years, which could also be considered a form of protection. Yao Shu knows nothing about this. He still believes that Shi Jiaosan died in the Kunlun Daoist Mansion, exhausted in both body and mind after enduring prolonged torment. That is why Yao Shu has been able to act with such confidence.

“I can have Shi Jiaosan brought out right now and make him write Yao Shu a letter in his own hand. He drafted so many documents for Yao Shu in the past that there is no way Yao Shu would fail to recognize his handwriting.” At this moment, Zhang Jucheng finally displayed the methods befitting the heir of the Zhang family’s main branch.

Judging from Zhang Jucheng’s series of arrangements, he had clearly prepared everything long ago. This confirmed Zhang Yuelu’s suspicions. Zhang Jucheng had everything ready and was merely waiting for Zhang Yuelu to come knocking on his door for help. Had Zhang Yuelu never come to him, Zhang Jucheng would simply have continued watching from the sidelines.

But now that matters had reached this point, Zhang Yuelu had no choice but to acknowledge the favor. “I’ll have to trouble you with this, Uncle. Yuelu will be in your debt.”

Zhang Jucheng smiled. “We’re family. There’s no need for such formalities between us.”