A Pawn's Passage

In truth, the reasoning behind all this was not so simple.

Chen Jianchou’s rapid promotion was not solely due to Qi Xuansu, Xu Jiaorong, and Sage Donghua.

Those from the Zhang, Li, and Yao families could become Chief Deputies of the Three Great Halls at such a young age not only because of their own abilities but also because of the advantages conferred by their families. They represented their families’ interests.

The same was true of Chen Jianchou, who represented the royal family of the Yu Kingdom.

Although the Chen family’s ceiling had been firmly capped, its lower limit was still reasonably secure.

With Chen Shuhua’s downfall and Chen Shuzhen’s removal from office, the Chen family, as a deeply entrenched local power, suffered a tremendous blow. Although Qi Xuansu subsequently promoted Chen Shuwen and Chen Jianqiu, at the level of the Daoist Order, the Chen family had lost someone who could speak on the family’s behalf and lacked an influential figure of sufficient weight.

Under such circumstances, it was inevitable that the Chen family would grow unsettled. The Daoist Order could either decide to uproot the Chen family entirely to eliminate any future trouble or placate them.

From the looks of things, the Daoist Order had no intention of abandoning the Chen family or making the entire family go down with Chen Shuhua. Having Chen Shuzhen bear the primary responsibility was enough.

Under such circumstances, the Daoist Order could not simply continue suppressing them. The Chen family needed to be reassured, and someone representing the family needed to be promoted to put their minds at ease. This would reassure the Chen family that the Daoist Order had not abandoned them and that it would judge matters on their own merits. Chen Shuhua’s actions had nothing to do with the rest of them.

Clearly, this candidate had to be both a member of the Chen family and someone recognized by the Daoist Order.

Chen Jianchou was the most suitable choice at the moment.

This was also where Qi Xuansu and Xu Jiaorong’s influence came into play. They could make Chen Jianchou stand out from the many members of the Chen family. With so many Chen family members, Chen Jianchou was chosen because he had Qi Xuansu and Xu Jiaorong behind him.

From the Daoist Order’s perspective, it did not matter whether Chen Jianchou came from a collateral branch of the Chen family. It was more important that he was Xu Jiaorong’s godson. In fact, being from the collateral branch was preferable because he would be closer and more dependent on the Daoist Order. By contrast, someone like Chen Shuhua, who had risen through her own abilities, would inevitably become alienated from the Daoist Order once her path to further advancement was permanently blocked.

The Chen family did not have many core members, but after several centuries of expansion, the collateral branches had already permeated every corner of Nanyang, particularly the Yu Kingdom, giving it enormous influence.

On a broader level, placating the Chen family was a matter of maintaining stability.

For the sake of stability, whether one had merit or not was not that important.

Even without accomplishments or seniority, Chen Jianchou could still become a Deputy Mansion Master. In the future, even after he accumulated enough merit and seniority, he still would not be able to enter the Golden Tower Council. Most likely, being a Chief Deputy would be as far as he could ever go. Chen Jianchou was now 30 years old and would become a Deputy Mansion Master. In a few years, he could become the Third Deputy Mansion Master, then be promoted to Second Deputy Mansion Master at 40 and Chief Deputy Mansion Master at 50. After that, he would remain in the position of Chief Deputy until retirement.

This was a case of gaining something while losing something else. Both his floor and his ceiling had been fixed.

Of course, Chen Jianchou was not entirely without hope. If Qi Xuansu became the Grand Master, then Chen Jianchou could rely on Qi Xuansu to enter the Golden Tower Council without much difficulty. But at that point, he would be relying entirely on Qi Xuansu, and it would have little to do with the Chen family.

Thus, when this matter was discussed, Sage Donghua gave three reasons. First, the problem concerning the Chen family needed to be resolved. Second, Chen Jianchou was reliable enough that he would not repeat Chen Shuhua’s mistakes. Third, Chen Jianchou was capable and familiar with the situation.

As it happened, incidents had been occurring one after another in Nanyang. First, the old Daoist priests had caused trouble, then Xie Jiaofeng had been reported for misconduct. Thus, it was perfectly natural for Sage Donghua to raise the issue of stability in Nanyang at this time.

The others did not object either. That was because a Deputy Mansion Master had limited influence and would not affect the overall situation. Moreover, with stability as the utmost priority, anyone who wanted to oppose Chen Jianchou would have to propose an alternative plan and candidate for comparison. For the time being, there truly was no more suitable candidate.

Under these circumstances, Chen Jianchou soared through the ranks and quickly caught up with his senior, Xie Jiaofeng.

However, the appointment would still take a few days to be finalized, so Qi Xuansu could not depart immediately. After all, he was going to the Poluo Daoist Mansion under the pretext of escorting Chen Jianchou to take up his post. He could not head off to Poluo all by himself before Chen Jianchou’s appointment was even issued. That would make his ulterior purpose far too obvious.

When Qi Xuansu returned home, he found that Madam Wu and Little Yin were both absent. After asking around, he learned that the two of them had gone to Taiqing Square.

Since Qi Xuansu had nothing else to do, he headed to Taiqing Square as well.

Taiqing Square looked the same as before, with the familiar statue of the Primordial Daoist Ancestor, all types of shops, and the exceptionally conspicuous Phoenix Tower.

Then, from a distance, Qi Xuansu saw several people standing on the pedestal beneath the Primordial Daoist Ancestor’s statue, advocating for the protection of flood dragons. There was nothing particularly unusual about their message. They were simply saying that flood dragons were now on the verge of extinction.

A crowd had gathered around them, though it was hard to tell whether they were merely there for the spectacle or genuinely believed in the cause.

The world always progressed in an upward spiral, and there always had to be some commotion along the way. When the world was peaceful, moral standards would rise. But that brought problems of its own, as it would most often result in extremist and purist movements.

Qi Xuansu did not know how these flood dragon protection advocates had emerged. In any case, the cause was quite popular among the flowerbed Daoists.

Just then, a small figure suddenly leaped up and shouted, “What you said has made me very upset, so I’ve decided to go home and eat some dragon meat to cheer myself up! That flood dragon died because of you people!”

This small figure was none other than Little Yin.

Little Yin was extremely fond of dragon meat. Qi Xuansu had already given her the dragon meat he had brought back, along with the magical receptacle he had replaced.

Naturally, Little Yin was pro-dragon-slaying, so she found these flood dragon protection advocates utterly disagreeable.

That was how this scene unfolded.

With her appearance, Little Yin did not look intimidating at all. The onlookers did not take her seriously and merely assumed that she was spouting nonsense. So they burst into laughter.

But the Daoist priest advocating for flood dragon protection was thoroughly infuriated. He reached out to grab Little Yin, intending to drag the troublesome brat to her parents and demand an explanation.

Little Yin only looked harmless. In reality, she was a little tyrant. How could these ordinary Daoist priests possibly handle her? Instead, Little Yin turned the tables and restrained the Daoist priest, loudly demanding to know whether he conceded defeat.

Before long, the Spirit Guards on patrol arrived. The Daoist priests advocating for flood dragon protection immediately crowded around them, all talking at once as they lodged their complaints, hoping that whoever made the biggest fuss would be deemed to be in the right.

If the person they were accusing had been a young, able-bodied man, this tactic might have worked. But Little Yin was just a child. With so many of them against one little girl, insisting that she had bullied them simply did not make sense.

Even if what they said was true and this child really could bully all of them, then for a child to possess such cultivation, she had to be extraordinarily gifted and come from an impressive background. If they went around provoking a child like that, weren’t they simply asking for trouble?

The Spirit Guards were no fools and did not fall for it. Although they did not openly side with Little Yin, they adopted an impartial attitude and clearly did not believe the group’s accusations. Instead, they accused these flood dragon advocates of spouting nonsense, bullying a child, and provoking trouble. In the end, they even took the flood dragon advocates away.

Little Yin emerged victorious and looked immensely pleased with herself. She pointed at the flood dragon advocates being taken away and snickered. “Justice prevails!”

Only then did Madam Wu finally appear and call Little Yin over.

As the crowd gradually dispersed, Qi Xuansu walked over to the two of them and explained the situation to Madam Wu.

After hearing him out, Madam Wu said, “You really can’t stay idle for even a moment. You only just got back, and now you’re leaving again. I’m not going with you this time.”

Qi Xuansu said to Madam Wu, “Great Sage Lan is already overseeing matters in Poluo. Having another Virtuous Great Sage there wouldn’t make much difference because this isn’t a matter that requires fighting in the first place. All I ask is for you to help me keep an eye on this girl and stop her from causing too much trouble.”

Though Qi Xuansu said this, he did not think that Madam Wu would actually watch Little Yin. If anything, Little Yin might become even more lawless with Madam Wu backing her up. Still, Qi Xuansu had no other choice. He could only make a last-ditch effort and hope for the best.

Madam Wu seemed to notice Qi Xuansu’s doubts and said solemnly, “Rest assured. I won’t indulge her.”

As she said this, Madam Wu actually wore the same cool and aloof expression she had when Qi Xuansu first met her, the sort that often gave people the mistaken impression that she was a rather serious and proper person.

Of course, Madam Wu never took important matters lightly. Since she had given her word, Qi Xuansu had to believe her. Little Yin’s carefree days really were coming to an end.

Two days later, Chen Jianchou’s appointment was officially issued. The official document clearly specified his position as a Deputy Mansion Master of the Poluo Daoist Mansion who would take over the affairs previously handled by Xie Jiaofeng.

Issued at the same time was Qi Xuansu’s temporary appointment, assigning him the responsibility of escorting Chen Jianchou to take up his new post.

With this, Qi Xuansu could travel to Nanyang with a perfectly legitimate reason.

However, Qi Xuansu did not intend to go there in person. Thanks to the Heluo God, Qi Xuansu’s Corpse Liberation Incarnation had been greatly strengthened. Not only did it possess Pseudo-Immortal cultivation, but it no longer needed to rely on external objects and could exist for extended periods, just like Zhou Mengyao’s incarnation as Qi Haoran back then.

Qi Xuansu intended to take a two-pronged approach. Since the situation in Nanyang was complicated, he would send his more powerful Corpse Liberation Incarnation there. While everyone believed that he had gone to Nanyang, his true body would secretly travel to the Jiangnan Daoist Mansion to meet Zhang Jucheng.

Come to think of it, Nanyang had once been the Heluo God’s territory. After attaining godhood, the Heluo God had spent some time roaming Nanyang, so it could be considered her second homeland. Of course, back then, Nanyang had not yet belonged to the Daoist Order and was a chaotic place filled with all sorts of creatures. So no one had come looking for trouble with the Heluo God, allowing her to enjoy a rather carefree existence there for some time.

As Qi Xuansu’s incarnation boarded the flying ship, the Heluo God’s voice sounded in his ear. “I wonder what Nanyang is like nowadays.”

When necessary, the Heluo God could take control of this incarnation with Qi Xuansu’s permission, so naturally, she could also communicate with Qi Xuansu through it. Their current state was somewhat similar to when Qi Xuansu and Madam Wu had once shared the same body.

Qi Xuansu replied, “Under the Daoist Order’s governance, Nanyang is now very different from the Nanyang of your era. The Westerners have been driven out, and all types of demons, monsters, and sinister forces have been swept away. Nanyang is now enjoying the most prosperous era in its history.”