A Pawn's Passage

After leaving Ziwei Hall, Qi Xuansu went to Tiangang Hall.

Tiangang Hall and Ziwei Hall had completely different atmospheres.

Ziwei Hall was filled with hurried activity. Everyone coming and going was either rushing about energetically or hurrying along in a panic. Even the Hall Master was no exception. By contrast, Tiangang Hall felt idle, making one feel drowsy.

Sage Cihang was off duty today and was not here. With several major conflicts having come to an end, Tiangang Hall had become rather quiet. Aside from some routine daily work, there was nothing important going on.

In truth, the workload of the Three Great Halls was rather seasonal. At its height of business, it was normal to go several days and nights without sleep. When things were quiet, it felt as though mold might start growing all over their bodies.

Normally, everyone complained that these institutions were bloated and overstaffed, but once things got busy, they wailed that there were far too few people. Ziwei Hall had therefore come up with a clever solution—borrowing personnel from elsewhere. When it had little to do, it could send its surplus staff down to other offices for training. When things became busy, it could temporarily transfer people in from other places to help. Once they had served their purpose, Ziwei Hall could simply send them back, then borrow another batch later. As long as Ziwei Hall dangled the prospect of a permanent place in Jade Capital before them, those temporary transfers would work themselves to the bone.

Under such circumstances, Sage Cihang could take a day off whenever she pleased. After all, she was the Hall Master, and no one else had any authority over her.

Xiao Yueru had stayed behind at Tiangang Hall. She was quite delighted to see Qi Xuansu and kept calling him “Brother-in-law” at every turn. After learning why he had come, she led him to Sage Cihang’s residence.

The disciple a master valued most and the disciple a master doted on most were often not the same person. Zhang Yuelu belonged to the former category, while Xiao Yueru belonged to the latter. Xiao Yueru usually lived with Sage Cihang, so coming here was no different from returning home, which saved them quite a bit of trouble.

Sage Cihang was not in her study, but in the garden behind the residence. This was Qi Xuansu’s first time here. He discovered that besides a bamboo grove and a pond, there was actually a patch of cultivated paddy field as well, giving the place a rather rustic charm.

Sage Cihang looked entirely different from her usual self when she was at home. She had removed her lotus crown and had not bothered dressing herself up. Her feet were bare, her fair wrists smooth as jade, and in one delicate hand, she held a bundle of rice seedlings as she bent over in the paddy field.

Qi Xuansu had never imagined that Sage Cihang would have such a hobby. Sage Donghua enjoyed painting, while Sage Cihang apparently enjoyed farming. But thinking about it again, agriculture had indeed been considered a refined pastime among ancient scholars and gentlemen. It was not as though they depended on farming for a living, so in their eyes, working the fields themselves was probably no different from fishing.

Seeing Xiao Yueru bring Qi Xuansu over, Sage Cihang put down the rice seedlings in her hand and walked out of the paddy field. Her jade-like feet remained spotless, while a trail of lotus-shaped ripples spread behind her with every step, as though lotuses bloomed wherever she walked.

Qi Xuansu somehow felt a little uncomfortable seeing her like this and could not help but give an awkward cough.

“Tian Yuan, a busy man like you never visits without a reason. What brings you here this time?” Sage Cihang said as she walked toward the bamboo grove, where there was a stone table with several stone stools.

Qi Xuansu and Xiao Yueru followed behind Sage Cihang, keeping half a step back.

“It’s nothing particularly important.” Naturally, Qi Xuansu could not come straight to the point and had to approach the subject indirectly. “Qing Xiao will be returning to Jade Capital soon, and our wedding is just around the corner.”

Sage Cihang sat down on a stone stool and motioned for the two of them to sit as well. “Sage Feiyuan has already taken charge personally, so there’s no need for anyone else to interfere. I’ll just wait to attend the wedding banquet.”

Qi Xuansu said, “That won’t do. My master is personally involved, so as Qing Xiao’s master, you should personally get involved as well.”

Sage Cihang chuckled. “Sage Donghua is so busy right now that he can barely get away from his work. At most, he’s lending his name to the committee. How does that count as personally getting involved? If you think that’s unfair, I can lend my name too.”

Qi Xuansu said, “That’s different.”

“How is it different?” Sage Cihang waved her hand. “I rarely get a day off. Don’t come here making more trouble for me. Just let me finish planting my rice seedlings in peace.”

Following her lead, Qi Xuansu said, “Mother-in-law, I can stop bothering you, but you’ll have to agree to one request.”

“What request?” Sage Cihang asked. “I won’t do anything that violates my principles.”

Qi Xuansu said, “I guarantee it doesn’t violate any principles. If it did, Qing Xiao herself wouldn’t let me off.”

Qi Xuansu had managed to pique Sage Cihang’s curiosity. “Then go ahead.”

Only then did Qi Xuansu get to the point. “So, I just contacted Madam Qi, and she made it clear that she won’t attend my wedding ceremony because of her identity. That leaves one of the four parental seats vacant. I can’t exactly leave my master sitting there all by himself, so I was thinking...”

Before Qi Xuansu could even finish, Sage Cihang already understood what he meant. Her expression turned peculiar. “You...You’ve certainly got some nerve, you little brat!”

Xiao Yueru was completely baffled by her master’s response. What did any of this have to do with having nerves?

Qi Xuansu felt somewhat guilty himself and flashed an ingratiating smile. “I wouldn’t dare, Mother-in-law. I merely wanted you to honor us with your presence and stand in for Madam Qi just this once. You and Madam Qi are old acquaintances, after all. Even if you won’t do it for Qing Xiao and me, surely you could do it for Madam Qi...”

Sage Cihang interrupted him. “Stop right there. If you keep talking, Madam Qi and I might suddenly cease to be old acquaintances.”

Qi Xuansu promptly shut his mouth.

Sage Cihang also fell silent, seemingly weighing the matter carefully.

Only now did Xiao Yueru begin to understand. What was the big deal if her brother-in-law wanted her master to stand in for Madam Qi? After all, given her brother-in-law’s current status, there were not many female Daoists who could take Madam Qi’s place. Surely they could not invite Great Sage Yan, as that would be a generation off.

After a moment, Sage Cihang said, “I’m Qing Xiao’s master and part of the bride’s family, yet you want me to sit on your side and effectively become one of your family. Isn’t that a little inappropriate?”

Qi Xuansu played dumb at this point. “What do you mean her family and my family? We’re all one family. There’s no need for one family to speak as though we were two.”

Sage Cihang sighed. “You really are silver-tongued. By comparison, Qing Xiao is far too inarticulate. She could never come up with so many twists and turns in an argument.”

Qi Xuansu continued playing dumb. “I’m only telling the truth.”

Sage Cihang snorted, naturally not believing a word of that. She then said, “Since you’ve put it this way, invoking both your and Qing Xiao’s feelings as well as Madam Qi’s, it seems I can hardly refuse. But I won’t be the only one sitting up there. Shouldn’t we ask the other person involved for his opinion as well?”

Naturally, she was referring to Sage Donghua.

The implication was simple. If Sage Donghua agreed first, then she would have no objection.

That was exactly what Sage Donghua had said.

Neither of them could quite bring themselves to take the initiative. Both wanted to preserve a little dignity.

This effectively created a deadlock, with each insisting that the other agree first before they themselves would have no objection. So what was to be done?

This was easy enough for Qi Xuansu. As the old saying went, a clever daughter-in-law knew how to keep both sides in the dark. So Qi Xuansu would play the daughter-in-law for once.

Thus, Qi Xuansu said, “Of course my master agreed. What objection could a grown man possibly have?”

“Really?” Sage Cihang was still somewhat skeptical.

Qi Xuansu said with complete sincerity, “I just came from Ziwei Hall. I went to see Master first, and only then came to see you.”

Sage Cihang gave Qi Xuansu a look. “Very well. Since Sage Donghua has agreed, then I have no objection either. I’ll stand in for Madam Qi this once. But let me remind you. There is no other special meaning behind this.”

Qi Xuansu was delighted and hurriedly replied, “Of course there’s no special meaning.”

Only now did Xiao Yueru finally realize what was really going on. Sage Donghua would be standing in for her brother-in-law’s father, while her master would be standing in for her brother-in-law’s mother. Wouldn’t that effectively make Sage Donghua and her master a married couple?

Then, recalling some of the recent rumors, Xiao Yueru was startled and nearly cried out. She hurriedly covered her mouth, though her eyes could not help darting toward Qi Xuansu. Master was right. He really did have some nerve!

Xiao Yueru glanced at her master again, only to meet Sage Cihang’s stern gaze, which carried a distinct hint of warning. She immediately lowered her head and began pretending to be a timid little quail.

Qi Xuansu rose to take his leave. “Since Mother-in-law has agreed, I won’t disturb you from getting your rice seedlings planted. Farewell!”

Sage Cihang waved her hand, signaling for Qi Xuansu to hurry up and leave.

After leaving Sage Cihang’s residence, Qi Xuansu hurried back to report this good news to his master.

He had told Sage Cihang that Sage Donghua had agreed, so naturally, he would now tell Sage Donghua that Sage Cihang had agreed.

Since the two of them were trying to play coy, they could not very well confront each other face-to-face about it now.

If they really could confront each other right now and clear the matter up, then that would only prove that their coyness had been an act all along.

By the time the two of them were seated together before everyone’s eyes, there would be little point in exposing the truth. By then, everything would have been done and dusted.

How wonderful.

Qi Xuansu finally understood why some people enjoyed playing matchmaker. It really was quite satisfying.

Of course, all of this rested on the premise that the two of them already had such intentions toward each other. No matter how one looked at it, a union between them would benefit both sides. Only with that foundation in place could Qi Xuansu play his small part in bringing them together.

If both sides stubbornly refused to budge, or even if just one of them was firmly opposed, then there would be no possibility of making this happen. Given their status and standing, who could possibly force either of the top three Omniscient Sages into something like this? One could only gently persuade them from the sidelines, and even that could not be done too openly. It had to be approached indirectly. Otherwise, if either of them became annoyed, the entire path forward would be cut off.

Only Qi Xuansu, relying on his dual status as disciple and son-in-law, could afford to speak a little more plainly and act a little more presumptuously. After all, he was their beloved junior. At worst, he would merely get scolded a few times.

With this matter settled, Qi Xuansu still had to make separate arrangements specifically for Madam Qi. No matter what, he had to have some conscience. He could not let Madam Qi feel slighted or unhappy over this.

Since Madam Qi disliked noisy gatherings, there would be no need to invite guests. Everything could be kept simple, with only a handful of their own people present. Besides the bride and groom, they would bring along Little Yin, whom Madam Qi adored most, as well as Old Lin. Then there were a few people close to the couple, such as Ke Qingqing, Chen Jianchou, and Liu Hu. They could also invite Li Qingnu, Xie Linyuan, and Shangguan Ya, all of whom were close to Madam Qi.

As for the members of the Yao family, Madam Qi did not seem to have much contact with them, so they could be left out.

This would be a true family banquet.

After all, he could not let Madam Qi be shortchanged when it came to something like this.