A Pawn's Passage

The key to military command lies in seamless coordination, just as an arm moves a hand and a hand moves a finger.

The Tiangang Hall served as the central command of military operations in the Daoist Order, with the highest concentration of Spirit Guards, who were the soldiers of the Daoist Order.

On the other hand, Ziwei Hall held authority over all personnel arrangements in the Daoist Order, hence its status as the head of the Nine Halls.

Most of the Nine Halls were located in Xuan City, with the only exception being Ziwei Hall, which was located in the Purple Mansion so as not to have close interactions with the other eight halls. Its close proximity to the Golden Tower demonstrated its exceptional status, allowing it to command the respect and attention of the other eight halls.

Purple Mansion was located in the center of Jade Capital, equivalent to the Palace City of the Imperial Capital. It was within the same vicinity as the two places that symbolized the authority of the Daoist Order—the Golden Tower and the Zixiao Palace, which was where the Grand Master lived. As such, although the Purple Mansion’s importance was above the Zhenjing Courtyard, Dazhen Mansion, and Chongyang Palace of Immortality, it could not outshine its two neighboring powerhouses.

Therefore, judging from appearance alone, Ziwei Hall looked simple and ordinary in comparison, far inferior to the other eight halls and some bigger Daoist mansions and Daoist palaces.

However, such a seemingly ordinary place determined the fate of hundreds of thousands of Daoist priests.

Lei Xiaohuan entered Ziwei Hall and walked leisurely along a path. Along the way, there were many Daoist priests in ceremonial robes standing guard. This was the only place among the Nine Halls where Daoist priests were used to replace Spirit Guards for guard duties, once again reflecting Ziwei Hall’s special status.

These Daoist priests seemed to recognize Lei Xiaohuan, as they did not stop her.

Lei Xiaohuan quickened her pace and came to the main hall with a plaque hanging above that read, “The voice heard by the heavens.”

A young Daoist priest was waiting there. When he saw Lei Xiaohuan approaching, he silently led her to the duty room at the back.

Compared with the duty room in Tiangang Hall, the duty room in Ziwei Hall was much smaller, and the furnishings inside were minimal, with only a table and a few chairs. Except for one chair behind the desk, the other chairs were placed against the walls on the left and right.

The moment she stepped inside, Lei Xiaohuan saw a sign in the middle that read, “Peace to the world.”

This was said to have been written by the Holy Xuan himself and hung here for the past 200 years.

A man was sitting behind the table. His eyes bore some resemblance to Pei Xiaolou’s, but his aura was strikingly different, without a hint of vulgarity and slickness. Instead, this man exuded an ethereal and imposing air of authority. Even the uncouth Lei Xiaohuan could not help but maintain a solemn expression, not daring to show a hint of neglect.

The young Daoist priest quietly retreated after leading Lei Xiaohuan inside.

The man behind the writing desk did not stand up to greet Lei Xiaohuan, nor did he raise his head. He continued reading and writing on some documents.

Lei Xiaohuan kept quiet and merely stood there until the man finished his task at hand.

After a while, the man finished approving the document and finally raised his head. His sonorous voice broke the silence. “Sister-in-law, there’s no need to stand on ceremony. Please take a seat.”

Lei Xiaohuan proceeded to sit on one of the few chairs by the wall.

This man was none other than Pei Xiaolou’s elder brother, who was the Ziwei Hall Master and the second-in-command of the Quanzhen Sect—Sage Donghua, Pei Xuanzhi.

Although Pei Xiaolou and Pei Xuanzhi were from the same generation, they did not share a generational name. Instead, the character, zhi, in Pei Xuanzhi’s name symbolized purity and dedication to the Dao. That was why Pei Xuanzhi was not married to this day.

As such, the future of the Pei family would still fall on Pei Xiaolou’s shoulders, which made Lei Xiaohuan the matriarch of the Pei family, hence why Pei Xuanzhi was polite to his sister-in-law.

Pei Xuanzhi asked, “Are you here to follow up on that matter?”

“Yes.” Lei Xiaohuan nodded.

Pei Xuanzhi nodded and took out a written directive from the case files stacked on the table. After confirming its contents, he placed it on the table and pushed it forward.

Lei Xiaohuan quickly stood up and took it.

Pei Xuanzhi said, “I have read his file. There are no other problems aside from the tenure system. But as long as he is still below the fourth rank, the tenure system can still be overridden within reason, though I have one thing of concern. How do you plan to explain the fact that he’s not dead? If you fail to provide a clear explanation of how he survived the crash, someone will use it against us.”

Lei Xiaohuan hesitated for a moment before saying, “Lin Ge thinks that you—”

Lin Ge was Pei Xiaolou’s courtesy name. Lei Xiaohuan would only refer to her husband as Lin Ge in front of Pei Xuanzhi.

“He wants me to announce to the outside world that I saved that boy. As long as I admit it, the trail of questions will stop. Is that right?” Pei Xuanzhi was not surprised that his brother would come up with this idea.

Lei Xiaohuan nodded.

Pei Xuanzhi was noncommittal. “The future of the Quanzhen Sect does not lie with the Earthly Preceptor or myself, but with the young disciples. We can’t just rely on Yao Pei. After all, a good leader will still need helpers. We are in need of more outstanding young people. His resume and qualifications aren’t great, but his character is decent.

“Qualifications can be made up for in the future, but character is innate. Such people who were born in the Wanxiang Daoist Palace were supposed to be the Quanzhen Sect’s disciples by default. But he somehow ended up in the Zhengyi Sect. I have to say that Zhang Yuelu certainly has a keen eye for people. It would have been strange if Zhang Yuelu did not fancy him.”

Lei Xiaohuan did not expect that the Ziwei Hall Master would personally look through and understand the past experience of a low-level priest in such detail. She felt that there was a deeper meaning behind it, so she asked tentatively, “Brother-in-law, do you mean to say that he should return to the Daoist Order as a Quanzhen Sect disciple?”

Pei Xuanzhi nodded. “The Yuan family was wiped out. This is just the tip of the iceberg, and we don’t know how big the hidden part of the iceberg really is. The Golden Tower Council has decided that Ziwei Hall will take the lead and join forces with Tiangang Hall, Beichen Hall, Fengxian Hall, Duzhi Hall, the Chongyang Palace of Immortality, and the Jiangnan Daoist Mansion to set up a temporary investigation team to conduct an in-depth inspection on the Yanqing Merchant's Association.

“Lin Ge will represent the Chongyang Palace of Immortality, and Zhang Yuelu will represent Tiangang Hall. There is still a shortage of representatives from the Ziwei Hall, so will you step up and take him under your wing?”

“I’m willing.” Lei Xiaohuan replied with a salute.

Pei Xuanzhi waved his hand. “It’s settled then.”

“Thank you.” Lei Xiaohuan respectfully left the room.

……

Xu Kou, Qi Xuansu, and Liu Hu boarded the ironclad passenger ship again and continued northward along the Grand Canal.

Qi Xuansu wrapped Wang Baoyue’s arm cannon in a cloth and carried it like a bundle on his back so as not to attract unwanted attention.

After passing three more checkpoints, the ironclad ship docked at the 6th checkpoint and replenished some coal. Qi Xuansu also disembarked and bought a copy of the Daoist Order’s bulletin.

The Daoist Order’s bulletin was printed and published by the Qingping Bookstore and distributed worldwide. Anyone could buy it, but there were limited quantities, so it was often sold out. That day, Qi Xuansu was lucky enough to buy one.

Qi Xuansu saw at first glance that the Golden Tower had decided to set up a temporary investigation team for the Purple Immortal Mountain case. However, they had not yet announced the list of members. This was the Daoist Order’s style, never concealing the general direction but often blurring the details out of confidentiality and other considerations.

However, Qi Xuansu speculated that Zhang Yuelu and Pei Xiaolou had to be involved in the case.

Furthermore, frequent readers of the Daoist Order’s bulletin would know that the length of the content determined how important the matter was. If the article was lengthy, like an essay, it was typically a manifesto used to unify the people and claim the moral high ground. On the contrary, a concise bulletin without any detailed interpretation showed the severity of the situation.

Qi Xuansu never expected that his killing of Su Ran in Purple Immortal Mountain would cause such a chain reaction.

If his involvement was exposed, he would probably garner countless enemies.

Every time he thought about this, Qi Xuansu felt a chill down his spine.

In addition, the bulletin also disclosed Liu Futong’s crimes and the process of solving the case. They even wrote a special segment on Zhang Yuelu. If Qi Xuansu had not been familiar with Zhang Yuelu, he would have thought that she had paid someone handsomely to write these praises.

Liu Futong had not been convicted, but Qi Xuansu figured that the superintendent would be executed and his property would be confiscated. His concubines and illegitimate children were not implicated. However, the Daoist Order did not take pity on them; they would have to make an honest living for themselves from now on.

The end of the bulletin was just some general news. Qi Xuansu skimmed through it and found that Wuxu Palace was offering a bounty for Wan Xiuwu’s killer. As long as it could be proven that the information provided was correct, that person would be rewarded with 1,000 Taiping coins. Those who went above and beyond to capture or kill Wan Xiuwu’s murderer would be rewarded with 5,000 Taiping coins.

Even the murderer in question—Qi Xuansu—felt tempted by this offer.