A Pawn's Passage

Yunjin Mountain’s Dazhen Mansion was located in Wuzhou. Thus, the Wuzhou Daoist Mansion consisted of only Zhengyi Sect disciples, also known as a pure Zhengyi Sect Daoist Mansion.

Dong Baijing served as a superintendent at the Wuzhou Daoist Mansion. He was a 35-year-old fourth-rank Jijiu Daoist master. Many in the Daoist community considered him young and talented, but compared with people like Zhang Yuelu, Li Tianzhen, and Li Minghuang, he was just an average Joe.

After all, Zhang Yuelu was more than ten years younger than Dong Baijing, but she was also a fourth-rank Jijiu Daoist master. In ten years, she would most likely become a second-rank Taiyi Daoist master, or at worst, a third-rank Youyi Daoist master. In any case, the Daoist Order valued the promotion of younger people.

There were strict age restrictions for ranks above the fourth rank, including the Grand Master. This was a rule set by the Holy Xuan to prevent the Daoist Order from repeating the mistakes of the Confucian School. Even so, one had to have the talent to be promoted.

Dong Baijing did not have such lofty ambitions. He was content with what he had and did not think about working in the Nine Halls in the Jade Capital. That was why he stayed in the Wuzhou Daoist Mansion.

Zhang Yuyue met Dong Baijing a long time ago. Being the pampered princess of the Zhang family, Zhang Yuyue did not go to the Jade Capital alone at a young age as Zhang Yuelu did. She studied with her fellow Zhang family members in the Dazhen Mansion when she was young.

When Zhang Yuyue reached adulthood, the Zhang family assigned her to work in the Wuzhou Daoist Mansion to familiarize herself with the various rules within the Daoist Order. After all, the Zhang family was powerful, but they did not have control over the entire Daoist Order.

That was how Zhang Yuyue met Dong Baijing at the Wuzhou Daoist Mansion. He was two years older than her, and they were working under the same boss. Their relationship was somewhat similar to Qi Xuansu and Mu Jin. However, Qi Xuansu and Mu Jin were at odds with each other, while Dong Baijing and Zhang Yuyue maintained a good rapport with each other.

Dong Baijing still remembered the time he first saw Zhang Yuyue. That day, he was buried in paperwork. His boss, who was at retirement age, personally led a young girl to the duty room. The girl was new to the workplace, but she was not shy at all. She looked calm and acted with ease.

Back then, he thought that the girl was stunning, so much so that he did not dare look at her. But suddenly, his boss led the girl to his desk and asked him to guide this new colleague.

The girl was confident as she introduced herself. “My name is Zhang Yuyue.”

Dong Baijing blushed and kept his head down, not daring to look at her face. It took a long time for him to respond. He also forgot to tell her what his courtesy name was.

“Dong Baijing.” The girl repeated and smiled. “I’ll call you Brother Dong, then.”

Later, Dong Baijing, who did not have a strong family background, continued to stay in Wuzhou Daoist Mansion to earn his qualifications. Meanwhile, Zhang Yuyue, the princess of the prestigious Zhang family, steadily rose in rank and moved to the Jade Capital. That was how they went their separate ways.

Dong Baijing also remembered that day clearly. Zhang Yuyue, who was all grown up then, was scheduled to take the flying ship from the dock at Yunjin Mountain to Jade Capital. Before she left, he specially went to see her off.

Zhang Yuyue stood on the deck of the flying ship and looked down at Dong Baijing on the shore. She waved goodbye and grinned. “When I come back the next time, I may be assigned to be the Deputy Mansion Master of the Wuzhou Daoist Mansion. By then, I’ll be your boss!”

The man blushed again, not knowing how to respond.

When Zhang Yuyue first arrived in Jade Capital, the two of them still exchanged letters from time to time. But gradually, they stopped writing to or hearing from each other. That was until three years ago when Zhang Yuyue suddenly returned to Wuzhou.

Zhang Yuyue did not hide her past and told him frankly about her experiences. She then asked if he was willing to marry her.

Given the golden opportunity, Dong Baijing did not hesitate too much. He only thought about the proposal for about an hour before agreeing to marry Zhang Yuyue.

As a noble daughter of the Zhang family, Zhang Yuyue did not ask for a house in Taishang Place or any betrothal gifts. She only had one request from him—they were to get married as soon as possible, preferably within ten days.

So, the couple got married in an extremely low-key manner. They did not hold a wedding ceremony, invite relatives and friends, or wear wedding attire due to the short notice. All they had to mark the occasion were two red wedding candles.

The Zhang family had an ambiguous attitude toward this marriage. They did not explicitly oppose it, nor did they support it. On the day of their wedding, Zhang Yuyue’s brother made a low-key appearance and left in a hurry without staying for drinks.

Outsiders had no idea about the dispute between Zhang Yuyue’s father and brother. Many of Dong Baijing’s friends and colleagues were intimidated by the Zhang family’s reputation, so they did not dare to attend. Thus, their wedding was extremely quiet, even worse than an ordinary wedding in the City God Temple of Jade Capital.

Zhang Yuyue did not mention her family much, so Dong Baijing was also unaware of the Zhang family’s affairs.

Dong Baijing only knew that his wife had a cousin whom she had a fairly good relationship with. This cousin was very famous in the Daoist Order, with her name published in the bulletins several times. However, he did not know what this cousin was like.

This was also his first time seeing Zhang Yuelu in person. “You must be the cousin that Yu’er mentioned often.”

Dong Baijing did not notice the two women’s expressions as he turned to Qi Xuansu and added, “And you must be Yu’er’s cousin-in-law.”

Dong Baijing was not to be blamed for being mistaken, because Qi Xuansu was the one who first addressed the former as such. Moreover, Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu were also wearing matching cloaks.

However, Zhang Yuyue was sure that Qi Xuansu was not married to her cousin. Although Zhang Yuelu was from a small branch of the Zhang family, she had a special status. If Zhang Yuelu wanted to get married, there would be some news, no matter what.

In other words, there were only two possibilities. These two youngsters had eloped, or that punk was just talking nonsense.

Thinking of this, Zhang Yuyue’s expression darkened.

Zhang Yuelu did not get angry because she had become accustomed to Qi Xuansu’s habit of blurting something explosive out of nowhere to make people feel awkward.

She began to worry about Qi Xuansu. This man was reliable in everything, whether it was fighting or handling situations. The only thing lacking was his social skills. Zhang Yuelu also prayed that Qi Xuansu would restrain his mouth when meeting her mother. If Qi Xuansu were to do this in front of Madam Tantai, the outcome would be terrible.

Qi Xuansu also realized that he had a slip of the tongue. He wanted to explain it, but he did not know what to say. Stuck in a dilemma, he turned to Zhang Yuelu and made eyes at her, asking for help.

Zhang Yuelu shot him a warning look, straightened her expression, and said, “It’s still too early to call him ‘cousin-in-law,’ at least until he meets my parents.”

Qi Xuansu quickly chimed in. “Right, of course.”

Dong Baijing finally understood what was going on. “I see. Cousin, are you bringing him back home for the New Year?”

Zhang Yuelu nodded. “Yes. Cousin-in-law, you don’t have to be so polite with me. You can call me Qing Xiao and him Tian Yuan.”

At this moment, Zhang Yuyue suddenly sneered. “Fellow Daoist Qi, as Qing Xiao’s cousin, why haven’t I heard of Qing Xiao mentioning you in the past?”

Qi Xuansu answered truthfully. “In fact, I also just found out today that Qing Xiao has a cousin with whom she has a good relationship.”

Zhang Yuyue was stunned for a moment because she did not expect Qi Xuansu to answer her like this. Technically, Qi Xuansu was telling the truth.

Zhang Yuelu deliberately kept a straight face and said, “There are some things you don’t need to know.”

Qi Xuansu took advantage of the situation to put on a pitiful look, which he was best at.

Zhang Yuyue wanted to stir up some trouble, but she failed to and felt frustrated instead. “It is indeed not easy for Qing Xiao to talk about me in front of outsiders. But when I was living in Jade Capital, I never knew that Qing Xiao was acquainted with someone like you. It has only been three years since I left Jade Capital. As the saying goes, only time will tell one’s true colors. How much can you understand about each other in three years?”

Dong Baijing did not bear any resentment toward Qi Xuansu, so he reminded his wife. “Yu’er, he’s our guest. Don’t be so rude.”

Zhang Yuyue snapped back. “Stop talking and let him speak.”

From this, everyone could tell that Zhang Yuyue was a strong-willed woman, especially at home. She was different from Zhang Yuelu, who could be reasoned with.

Dong Baijing was used to his wife’s temper, so he just smiled helplessly and stopped speaking. He merely observed Zhang Yuelu’s expression.

To his surprise, Zhang Yuelu was not worried at all.

Qi Xuansu did not seem to care about Zhang Yuyue’s aggression. He asked her back, “Well, that’s not a question for me. You should ask Qing Xiao instead. How much does she know about me?”

Zhang Yuyue narrowed her eyes, finding this young man interesting. Qi Xuansu reminded her of someone that she would never be able to forget.