A Pawn's Passage

Shangqing Temple was a local Daoist temple located in Shangqing County. It was much smaller than the Shangqing Palace, but it had an important status.

There was a two-story building in Shangqing Temple with a spacious living room on the first floor. A rosewood table with a marble top was placed on the north wall, paired with an intricately carved rosewood armchair on each side. There were eight rosewood chairs with tables placed on the east and west walls. The floor was paved with marble of the same color, inlaid with fragments of jasper.

At this time, Zhang Yuelu was sitting on the chair on the upper right side of the room, holding a cup of tea brewed with tea leaves plucked this year in early spring. She took a sip from time to time as vapors rose from the gaiwan, shrouding her face.

The tea was good, but Zhang Yuelu was not in a good mood because the owner of this place irritated her. Even so, she kept a neutral face.

The first floor was impressive, but the second floor was even grander. The floor of the room was made of red sandalwood square wooden planks, which were 3 centimeters thick and 67 centimeters wide each. In the middle of the room was a large flatbed about 3 meters wide, with a mahogany zither table in front of it. The bed was surrounded by incense burners with fine ambergris, emitting thin wisps of fragrant smoke.

A woman took off her shoes and socks, walking barefoot on the floor. Her footsteps were particularly clear as she walked across the empty second floor to the zither. Then she stretched out her fingers and gently plucked the strings of the zither twice, looking deep in thought.

Hearing the zither and the woman’s footsteps, Zhang Yuelu finally lost her patience. She set down the gaiwan heavily on the table and stomped up the stairs to the second floor.

The barefoot woman glanced at Zhang Yuelu calmly, looked away, and continued to play the zither.

Zhang Yuelu did not bother taking off her dirty boots and stormed in, leaving a series of footprints on the expensive wooden floor.

Seeing this, the woman could no longer ignore Zhang Yuelu. She quipped, “Wow, someone’s got a temper.”

Zhang Yuelu scoffed. “I might have a temper, but it’s nothing compared to your inflated pride. I didn’t even wait this long to see the Earthly Preceptor. If I didn’t know better, I’d think that the Grand Master had summoned me.”

“Qing Xiao, you have been in the Jade Capital for a few years. In addition to your rapid promotion in rank and position, I can see that you’re also getting quite eloquent. You don’t even bother to address me with respect anymore. Who did you learn this from? It can’t be Li Tianzhen, right?”

The woman was no longer young. She was at least from the same generation as Zhang Yuelu’s parents.

Zhang Yuelu retorted. “I’m not here to quarrel with you. If you want me to address you with respect, you should at least act like an elder. Do you think you deserve respect after all that you’ve done over the years?”

“I am indeed unworthy, especially since I’m a nobody to the Heavenly Preceptor, the Earthly Preceptor, and the Imperial Preceptor. I’m far below you.” The woman laughed instead of feeling offended. “But I like your temper. You’re much better than those fake clay puppets in the Dazhen Mansion.”

Zhang Yuelu turned around and walked downstairs. “Get dressed and come down. I need to discuss something with you.”

Not long after, the woman, who was nearly 40 years old, changed into a wide-sleeved, knee-length outer coat with slits at the armpits and a skirt and a tube top underneath. She put on her shoes and socks again before walking downstairs.

Zhang Yuelu did not bother to glance at the woman, concentrating on sipping her tea.

The woman did not like to drink tea or alcohol, but she liked smoking. She took out a smoking pipe made entirely of gold, aside from its fine jade lip. The only drawback of such an exquisite smoking pipe was its heavy weight, making it difficult for ordinary people to smoke for a long time. However, the woman obviously did not mind.

She did not get anyone to wait on her and filled the chamber herself with the finest tobacco leaves from Liaodong.

The woman’s name was Su Ying, whose husband was from a small branch of the Zhang family. Technically, Zhang Yuelu should address Su Ying as her aunt. In the past, Zhang Yuelu had a good relationship with Su Ying, but after the latter had an affair with a rising star of the Daoist Order, Zhang Yuelu stopped respecting her, as that man was young enough to be Su Ying’s son. He was also a Banished Immortal with a bright future, like Zhang Yuelu.

Su Ying was a widow, and the Zhang family allowed her to remarry, so they did not care about her private affairs. Zhang Yuelu would not mind if Su Ying remarried that Banished Immortal. The problem was that he was already engaged to a young lady from a Confucian family. Thus, Su Ying pestering an engaged man was a despicable and disgraceful act.

Influenced by the Quanzhen Sect, Zhang Yuelu was more conservative than most of her peers in the Zhengyi Sect. That was why she could not accept this kind of behavior and grew distant from Su Ying. She also did not hide her disdain for Su Ying.

On the other hand, Zhang Yuyue had integrity, even though she did not have a good eye for men. When she learned that Li Minghuang had cheated on her, she did not hesitate to break up with him. That was why Zhang Yuelu still maintained contact with her cousin.

Zhang Yuelu went to Shangqing Temple with the intention of reporting her findings about the Li family’s movements. She thought that Shangqing Temple could relay the message to the Dazhen Mansion so that it would save her a trip there. However, she did not expect Su Ying to be in charge of Shangqing Temple.

What made Zhang Yuelu feel even more helpless was that Su Ying seemed to be siding with her mother. Her mother probably had nothing better to do than ask Su Ying to test the waters first. Although Su Ying’s moral conduct was questionable, she was capable and had a keen eye for people. At least, Su Ying was much better at discerning character than the “blind” Zhang Yuyue. That made Su Ying a suitable candidate to test Qi Xuansu.

If it were before, Zhang Yuelu would not have cared much about this kind of test, as she did not think about a future with Qi Xuansu, so it did not matter to her whether her family had a bad impression of him.

However, along this journey, Zhang Yuelu gradually changed her mind. That was why she wanted to send Qi Xuansu back to Jade Capital. She did not want him to meet her family so soon, but Qi Xuansu refused to abort this mission halfway.

Since they were all bound to meet each other, Zhang Yuelu wanted Qi Xuansu to leave a good impression on her family.

Su Ying sat on the chair in the center of the living room and blew out a smoke ring. She chuckled and said, “Qing Xiao, I heard that you brought a young man back. This is a rare occasion. You even rejected Li Tianzhen, the direct descendant of the Holy Xuan. I wonder who is this young man who caught your eye? Is he the son of the Earthly Preceptor?”

Zhang Yuelu rebutted. “Besides one’s family background and master lineage, what else do you think of?”

“Fine, we won’t mention family background. Let’s talk about ability, then.” Su Ying smiled. “Qing Xiao, you’re a Banished Immortal, so you should find a Banished Immortal as well, or at least a Confucian Hermit. This young man is—?”

Zhang Yuelu’s tone was flat. “A Rogue Cultivator.”

“Rogue Cultivator?” Su Ying was startled at first before registering the information. Then she laughed out loud. “That forged lineage? But I guess that makes sense. Rogue Cultivators are modeled based on Banished Immortals, which makes them Lesser Banished Immortals. How hilarious!”

Su Ying was a mature woman who maintained her appearance and figure well, so she was still very charming despite her age. At this moment, she laughed so hard that her chest was shaking and her face was rosy. She was very attractive, but it was a pity that she did not have an audience to appreciate her beauty.

Zhang Yuelu had expected Su Ying’s mockery, so she merely stared at Su Ying with an expressionless face.

Su Ying wanted to laugh harder, but seeing Zhang Yuelu’s dull reaction, she felt ignored and gradually stopped laughing.

“Are you done laughing?” Zhang Yuelu said, “I don’t know what you find so funny. He’s a Rogue Cultivator without a family, but does he deserve to be laughed at? You people, on the other hand, only have your family status to show for. What else do you have? Forget it. It’s pointless talking to a cow like you.”

Su Ying’s smile faded. “When you say ‘you people,’ does that also include my sister-in-law?”

The sister-in-law Su Ying referred to was Madam Tantai, Zhang Yuelu’s mother.

Zhang Yuelu acquiesced to it. If Madam Tantai was not her mother, she would not have any interaction with her because they had different principles.

At this moment, a Daoist priest came in to inform them of Qi Xuansu’s arrival.

Zhang Yuelu and Qi Xuansu went to Shangqing County together, but they went their separate ways after entering the city. Zhang Yuelu came to Shangqing Temple, while Qi Xuansu went to the Huasheng Hall to have his broken arm examined.

Su Ying instructed, “Let him in.”

Soon, Qi Xuansu walked in. Su Ying sat there, while Zhang Yuelu stood up and greeted him. “Tian Yuan.”

Su Ying glanced at Zhang Yuelu, slightly surprised by this.

Although Zhang Yuelu was not arrogant, Su Ying thought that Zhang Yuelu had a unique criteria for judging people, and this criteria was a mystery to most people. To Su Ying, Zhang Yuelu was always strange and unconventional. Zhang Yuelu disregarded things that were often treasured by others, but she would treat the things that others looked down on as treasures. For example, Qi Xuansu.

Qi Xuansu did not know who Su Ying was, so he saluted her in greeting.