A Pawn's Passage

Qi Xuansu decided to set off on March 15th, after attending a dream meeting to confirm the specific itinerary and meeting place with Madam Qi and Li Qingnu. He was not so naive as to look around blindly for Li Qingnu only after arriving in Zhili.

At midnight on March 15th, Qi Xuansu did the ritual and came to the dream meeting again.

So far, this was Qi Xuansu’s fourth time attending the dream meeting. He had enough materials to attend six more dream meetings, so he was not in a hurry to buy new materials.

As usual, Madam Qi was busy with a crowd gathered around her.

The only difference was this time, there was another graceful figure standing beside Madam Qi. Although he could not see her face, he guessed that it was Li Qingnu.

After Madam Qi was done with the others, Qi Xuansu walked over.

“You two don’t need me to introduce you again, right?” Madam Qi got straight to the point.

“Of course not.” Li Qingnu’s tone was calm, as if she had never had a conflict with Qi Xuansu.

Qi Xuansu pretended that nothing had happened between them and bowed his head.

Madam Qi warned. “Wild Bodhisattva used almost all of his life’s savings, entrusting me to arrange this escort trip. So don’t let me down.”

“Of course.” Li Qingnu nodded slightly.

Qi Xuansu’s first reaction was that Wild Bodhisattva did not seem that rich. However, he suddenly thought of something.

Li Qingnu was the most popular courtesan who had the support of the Li family. Logically speaking, she should not be short of money. So he asked her why she decided to take up this job.

Li Qingnu scoffed. “Of course, I’ll be short of money if I want to buy elixirs or magical weapons. Although I’m the cash cow of the Li family, most of the money I earn belongs to them. I can only get a small part of it. I’ve spent a lot of money over the years, so I only have a little over 10,000 Taiping coins. This job is equivalent to half of my savings. Excluding some necessary expenses to buy connections, I can still earn about 3,000 Taiping coins.”

Qi Xuansu and Madam Qi fell silent.

Seeing this, Li Qingnu was a little confused. She wondered if Qi Xuansu thought that she had a net worth of hundreds of thousands of Taiping coins. That was because some time ago, someone offered to buy her out for 200,000 Taiping coins, but the Li family refused to let her go.

Thinking of this, Li Qingnu also felt aggrieved. She was not even an adopted daughter of the Li family, so why would they refuse to let her leave with such a good buyout? Who were they trying to act noble for?

After a while, Qi Xuansu took a deep breath. “Madam Qi...”

Madam Qi coughed slightly and remained silent.

“You got another kickback!” Qi Xuansu pointed at her, feeling vexed. “I was just thinking how poor Wild Bodhisattva is to only have 3,000 Taiping coins of life savings. It turns out that you were the one who ate the majority of the share! She got 5,000 but I only got 1,000 Taiping coins. My money!”

Li Qingnu looked at Madam Qi, startled.

Madam Qi explained, “Wild Bodhisattva paid a total of 20,000 Taiping coins—5,000 for me as the middleman, and the remaining 15,000 for the people in charge of the three segments. Qingnu is clear on this.”

Li Qingnu nodded. She finally understood what was going on and looked at Qi Xuansu with pity.

Madam Qi put her hands on her hips and said righteously, “You only get 1,000 because you’re young and inexperienced. I’m afraid you won’t be able to control yourself. With so much money at your disposal, you might go astray with gambling, prostitution, and other bad habits. So I’m doing you a favor by saving the remainder for your future marriage!”

Qi Xuansu pointed at Li Qingnu with trembling fingers, asking for an explanation as to why Madam Qi didn’t help Li Qingnu save for her marriage as well.

Madam Qi chuckled. “Although Qingnu is not much older than you, she is a lot more experienced in matters of the world. She knows what’s good for her, so I’m not worried she’ll go astray. Besides, it’s not easy for Qingnu to complete this mission in person, so she’ll need more money to buy some connections.”

Qi Xuansu wanted to speak, but Madam Qi narrowed her eyes and threatened him. “Fine. If you don’t want me to help you save the remainder, we’ll just have to settle the score once and for all.”

“It’s alright. You can save up for me.” Qi Xuansu immediately backed down.

A loving smile resurfaced on Madam Qi’s face again. “That’s better. I’m doing this for your own good.”

Qi Xuansu felt aggrieved. He thought to himself, If I hadn’t said that I was only short of 1,000 Taiping coins and told her that I was short of 2,000 Taiping coins, would I have been able to get 2,000 Taiping coins?

Of course, he knew that Madam Qi regarded him as more than just a subordinate. She gave him a Xuan Jade of Death, which was worth well over 4,000 Taiping coins. But then again, he was short of cash. Just look at Li Qingnu! She had a net worth of 10,000 Taiping coins, which was enough to buy a treasure.

He even thought that it would be better not to know about this. He should just keep brainwashing himself that he was making 1,000 Taiping coins instead of losing 4,000 Taiping coins.

Madam Qi clapped her hands to catch their attention. “Well, let’s get down to business. Tian Yuan, you will start the trip from Longmen Prefecture, pass by Luzhou to enter Qizhou, and finally meet Qingnu at Bohai Prefecture in Zhili. You two can discuss the exact meeting location.”

Li Qingnu already had a plan, so she suggested, “The Li family has opened a Sycamore Villa in Bohai Prefecture. With the Li family as its backer, no one will dare cause trouble there. Since this upscale brothel has all kinds of people coming and going frequently, your presence won’t attract that much attention. Why don’t we meet there?”

“Alright.” Qi Xuansu had no other objections.

Madam Qi looked at Li Qingnu and reminded her. “Qingnu, since you can’t escort the girl in person, you must make sure that the people you get are reliable. If something goes wrong, we’ll have to return every coin to Wild Bodhisattva. I will also have to compensate him for the losses.”

“Don’t worry, Madam Qi.” Li Qingnu nodded. Although Qi Xuansu could not see Li Qingnu’s face, he could already imagine her fake smile.

This was not surprising. Everyone had to wear different masks for different situations, and Qi Xuansu himself was no exception.

Qi Xuansu thought about it and said, “Madam Qi, this deal worth 20,000 Taiping coins isn’t that simple, right? That girl is by no means as ordinary as you said.”

In the last dream meeting, Madam Qi told Qi Xuansu that Liu Hu’s father was just an insignificant character in the major Jiangnan case, who was silenced by his own people just as Beichen Hall started their investigation. That man did not even live to get interrogated by Fengxian Hall, and he had left behind one daughter. However, he seemed to have had a premonition, so he entrusted his daughter to Wild Bodhisattva in advance.

But now, things did not seem so simple.

First, Wild Bodhisattva was also not an ordinary person. Qi Xuansu did not even know his identity or cultivation level. If Liu Hu’s father could be friends with Wild Bodhisattva, he was certainly not a small fry either.

Secondly, Wild Bodhisattva did not hesitate to spend 20,000 Taiping coins to protect Liu Hu. His willingness to spend so much money meant that he truly believed someone would try to harm Liu Hu. From Qi Xuansu’s experience at The Inn, the life of a county magistrate was only worth 1,000 Taiping coins.

Thirdly, Wild Bodhisattva wanted to send Liu Hu to Liaodong, where the former Jiangnan Daoist Mansion Master was residing. There must be some sort of secret there.

Qi Xuansu might not know the secrets involved, but he had to be aware of the enemies he might encounter during the trip. This was so he would be able to gauge the situation better.

Madam Qi said, “I can only tell you that there won’t be any Heavenly Beings involved. Most Heavenly Beings are in high positions and won’t dabble in this business. Moreover, all Heavenly Beings are known to the Daoist Order, so they will easily attract attention. However, you will face more than just one or two Guizhen-stage opponents.”

Qi Xuansu nodded solemnly.

Madam Qi seemed to be sure that he would reach the Guizhen stage before meeting Wild Bodhisattva, even when he was just in the Yuxu stage when she first gave him this job.

However, it made sense because Madam Qi had given him the Xuan Jade of Death, so she would have been able to estimate the progress of his cultivation.

Having sorted out the plan, Qi Xuansu hurriedly ended this unpleasant dream meeting and returned to the real world.