A Pawn's Passage

Qi Xuansu had taken Gao Mingyin from the Taiping Inn’s main branch in the Imperial Capital in such a commotion. Thus, the Tianchen Division received word almost immediately. That was when they quickly realized something was wrong on Du Yuyan’s end.

The Tianchen Division had been waiting for Du Yuyan’s team to return with a report. But dawn came and went, and there was still no sign of them. It was clear that something had happened. But somehow, the life lamps of Du Yuyan and her team still burned bright without even the slightest flicker. That meant their lives were not in danger, at least for now.

This left the Tianchen Division utterly baffled.

Three had remained in the Imperial Capital, while four of them pursued Qi Xuansu. However, Qi Xuansu strolled back openly and unharmed, while the four who chased him vanished without a trace. Oddly, they were still alive.

Everyone knew that capturing four Heavenly Beings alive was far more difficult than ambushing and killing them. No matter how capable Qi Xuansu might be, he could not possibly have subdued all four on his own.

They were not looking down on Qi Xuansu. It was a fact that only a Pseudo-Immortal or an Immortal could easily capture several Heavenly Beings. They also did not believe that Qi Xuansu could command such a figure. Perhaps they would believe it if it were Yao Pei or Li Changge.

Thus, the Tianchen Division held a secret internal meeting.

A Tianchen Division superintendent remarked, “I’ve already tried contacting Du Yuyan’s group using the mother-child talismans, but the connection is completely blocked. That likely means they’ve fallen into some other pocket realm or a forbidden area protected by a formation. Still, from what we can tell, their lives aren’t in immediate danger.”

“I’ve already dispatched scouts to comb the area outside the city within a 50-kilometer radius,” another superintendent added. “We’ll have results soon. But honestly, I’m not hopeful. From what we know of this Mage Qi, he’s extremely meticulous, so it’s unlikely for him to leave any obvious trail.”

Six superintendents sat around the table, with one seat belonging to Du Yuyan left vacant.

The Tianchen Division was a classic example of low rank, high authority. Its organizational structure was much like that of the Arrest Office and the Daoist Relations Department, with a Division Director heading the department and several superintendents beneath him. The rank might be low, but they held formidable power, like the authority to act first and report later. Thus, few dared cross them.

This made sense historically. In the previous dynasty, even the Chief Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonies was only at the fifth rank, yet he was feared by all, unofficially known as the inner court’s Prime Minister.

The Great Xuan Dynasty inherited parts of the Wei Dynasty’s former system, formalizing many previously temporary roles by assigning them official ranks and making them permanent positions, such as the Chief Military Officer, Supreme Commander, Pacification Commissioner, and Cabinet Minister, among others.

Among today’s civil officials, a Minister was at the lower-first rank, a Deputy Minister was at the upper-second rank, a Division Director was at the upper-fifth rank, and a superintendent was at the upper-sixth rank.

Even though the Great Xuan Dynasty repeatedly promoted equality between civil and military officials, in reality, civil officials were still held in higher regard. For example, a second-rank Garrison Chief Military Officer could not be compared to a second-rank Deputy Minister. The reasoning was simple. There were only 12 Deputy Ministers across the Six Ministries, while there were far more Garrison Chief Military Officers. In Shuzhou alone, there were four Generals.

The Tianchen Division Director was technically only at the fifth rank, but their influence and status were comparable to one of the Six Ministers, only slightly below the former Chief Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonies.

The emperor was aware of this imbalance and had made compensatory arrangements in other aspects. In the Great Xuan Court, official titles were divided into three types—administrative, honorary, and meritorious. Du Yuyan’s administrative post was a sixth-rank superintendent, but she also had an honorary title (Valiant General) and a meritorious title (Commandant of Light Chariots), both of which were upper-third-rank titles. This allowed her to wear third-rank court robes and stand on equal footing with other third-rank officials during the court assemblies.

Like Du Yuyan, the Tianchen Division superintendents were all Heavenly Beings with third-rank titles, not to be underestimated.

The third superintendent said, “It’s obvious what’s going on. Everything hinges on Qi Xuansu. Ask him, and all will be clear.”

The fourth superintendent sneered, “You think it’s that simple? He’s a fourth-rank Jijiu Daoist master. Do you know what it means for someone under thirty to hold that title? Sure, we could assassinate him in secret. After all, many promising Daoist prodigies have died unexpectedly over the years. But we can’t openly lay a finger on him. Now that he has entrenched himself in the Yuhuang Palace, are you going to storm in and interrogate him? When it comes to Daoist dignity, even the Taiping Sect won’t side with us on this.”

The third superintendent immediately replied, “Then let’s talk to the Imperial Capital Daoist Mansion. Our people are missing, so Mansion Master Li should at least give us an explanation.”

“You imbecile!” The fifth superintendent snapped. “Under what pretext would you even approach the Imperial Capital Daoist Mansion? Are you going to say that our people were hunting down one of their superintendents, but somehow, the target is fine, and our people are missing? They won’t answer us. Instead, they’ll question us on why we were trying to kill a Daoist superintendent in the first place. What would you say then?”

The third superintendent was a hothead. Upon hearing this, his face turned beet red, and his tongue tied. Right. Why is the Tianchen Division hunting a Daoist superintendent? If Qi Xuansu is dead, we can lie or spin the story however we like, as dead men tell no tales. The problem is that Mage Qi is very much alive.

The first superintendent who had spoken now rubbed his forehead. “We could fabricate a reason, but the issue is that according to the three who returned, Mage Qi had an image recording stone with damning evidence against us. Most likely, it’s already sitting on Shi Bingyun’s desk. If we show up at their door, it won’t be Sage Li who receives us. It’ll be Sage Shi. If she replays that recording in front of everyone, we might be the ones giving them an explanation instead of the other way around.”

The third superintendent was still unwilling to let it go. “So that’s it? We just let it slide? Those were four Heavenly Beings. What are we supposed to tell the Emperor if he asks? I’m not taking the fall for this.”

The six superintendents exchanged uncertain glances.

If this were some small family, they could threaten, bribe, or even eliminate them. But their opponent was the Imperial Capital Daoist Mansion. It was troublesome, especially with Shi Bingyun involved. Sage Shi’s senior sister was the revered Sage Cihang, and she herself had deep ties with an Imperial Prince. If she decided to make it big, this could escalate to the Imperial Court. Regardless of what the Emperor himself thought, for the sake of the Imperial Court’s dignity, this case would have to be thoroughly investigated.

The case was not complicated, nor was it veiled in mystery. If it were brought into the open, the truth would be easily uncovered, and no one would walk away unscathed.

After a long silence, the sixth superintendent finally spoke calmly. “The tables have turned. We’re no longer in a position to demand explanations. Instead, we must now think about how to distance ourselves. It’ll be too late to wait for the Division Director to return. If it comes down to it, we’ll have no choice but to pin the blame on Old Du. She’s not here anyway. It’s time we cut off a limb to save the body.”

The other five all nodded. “There’s no other choice.”

Someone suggested, “Let’s make sure our stories align so that no one slips.”

“I’ll go first. We are deeply shocked by what has occurred.”

Another continued, “The Tianchen Division is a government agency tasked with protecting the Imperial City. To see it exploited for personal gain makes our hearts ache with sorrow.”

What followed was a seamless chain of statements, like a well-practiced relay.

“We deeply regret what the Imperial Capital Daoist Mansion has endured, so we would like to extend our sincere apologies.”

“Du Yuyan’s crimes are heinous. She acted recklessly on her own accord while the Division Director was away from the capital. Her actions do not represent the Tianchen Division.”

“We were unaware of this situation. If details are to be clarified, the top priority is to locate Du Yuyan and hear her testimony.”

“Her life lamp still burns, so she has most likely fled out of fear once she realized the plan had failed.”

“We have already deployed search teams. However, the Tianchen Division’s main responsibility is to guard the Imperial City, so we will need cooperation from the Imperial Capital Daoist Mansion and the Green Phoenix Guard.”

“Of course, we accept our share of responsibility. It’s an oversight on our part as her colleagues for failing to detect and prevent this in advance.”

“The Tianchen Division must immediately initiate a thorough internal investigation and rectify our procedures to ensure such incidents do not recur.”

“As for others involved in this matter, they must be dealt with severely to give both the Imperial Court and the Daoist Order a proper explanation.”

In just a few sentences, the superintendents had skillfully synchronized their narrative.

The second superintendent spoke softly, “There’s also the matter of Elder Wen...”

The third superintendent, hot-tempered as ever, slammed the table and burst out. “Because of his damn mess, we lost four Heavenly Beings—one of them a superintendent. Does he think he can walk away clean? We’ve got to let him know that the Tianchen Division isn’t bearing this alone. If someone’s going down, we all go down. If someone’s carrying the blame, we all carry it!”

This time, none of the others tried to argue with him, all agreeing with his stance.

......

Meanwhile, over at the Arrest Office, the atmosphere was far less grim. The police officers were discussing the recent capture of Gao Mingyin.

Old Master Gao had been a notable figure in the Imperial Capital, yet in less than a month, he had ended up in prison. Though this was not exactly a purge, Gao Mingyin’s downfall was now inevitable.

Many were shocked. After the initial shock faded, they were understandably curious.

Since Xu Feiying had previously worked with Mage Qi, a number of colleagues approached her, hoping to learn more.

Xu Feiying could only answer them truthfully. She was also still reeling from the outcome. Back when she had taken a risk to help Qi Xuansu track down clues on the assassin, she had not held much hope that he would be able to close the case quickly. But now, against all expectations, he had actually done it. He had captured the assassin and apprehended Gao Mingyin days later in one fell swoop.

At that thought, Xu Feiying could not help but feel a surge of excitement. Gao Mingyin might just be the beginning. Perhaps this Mage Qi could really bring about a breath of fresh air in the Imperial Capital!