A Pawn's Passage

Qi Xuansu said, “It’s nothing major, just that a local branch of Beichen Hall suddenly sent people to the Yu royal palace, claiming they were going to investigate the Queen of the Yu Kingdom.”

Li Zhuyu took the matter seriously. “The Yu Queen’s status is equivalent to that of an Imperial Prince of the Great Xuan Court. Among all the vassal states, her rank is second only to the Fenglin King. Even the Poluo Daoist Mansion must treat such a figure with caution. If there were to be an investigation, it would require an official document issued personally by the headquarters of Beichen Hall in Jade Capital. How dare they overstep their bounds!”

Qi Xuansu’s tone remained calm. “So you’re saying you knew nothing about this.”

“I didn’t hear a single word of it beforehand, nor did I issue any orders related to this matter,” Li Zhuyu replied with absolute certainty.

Qi Xuansu continued, “Do you think the headquarters of Beichen Hall could have bypassed you, or that it was Deputy Hall Master Yong Yan’s intention?”

“That’s unlikely. The Beichen Hall Master is still in Fenglin and wouldn’t be concerned with matters in Poluo. I’ll verify this with the headquarters and Deputy Hall Master Yong Yan as soon as possible.” Li Zhuyu reassured him.

Qi Xuansu said, “Alright. Verify it first. We’ll get back in touch.”

After ending the call, Qi Xuansu turned to Chen Jianqiu and said, “You were most likely caught in the crossfire and became collateral damage. How about this? You should go to Lion City first. Consider it a chance to clear your head.”

By quelling the great unrest, striking the Holy Court, and launching a surprise attack on Wu Guangbi, Qi Xuansu had completely swept away the opposition forces within Lion City. It was now effectively his stronghold, where security was far easier to ensure.

Moreover, although Lion City lay within the borders of the Jawa Kingdom, it was not actually governed by the Jawa Kingdom and was a genuinely neutral city. Thus, there would be no major issue if Chen Jianqiu traveled there as the Queen of the Yu Kingdom.

Chen Jianqiu understood Qi Xuansu’s intentions and did not object.

Qi Xuansu then instructed Chen Jianqiu, “Get in touch with Deputy Mansion Master Xie and prepare the necessary arrangements.”

Chen Jianqiu accepted the order and left.

Qi Xuansu added a final reminder. “Make your preparations and leave as soon as possible. I’ll contact Deputy Mansion Master Qing Xiao and have her make arrangements as well.”

As soon as Chen Jianqiu heard this, she understood. Zhang Yuelu was the Ziguang Society’s backer. With Zhang Yuelu handling the arrangements personally, Chen Jianqiu should be secure.

After Qi Xuansu informed Zhang Yuelu of the matter, Zhang Yuelu said she would have Star Lord Yuheng handle it.

Although being caught would mean there would be no way to argue her innocence, Star Lord Yuheng’s cultivation was extremely high. Capturing her would be no easy task, unless Wang Jiaohe personally took action.

On the other hand, Li Zhuyu contacted Li Changge after realizing the seriousness of the situation.

She was in a competitive relationship with Li Tianzhen but had no such rivalry with Li Changge. Whether in terms of seniority or family standing, Li Changge could be considered her superior.

Li Changge stated that he knew nothing about the matter and had not issued any related orders.

This was only reasonable. In fact, Li Changge had come to put out a fire. No one had anticipated Li Tianzhen’s arrest beforehand, including Li Changge, so his arrival in Poluo had been extremely rushed. He was not very familiar with the situation there and had not even met Chen Jianqiu.

Li Zhuyu then verified the matter with the headquarters of Beichen Hall, which stated that it had issued no such orders.

This was reasonable. The headquarters of Beichen Hall had to consider the broader impact. They had just executed a King and replaced him with a Queen, so they would not investigate the new Queen at such a sensitive juncture.

With some conclusions forming in her mind, Li Zhuyu reported the situation to Qi Xuansu.

It was obvious that this had been done without authorization. Someone was making moves behind the scenes.

What remained unclear was whether this had been instructed by Wang Jiaohe or whether Li Tianzhen’s faction was carrying out a covert retaliation. Both sides were capable of secretly directing the local branch of Beichen Hall.

Qi Xuansu did not dwell too much on it. Since he needed to meet Genki, who was arriving from Fenglin, he had Chen Jianchou see Chen Jianqiu off on his behalf.

What he did not expect was that while Chen Jianqiu left Thanglong Prefecture smoothly, Chen Jianchou was intercepted on the way back.

By the time Qi Xuansu learned that Chen Jianchou had been arrested, six hours had already passed.

This could not be helped. Great Sage Jiang’s attention was focused on Chen Shuhua, while Xu Jiaorong had gone to East Shakya. Thanglong Prefecture had once again become the Wang family’s territory.

There had never been any exclusive secret techniques. Since Qi Xuansu could target the secretaries of Wang Jiaoying and Zheng Jiaohe, others would naturally target his secretary as well. This was precisely why he had insisted on replacing Ke Qingqing. However, he had not expected that something would still go wrong.

The local branch of Beichen Hall arrested Chen Jianchou because they suspected he was colluding with a secret society. They even produced several pieces of evidence—records of Chen Jianchou’s interactions with Chen Jianqiu and images from several of their meetings.

It seemed that Wang Jiaohe had not been completely oblivious from the beginning and had been secretly gathering possible evidence as a safeguard.

This matter was difficult to clarify because it carried some truth in it. Chen Jianqiu was indeed a member of the Ziguang Society. The so-called evidence was ambiguous, neither clearly true nor clearly false. If one were to examine it in detail, it would be very hard to draw a definitive conclusion.

Of course, Qi Xuansu could have forcibly ordered the Beichen Hall branch to release Chen Jianchou, but doing so would make him look guilty and tarnish his image. In that case, Qi Xuansu would be directly implicated if he could not distance himself properly. It was also a possibility that those people were waiting precisely for Qi Xuansu to give such an order. Once Qi Xuansu fell into the trap, Wang Jiaohe would personally step forward, occupy the moral high ground, and apply pressure, pushing Qi Xuansu into a passive position.

Qi Xuansu was not the only one who understood the law. From a legal standpoint, the Poluo branch of Beichen Hall did indeed have independent authority to handle cases. Dealing with a secretary who had yet to be formally appointed did not require approval from headquarters. If higher authorities wanted to intervene through proper channels, they would need sufficient justification, and Qi Xuansu did not dare place complete trust in Li Zhuyu or Li Changge.

To put it bluntly, this would not even count as a serious matter under normal circumstances. One could simply say the evidence was insufficient. Even if a case had been filed, a single word from Qi Xuansu would have seen it withdrawn immediately.

The reason Qi Xuansu held back was that Chen Jianchou was merely bait. This case was never truly about Chen Jianchou, but about Qi Xuansu himself. If Qi Xuansu spoke up, he would be delivering himself right into their hands.

Thus, Qi Xuansu made no rash moves and only instructed Li Zhuyu to intensify the interrogation of Lin Qingcheng.

Generally speaking, when a secretary got into trouble, the person most easily implicated was the one they directly served. That was why striking at secretaries had proven effective time and again.

Qi Xuansu had failed to seize Wang Jiaohe’s secretary, but he had captured Wang Jiaoying’s secretary. As long as Lin Qingcheng opened his mouth, Qi Xuansu would be able to put Wang Jiaoying to death openly and legitimately.

By contrast, arresting Chen Jianchou could not directly bring the flames to Qi Xuansu because the former had been with him for too short a time. Even if Qi Xuansu had any shady dealings, such a brief period would never have been enough for him to entrust them to Chen Jianchou.

As for Xu Jiaorong, she had been extremely meticulous. It was true that she had helped Chen Jianchou, but she had never crossed any lines. Even when Chen Jianchou failed the major examination, she had not intervened. Thus, she had nothing to fear.

The question was—between Chen Jianchou and Wang Jiaoying, which carried more weight? That choice should not be made by Qi Xuansu, but by Wang Jiaohe.

Still, Chen Jianchou had to be rescued. The Ziguang Society had been pushed into the spotlight, so they could no longer employ it lightly. Once caught, it would signify a dead end.

The Qingping Society’s influence in Nanyang was weak, with hardly any members to speak of. But the Eight Tribes’ influence within the region was strong. Qi Xuansu immediately thought of Shangguan Ya, Madam Qi’s deputy. Given Madam Qi’s erratic habit of working one day and vanishing the next, Shangguan Ya was in fact the de facto leader of the Heaven Tribe, wielding considerable influence.

Qi Xuansu met with Shangguan Ya once more and asked her to probe discreetly from the sidelines—gather information and feel out the exact situation.

After all, compared to Wang Jiaohe, Qi Xuansu’s foundations within the Poluo Daoist Mansion were still too shallow. Though many fence-sitters had begun to lean toward him, such people were inherently untrustworthy. Certain sensitive matters still had to be handled by those he could rely on, leaving Qi Xuansu no choice but to employ a few “off-the-board” tactics.

At the same time, various rumors began to circulate, targeting Qi Xuansu and Xu Jiaorong. There were claims that the two were colluding, ostensibly investigating the embezzlement of Daoist assets while actually vying for ownership and control of the Nanyang United Trading Company, intending to seize it for themselves.

According to these rumors, neither Qi Xuansu nor Xu Jiaorong was clean. There were even whispers of an improper relationship between them, alleging that Xu Jiaorong was Qi Xuansu’s lover.

Using one’s subordinates, relatives, and friends was a way to undermine one’s authority and tarnish one’s image. This tactic was hardly new.

In response, Qi Xuansu decided to use the authority at his disposal to accomplish two things.

The first was to settle Chen Jianchou’s status as soon as possible. In the major case involving Chen Shuhua, Chen Jianchou had rendered great service and had already been registered with the Ziwei Hall. Once the major examination concluded, Chen Jianchou’s Daoist rank could be solidified. Strictly speaking, even if Chen Jianchou was not yet a formally ordained Daoist priest, with such merit, he would at least qualify as a Daoist Priest Kindred.

Qi Xuansu intended to leverage his connections in Ziwei Hall to first grant Chen Jianchou a fourth-rank Daoist Priest Kindred status. Once this fourth-rank status was confirmed, the Beichen Hall local branch would no longer be able to deal with Chen Jianchou at will. They would have to report the matter to the Daoist Mansion Council, just as only Li Ruoshui and Shi Bingyun could decide on Qi Xuansu’s suspension back when he was a superintendent.

That would provide Qi Xuansu with legitimate grounds for intervention.

When Qi Xuansu arrested Lin Qingcheng, the Daoist Mansion Council could likewise have intervened, but since Qi Xuansu held conclusive evidence, such intervention would have been meaningless.

Chen Jianchou’s case was different. The evidence was ambiguous at best and far from conclusive. In this situation, intervention would carry significant weight.

As for the second matter, it was straightforward. Qi Xuansu had someone look into the Chief Superintendent of the Beichen Hall local branch, aiming to have the Fengxian Hall open a case against him.

In the current environment, with fence-sitters flocking to Qi Xuansu, the fact that these people still chose to resist stubbornly showed just how deeply their interests were entangled. As long as an investigation was launched, something would inevitably be dug up. It would then turn into a matter of seeing who could hold out to the end.

This was the definition of getting rid of the person who raised the problem, a method proven effective time and again.