A Pawn's Passage

Whether Sage Donghua was truly aware of this, he would have to claim ignorance on the surface. After all, the face of the Quanzhen Sect had to appear clean, without the slightest speck of dust.

It was always subordinates who had to take the blame for their superiors, never the other way around.

With that, there was no way to continue the discussion.

His Ziwei Hall colleagues had no choice but to appeal to old ties. “We really have no other way. The expenses in Jade Capital are huge, but our stipends are so small. We’re all strapped for cash. We know we can’t embezzle, so we had to find another way. After thinking it through, doing business seemed the most reliable, which is why we want to acquire some hall property. That way, it won’t be anyone’s private asset, and it won’t count as abusing power for personal gain. No one can fault that.”

Of course, this could not be taken at face value; it was merely a way to give both sides a step down. If it were truly so aboveboard, why would Sage Donghua not suggest it?

Qi Xuansu did not wish to offend these old colleagues too deeply. In his struggle with Wang Jiaohe, the Ziwei Hall had helped him. Even if he did not care about their past camaraderie, he still had to repay that favor.

The reason he brought up Sage Donghua was to lower their expectations—drive down the price and keep them from demanding too much. At the same time, Qi Xuansu was pointing out the risk. Without Sage Donghua’s endorsement, if Sage Donghua later denied it and chose to pursue the matter, Qi Xuansu would have nothing to say in his defense.

In the end, Qi Xuansu relented and took a step back, rather than standing firm to the bitter end.

He could give them what they wanted, but he was not obligated to do so. This way, Qi Xuansu lowered the price and even made his old colleagues owe him a favor.

Madam Qi had once said that one could not have only superiors and subordinates; one also needed allies. Alliances were built through interests, and interests came in two forms: power and money.

This suited Qi Xuansu’s name—half black, half white.

Those who could take part in restructuring the Nanyang United Trading Company would inevitably be the powerful and influential. Ordinary people had no right to reach in at all.

Thus, this distribution was an internal struggle—a struggle among the carnivores.

No matter how Qi Xuansu divided it, he could not escape this framework. If he did something too out of line, someone else would simply be brought in to handle it.

Qi Xuansu was able to shake Poluo because there were people behind him who wanted to shake the region. How could he possibly do so on his own?

Chen Shuhua alone would have been enough to bring Qi Xuansu down. Therefore, Qi Xuansu was still far from being able to act however he pleased.

If Qi Xuansu did not behave, they would simply replace him with someone who would. Wang Jiaohe was a precedent.

Such was reality. As long as Qi Xuansu still wanted to rise, he had to make compromises.

Of course, Qi Xuansu also had his selfish side. He did not set himself up as a paragon. He had to consider his own future first before considering others.

That said, Qi Xuansu had improved greatly compared to before. Awareness was like status, rising step by step instead of a single leap.

Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu had discussed in depth how the distribution should be handled.

Zhang Yuelu’s view was that such a huge company could not be left in private hands. To prevent illegal activities like slave trading, the Daoist Order should hold shares, ideally 51% for absolute control.

Qi Xuansu objected because the Daoist Order’s finances after two wars could not support such stakes. Moreover, too much Daoist involvement would inevitably give rise to a series of personnel problems, which might not be a good thing.

In the end, the two reached a compromise. The Daoist Order would be brought in, but without a controlling stake. They would not directly manage operations and would only send representatives for audits.

They drafted a proposal under which the Poluo Daoist Mansion would be the largest shareholder, holding 30%. The remaining 70% would be contested by various factions. Depending on their backgrounds and backing, some shares were preassigned, while others had to be competed for.

For example, Qi Xuansu granted the Ziwei Hall 5% shares, while Qi Muyu received the same. Together, those two accounted for 10%.

The Nanting Protectorate took another 10% because these were the instructions of the higher-ups, as it was tied to the larger situation. The imperial court was not a monolithic entity. Qin Quanyi stood on Qi Xuansu’s side, so he had to make appropriate gestures of goodwill.

Of the 70%, 20% was already allocated, leaving 50%.

Distributing this remaining 50% among so many parties was no easy task.

Madam Qi had worked tirelessly and taken part in suppressing Chen Shuhua, so she definitely deserved a share. Moreover, she represented the Yao family, so Qi Xuansu gave her 20%.

This was no small amount. It made her the second-largest shareholder after the Poluo Daoist Mansion. However, this also included the Pei family’s portion. Qi Xuansu did not openly favor the Pei family, but he accounted for them through the Ziwei Hall and the Yao family.

Madam Qi would not participate directly, nor under the name of Seven Treasures Pavilion or the Yao family. Instead, she set up a small company called the Fenglin Trading Company, in which she held 65%, Pei Xiaoyun held 30%, and Genki held 5%. The 20% shares in the Nanyang United Trading Company would be held by the Fenglin Trading Company, which would then be distributed among them according to their respective shares.

This meant Madam Qi held 13% of the Nanyang United Trading Company, Pei Xiaoyun held 6%, and Genki held 1%.

This had one advantage. At shareholders’ meetings, only the Fenglin Trading Company would appear, and Madam Qi had absolute control over it. In other words, even though she owned only 13% of shares in the Nanyang United Trading Company, she effectively controlled the voting power of 20%.

It was no secret which family Pei Xiaoyun belonged to. As for Genki, Qi Xuansu intended to support her, not because he had taken money from her before, but because he wanted Genki’s full support whenever he demanded it.

For example, if Qi Xuansu wanted to renovate Guijian Lake, which was good for political achievements but yielded little profit and barely broke even, Genki would have to step forward and do it, even at a loss. The money would not go into Qi Xuansu’s pocket but would be used for proper affairs.

That left only 30% to be divided.

Fortunately, the Zhang and Li families did not take part. This was an unspoken understanding among the three families that they would not fight for the same territory.

The remaining 30% would mainly be sold through limited subscriptions. 1% was set at 100,000 Taiping coins, 0.1% at 10,000 Taiping coins, with a minimum of 0.1% and a maximum of 2%.

The entire Nanyang United Trading Company was valued at 10 million Taiping coins. It looked expensive, but in reality, investing 10,000 Taiping coins would yield cumulative dividends far exceeding that amount. If the shares were later transferred, they would certainly be worth more than what one paid for. This gave everyone the opportunity to grab a slice of the pie.

In other words, the company’s true value was far above 10 million Taiping coins. This was the discounted, internal price.

What the remaining people were really fighting over was this 30%. Though it involved making requests and exchanging greetings, it was ultimately just about getting a qualification. They would still have to spend the necessary money.

After finishing these matters, the old colleague hinted that Qi Xuansu could indulge himself a little tonight.

Qi Xuansu joked, “This kid is Second Deputy Zhang’s spy. It’s better to forget it.”

The colleagues all expressed their understanding.

Marrying a noble young lady had its advantages, like strong support and rapid promotion. But there were clearly downsides as well. One inevitably had to swallow their pride and endure grievances. One usually could only breathe freely after the father-in-law retired. In Qi Xuansu’s case, he might have to wait until Sage Cihang ascended to relax his guard.

That aside, the main thing was that Zhang Yuelu was no pushover and was famously hard to deal with. Thus, everyone understood why Chief Deputy Qi had to be cautious.

Qi Xuansu was about to take his leave when the older female Daoist brought Little Yin over. The little girl was already feeling sleepy.

Qi Xuansu was surprised to find out that Little Yin even slept. Her routine was far more regular than his. She slept when it was nighttime and could not pull an all-nighter. Anyone who did not know better would think she was just an ordinary little girl. In contrast, Qi Xuansu could go days without sleeping, replacing sleep with meditation.

But Little Yin felt that sleeping was necessary for recovery. After all, the gods and demons in legends always fell into a deep slumber after being injured. Sometimes, they would even sleep for hundreds of years until their wounds healed.

Qi Xuansu took Little Yin by the hand and headed outside, clearly not intending to stay the night nor take anyone else back with him.

The smiles on the two female Daoists’ faces stiffened slightly, and a flash of disappointment passed through their eyes.

Although Qi Xuansu’s status was higher, in this kind of setting, he was the prey, and they were the hunters.

If something were to happen between them, Qi Xuansu would inevitably have to make some sort of compensation for the sake of his reputation, and they could benefit endlessly. This sort of thing was very common. Without some skill, Qi Xuansu might even be blackmailed and end up ruined, like Zhang Juquan.

Of course, even if something had happened, they would not dare blackmail Qi Xuansu. They all knew what he was capable of—his repeated achievements in Fenglin and how he had uprooted the Wang and Sun families in Poluo. Anyone with half a brain could tell that he was not someone a petty schemer could compare to. Such schemers relied on the protection of rules to cause trouble, while someone like Qi Xuansu was constrained by the rules. They had vaguely heard that someone once accused Chief Deputy Qi of misconduct and then vanished without a trace. Whether that false accuser was even still alive was uncertain.

Such matters were chilling to think about in detail.

Qi Xuansu took Little Yin into the carriage. Having eaten and drunk her fill, Little Yin fell fast asleep.

Just then, a box slipped from her arms.

Qi Xuansu casually opened it and found a magical receptacle inside. It was certainly not Little Yin’s. Someone must have slipped it to her while he was away, and the child did not know better, so she had simply tucked it into her clothes.

Thinking it through, Qi Xuansu instructed Chen Jianchou to hand the magical receptacle over to Xu Jiaorong and have it formally recorded. That way, if anyone tried to make an issue of it later, it could not harm him.

This had happened earlier when he first arrived in Lion City. Such precautions had to be taken in advance.