A Pawn's Passage

Chapter 1390: Li Ping

Dayuan Port was not merely a port. It was a full-fledged port city.

To welcome the delegation from the Western Daoist Order, the Daoist Mansion had carried out a thorough and comprehensive cleanup of Dayuan Port in advance. They launched a special campaign without blades or bloodshed.

Ye Qingshuang emphasized that this special campaign must be treated as the top priority. Every department was to create favorable conditions for its execution, ensure all tasks were properly implemented, and strengthen leadership and supervision by setting clear targets and deadlines to enforce accountability.

At the same time, a comprehensive inspection and reporting system was to be established, with timely tracking, feedback, and immediate handling of any issues discovered. The goal was to ensure Dayuan Port could greet the Western Daoist delegation with a completely renewed appearance.

This was not Qi Xuansu’s first visit. Under normal circumstances, he would never receive such treatment. After all, he had come here seven or eight times a year during his time as the Chief Deputy Poluo Daoist Mansion Master. Ye Qingshuang simply didn’t have the energy to cater to him every time.

Huangfu Ji was different, as he was a core figure of the Western Daoist Order. Since he was making his first visit to the Daoist Order’s territory, he had to be shown their best side and leave with a good impression.

From the port inward, lush green grass spread like a carpet, and flowers bloomed in abundance. The trees lining both sides of the streets had their canopies neatly trimmed into arch-like shapes. The bluestone-paved roads were spotless, even sprinkled with water to reveal their natural color.

Spirit Guards had been stationed along the main streets in advance to maintain order and ensure no incidents occurred.

In principle, civilians were allowed to watch, but they were required to maintain a decent appearance. Even the miners were issued new clothes and required to wear them. Those who did not change were not allowed onto the streets. Their meals had also noticeably improved in recent days.

The miners were quite pleased by this and hoped that important figures from the Western Daoist Order would visit more often. That way, they could receive new clothes and enjoy better meals more frequently.

Of course, the lower-ranking Daoists were far less happy. This sort of work exhausted them, and doing it well did not guarantee rewards. However, any mistake would certainly incur criticism. From their perspective, it would be best if these Western Daoists never came again.

After all, one’s position determined one’s perspective.

The Tawantin Empire lacked both the conditions and the organizational capability for such an effort. It was Huangfu Ji’s first time witnessing something like this. Such was a small taste of the Daoist Order’s overwhelming power.

“The Celestial Empire truly lives up to its name,” Huangfu Ji praised. “Even our frontier regions far surpass the New Continent.”

Huangfu Ji deliberately used the word “our,” subtly indicating that the Western Daoist Order still traced its roots to the Central Plains.

The reception banquet had a per-person cost cap of 3 Taiping coins, outwardly promoting frugality. However, labor costs were clearly excluded, as chefs worked for free. The ingredients were sourced at the lowest origin prices, and no intermediaries added markup, making the actual value quite different.

This banquet used round tables. Ye Qingshuang, Qi Xuansu, Huangfu Ji, and the others sat at the same table. Audrey, as a foreign guest, was also invited to join them.

This was not due to any personal bias from Qi Xuansu, but rather a strategic consideration. He intended to make use of Audrey as a symbol for propaganda.

Audrey had long heard of how civilized the Eastern Daoist Order was, entirely different from the Western Daoist Order. Seeing it for herself today, she realized those claims were true.

Moreover, this was merely the border region of the Daoist Order. She could only imagine what Jade Capital must be like.

Although the Steam Evangelical Sect claimed that St. York was the apex of cities, it was well known that Jade Capital, built atop the Yuxu Peak of Kunlun Mountain, was the true apex in every sense.

Just thinking about it was enough to inspire longing.

After the banquet, Ye Qingshuang led the delegation on a tour of Dayuan Port. After all, if the delegation did not tour the place, all that preparation would have been for nothing. They had to showcase the results of their efforts.

However, Sahul had little to offer beyond mines and ports, so there was limited material for sightseeing. Even so, Ye Qingshuang did her best. After arranging visits to the port and a model mine, she even brought them to a prison, since this place was famously a land of exile.

Qi Xuansu accompanied them throughout.

The port and mines were nothing new to Qi Xuansu. He had visited them before when he served as Chief Deputy Poluo Daoist Mansion Master. Only the prison was new to him. Clearly, it too had been included in the cleanup campaign, because this prison was cleaner than the barracks of some weaker nations’ armies.

As the group toured, all prisoners, who were unshackled, stood at the doors of their cells in brand-new uniforms, appearing respectful and orderly. The Spirit Guards nearby remained on high alert. Any prisoner showing the slightest abnormal movement would be subdued immediately.

After all, the visitors today were important figures—the Sahul Daoist Mansion Master, Chief Deputy Qi of Beichen Hall, and Sage Huangfu of the Western Daoist Order.

They were not afraid that the prisoners could harm them. After all, anyone capable of harming these important figures would not even be locked up here. The real issue was the humiliation it would bring to the Daoist Order in front of their guests.

The Mansion Master would hold the Deputy Mansion Masters accountable, and they would in turn hold their subordinates accountable. Layer by layer, no one would escape responsibility.

Yet despite all precautions, something still went wrong.

Just as the group was about to leave, a thin, frail prisoner suddenly slid to his knees before the three Sages and cried injustice.

The three Sages did not react, but the accompanying personnel immediately turned pale. Without needing orders, the Spirit Guards rushed forward, pinned the man down, and prepared to drag him away.

Huangfu Ji smiled with a hint of amusement but said nothing.

Ye Qingshuang remained calm and spoke. “No need to silence him just yet. Let’s hear about his alleged injustice.”

The Spirit Guards immediately froze, unsure whether to proceed or withdraw. Awkwardly stuck in place, they could only glance at their direct superior for guidance.

One of the accompanying superintendents snapped sharply, “Bring him over at once.”

The Spirit Guards grabbed the man by the collar and dragged him before the three Sages.

Ye Qingshuang said, “What a coincidence that Sage Qi, the Chief Deputy of Beichen Hall, and Sage Huangfu, the Juesheng Hall Master of the Western Daoist Order, are both here. You should know what these halls are responsible for. If you truly suffered injustice, they will not ignore it. But if you’re making things up, you won’t fool them either.”

The person was a young man. Hearing this, he said, “Honored Sages, please judge my case fairly. I truly have been wronged! If I dare deceive you, you can take me to the Demon-Vanquishing Platform to be struck down by heavenly lightning!”

One superintendent sneered, “What are you? You think you’re worthy of the Demon-Vanquishing Platform?”

Only major criminals at the level of Sages were worthy of execution on the Demon-Vanquishing Platform. Others simply did not qualify.

Ye Qingshuang waved her hand. “Alright, speak.”

The young man said, “Sages, my name is Li Ping.”

Hearing that last name, Qi Xuansu, who had been merely watching with mild interest, suddenly became alert. He glanced at Ye Qingshuang, thinking to himself that something unusual must be at play.

This youth had not been imprisoned here for just a day. Could Ye Qingshuang already know the truth? Her decision to arrange a prison visit today was already unusual. Now, when the boy knelt and cried injustice, her reaction was even stranger. She showed no anger at all and even insisted on hearing him out.

These were too much of a coincidence. Could this boy have been deliberately arranged by Ye Qingshuang? Was she staging this scene to avoid offending the Li family?

That explanation did make sense.

Qi Xuansu did not dwell on it further and asked, “You are well spoken and even know of the Demon-Vanquishing Platform. Are you from the Li family of Donghai?”

The youth replied, “I was indeed born into the Li family of Donghai, but I have since been expelled from the clan registry and stripped of my generational name.”

Qi Xuansu asked again, “Before you were expelled, what was your generational rank within the Li family?”

The youth answered, “Sage, I was part of the Ming-generation.”

Qi Xuansu said, “You’re young, yet your generational rank is quite high. On what charge are you imprisoned here?”

The youth clenched his teeth. “Attempting to violate my stepmother.”

Qi Xuansu grew even more interested. “Since you claim injustice, that means you believe you didn’t commit such a crime. Who is your father?”

The youth clenched his fists tightly. “Li Tianlan.”

Generally speaking, a child should not address his parents or master by name. Li Ping clearly hated Li Tianlan deeply, so he no longer cared about such conventions.

Qi Xuansu said, “That doesn’t sound right. I’ve met Second Deputy Li a few times. He’s already past 70. You, on the other hand, haven’t even reached adulthood. You could pass for grandfather and grandson, so how can he be your father?”

Li Ping said, “Li... My father is indeed old, but his first wife passed away early. My mother was his second wife.”

That explained it.

Li Tianlan’s first wife must have been close to his age, but after her early death, he remarried in old age to a much younger woman. Naturally, their son would have a vast age gap with him, almost like grandfather and grandson.

An ordinary old man would not be able to have children at such an age. But a Heavenly Being was another matter entirely.

Although the Daoist Order did not encourage such behavior, there were no explicit rules forbidding it either.

However, in practice, few would do such a thing. Superiors would disapprove, and it would be recorded negatively during evaluations by the Ziwei Hall. Subordinates would not be pleased about it either.

For instance, if Qi Xuansu became Sage Donghua’s disciple and the latter took a 20-year-old girl as a Daoist companion, Qi Xuansu would have to call a woman younger than himself master-mother. That would have been awkward. Qi Xuansu could accept having a master-mother if Sage Donghua married someone like Sage Cihang since they were both his elders.

From the current situation, Li Ping’s mother likely did not have a high cultivation. Perhaps she was even an ordinary person. This would balance out Li Tianlan’s high cultivation and increase the chances of producing offspring. Since she lacked cultivation, she would inevitably age faster than Li Tianlan. Li Tianlan then took another wife, who became Li Ping’s stepmother.

Ye Qingshuang asked, “Oh, is that the case?”

One superintendent hesitated before replying, “Mansion Master, this man is indeed Second Deputy Li’s son.”