A Pawn's Passage

Chapter 1436: Reopening the Case

This concealed formation led to a hidden chamber.

Inside the hidden room were two people responsible for taking notes.

However, at this moment, the two notetakers were sweating nervously.

They were members of the Li family, yet the information being revealed concerned the upper ranks of the Li family itself. Li Minghuang had seduced Li Tianlan’s wife and framed Li Mingping for it.

The notetakers were merely small fry. Any one of the people involved was not someone they could afford to offend. If they became entangled in this matter, their fate would likely be grim.

But they had a job to do, so their brushes continued flying rapidly across the page.

The records were extremely factual, stating the time, location, and who said what.

Soon, Xu Kou and the others had drunk their fill and began to disperse. Each found a woman to accompany them and headed toward the detached courtyards in the back. The facilities there were fully equipped and staffed with every kind of attendant, as it was a place devoted to offering maximum pleasure.

Only then did the two stop writing. One of them gathered all the records and said to the other, “I’ll report this to our superiors.”

Very quickly, the report passed upward layer after layer until it reached Li Qingnu’s hands.

Li Qingnu already knew about the matter beforehand, but she still pretended to be deeply alarmed by its seriousness and hurriedly reported it to her own superior—not to Li Tianyue, but to Li Zhuyu.

Although Li Tianyue was Li Qingnu’s adoptive mother and the one who had promoted her, Li Qingnu actually belonged to Li Zhuyu’s faction.

Li Tianyue stood with Li Tianlan’s faction, while Li Qingnu aligned herself with Li Zhuyu. This way, they ensured safety no matter what happened. If one day the Li family elders could no longer withstand Sage Qingwei’s pressure and the great ship capsized, Li Tianyue would also have a convenient escape route.

Li Zhuyu had no days off. She personally handled the transfer of Qi Wangui’s case to the Fengxian Hall. But there were still many matters in Beichen Hall that could not proceed without her.

When Li Zhuyu saw such an intelligence report, her first reaction was elation of finally catching a break.

Qi Xuansu had judged Li Zhuyu’s reaction accurately. The Fenglin Campaign had determined the succession of two generations of Grand Masters. Namely, Sage Qingwei versus Sage Donghua, and Li Changge versus Qi Xuansu.

Yet Li Tianlan’s people actually chose this very moment to drag things down from behind. They deliberately picked this critical juncture to stir up trouble, knowing the Taiping Sect could not afford failure in the Fenglin Campaign. This move forced Sage Qingwei into a corner and completely disregarded the greater situation.

Sage Qingwei compromised and personally met with Zhang Wuliang to discuss the matter. Li Changge suffered even more miserably, being placed under investigation by Yao Pei. This caused Li Changge to remain one step behind Qi Xuansu. Once he fell behind, every subsequent step lagged behind as well. Even now, Li Changge still had not caught up, allowing Qi Xuansu to appear uniquely outstanding.

Although it was still too early to say that Qi Xuansu had already won, the invisible losses caused were enormous. By now, many people already regarded Qi Xuansu as Li Changge’s greatest rival. This was how people’s hearts and opinions subtly changed, and reversing such a trend would require no small amount of effort.

If something had gone wrong with the Fenglin Campaign, what would Sage Qingwei have used to compete against Sage Donghua for the position of seventh-generation Grand Master? If Li Changge then lost to Qi Xuansu as well, that would mean losing two generations of Grand Masters in succession. This was a sin lasting a thousand years. Could Li Tianlan’s faction bear such responsibility?

Perhaps Li Tianlan and the others did not see it that way. They gambled that Sage Qingwei would prioritize the greater good and that even if he suffered injustice himself, he would never allow problems to arise in the Fenglin Campaign.

Thus, Li Zhuyu was understandably furious. She had long wanted revenge, but Sage Qingwei had never expressed a clear stance, and no suitable opportunity had appeared, so she had refrained from acting.

Now that an opportunity had been delivered right before Li Zhuyu, it was easy to imagine what she wanted to do. She did not even think too deeply about whether this might be suspicious, mainly because she had been waiting for this day for far too long.

Still, these were ultimately just words spoken over drinks. They could not be entirely disbelieved, but neither could they be fully trusted. It was necessary to first verify said information.

As such, Li Zhuyu went once more to the Fengxian Hall.

If she followed normal procedures, accessing the relevant case files would probably have been troublesome. But given Li Zhuyu’s status and the fact that this was Taiping Sect’s territory, it only took a single sentence.

Li Zhuyu quickly obtained the files regarding Li Mingping’s case. She was already an experienced hand in such matters, and with a single glance, she noticed something wrong. There was a lack of substantial physical evidence. Everything relied on so-called witness testimony. At its core, it was a case of insufficient evidence being forced into a conviction, and then closed hastily.

If Li Zhuyu had not first seen the intelligence sent by Li Qingnu, she might not have thought too much about it. But now that she already held preconceptions, the more she looked, the more suspicious it all seemed.

Li Zhuyu then investigated the case through other channels and learned that Li Mingping had spent all these years protesting his innocence, even writing petitions using his blood.

All signs indicated that Li Mingping was very likely innocent.

Thus, Li Zhuyu made up her mind and began working to overturn Li Mingping’s case.

It was not because Li Zhuyu was kind-hearted and wanted justice for Li Mingping. Rather, she intended to use this matter to strike at Li Tianlan and Li Minghuang, ideally making the two turn on each other.

Both Li Tianlan and Li Minghuang belonged to Li Tianzhen’s faction.

Even setting past grudges aside and speaking only of future interests, Li Zhuyu still had every reason to push for a retrial. Neither Li Zhuyu nor Li Tianzhen could threaten Li Changge’s position. Li Changge’s status as the future head of the family was unshakable, something acknowledged by everyone both inside and outside the Li family.

The real competition lay between Li Zhuyu and Li Tianzhen. Who would become the Li family’s future second-in-command?

Li Changge would serve as the public face. The real question was, who would handle the unglamorous things behind the scenes?

Li Tianzhen had the support of many senior figures within the Li family, including the Golden Patriarch, which gave him immense confidence. Meanwhile, Li Zhuyu had Sage Qingwei backing her, making her equally impossible to underestimate.

In essence, this was also a continuation of the conflicts Sage Qingwei had with the older generation of the Li family back in his youth.

Qi Xuansu had seen through this point, allowing him to accurately grasp Li Zhuyu’s reaction, certain that she would not remain indifferent to such an opportunity.

In truth, even if Qi Xuansu had directly approached Li Zhuyu seeking cooperation, there was a high chance she would have agreed. However, some of the subsequent maneuvers would then be difficult to carry out, which was why he chose to take a more roundabout route.

In Li Zhuyu’s view, the retrial had to happen quickly. Since Xu Kou had already revealed the matter to others at the drinking table, the news would soon spread, perhaps even reaching Li Tianlan and Li Minghuang themselves. The case had to be overturned before they learned of it, catching them completely off guard. If they were allowed time to react first, the resistance to reopening the case would become enormous.

If they struck first and silenced the people involved permanently, then the possibility of overturning the case would vanish entirely.

This was also why Qi Xuansu had specifically instructed Xu Kou to apply a certain degree of pressure on Li Zhuyu, forcing her to act immediately rather than setting the matter aside for later. After all, Qi Xuansu and Zhang Jucheng could not afford to wait. Once this opportunity passed, there would not be another.

The Golden Tower Council’s resolution and the visit of the Western Daoist delegation were both rare opportunities that could not be replicated. All they needed was another puzzle piece to fall in place.

Once the decision was made, Li Zhuyu acted immediately, contacting Lu Yushu to begin preparations for reopening the case.

The Lu family supported Sage Qingwei, making them sufficiently reliable allies.

Normally, Li Zhuyu should have consulted Sage Qingwei beforehand, but that would only introduce unnecessary complications. As it happened, Sage Qingwei had gone to Qizhou and was currently overseeing the broader situation at the Qizhou Daoist Mansion.

Back during the Fenglin Campaign, Qizhou had served as the main base of operations, which showed just how many interests were entangled there. Naturally, many senior members of the Li family were involved as well. Cutting off someone’s source of wealth was akin to killing their parents, so even with Sage Qingwei’s prestige and authority, dealing with such matters required considerable effort. At the moment, he simply had no time to spare.

At such a critical time, Li Zhuyu simply chose not to seek Sage Qingwei’s approval or report the matter to him.

Qi Xuansu had chosen his timing well. Though he could accurately grasp Li Zhuyu’s reaction, he could not read Sage Qingwei nearly as well. He genuinely had no idea whether Sage Qingwei would prioritize the overall interests of the Li family. Thus, it was naturally best to avoid involving Sage Qingwei altogether.

Meanwhile, Qi Xuansu also contacted Ye Qingshuang.

Since it was a private conversation, Qi Xuansu addressed her casually. “Sister Ye, how have you been lately?”

Ye Qingshuang’s voice came through. “Tian Yuan, we just met not long ago at the Emerald Plain. I even toasted you and your master there. How could you not know how I’ve been? You’re infamous for never contacting people unless you have a favor to ask, so just spit it out.”

Qi Xuansu thought about it and realized he really did have that flaw. Sage Cihang, Li Qingnu, and Ye Qingshuang had all confronted him about it.

But to his defense, he disliked socializing and had never developed the habit of casually keeping in touch to strengthen relationships. Thus, people naturally formed a certain impression of him that the moment he took the initiative to contact someone, it definitely meant he needed something.

Even when he did occasionally socialize, it still carried a sense of perfunctory reluctance.

If not for the fact that he was highly capable, had powerful backing, and was exceptionally lucky, then with an attitude like this, becoming a fourth-rank Jijiu Daoist would already have been the limit of his career.

He had no sense of social etiquette or relationship management, and he was far too arrogant.

Yet from another perspective, this was also one of Qi Xuansu’s strengths. If everyone behaved like him, neither currying favor nor giving gifts, then many complicated matters would actually become much simpler.

Qi Xuansu pulled back his wandering thoughts and said, “Here’s the situation. There’s progress regarding Li Ping’s case. People from the Li family should soon come to reopen the case.”

Ye Qingshuang sounded somewhat surprised. “People from the Li family? I thought you were going to handle it personally.”

Qi Xuansu replied modestly, “I’m not that capable. The Fengxian Hall doesn’t take orders from me. I merely tipped off the Li family. Though the Li family is relatively united, they’re not completely without internal struggles.”

“I see, you’re killing with a borrowed knife.” Ye Qingshuang also understood the Li family’s internal affairs. “What do you need me to do?”

Qi Xuansu said, “Hand Li Ping over to the faction that wants to reopen the case. Don’t make it look too deliberate, and don’t give them reason to grow suspicious. At the same time, be wary of Li Tianlan’s faction doing something insane like murdering Li Ping.”

“Don’t worry,” Ye Qingshuang said. “I’ve locked Li Ping away in an absolutely secure location, guarded only by my trusted confidants. I’ve managed the Sahul Daoist Mansion for so many years. Li Tianlan’s influence doesn’t reach this far.”

Qi Xuansu replied, “Of course, I trust you, Sister Ye. I’m just being cautious, in case something unexpected happens.”