A Pawn's Passage

Tantai Ying’s method was not particularly complicated. It simply involved creating a series of “coincidences.”

Such a plan required little ingenuity but considerable manpower, and fortunately, the Juesheng Hall was anything but short on personnel.

As it happened, Lin Bufan’s birthday was just around the corner, and Tantai Ying took the opportunity to set her trap.

Tantai Ying first encouraged Miss Gong to organize a proper birthday celebration for Lin Bufan. After all, Lin Bufan was the youngest Second Deputy Hall Master and was being groomed by the Western Daoist Order as a future Hall Master. Once the new Daoist Palace that Huangfu Ji was building was completed, Lin Bufan was scheduled to enter the academy for a full year of dedicated study as a second-rank Taiyi Daoist.

Tantai Ying repeatedly hinted to Miss Gong that such an outstanding man had to be kept close and not allowed to be stolen away by other women. Miss Gong was admirable in most respects, but she was quite vain. Although she could never compare to Tantai Ying, she at least had one advantage. She had a husband, whereas Tantai Ying remained single. Taking that quiet sense of superiority to heart, she accepted Tantai Ying’s suggestion and decided to use the occasion to show off her husband and publicly display their marital bliss.

Miss Gong asked Tantai Ying to help invite more distinguished guests. Tantai Ying readily agreed, promising that Sage Qi from the Daoist Order would certainly be invited. Huangfu Ji would be attending as well.

Naturally, Miss Gong was delighted.

Tantai Ying had a rather subtle streak of mischief. Her friendship with Miss Gong was just surface-level, similar to the relationship between Zhang Yuelu and Zhang Yuyue. Now that the opportunity had presented itself, Tantai Ying showed no mercy in setting her up. On the other hand, one could also argue that she was saving Miss Gong by helping her see Lin Bufan’s true nature sooner rather than later.

Whether that was right or wrong depended entirely on one’s perspective.

The core of the Western Daoist Order was Danxiu Mountain, while the families of most Western Daoists lived in New Xijing.

Its name alone revealed how significant the city was to the Western Daoist Order. Before leaving the Central Plains, the Western Daoist Sect had been headquartered in Xijing Prefecture, just as the Southern Daoist Sect had taken root in Shangqing Prefecture and the Northern Daoist Order in Chaoyang Prefecture. After arriving on the Southern Continent, the Western Daoist Order built New Xijing in imitation of the old Xijing Prefecture, establishing it as their new headquarters.

Although New Xijing was not an exclusively Daoist city like Jade Capital, Daoists still occupied an overwhelmingly dominant position there.

The Gong, Tantai, and Huangfu families all resided in New Xijing. Miss Gong and Lin Bufan’s home was there, as were the residences of Huangfu Ji and Tantai Ying.

For this reason, after Hun Ahau lost the Western Daoist Order’s trust over his brother Hun Chowen’s incident, he was reassigned as the Commander-in-Chief overseeing the military affairs of New Xijing. In effect, he had been placed directly under the Western Daoist Order’s watchful eye.

In New Xijing, the Western Daoist Order held absolute authority, so Hun Ahau could neither stir up trouble nor wield any real influence, leaving him effectively sidelined and stripped of power.

It was precisely because of this unique status that the various temples had been forced to relocate to the mountains outside the city.

In a sense, the Southern Continent, like the Central Plains, had two centers of power. The Central Plains revolved around Jade Capital and the Imperial Capital, while the Southern Continent revolved around New Xijing and New Paititi.

On the day of Lin Bufan’s birthday, Qi Xuansu also arrived in New Xijing. The only person accompanying him was Zhang Wuyue. Lu Yujue and Shen Yubing were too occupied with rebuilding the Northern Continent’s intelligence network to spare the time.

Qi Xuansu had brought Zhang Wuyue along so that he could become a familiar face among the attendees. After all, those invited to the birthday banquet were mostly influential figures within the Western Daoist Order.

Tantai Ying had arrived in New Xijing well in advance and had been directing everything behind the scenes. Upon meeting her, Qi Xuansu asked, “How are the preparations for the show coming along?”

“Everything is proceeding according to plan,” Tantai Ying replied.

Zhang Wuyue found the exchange rather baffling, but wisely chose not to pry further.

Qi Xuansu nodded. “Good. Let’s head to the banquet.”

The banquet was being held at Miss Gong’s private estate, located outside the city.

They traveled in Tantai Ying’s carriage. When they arrived at the estate, both sides of the road outside were already lined with carriages of every style.

As an honored guest, Tantai Ying was greeted immediately by a butler of the Gong family as soon as she stepped out of the carriage. However, the butler did not recognize Qi Xuansu or Zhang Wuyue and hesitated for a moment.

Tantai Ying introduced them. “These two are Chief Deputy Qi of the Daoist Order and Young Master Zhang of Shangqing Prefecture.”

The butler quickly bowed. “Greetings, Sage Qi and Young Master Zhang. Please forgive me for failing to welcome you properly.”

Although he did not recognize Qi Xuansu by appearance, he certainly knew the famous name. The Shangqing Zhang family was one of the Daoist Order’s oldest and most renowned families, known to everyone.

The butler personally led the three distinguished guests into the estate.

Great Sage Gong naturally would not attend a birthday banquet for the younger generation. Most of the guests were young people, mainly eighth-generation disciples and a handful of seventh-generation disciples who were particularly close to the family.

Huangfu Ji did not attend in person, but he sent his wife in his place. He had no interest in such minor social occasions, preferring to devote his energy to more important matters.

Among the guests present that day, Qi Xuansu belonged to the highest tier in terms of status. Even so, relatively few people actually recognized him. His reputation was immense, but there were not many who had met him in person.

Qi Xuansu had no intention of drawing attention to himself. He simply stood in a corner, occasionally greeting acquaintances and taking the opportunity to introduce Zhang Wuyue.

Before long, the stars of the day finally appeared—Miss Gong and Lin Bufan.

Both were dressed in luxurious robes. They first delivered a brief speech to the assembled guests, thanking everyone for coming and offering the customary words of welcome.

Qi Xuansu deliberately kept his distance from Tantai Ying. From afar, he cast her a glance. Their eyes met briefly, and Tantai Ying gave the slightest nod.

Seeing this, Qi Xuansu withdrew his gaze and quietly waited for the show to begin.

Not long afterward, the Gong family’s butler hurried over to Miss Gong with a panicked expression and whispered something into her ear. Her face changed dramatically, and she snapped, “Nonsense!”

The butler wore a miserable expression. “Those people are forcing their way in. We simply can’t stop them.”

Before he had even finished speaking, a group of people escorted a woman into the estate. Her face was pale, and it was obvious that the spectacle before her had left her completely at a loss.

Faced with so many distinguished guests and powerful figures, anyone would have been nervous.

The moment the woman spotted Lin Bufan, she looked as if she had caught sight of a lifeline.

Lin Bufan’s expression immediately stiffened.

These people had all been arranged by Tantai Ying. The Juesheng Hall was one of the Western Daoist Order’s most powerful departments, especially when it came to internal affairs. As the Chief Deputy Hall Master, and with Hall Master Huangfu Ji temporarily preoccupied with other matters, Tantai Ying effectively held full authority. Thus, pulling off something like this was hardly difficult for her.

Moreover, the estate’s security for the day was also under the Juesheng Hall’s control. It had been Tantai Ying who proposed the arrangement, and Miss Gong had accepted without giving it a second thought.

This woman was a famous courtesan and Lin Bufan’s mistress.

Miss Gong vaguely sensed that something was amiss, though she had no idea that this was the surprise her friend had prepared for her. She demanded loudly, “Who are you?”

Intimidated by Miss Gong’s commanding presence, the woman dared not speak. Instead, her eyes kept drifting toward Lin Bufan.

Following the woman’s gaze, Miss Gong turned suspiciously toward Lin Bufan. “Do you know this woman?”

Naturally, Lin Bufan dared not admit it. Without the slightest hesitation, he denied it outright. “No, I don’t.”

Although Miss Gong was not entirely convinced, she did not want to make a spectacle of herself in front of so many guests. She forcibly suppressed her suspicions and ordered, “Throw these people out.”

The woman looked at Lin Bufan with pitiful, pleading eyes, yet still said nothing.

Naturally, Tantai Ying had prepared more than just this. At that very moment, another butler of the Gong family hurried in and exclaimed, “This is bad. Another group is forcing their way in!”

Everything was unfolding exactly according to Tantai Ying’s plan. The second team she had arranged entered with a second woman. She, too, was one of Lin Bufan’s lovers, a respectable married woman who likewise knew nothing of the scheme behind today’s events.

Each team had separately sought out one of Lin Bufan’s lovers, pretending to be someone sent by Lin Bufan himself and inviting the women to attend his birthday banquet.

After all, long-distance communication methods were privileges reserved for senior figures. Ordinary people had no such means and had no way to verify whether the invitations were genuine, so they naturally believed them.

That was how this farce came to pass.

As soon as the second woman entered, her eyes immediately found Lin Bufan. To her, no one else seemed to exist. She even burst into tears from excitement. Though she spoke not a single word, everything was already understood without being said.

The guests were neither blind nor foolish. Upon witnessing such a scene, an uproar naturally swept through the crowd.

Miss Gong was no fool either. Her face flushed crimson, the redness reaching all the way to her ears.

She had intended to show off today, only to end up exposing herself instead.

This was utter humiliation!

Watching all of this unfold, Zhang Wuyue finally understood. He now realized what that earlier exchange between Sage Tantai and his brother-in-law had meant. Every bit of this had been meticulously orchestrated.

Looking again at his brother-in-law, Zhang Wuyue saw Qi Xuansu calmly seated in a chair, his face filled with apparent astonishment, looking no different from any other guest. Who could possibly imagine that he was one of the directors behind this show?

At that thought, Zhang Wuyue felt a chill run down his spine. His fear of this brother-in-law deepened even further. He dared not imagine how Qi Xuansu would deal with him if he ever truly angered him. He might not even know how he died.

According to Tantai Ying’s plan, Miss Gong needed to be driven into a blind rage within a very short period. The current situation was still far from enough. Although she was furious, she had not yet lost her reason. At the very least, only her face had turned red. She was not yet seeing red.

Tantai Ying silently thought to herself, Forgive me, Miss Gong.

The third group made their entrance.

This time, the woman who appeared was one of Lin Bufan’s female subordinates. As a member of the Western Daoist Order, she naturally understood the gravity of the situation and knew exactly who Miss Gong was. She simply could not believe that Lin Bufan would ever ask her to come and provoke Miss Gong. Even if beaten to death, she would never dare play the role of the other woman, forcing her way into the legitimate wife’s territory. That would be equivalent to asking for an early death.

But what she thought was irrelevant.

Though Miss Gong was not someone to be trifled with, Miss Tantai was not any easier to provoke. Since persuasion had failed, force would have to suffice. Regardless of whether she wanted to attend, she was forced to go.