A Pawn's Passage

Although Pei Xiaolou and Pei Xiaoyun did not voice their agreement, their expressions made it clear that this was exactly what they thought.

If the sky fell, the tallest person would hold it up. Within the Pei family, Sage Donghua was the only person capable of keeping Pei Shenfu in check.

Qi Xuansu could certainly keep her in check as well, but he was not a member of the Pei family. The saying that master and disciple were like father and son did not apply to matters like this. What Qi Xuansu inherited was the Donghua lineage, not the Pei family. Just as Zhang Yuelu inherited the Cihang lineage, not the Su family.

As for the Qingwei lineage, that truly did belong to the Li family, making it one of the rare exceptions. The Li family’s claim to be the orthodox lineage of the Daoist Order was not without foundation.

With no other choice, Qi Xuansu could only contact Sage Donghua and briefly explain the situation. “The situation was urgent. I had originally gone after Li Tianzhen and Wu Guangbi, but I never expected Li Tianqing and Martial Aunt Pei to be on Qingshui Island as well. The arrow was already nocked to the bowstring, and I had no choice but to let it fly...”

Sage Donghua fell silent.

Qi Xuansu showed nothing on his face, but inwardly, he was still somewhat uneasy. Just as Great Sage Lan had said, only Sage Donghua and Pei Shenfu themselves knew what their relationship was truly like and how much affection remained between them. Perhaps only Sage Donghua himself knew. After all, Sage Donghua was the eldest brother and might be more tolerant, choosing not to stoop to arguing with Pei Shenfu. If Sage Donghua still cherished their sibling bond, then what Qi Xuansu had done could easily incur his displeasure.

Qi Xuansu did not have to fear Sage Qingwei because Sage Donghua stood behind him. But he could not afford to disregard Sage Donghua’s attitude, because Sage Qingwei certainly would not be standing behind him then.

Just as Qi Xuansu was hesitating over whether to explain himself further, Sage Donghua finally spoke. “I won’t involve myself in this matter. Contact Yao Yi and let him handle it. If Yao Yi asks what my position is, tell him I have no opinion on this matter.”

Qi Xuansu replied, “Very well. I’ll contact Manager Yao immediately.”

Sage Donghua ended the communication.

Qi Xuansu looked at Pei Xiaolou and Pei Xiaoyun before finally settling his gaze on Pei Xiaolou. “Deputy Mansion Master Pei, Manager Yao is your brother-in-law. Can I trouble you to contact him on my behalf?”

Qi Xuansu had never had any dealings with Yao Yi, so naturally, he could not simply approach him out of the blue. It would be more appropriate to find a familiar intermediary. There were three suitable candidates: Madam Qi, Yao Pei, and Pei Xiaolou. The first two were not in Nanyang, making Pei Xiaolou the most suitable choice.

Of course, Yao Shu could also be considered another option, but Qi Xuansu did not want to drag Yao Shu into the matter.

Pei Xiaolou said, “Alright. My brother-in-law may be a little strange, but he’s fairly easy to deal with. At the very least, he’s much easier to deal with than my sister.”

Qi Xuansu was left somewhat speechless. It was difficult to imagine what sort of people made up the Yao family. There did not seem to be a single normal person among them.

Pei Xiaolou went to contact Yao Yi.

Pei Xiaoyun then rose to her feet. “Sage Qi, if there is nothing else...”

Qi Xuansu said, “Alright. Go ahead and attend to your work.”

“Then I’ll be going. If anything else comes up, just call for me.” Pei Xiaoyun rose and left.

As soon as Qi Xuansu saw Pei Xiaoyun off, Xu Jiaorong came in.

Qi Xuansu smiled. “Second Deputy Xu, while you’re still holding the position of Second Deputy, there’s something I need to trouble you with.”

Xu Jiaorong said, “Given our relationship, there’s no such talk of troubling each other.”

This time, Qi Xuansu had enabled Chen Jianchou to make the leap in a single step and become Xu Jiaorong’s deputy. Although Chen Jianchou’s circumstances were unusual to begin with, if Qi Xuansu had not proactively raised the matter, no one would have gone out of their way to make such an arrangement. Thus, Qi Xuansu deserved most of the credit for Chen Jianchou’s promotion.

Simply put, the fact that something could be done did not mean it had to be done. Chen Jianchou could be promoted, but that did not mean anyone was obligated to promote him.

Naturally, Xu Jiaorong was extremely grateful to Qi Xuansu and had long wanted to find an opportunity to return the favor.

Winning others over could not be accomplished with empty words alone. There always had to be tangible benefits involved.

Great Sage Lan, Xu Jiaorong, and Chen Jianchou all belonged to the same lineage. By promoting Chen Jianchou, Qi Xuansu was also extending goodwill toward Great Sage Lan.

Qi Xuansu said, “There’s no need for formalities between us. Li Tianqing and Pei Shenfu have special statuses, so we cannot act against them lightly. But Li Tianzhen cannot be treated like those two. Since you are in charge of legal affairs, please review which laws Li Tianzhen has violated and complete the necessary procedures as quickly as possible. That way, we can get him sentenced without delay.”

Xu Jiaorong hesitated briefly before asking, “You want our local Daoist Mansion to sentence him directly?”

Qi Xuansu said, “Li Tianqing and Pei Shenfu are both second-rank Taiyi Daoists and fall under the jurisdiction of the Golden Tower Council. If they are to be tried and sentenced, that should be handled by the headquarters of Fengxian Hall, so our Daoist Mansion has no business interfering. But Li Tianzhen is merely a fourth-rank Jijiu Daoist. How can our mighty Poluo Daoist Mansion not even have jurisdiction over a fourth-rank Jijiu Daoist? He committed his crimes in Poluo, so naturally the Poluo Daoist Mansion should be responsible for trying his case.”

Xu Jiaorong nodded. “I understand.”

Qi Xuansu raised one finger. “Remember, everything must be handled strictly according to the facts. The procedures can be expedited, but they cannot be skipped. Every required procedure must be followed. Also, arrange a defense advocate for Li Tianzhen. Don’t give anyone grounds to criticize how we handle this.”

Xu Jiaorong said, “I will convene a special council to review and deliberate on the case, ensuring that everything complies with the Daoist Mansion’s laws.”

She deliberately did not say the laws of the Daoist Order, instead emphasizing the laws of the Daoist Mansion. After all, the Daoist Order governed such a vast territory that every region had its own customs and local conditions. Naturally, each region also had its own laws, and they were not entirely identical.

Of course, the laws of a local Daoist Mansion could not conflict with the laws of the Daoist Order. The Daoist Order’s laws were higher-level laws and took precedence over the laws of the Daoist Mansions. But that was yet another highly complicated subject.

Xu Jiaorong would not personally pore over legal texts to argue the case either. Professional matters should be left to experts. In the vast Poluo Daoist Mansion, it was easy to find several people well-versed in the law. Once these experts had carefully examined the case, they would convict Li Tianzhen and have him serve his sentence locally in Nanyang.

This was the utmost humiliation for Li Tianzhen.

It was a fair give-and-take. If Li Tianzhen came to Nanyang to stir up trouble, then he would have to be prepared for the possibility of failure and bear the consequences when he lost.

If Li Tianzhen had not come forward to cause trouble, Qi Xuansu could not have gone all the way to Donghai to arrest him.

Qi Xuansu was not that powerful yet.

So if Li Tianzhen chose to enter the struggle and play within the rules, he had to be capable of accepting defeat.

He could not expect to enjoy the spoils while refusing to take a beating. When he was benefiting and stirring up trouble, he insisted on following the rules and claimed that everything he did was perfectly legal. Yet the moment he took a beating, he no longer wanted to follow the rules and started demanding special treatment.

If he relied on his family background to play these games against someone of humble origins, taking advantage of the fact that someone else had no powerful backing, then perhaps he could get away with it.

After all, for the same crime, someone from a humble background would usually face certain death, while the scion of a prestigious family would often be shown leniency.

But this was now a confrontation between two opposing camps. Who was going to indulge Li Tianzhen?

Though Li Tianzhen had powerful backing, Qi Xuansu’s side was hardly powerless either. At the very least, the two sides could be considered evenly matched.

If Li Tianzhen truly could not accept losing, then he might as well overturn the table altogether, pick up the chessboard, and smash his opponent to death with it.

The key question was whether the Li family was willing to overturn the table for the sake of Li Tianzhen. Even if they did overturn the table and start swinging the chessboard, it was still difficult to say who would ultimately win.

If the Li family were unwilling to go that far, then Li Tianzhen would be serving his sentence in Nanyang.

Qi Xuansu’s move was designed above all to spite and frustrate the Li family, making them suffer yet unable to voice their grievance. After all, Li Tianzhen was still alive. If one wanted to gamble, one had to be willing to accept the loss.

The only thing Qi Xuansu had not expected was that Wu Guangbi would flee so decisively.

It seemed that lessons taught by others were never as effective as lessons taught by experience. Li Tianzhen had fallen into the trap, while Wu Guangbi, having already suffered once before, had learned his lesson.

Soon, before there was any word from the Yao family, the Li family had already made its move.

Just as Qi Xuansu had expected, Sage Qingwei did not appear. Instead, the Golden Patriarch stepped forward.

The Golden Patriarch likewise did not contact Qi Xuansu directly. Instead, he had Liu Gui reach out to him. It seemed that the Golden Patriarch was well aware that Liu Gui had been maintaining some ties with Qi Xuansu. Usually, the Golden Patriarch simply turned a blind eye to it and deliberately left Liu Gui untouched precisely so that he would have a fallback option.

There was no need to wait until Qi Xuansu rose to power. That fallback had already proven useful now.

As long as Qi Xuansu did not fall from power, the Golden Patriarch would not deal with Liu Gui.

There were undoubtedly people on Qi Xuansu’s side making similar little moves behind his back. Qi Xuansu likewise would not investigate them too deeply, at least not for now. If Qi Xuansu eventually rose to power and these people settled down and behaved themselves, then he could let bygones be bygones. But if they still dared to harbor divided loyalties, then Qi Xuansu would settle the final accounts with them when the time came.

Qi Xuansu decided to negotiate with the Golden Patriarch personally in Lion City.

The Qi Xuansu of today was no longer the Qi Xuansu of the past. During his journey to the Southern Continent, he had dealt with Immortals on numerous occasions and had thoroughly shed his awe of them. In his eyes, Immortals were no longer untouchable, nor were they unfathomable. If they deserved to die, they could die like anyone else. There was no need to regard them as anything extraordinary.

Nevertheless, Great Sage Lan was still somewhat uneasy. He was worried that the Golden Patriarch might resort to violence in a fury. Thus, he specifically arranged for Spirit Guard Jia Yin and Lin Yuanmiao to accompany Qi Xuansu. With Star Lord Yuheng also in Lion City, and Qi Xuansu himself being no mediocre fighter, even if the Golden Patriarch suddenly turned hostile, he would gain no advantage.

Qi Xuansu arrived in Lion City with a large entourage, their procession grand and imposing.

The entire Lion City was already on full alert.

Chen Jianchou had begun taking over the administration of Lion City. Just as Qi Xuansu had said, Chen Jianchou had followed Qi Xuansu in Poluo for many years, and with his connection to Xu Jiaorong, he could certainly be considered a familiar face in Nanyang. This made it much easier for him to carry out his work. There was no need for him to spend time familiarizing himself with the situation. He could get straight to work. Nor did his subordinates dare to fool him, because everyone knew that Deputy Mansion Master Chen genuinely understood all the ins and outs of how things worked here, perhaps even better than they did.

After Qi Xuansu disembarked from the flying ship, he immediately saw that the harbor had been placed under tight security. He said, “There’s no need for all this. Apart from those needed to maintain order, withdraw everyone else.”

Chen Jianchou had personally come to receive him. Upon hearing this, he immediately replied, “Yes, Sage.”

Qi Xuansu stopped and glanced at Chen Jianchou’s hechang. He casually reached out and straightened Chen Jianchou’s collar for him before saying, “Go take care of your own work. You don’t need to worry about things on my end.”

Chen Jianchou hesitated briefly but ultimately obliged.

This was precisely what Qi Xuansu liked about Chen Jianchou. He was free to have his own opinions, but he could raise them afterward. His first priority was always to carry out his orders.

The meeting was arranged to take place at the Taiping Inn in Lion City, which had specially closed for the entire day for the occasion.

There was also a mediator—or rather, a guarantor—none other than the Grand Protector of the Nanting Protectorate, whose presence was intended to ensure that no conflict broke out between the two sides.

Qi Xuansu had proven one thing through his actions—the affairs of Nanyang were his concern. Even the Li family and the Yao family would have to comply with his orders here.