A Pawn's Passage

Qi Xuansu spent seven full days in seclusion this time.

During that week, a few matters of varying importance took place.

First of all, Little Yin had eaten the dragon meat Qi Xuansu brought back and the Red Fruit given to her by the Heavenly Preceptor. After stuffing herself with so many rare treasures, she was finally about to “evolve.”

After all, Little Yin was only at the Wuliang stage, so these treasures were more than enough for her to advance to the next level.

On the second day after returning from the Golden Tower, Little Yin began sleeping soundly. Madam Wu checked on her and saw that there was nothing seriously wrong, saying that Little Yin would be fine once she had slept enough.

Since even Great Sage Qi herself had said so, everyone else naturally put their minds at ease.

Everyone knew that Little Yin was Sage Qi and Sage Zhang’s beloved daughter. If anything were to happen to her, none of them could bear the responsibility.

According to the rules, the Golden Tower Council assigned Madam Wu a residence in Xuan City, neighboring Great Sage Jiang. Madam Wu could move there if she wished or leave it vacant if she preferred. It was entirely up to her, and the Golden Tower Council would not force the matter.

Madam Wu went over to have a look, then came back.

Since leaving residences empty was already common practice, the attendants in Xuan City thought nothing of it. Mansion Masters such as Great Sage Lan all had residences in Xuan City, yet might not return even once in an entire year. But even though the Great Sages might choose not to live there, they could not be without an official residence.

In addition, the Golden Tower Council also had to assign Madam Wu a secretary.

The Golden Tower Council could appoint this person directly, but since the position involved far too much personal and private information, the secretary had to be completely trustworthy. If a Great Sage was dissatisfied, they could simply replace the secretary. Thus, under normal circumstances, the Golden Tower Council would respect the Great Sage’s preference and only make the appointment when the Great Sage had no opinion or did not care.

Madam Wu did not let the Golden Tower Council appoint someone for her. She intended to choose a secretary herself.

She actually disliked having people follow her around and had long grown accustomed to being alone. However, the position could not be left vacant, so after considering one candidate after another, she ultimately submitted Little Yin’s name.

In terms of rank, Little Yin was a third-rank Youyi Daoist, exactly the same rank as the various secretaries, making her perfectly suitable on paper. There were no other special restrictions on the position either. The key requirement was simply that the Great Sage herself was satisfied. The Golden Tower Council was somewhat shocked by the choice, but still approved it.

As for whether the secretary would be serving the Great Sage in the future, or whether Great Sage Qi would instead end up babysitting, that was hard to say.

While Little Yin was still fast asleep, she somehow acquired an official post without even knowing it and became a secretary.

Unaffiliated Daoists such as Madam Qi, Zhou Mengyao, and Qi Muyu received no official benefits from the Daoist Order, but the Daoist Order imposed no obligations on them either. Little Yin had previously been the same. But once she was granted an official post and began receiving benefits, she was required to attend the Wanxiang Daoist Upper Palace for study—once upon reaching fourth rank and again upon reaching the second rank.

So this time, Little Yin would not be able to get out of it. She would have to attend the Wanxiang Daoist Palace for training, except that she would now be studying in the Upper Palace instead of the Lower Palace.

This was a world of difference. Normally, someone graduating from the Lower Palace could only become a ninth-rank Daoist and would have to advance five full ranks before qualifying to study at the Upper Palace. Little Yin, however, had skipped the entire process in a single step.

The final matter was that Zhang Yuelu’s appointment had been settled at last.

Although such a rapid promotion would have seemed highly unusual by the Daoist Order’s historical standards, the precedents set by Li Changge and Qi Xuansu made it seem somewhat less extraordinary. In any case, Zhang Yuelu had successfully advanced from Chief Deputy of the Poluo Daoist Mansion to Chief Deputy of Tiangang Hall.

She had gone from one Chief Deputy position to another and remained a second-rank Taiyi Daoist without being promoted to Omniscient Sage. So in theory, this was a lateral transfer.

However, in practice, this was a major promotion. The amount of power she wielded was now on an entirely different level. The Chief Deputy of the Poluo Daoist Mansion could only influence Poluo, whereas the Chief Deputy of Tiangang Hall could influence the entire Daoist Order.

The approximate date of Zhang Yuelu’s return to Jade Capital had also been determined. Since Xu Jiaorong would succeed Zhang Yuelu and was already in Nanyang, there was no need for the usual trouble of traveling there to assume the post. The Ziwei Hall also did not need to send anyone over. Thus, the transition would not take long.

In roughly seven days, Zhang Yuelu would arrive in Jade Capital and return to the familiar Tiangang Hall alongside Lin Yuanmiao, who had been promoted to Third Deputy Tiangang Hall Master.

With this, Zhang Yuelu would become the second-in-command in Tiangang Hall, making her reputation as the Junior Tiangang Hall Master truly well deserved.

Once the date of Zhang Yuelu’s return to Jade Capital was settled, the date of their grand wedding was fixed as well. Sage Donghua personally selected an auspicious day and hour.

Next came the hurried preparation of wedding invitations, which had to be sent out to their guests.

Many people might already know about the wedding, but formal invitations were still needed. It was a matter of proper etiquette. Moreover, it was on short notice, and some guests lived far away. Travel and correspondence took considerable time, so such arrangements could not be left until the wedding was too close at hand.

Among the guests who lived farther away were former colleagues such as Huangfu Ji, Tantai Ying, Hun Ahau, Utu, Huangfu Xi, and Unulatu, as well as the three leading figures of the Western Daoist Order—Tantai Zhenxiao, Gong Fu, and Huangfu Zhao. Whether they chose to attend was another matter, but they still had to be formally invited.

They also could not leave out Li Changge. After all, Qi Xuansu had not openly fallen out with Li Changge. Sending the invitation was Qi Xuansu’s responsibility. Whether Li Changge chose to come was his own decision.

These were merely some of Qi Xuansu’s own personal connections.

After all, a marriage was not merely an affair between two people, but between two families.

No matter how much weight Qi Xuansu’s name carried, it could not outweigh Sage Donghua’s, much less that of the Zhang family.

Even if someone did not care for Qi Xuansu, they still had to show some respect to Sage Donghua, Sage Cihang, and the Heavenly Preceptor.

With this event, half of the Daoist Order would be stirred into action. Out of respect for the Heavenly Preceptor, even the Imperial Preceptor, the Earthly Preceptor, the Great Xuan Emperor, and the Great Sages of the Western Daoist Order would at least send representatives to offer their congratulations if they did not attend in person.

This would be a far grander affair than Qi Xuansu’s apprenticeship ceremony back then.

That was not even counting people who had little or nothing to do with them. Whether to curry favor or simply follow the crowd, even without invitations, they would eagerly show up at the door to offer their congratulations.

As the stars of the wedding, Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu would be worked half to death just receiving guests. Ordinary guests could be handled by others, but the Sages and Omniscient Sages had to be received in person. Otherwise, people would accuse them of being far too arrogant. This also meant that the groomsman and bridesmaid carried considerable responsibilities.

Put simply, when other people got married, they did not hold positions this high, so their weddings were nowhere near this grand. By the time they reached the status enjoyed by Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu, they would have long since become parents themselves.

No matter how one looked at it, this was a massive undertaking.

With so many guests and such an enormous occasion, this was not something Qi Xuansu could possibly handle alone.

Sage Donghua proposed forming a temporary committee to coordinate the various arrangements. Since Sage Donghua was far too busy to spare the time, he suggested that Zhang Jucheng serve as the committee’s convener.

After the two sides communicated, Zhang Jucheng gladly accepted the responsibility. He handed the affairs of the Daoist Mansion over to Chief Deputy Lei Xiaohuan and departed for Jade Capital.

He also informed his daughter, Zhang Yuyue, to stop idling around all day and go to Shangqing Town to pick up Zhang Juqi and Tantai Qiong and travel with them to Jade Capital. As for the younger members of the Zhang family, anyone who had the time was to head to Jade Capital as well.

Anyone who did not know the circumstances might have thought Zhang Jucheng was the one marrying off his daughter.

Those who did know, of course, would not think that way. This was no longer merely a wedding. It looked more like a grand alliance ceremony between two major factions.

Thus, when Qi Xuansu finally emerged from seclusion, this was the situation that awaited him.

Fortunately, Qi Xuansu was not on this temporary committee. They were probably worried that Zhang Yuelu might “cause trouble,” so they simply excluded the bride and the groom. That way, even Zhang Yuelu would have no way to complain.

Every name on the list belonged to someone from the older generation. Besides Zhang Jucheng, there were Sage Donghua, Sage Cihang, Madam Wu, Zhang Wuliang, Madam Qi, Zhang Juqi, and others. Even the Heavenly Preceptor was in the committee. Although he certainly would not personally concern himself with such matters, he nominally presided over the overall arrangements as the honorary convener.

From top to bottom, the entire affair reeked of bureaucracy.

But this was understandable for a prestigious family that had existed for a millennium. It was difficult to avoid turning family affairs into affairs of state, with public and private matters hopelessly intertwined.

At this point, Qi Xuansu did not even know what he should be doing. It seemed as though there was nothing he needed to do at all. So he went to see Sage Donghua.

When Qi Xuansu saw Sage Donghua, his master was buried in a mountain of documents, a vermilion brush in hand as he issued instructions on various official papers at several times the speed Mo Qingdi wrote his novels. Yet Sage Donghua remained perfectly calm and unhurried, a sight that was truly astonishing. Only an Immortal could possess such stamina. An ordinary person would have long since become dizzy and bleary-eyed, with no idea what they were even writing.

From this, it was clear that Sage Donghua, like the Heavenly Preceptor, was more or less only involved in the wedding committee in name.

Sage Donghua knew that Qi Xuansu had arrived. He finally put down his vermilion brush, motioned for Gong Jiaojun to withdraw, then picked up the cup of tea beside him and took a sip before saying, “You’ve advanced to the Pseudo-Immortal stage. Very good.”

Qi Xuansu said, “I came here not only because I’ve finally advanced to the Pseudo-Immortal stage, but also because of my wedding.”

Sage Donghua said, “Go to Sage Feiyuan about such matters. I have too much on my plate and no time to concern myself with them.”

Qi Xuansu said, “I’m afraid Uncle Zhang doesn’t have the final say on this matter.”

Sage Donghua grew somewhat curious. “Even he can’t make the decision? Then let me hear what this is about.”

Qi Xuansu pondered briefly before saying, “There should be four elders of honor, which would typically be the parents of the bride and groom. Qing Xiao’s side is easy enough since her parents are around, but I’m an orphan, so I can only ask you to stand in as my father. But the place reserved for my mother is still vacant...”

Sage Donghua asked, “Isn’t there Madam Qi?”

Qi Xuansu smiled bitterly. “I asked Madam Qi. She said that on the wedding day, probably half of the Daoist Order’s senior leadership will be there to witness the ceremony. So given her identity, it would be inappropriate for her to appear on such an occasion, much less stand before everyone in full view. She absolutely refuses to come. I’ve tried persuading her several times, but nothing worked.”

Sage Donghua fell silent for a moment after hearing this, then said, “Madam Qi’s concerns are not without reason. What do you have in mind?”

Qi Xuansu finally revealed his true intentions. “I was actually thinking that since Sage Cihang is Qing Xiao’s master, she’s not an outsider, so perhaps she can stand in for Madam Qi? Madam Qi has agreed to it as well.”

With the conversation having reached this point, how could Sage Donghua possibly fail to notice what Qi Xuansu was really up to? His expression turned peculiar. After a long while, he finally said, “You’re always full of schemes.”

Seeing that Sage Donghua had not rejected the idea outright, Qi Xuansu immediately pressed his advantage. “Master, does that mean you agree?”

Sage Donghua said, “I’m afraid this isn’t something the two of us can decide by ourselves. What matters is Sage Cihang’s opinion. As long as she agrees, I have no objections.”

Qi Xuansu smiled. “Good. Then it’s settled.”