A Pawn's Passage

One could choose to travel by waterway or land from Jiangling Prefecture to Shangqing Prefecture. Since Shibo Hall’s ship did not go to Wuzhou, Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu had no choice but to travel by land.

The two of them rode on horseback to Wuzhou without stopping. During these days, they avoided the busy big cities and either camped in the wilderness or stayed in some Daoist temples outside the city until they entered Wuzhou territory. After that, they slowed their pace of travel.

After all, Wuzhou was the core sphere of influence of the Zhengyi Sect, so it was relatively safe. Who would provoke a descendant of the Heavenly Preceptor right under the nose of the Zhang family?

Although the Earthly Preceptor valued ​​Zhang Yuelu more, to outsiders who did not know the inside story, Zhang Yuelu was from the Zhang family and a Zhengyi Sect disciple who had been named by the Heavenly Preceptor. So naturally, they would think that the Heavenly Preceptor loved Zhang Yuelu like a granddaughter. If anything were to happen to her in Wuzhou, the Zhang family would be brought to shame.

Wuzhou was located in the southeast, bordering Jiangzhou in the east, Lingnan in the south, Xiaozhou in the west, and Luzhou in the north. It was also connected to the Yangtze River. This state included 13 prefectures and 78 counties. Shangqing Prefecture was one of the 13 prefectures in Wuzhou. In addition to believing in the Primordial Daoist Ancestor, Zhengyi Sect disciples also worshiped the Shangqing Lord of Spiritual Treasures.

Within the Shangqing Prefecture were Shangqing County and Shangqing Town, which were owned by the Zhengyi Sect. Many distant relatives of the Zhang family lived in Shangqing County because they were not qualified to live in Shangqing Town, where the smaller branches of the Zhang family resided.

Although Shangqing Prefecture and Shangqing County had magistrates set up by the Imperial Court, the Zhang family was the ruling party.

However, after entering Wuzhou, there was still quite a distance to get to Shangqing Prefecture. At this time, Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu were in Fenning County, Xunyang Prefecture, which was located in the northwest of Wuzhou. Fenning County was the closest county to Jiangling Prefecture.

When they were approaching Fenning County, Zhang Yuelu calculated the time needed for them to get to Shangqing Prefecture. “Today is November 20th. I’m not in a hurry to get to Shangqing Prefecture. It just so happens that I have a cousin who settled down here. Let’s drop by to visit her.”

“Of course it is!” Zhang Yuelu said, “Since you’ve decided to meet my mother, we should put on a good act. I thought about it. It’s not appropriate for you to meet my mother right away. Let’s do a rehearsal first.”

“A rehearsal?” Qi Xuansu’s face stiffened.

Zhang Yuelu explained, “My cousin is quite similar to my mother in terms of temperament.”

Qi Xuansu coughed lightly and asked, “How is your relationship with this cousin of yours?”

“Not bad.” Zhang Yuelu thought about it for a while. “She used to live in Jade Capital. When I first moved to Jade Capital, she took care of me, and we used to get along well. Later, she left Jade Capital, returned to Wuzhou, and then got married. She didn’t want to live in the capital city but stayed in a small county instead.”

Qi Xuansu's mouth was agape. “Why would she move to a small county when she had the chance to live in Jade Capital? Do you know how much effort it took me to return to Jade Capital? I feel like the gap between the rich and the poor is wider than the gap between humans and demons. Also, was the reason she left because she got hurt by love?”

“How do you know?” Zhang Yuelu was surprised.

“Really?” Qi Xuansu was also startled. “It was just a wild guess because that’s always the plot in novels. After being hurt by love, the main character loses themselves and gives up on everything.”

Zhang Yuelu sighed. “Although it’s not good to talk about people behind their backs, I’ll just briefly mention it to you so that you’re aware of the situation. My cousin shares the same last name as me, but she’s from the main branch of the Zhang family, while I’m just from a small branch.

“If I were normal, I wouldn't have been able to hold a candle to her. I'm thankful for my talent, my master's tutelage, and the Earthly Preceptor's appreciation. If I were to use the royal family as an analogy. My cousin would be considered a Princess of the First Rank, while I’m probably only a Princess of the Fourth Rank.”

Qi Xuansu summed it up concisely. “So, she’s the Young Lady of the Zhang family who can easily reward me with thousands of Taiping coins without batting an eyelid, right?”

Zhang Yuelu rolled her eyes at him. “Of course you’d remember something so trivial.”

She had once mentioned that if she were the Young Lady of the Zhang family, who had a Heavenly Preceptor as a grandfather, she would reward him with thousands of Taiping coins so that he would not have to care about money so much.

Qi Xuansu smirked. “Well, that’s because I only care about money.”

Zhang Yuelu continued, “Anyway, this cousin of mine has always had smooth sailing in life ever since she was born. She moved to the Jade Capital early on and lived in Taishang Place.”

Qi Xuansu interrupted her. “I remember that you also have a residence in Taishang Place. You said it was transferred to you by an elder.”

Zhang Yuelu blinked. “Oh, you remember. Yes, that house in Taishang Place was originally hers. But after she left Jade Capital, she gave it to me in the name of the Heavenly Preceptor. I only found out later. After all, the Heavenly Preceptor wouldn’t care about such trivial matters. But I don’t live there. I usually live in Xuan City because it’s closer to Beichen Hall and Tiangang Hall.”

“Xuan City?” Qi Xuansu interrupted her again. “This is the first time I’ve heard you mention Xuan City. But in retrospect, the first time we met was in Taiqing Square, and you did head in the direction of Xuan City when we parted, not toward Taishang Place. I actually forgot about this until now.”

Zhang Yuelu retorted. “Well, I originally wanted to make friends with you as Tantai Chu, not Zhang Yuelu. But who would’ve known that you would join Tiangang Hall? That’s why I stopped pretending and used my real identity to get to know you. Also, you should thank me for personally approving your application to Tiangang Hall!”

Qi Xuansu laughed.

He suddenly remembered that he also had two other identities, which were Gold-Plated Knife and Wei Wugui.

Zhang Yuelu's expression turned serious. “Stop interrupting me and listen to my story. After my cousin arrived in Jade Capital, she joined the Nine Halls. But in my opinion, she’s a flowerbed priest, and far worse than you. She would never join Beichen Hall, Tiangang Hall, or even Tianji Hall because the work was too tough and tiring. So, she worked in Ciji Hall, Duzhi Hall, and finally in Ziwei Hall.”

“Thanks for the compliment.” Qi Xuansu quipped.

Zhang Yuelu continued, “Later, she met someone like you, an orphan who grew up in the Wanxiang Daoist Palace whose master had also passed away long ago. He later worked in Tiangang Hall.”

Qi Xuansu touched his chin. “From this perspective, you two have very similar taste—”

Before he finished his sentence, Zhang Yuelu lightly kicked him in the crook of the leg.

Zhang Yuelu said, “What do you mean by my taste? I find that you have been much bolder recently to talk nonsense in front of me!”

Qi Xuansu coughed lightly. “It’s just a casual remark.”

Zhang Yuelu glared at him before adding, “Well, you’re still different from that man. You’re content with small riches. You’ll be glad just being a fourth-rank Jijiu Daoist master, retiring in the mountains, and living a leisurely life. But that man is very ambitious, wanting to hold more power in the Daoist Order.”

“Wow, that’s rich coming from you, who aspires to be the Grand Master.” Qi Xuansu clicked his tongue. “Besides, I also hope to achieve the Sword of Wisdom one day, but I’m just not capable enough.”

“Shut up!” Zhang Yuelu finally could not help it any longer. She stretched out her hand to grab Qi Xuansu’s ear. “I aspire to be the Grand Master because I want to change the Daoist Order for the better! It has nothing to do with personal desire or greed. If you can reform the Daoist Order, I will also assist you in becoming the Grand Master.

“That man is different. He’s only ambitious for personal gain. He’ll use whatever means possible to gain power, including bribery and any corrupt acts. He’s an all-around disgrace to Daoist beliefs.”

At the mention of this, Zhang Yuelu suddenly remembered something. She let go of his ear and sized him up.

Qi Xuansu was a little puzzled by this. “Why are you staring at me like that?”

Zhang Yuelu looked at him and said with a straight face, “I suddenly remembered that you were also quite good at ‘making connections’ to get into Tiangang Hall. Are you the same kind of person as that guy?!”

“No! I’m wrongly accused!” Qi Xuansu quickly defended himself. “You were talking about him. Why did you rope me in all of a sudden? But speaking of such connections, I only did that because those people hinted at it. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have willingly given away my hard-earned money to others. Do you mean to say that Sun Yongfeng is an ambitious person because he accepts bribes? Besides, all of my merits are legitimate. I’ve risked my life getting them!”

Zhang Yuelu suddenly laughed. “Look at you being all defensive.”

Qi Xuansu was afraid that Zhang Yuelu would somehow implicate him again, so he dared not interrupt her story.

Zhang Yuelu saw how frightened he was, so she continued, “A man like him has his way with women, especially those without any experience in relationships, like my cousin. So, he used my cousin as a means for him to climb the social ladder. After he became famous, many other women threw themselves at him, hoping to climb the ladder as well. This man never rejected anyone and slept with all of them.”

When she said the last sentence, Zhang Yuelu secretly paid attention to Qi Xuansu’s expression.

Qi Xuansu did not look envious. Instead, he asked, “Do you think that other people view me as the same as these women, hoping to climb the ladder through you?”

Zhang Yuelu was a little helpless. Normal men would either envy or despise that man. Why was it that Qi Xuansu always had a different thought process from ordinary people? Who taught him to be like this?

She ignored his question and continued the story. “He didn’t keep his affairs hidden well. In the end, my cousin found out. If I were my cousin, I would have chopped off his head. But my cousin still gave him another chance. She gave him an ultimatum to choose her or other women. She wanted to forgive him, but that man shamelessly said that he would still keep mistresses even after marriage. My cousin was heartbroken and cut off all contact with him in a fit of rage. She then left Jade Capital.”

Qi Xuansu did not comment on the story. All he did was touch his neck in fear.

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