A Pawn’s Passage

Mie District was the very heart of all Ise Province, where the Ise-jingu was located. Thus, only by taking Mie District could one truly claim to have conquered the whole of Ise Province.

The Daoist Order's February offensive was entering its final stage. Soon, it would be March.

From the time the Daoists formally resolved to send troops to Fenglin in January to the near close of the February offensive, about two months had passed. Judging by the current situation, the Fenglin campaign would not end within three months as many had expected, yet the speed and smooth progress thus far left most Daoists satisfied.

In the eyes of most Daoists, victory was not only certain but mandatory. The key was to win beautifully and display the grandeur of the Celestial Empire as the superior kingdom.

So far, Sage Qingwei had done quite well.

Throughout history, emperors seeking to consolidate their rule would first launch external wars and secure victories, gaining enough prestige before turning inward, thereby silencing opposition.

Thus, the situation on the Fenglin battlefield often influenced the political climate in Jade Capital.

The most immediate reflection of this was that Zhang Juquan's case had finally been settled.

Investigations confirmed that Zhang Juquan, former Deputy Jiangnan Daoist Mansion Master, had indeed committed suicide out of fear of punishment, with no involvement from others.

This meant Li Changge was cleared of suspicion of murder.

However, the inquiry into Li Changge was not yet over, for he still faced charges of dereliction of duty. After all, a prisoner had succeeded in suicide under his watch, which was a negligence he could not escape.

The one responsible for this review was still Yao Pei.

In a certain sense, the three Daoist sects had reached a balance.

Sage Qingwei, as Sage Commander, had directed the Fenglin campaign and reaped the greatest benefits. Li Changge, meanwhile, was tied down in Jiangnan and was far from earning merits. He was fortunate enough not to be demoted.

Yao Pei, though paired with Li Changge, was conducting an investigation, so that also counted as service. Moreover, Qi Xuansu, also from the Quanzhen Sect, was in the field, securing one victory after another.

As for the Zhengyi Sect, it went without saying that Zhang Yuelu had gained the most. It was evident that once the Fenglin campaign ended, she would continue to lead the Three Prodigies and might even widen the gap between her and the rest, being not only the highest in cultivation but also in official rank. She was likely to be promoted to a Sage first, and if nothing unexpected happened, she would soon be posted to a local Daoist Mansion as a Second Deputy.

The Daoist Mansion abhorred the rule of a single person and placed great importance on collective deliberation. This involved the Golden Tower Council, the Daoist Mansion Master, and the Deputies. All major decisions had to pass through this council. Generally, as long as the Mansion Master, Chief Deputy, and Secondary Deputy were in agreement, a resolution could be formed.

From this, it was evident that the Mansion Master, Chief Deputy, and Secondary Deputy were the true authorities in a Daoist Mansion.

If one divided the leadership of a Daoist Mansion into three tiers, the Mansion Master was the first tier, the Chief and Second Deputy were the second tier, and the remaining Deputy Mansion Masters belonged to the third.

In certain special cases, the Chief or Second Deputy could rise into the first tier, contending equally with a Mansion Master who lacked skill in balancing power. The Third Deputy might also enter the second tier, forming a fourth leg to this tripod of power.

Such "special cases" depended on two factors—whether the Mansion Master was weak and whether other Deputies had strong backing. For example, in Wuzhou Prefecture, even if a non-Zhang was assigned as Mansion Master, the Zhang family, holding only the Chief Deputy seat, could still sideline the new Mansion Master due to their local power. Qizhou was much the same; hence, these particular Daoist Mansions had long been held by the Zhang or Li families by default.

The Zhang family hardly grieved for Zhang Juquan's death.

In this incident, the Li family had made a great concession by giving up the position of Jiangnan Daoist Mansion Master.

The Jiangnan Daoist Mansion required balance. Its Chief Deputy, Bai Yingqiong, hailed from the Zhengyi Sect, the Second Deputy, Li Tianlan, from the Taiping Sect, and the current Mansion Master, Xu Chou, was from the Quanzhen Sect. He was very old and respected, but largely a figurehead.

Thus, things became delicate. If Zhang Jucheng were to become the Jiangnan Mansion Master, then Bai Yingqiong, also from the Zhengyi Sect, would have to be shifted, replaced by a Quanzhen Sect Sage. Xu Chou, the aging Mansion Master, would also need to be placed elsewhere in a suitable position.

In a sense, both were their own people and had committed no offense. Thus, they had to be ceremoniously reassigned, each to a position that satisfied all sides and not simply cast out.

The Heavenly Preceptor intended to send Bai Yingqiong to serve as an Acting Palace Master.

However, this was not really a promotion. After all, the prefix of "Acting" might never really be dropped. Moreover, a Daoist Palace ranked below a Daoist Mansion, especially compared to the top Jiangnan Daoist Mansion. Thus, going from the Chief Deputy Jiangnan Daoist Mansion Master to Acting Palace Master of an ordinary Daoist Palace was effectively a lateral move that came with some loss of influence.

Still, the Chief Deputy Mansion Master had always been a perennial second. As Acting Palace Master, Bai Yingqiong would be the actual head. With strong connections above and a few solid years without missteps, that prefix could be removed. From Palace Master, promotion to Mansion Master of some region would follow naturally. This was a curved path of promotion.

Of course, such promotion could also involve an intermediate step. Before a Mansion Master rose to become a Hall Master, they might well first serve as Chief Deputy Hall Master during the transition.

Xu Chou was a sixth-generation Daoist disciple. He was old, with no hope of ascension. He cared little for power or mundane affairs, yet for certain reasons, he had not retired to the mountains. During his tenure as the Jiangnan Daoist Mansion Master, he was largely absent and only reported major matters to the Golden Tower Council. He muddled through the council meetings by smoothing things over, aiming only for no faults. Instead, he was obsessed with pursuing longevity and elixirs in hopes of extending his lifespan for a few more years.

This transfer was, in truth, a chance for him to prepare for retirement.

As for his retirement, a promotion to Virtuous Great Sage was out of the question, but he could still rise to the rank of an ordinary Great Sage.

The rank of Virtuous Great Sage was held to strict standards, with only seven such figures across the entire Daoist Order.

But the title of Great Sage was far more lenient. It existed mainly to provide for certain Omniscient Sages who had labored all their lives but never advanced to first-rank Tianzhen Daoist master, yet were respected and venerable. They were allowed to retire with this honor as a mark of compassion from the Daoist Order.

This treatment was not for everyone. First, one had to retire from the seat of Omniscient Sage as a form of encouragement for the elders to yield their place to the younger generation. Second, one needed good relations to be deemed "respected." Those disliked or seen as controversial would hardly be granted the title.

As the Jiangnan Daoist Mansion Master, Xu Chou was an Omniscient Sage. Moreover, given his constant fence-sitting, his relations with others were not poor. Thus, his promotion to a Great Sage was natural.

Such ranks were jokingly called "blank-slate Great Sage," as their actual standing was below the Omniscient Sages yet slightly above ordinary Sages. To distinguish them from the Virtuous Great Sages, official documents recorded only "Great Sage," but in daily speech, they were addressed as "Old Sage." Their seniority was undeniable, but their capability was not necessarily so.

Virtuous Great Sages still held the right to deliberate in the Golden Tower Council and bore key positions such as Mansion Master or Palace Master. Ordinary Great Sages had no such deliberative power, nor did they hold posts. The latter was a purely honorary title.

The upper echelon of the Daoist Order could be divided into five ranks.

At the top stood the Grand Master, followed by the three Deputy Grand Masters, an unfixed number of Virtuous Great Sages, 36 Omniscient Sages, and lastly an unfixed number of ordinary Sages.

One caveat was that these five levels had to be understood with one's office. The only distinction between Deputy Grand Masters and Virtuous Great Sages lay in the former's post. Without this office, a Deputy Grand Master was still considered a Virtuous Great Sage. Thus, a Great Sage without a post was excluded from the Nine Rank System. Likewise, other Daoists without offices, like wandering Daoists or those retired to the mountains, were also outside the formal system.

The path before Xu Chou was now clear. At his age, there was virtually no chance of further advancement. When the Golden Tower Council and Ziwel Hall reassigned posts, he would surely have to step down.

Afterward, several possibilities awaited him. He might be transferred elsewhere as a Mansion Master or retire to the mountains. Promotion to Hall Master was extremely unlikely. In fact, even remaining as Mansion Master was improbable.

Retirement was inevitable, but stepping down early could still earn him the rank and treatment of a first-rank Tianzhen Daoist master, a kind of compensation for yielding his seat early. If he waited until the official time of retirement, he might be left with only the status of an ordinary Sage.

Xu Chou understood this well, so he preferred to withdraw sooner and claim the title of first-rank Tianzhen Daoist master. That was far better than spending a lifetime only to remain a second-rank Taiyi Daoist master. With that title, he could still carry the dignity of a senior elder. Power aside, the rank was real, just beneath the Grand Master and the Emperor himself.

Since such personnel shifts were so complex, not even the Heavenly Preceptor himself dared guarantee the outcome. In the end, it was due to Zhang Juquan's affair that Zhang Wuliang personally went to Fenglin to confer privately with Sage Qingwei. Only after the two families struck a compromise was the matter finally settled.

Once Zhang Jucheng took the seat of Jiangnan Daoist Mansion Master, Lei Xiaohuan would represent the Quanzhen Sect as the new Chief Deputy, thereby continuing the tripartite balance among the three Daoist sects.