A Pawn's Passage

Many people often wondered, if the Golden Tower Council held the highest authority over personnel decisions, why was the Ziwei Hall regarded as the foremost among the Nine Halls?

Though Ziwei Hall had no power to decide on appointments for positions above the Deputy Mansion Masters and Deputy Hall Masters, they held the right to recommend. This recommendation carried tremendous weight. Ordinarily, the Golden Tower Council would seriously consider Ziwei Hall’s advice.

There was a saying within the Daoist Order that the Golden Tower Council was a cloud, while Ziwei Hall was the wind. If one wished to rise, the cloud would provide shade, yet the direction in which the cloud traveled depended on the wind.

Moreover, Ziwei Hall might not always be able to make things happen, but it could easily ruin them. After all, it oversaw the performance evaluations of all Daoist priests. Even if the Golden Tower Council wanted to approve a promotion, if Ziwei Hall submitted an assessment declaring the candidate unfit, the Council could not ignore the system and force the appointment through.

For this reason, even without full authority over major appointments, Ziwei Hall remained the head of the Nine Halls. Tiangang Hall’s situation was similar, not having absolute command of military power.

Furthermore, while the Golden Tower Council held the final decision-making power, the actual announcement of appointments was usually handled by the Deputy Ziwei Hall Masters. There was an unwritten rule that the announcer should be of equal or slightly lower rank than the appointee.

For instance, appointing an ordinary Deputy Mansion Master would warrant sending one Deputy Hall Master from Ziwei Hall. Similarly, for the appointment of a Chief Deputy Mansion Master, Ziwei Hall could send either a peer of equal rank or someone a level below.

The Ziwei Hall Master’s presence was a rare honor. He almost never appeared personally, even for the appointment of a Mansion Master, which was typically handled by the Chief Deputy Ziwei Hall Master.

So for Qi Xuansu’s appointment to be personally overseen by Sage Donghua was a clear sign that this case was anything but ordinary.

When a Second Deputy Mansion Master took office, having Ziwei Hall’s Chief Deputy Hall Master preside was already considered a high honor. But in Qi Xuansu’s case, the Hall Master himself was handling it, which was an unprecedented level of attention that surpassed not only other Second Deputies but even many Chief Deputies and some Mansion Masters.

From top to bottom, countless eyes were fixed upon Ziwei Hall. The moment word spread that Sage Donghua himself had arranged Qi Xuansu’s appointment, it would travel like the wind, reaching every ear that cared to listen. This was the second meaning behind Ziwei Hall being the wind of the Daoist Order.

Qi Xuansu understood that Sage Donghua had done this deliberately to build his reputation. The intention was to send a message to everyone that Qi Xuansu had powerful backing and that he was not someone to be trifled with.