A Pawn's Passage

Qi Xuansu’s visit to Phnom Penh Prefecture was a discreet inspection, while his arrival in Lion City was entirely aboveboard. He formally met Protector Lin and Spirit Guard Jia Yin. Then, he toured the entire port city while accompanied by a Deputy Protector from the Nanting Protectorate.

This was the most prosperous port in all of Nanyang, a place where no detail could be taken lightly.

The local powers all showed him great respect, putting on grand receptions to welcome the visiting Second Deputy Qi as a gesture of goodwill.

Long before Qi Xuansu’s appointment to the Poluo Daoist Mansion was officially announced, these people had already done their homework. They knew he was engaged to the noble daughter of the Zhang family and that he was known for his integrity, restraint, and wealth. After all, purchasing a residence in Taishang Place for his betrothed was something only the most privileged could afford. In other words, bribery through wealth or beauty was pointless. Second Deputy Qi simply would not accept it.

The Daoist Order had no shortage of those driven by greed or lust. But such people rarely rose far, and hardly any made it to the rank of Sage. It was not because all Sages were pure and ascetic, but because they understood the importance of keeping appearances clean, never letting their corruption show in plain sight.

Sage Wanmiao, Qi Jiaozheng, only had a stipend from his office and had never taken bribes. Even if someone tried to hand him money outright, he would refuse it. But how did the Qi family maintain the grandeur of a great clan? That role was given to Qi Muyu.

Qi Muyu was certainly not a business genius who could uphold the Qi family’s immense expenses. She only did well because of Sage Wanmiao and the Qi family’s backing. The two sustained each other, each indispensable to the other’s strength.

Simply put, the face must stay spotless and even shiny. This face then became a shield that protected the underbelly.

This structure was not unique to the Qi family. The other great clans followed much the same model, with each member assigned to a specific role. Li Tianlan served as the Second Deputy of the Jiangnan Daoist Mansion, while Li Tianyue ran the family trade along the Grand Canal. Li Changge climbed the Daoist hierarchy step by step, while Li Tianzhen oversaw the internal family affairs.

The young scions of these noble families never had to trouble themselves with such petty matters. Their clans stood firmly behind them, and temptation simply never reached that deep. But the ordinary Daoist priests were not so fortunate. They often wavered between temptation and principle, struggling through austerity. After all, who among them did not dream of a little comfort?

Back then, when Old Master Gao attempted to bribe Qi Xuansu, the broke boy still had to battle his conscience before refusing. But for someone like Li Changge, the heir to a great clan and a strong candidate for the eighth-generation Grand Master, he would not have even spared the silver a glance.

Of course, someone like Wang Danqing, a noble scion whose ambitions lay outside the Daoist path, was an entirely different case.