Chapter 1048: The Three-Person Council
Each regional Daoist Mansion had a small council that only included the Mansion Master, the Chief Deputy Mansion Master, and the Second Deputy Mansion Master. It was also known as the Three-Person Council.
Although this council is not a formal decision-making body and cannot rule on major matters, it was like a pre-meeting where the Mansion Master gathered the two deputies to align on the agenda and direction. In practice, once the three agreed, decisions would easily pass at the larger council.
This was why the first-rank Spirit Guards pinned their hopes on Qi Xuansu. Among the various councils, Spirit Guards only had speaking rights in the large council, except during wartime.
However, the Second Deputy Mansion Master had speaking rights in all councils. Back in the Jiangnan Daoist Mansion, Li Tianlan held this same seat and stirred storms with a word. That “Second” prefix in the title made all the difference in power.
Mansion Master Wang Jiaohe called this Three-Person Council specifically to decide whether to convene a large council.
With only three chairs, Wang Jiaohe sat at the central top seat, facing south. Chen Shuhua and Qi Xuansu sat opposite him on the left and right.
Wang Jiaohe spoke first. “This major incident was beyond our expectations. Fortunately, the impact is not large.”
Qi Xuansu glanced at Chen Shuhua. “I believe Great Sage Lan should be the one to judge whether the impact is great or not, since he was the one attacked.”
Wang Jiaohe looked toward him. “Second Deputy Qi, what do you mean...?”
Qi Xuansu replied, “This matter is critical. Great Sage Lan can’t appear for now, so I believe we must immediately report it to the Golden Tower Council and request support. I can draft the official document and submit it with your name, Mansion Master.”
Qi Xuansu had no real desire to report it to the Golden Tower Council, but he leveraged it as a threat to pressure Wang Jiaohe and Chen Shuhua into compromising.
Chen Shuhua replied, “It’s not that critical. Aside from Great Sage Lan entering seclusion, there are no further losses. As you said, Great Sage Lan has just suffered a minor injury and will emerge from seclusion soon. If we escalate this to the Golden Tower Council, they will accuse us of making a mountain out of a molehill.”