Pawn Crossing the River

Qi Xuansu did not express his position directly, but fell into deep thought.

Back at the Daxue Mountain Palace, Qi Xuansu came to his signing room, and Yan Yongzhen followed him in.

Qi Xuansu asked: "What has the Taoist government said in the past few days?"

Yan Yongzhen naturally understood what Qi Xuansu was specifically asking about, and said: "There are many opinions, but not many are reliable. Most of them are speculations or rumors, specious. Whenever something like this happens, there will definitely be these opinions."

Qi Xuansu took out an official letter from Jin Que, put it on the table, and said: "It's time to formally open the case for investigation. Let's announce it directly. It will be honest and honest."

Yan Yongzhen responded, picked up the official letter and glanced at it. Sure enough, it was about the Chief Deputy Palace Head Zhao Jiaowu.

Then he left in a hurry.

As the secretary of the real person in charge of the government, Yan Yongzhen also has a group of people under him. His task is to give this official letter to his people, let them make copies, and then send it to various departments in the Taoist government.

It is foreseeable that many companies will be busy. It is inevitable that people will feel panic.

Zhang Yuelu didn't care about this matter. She was from Tiangangtang. Her main responsibility was to communicate with the local government, allocate military supplies, and support the front line in fighting this battle. As for what went wrong with the Taoist government, it had nothing to do with her. At this time, she was talking to the Jiayin Lingguan on behalf of the Tiangang Hall, and reported the relevant situation, including the Tiangangtang's award to the Jiayin Lingguan and the results of the treatment of the Jiashen Lingguan.

Speaking of talking, there is a saying in Taoism: Ziweitang wants to talk to you because he cares about you. Beichen Tang is helping you by talking to you. Everyone just wants to be cared for, not helped. Unfortunately, since Qi Xuansu took office, many people have helped, but only a few have cared about him, so panic is inevitable.

Qi Xuansu continued to talk to several deputy palace masters at home. The attitudes of these deputy palace masters were also very consistent. They all expressed to Qi Xuansu that they absolutely supported the decision of Daomen and Jinque, and supported and cooperated with the decisions of Daomen and the real person in charge. Decide.

The slogans were shouted loudly, but only they themselves knew what they were thinking.

Qi Xuansu doesn't care much about this. He now gradually understands why Taoist sects put stability first. The Taoist government in the Western Region is still at war. It is already chaotic enough and cannot be chaotic anymore. Of course, Zhao Jiaowu's matter must be investigated to the end, but it is best to stop here and not expand it. Once it expands, the entire Taoist government will be panicked, it will be more chaotic, not conducive to stability, and even indirectly affect the front line. The battle situation.

They say the overall situation comes first. What is the overall situation now? It is to ensure victory in the frontline war, maintain the authority of the Taoist sect, and ensure the stability of the entire Taoist sect territory.

Therefore, Qi Xuansu's conversations with these deputy palace masters one by one were essentially a kind of comfort and conveyed the intention of putting the overall situation first. After these deputy palace masters understood the intentions of the above, they knew that the above would not expand, and their minds were able to stabilize. Once they were stable, they spread the word from layer to layer.

When the Taoist government is stable, the frontline war will be stable, the overall situation will be stable, and the Taoist sect will also be stable.

After so many years of experience, Qi Xuansu has become more sophisticated, and the methods he didn't like in the past have become more and more convenient. When he was young, he dismissed the so-called stability, but when he was really in that position, he had to admit it.

It is worth mentioning that Ma Bo, the chief steward of the Taoist government, has completed the review and resumed normal work. Qi Xuansu also apologized to him in person for asking him to act as a cover-up. Naturally, Mabo would not be angry, but said that he could do his best for the Taoist government. It is an honor to contribute.

Of course, when the credits were finally settled, puffball was also one of the meritorious ones.

Then Qi Xuansu held a temporary meeting.

Among the nine deputy palace masters, the chief is not here, and three deputy palace masters followed the master in charge to Qianhuqian County. Now there are only five people at home, including Qi Xuansu, only six.

So Qi Xuansu asked Zhang Yuelu, Li Zhuyu, Li Mingcheng, and Xiao Yin to attend the meeting. Xiao Yin was also a real person. Regardless of whether she could understand the twists and turns, she had the qualifications anyway.

Yan Yongzhen is responsible for recording temporary proceedings.

Qi Xuansu made it clear at the outset: "Today's temporary meeting will only discuss one thing, and that is the issue related to the Chief Deputy Palace Master Zhao Jiaowu. Some fellow Taoists may already know it, and some fellow Taoists may not know it yet. Whether they know it or not, I will I would like to formally inform you that Jinque has decided to suspend Zhao Jiaowu, the chief deputy palace chief, and formally open a case for investigation. If the evidence is conclusive and the crime is found guilty, Zhao Jiaowu will be removed from the relevant positions and handed over to him. Let the competent authorities handle it according to law.”

The entire meeting hall was very silent. The deputy palace masters concentrated on writing and taking notes, recording what the real master wanted to say at any time, even if Yan Yongzhen was already taking notes. This was undoubtedly a gesture of supporting the real master.

Qi Xuansu just looked around briefly and then said: "At present, Zhao Jiaowu has a lot of problems. According to the information we have, he sells his official position, accepts bribes, calls for slaves, takes mistresses, etc., no matter where he is, All of them seriously violate the moral spirit advocated by Taoism and must be dealt with and taken seriously. "

This is undoubtedly a setting tone. Regardless of whether Zhao Jiaowu betrayed Chen Zhengxian or not, the fact that he was put on file for investigation cannot be said to be unjust. It is just that the results are different.

If it is just a matter of interests and morals, as long as it does not cause major losses to the Taoist sect, then it is nothing more than dismissal, confiscation of property, imprisonment, and at most going to Kunlun Taoist temple to cultivate Taoist, and life can still be saved. The Taoist sect has not killed people for a long time.

But if it is a betrayal of the Taoist sect, then most of the time he will be beheaded. The reason why Jiashen Lingguan did not die is that he worked diligently for more than 40 years and made many contributions, and secondly, he did not betray the Taoist sect subjectively, but was plotted against. But even so, Jiashen Lingguan still took off the armor of the first-grade Lingguan and retired in his prime, and even had to be monitored for the rest of his life.

If Zhao Jiaowu betrayed the Taoist sect subjectively, then blood must be shed, especially in the special situation of wartime.

Qi Xuansu leaned back on the chair, and took a little longer than before to look around at the people present, and said: "Everyone can speak freely if they have any opinions or questions."

The second deputy palace master Lu Yujue was the first to express his opinion: "Under the current situation, I think stability should be the first priority, and various factors should be fully considered"

Before Lu Yujue finished speaking, the assistant of the Beichen Hall branch pushed the door and walked into the meeting hall with an anxious face. Lu Yujue was his immediate superior, and he should have reported to Lu Yujue, but it happened that Lu Yujue spoke, so he could only report to the other two superiors of the Beichen Hall.

Both of them are deputy hall masters of Beichen Hall, and Li Zhuyu is the head. After all, Li Zhuyu is the adopted daughter of Qingwei Zhenren, and her invisible status is too high, which has nothing to do with the specific position. Even if Li Zhuyu is just a principal, Li Mingcheng can't be too arrogant in front of her.

After listening to the report of the assistant of Beichen Hall, Li Zhuyu's face suddenly changed. Without caring about anything else, she stood up from the audience.

Her action naturally attracted the attention of others. Everyone present was keeping an eye on everything. In fact, when the assistant of Beichen Hall came in, many people had already noticed it, but they just turned a blind eye and focused on Qi Xuansu's attitude and Lu Yujue's speech. At this time, Li Zhuyu stood up directly, and many people realized that something might have happened.

Lu Yujue had stopped speaking and looked at Li Zhuyu.

As expected, Li Zhuyu walked quickly to Qi Xuansu and reported softly: "Master Qi, something happened, Zhao Jiaowu escaped."

As soon as these words came out, it was no less than a thunder explosion, and everyone was stunned.

Chen Shuhua was not the first chief deputy palace master to defect, and Zhao Jiaowu would not be the last.

If you think about it carefully, this is reasonable. Zhao Jiaowu was isolated and investigated before, but it was only temporary, so he might have a fluke mentality. But when Qi Xuansu came back and officially filed a case against him, he would not have any luck at all.

This is why he did not run away earlier or later, but now. It was not that he had to wait for Qi Xuansu to come back, but Qi Xuansu's decision to bring back Jinque made him desperate.

There is also a problem here. It goes without saying what the end of defection is. If Zhao Jiaowu only had ordinary interests, then there was no need to defect. The risk was too great. He could go to Kunlun Daofu for more than ten years and maybe he would come out. At least he would not worry about his life.

Moreover, the Taoist sect will not abolish your cultivation. As long as your cultivation is still there, there will always be a foothold in the vast world. At most, you can go to a secret society and have a high position. For example, Jin Gong Zushi came from the Taoist sect, and the Eight Divisions also came from the Taoist sect, so they could still have some face.

But Zhao Jiaowu chose to defect at a huge risk, which was a bit of self-incrimination.

Maybe in Zhao Jiaowu's view, defection means death, and filing a case for investigation also means death. It is better to fight hard and maybe you can survive than to wait for death.

In this way, Qi Xuansu does not have to bother collecting evidence, but Zhao Jiaowu must be caught.

Lu Yujue immediately reflected: "I failed in my duty"

Before he finished speaking, Qi Xuansu had already interrupted him with a wave of his hand: "Now is not the time, the key is to catch Zhao Jiaowu back, and Zhao Jiaowu has many secrets, he must be alive."

Then Qi Xuansu looked at Li Zhuyu: "How did Zhao Jiaowu escape?"

Li Zhuyu replied: "There was an insider who attacked the guarding spiritual officer, and there were people outside to help. The two sides cooperated inside and outside and escaped from the Daxueshan Palace through the hidden tunnel in the underground city."

Qi Xuansu looked at Lu Yujue again: "Where is Zhao Jiaowu's son?"

Lu Yujue immediately began to contact the people he arranged: "Close the net immediately, don't let Zhao Jiaowu's son run away."