Pawn Crossing the River

The young Taoist priest gently pushed away the female crown beside him, stood on the steps of the pavilion, looked down at Qi Xuansu, and said: "Although our Taoist sect never punishes crimes based on words, it does not include deceiving people's hearts and deceiving people with evil words. I think you The two of them are just misleading people with their evil intentions.”

Yao Pei didn't like to be ostentatious, but he also didn't like to keep a low profile. He asked directly: "Who are you?"

The Taoist priest recognized that both of them were Taoist priests of the Fourth Grade Wine Festival. He was still a little wary and moved directly out of the house: "Is this your first time coming to the Wanshou Chongyang Palace? My father is the chief assistant of the Wanshou Chongyang Palace."

Yao Pei's response was only three words: "Very good."

No matter how much she heard in the study, nothing was as real as what she saw with her own eyes.

Qi Xuansu asked softly: "I know who the chief assistant of Wanxiang Dao Palace is, but who is the chief assistant of Wanshou Chongyang Palace?"

Yao Pei said: "Strictly speaking, there is no distinction between the first and second assistants. However, some assistants are highly respected and have a more respected status, so they are also called the chief assistants, such as Mr. Sun. So. From this point of view, this person’s father should be the spiritual leader Zhang Fuli.”

The young Taoist priest raised his eyebrows slightly but said nothing.

This kind of topic "Who is my father?" If it is said from one's own mouth, it will undoubtedly be inferior. Only when it is said from the mouth of others, it can have a shocking effect.

Yao Pei continued: "This Zhang Fuli was born in the Zhang family. His real name is Zhang Kuling. He is extremely talented. He has practiced the 'Five Thunder Heavenly Heart Zhengfa' since he was a child. His thunder method is used in actual combat attacks. He is very powerful. When competing with his brothers, , won more than lost, and originally had a great future. However, he was involved in Zhang Wuhen's incident many years ago and was ignored by the Zhang family. He left the Zhang family in anger and joined Zhengyi, joined Quanzhen Taoism, and changed his name to Zhang Jiao Ling. The earth master valued him and made him the assistant of Wanshou Chongyang Palace."

Qi Xuansu understood. Previously, he was surprised that the Earth Master treated Zhang Yuelu too well. Now it seemed that the Earth Master was not acting on a whim, but had always liked to poach people from the Zhang family. Before Zhang Yuelu, there was a precedent of Zhang Jiaoling, and even Zhang Yuelu had the idea of ​​joining the Quanzhen Tao.

Strictly speaking, Qi Xuansu is also an outstanding talent who transferred from Zhengyi Dao to Quanzhen Dao.

If Qi Xuansu was a heavenly master, he would probably have to ask the earthly master face-to-face: What's wrong with you, that you just catch our family harvesting wool?

In addition, there was Li Minghuang, the adopted son of the Li family, who was originally the son-in-law of the Zhang family, but later transferred to Taiping Road and became the adopted son of the Li family. From childhood to adulthood, the Zhang family paid too much attention to family inheritance and despised the construction of orthodoxy. It is no wonder that the Zhengyi family has been in decline and has gradually become the last of the three families.

Now comparing the three Taoism, Quanzhen Taoism has the largest number of people and the strongest overall strength, but it is also the most loose, with many internal factions and contradictions, making it difficult to integrate. Taiping Dao is second only to Quanzhen Dao in terms of number of people and strength, but with the Li family as the central backbone, they are united and united as one, with fewer conflicts. Instead, they are the most powerful and aggressive. Finally, there is the Zhengyi Tao. In terms of strength and numbers, it is not as good as the Quanzhen Tao. In terms of unity, it is not as good as the Taiping Tao. There are also reasons such as the Zhang family is too rigid. It has fallen to the bottom of the three Tao and has been on the defensive in the dispute between Zhang and Li.

This can also be seen from the ranking of Jinque. Master Donghua is the chief counselor, Master Qingwei is the second counselor, and Master Cihang is the third counselor.

However, this does not mean that Zheng Yiyi is already a withered bone in the grave. It is still one of the legs of the tripod and cannot be replaced.

Let’s put aside the discussion of Zhengdao for the time being, and just talk about the Quanzhen Tao and the Taiping Tao, which are similar to the Great Jin and the Golden Horde. There is no doubt that the Great Jin has a stronger national power, but it is defeated by the Golden Horde cavalry whose national power is far inferior to its own. You have to throw away your armor. The Taiping Dao is similar to the Golden Account, and the Quanzhen Dao is similar to the Jin Dynasty.

Even in a sense, Quanzhen Taoism is like a miniature Taoist sect. It can also be divided into several factions, including the Yao family, the Pei family, and the Qi family, as well as the Xu family, the Shangguan family, and the Ji family. The slightly less powerful aristocratic families, as well as the Wanshou Chongyang Palace faction directly affiliated with the Earth Master, are similar to the lineage of the Grand Master. They obey the orders of the Earth Master, but it does not mean that they are from the same family as the Yao family where the Earth Master was born. .

On the other hand, in Taiping Road, the Li family is the main body, followed by the Shen family and the Lu family as the right-hand men. There is no other force with enough influence.

The difficulty of integrating the two is naturally different.

The current situation of Quanzhen Taoism is that the Yao family and the Pei family have formed an alliance, with the Earth Master as the main body and Donghua Zhenren as the supplement, with the intention of integrating the entire Quanzhen Taoism.

Regardless of the Grand Master, the Earth Master will hand the Quanzhen Tao into the hands of Master Donghua, who will then hand the Quanzhen Tao into the hands of Yao Pei, who was born in the Yao family, thus realizing the rotation between the two families. Take power. Although it is not comparable to the sole control of the Zhang family and the Li family, it can further strengthen the centralization of power, end the situation where several families take turns to be the boss, enhance the continuity of various policies, and further unite the Quanzhen Tao.

Most other families are not willing to do this. They dare not openly oppose the Earth Master and Donghua Master, but it is not difficult to deal with the fledgling Yao Pei.

It is true that every family has its own scriptures that are difficult to recite. Zhang Yuelu was restricted by her Xiaozong background and had no help from her family. However, Zhengyiyi was relatively harmonious. She got help from Zhengyiyi through her own efforts. Yao Pei had two families. They tried their best to help, but they had to face other resistance from within the Quanzhen Tao.

As luck would have it, although Zhang Jiaoling was single-handedly promoted by the Earth Master and admired Master Donghua, it did not mean that he would admire the younger generation of the Earth Master, who had become very close to the Qi family over the years. Only due to the external pressure of Taiping Dao, the opposition voices within Quanzhen Dao were temporarily suppressed. When dealing with foreign enemies, the two sides were still able to work together.

Yao Pei met Zhang Jiaoling's son at this time, and it seemed that they were enemies.

"Zhang Jiaoling's son, according to our Quanzhen Taoist hierarchy, should be of the Yong generation. If we follow the Zhang family's hierarchy, he should be of the Yue generation. How should I call you?" Yao Pei asked.

After hearing this, both the young Taoist priest and the female crown accompanying him had their expressions darkened. After all, calling someone by name is equivalent to swearing. When Yao Pei calls Zhang Yuelu, he always refers to fellow Taoist Qingxiao, not Zhang Yuelu.

However, the young Taoist priest was still somewhat calm and said in a deep voice: "My dear, Zhang Yongyan, have you not asked for your names?"

Qi Xuansu took the initiative to interrupt and said: "It's easy to say, I am Qi Xuansu, the Taoist priest in charge of Ziwei Hall. This girl is my classmate, her surname is Yao, and her single name is 'Pei'."

There was a moment of silence in the entire pavilion.

"It turns out to be Miss Yao..." Zhang Yongyan said slowly.

Yao Pei said: "Don't call me miss. You can call me Yao Daoyou, or you can call me Yao Pei. You just said that I was talking about Taoism and deceiving people with my evil words. Is it your intention or your father's?"

Zhang Yongyan was silent for a moment, then took the initiative to relent and said: "I didn't know it was Miss Yao just now. I'm so offended. Please forgive me, Miss Yao."

Although the two were of the same generation, he was not qualified to compete with Yao Pei.

Yao Pei said calmly: "If the same words are spoken from other people's mouths, it is a false opinion, and if they are spoken from Yao Pei's mouth, it is a misunderstanding. Is this what you mean?"

Zhang Yongyan didn't know how to answer, so he could only remain silent.

After all, Yao Pei was not Zhang Yuelu, so he did not continue to delve into this point. He pointed at the many female crowns beside Zhang Yongyan: "What is their relationship with you?"

"We are all seniors and sisters, coming out to enjoy the scenery together." Zhang Yongyan said bravely.

Yao Pei said expressionlessly: "The Earth Master intends for me to start as the assistant manager of Wanshou Chongyang Palace. I will be mainly responsible for rectifying the internal and external atmosphere. I hope Brother Zhang Dao will not disappoint me."

Zhang Yongyan's face turned pale.

Yao Pei's eyes fell on a very young female crown, and asked: "Are these also senior sisters?"

Zhang Yongyan hesitated for a moment and then said: "It's...a nephew."

Yao Pei's face was still expressionless: "Taoists don't punish crimes based on words, but they punish crimes based on actions. I believe Brother Dao Zhang will not let me down. Brother Dao Qi, let's go."

Qi Xuansu, who was watching the show from the side, laughed, which was extremely harsh.

Zhang Yongyan, who did not dare to react to Yao Pei's anger, immediately hated Qi Xuansu and took a deep look at Qi Xuansu, as if he wanted to remember Qi Xuansu's appearance in his heart.

The Yao Pei family has a high family background, good qualifications, and a bright future. After all, I, Zhang Yongyan, am not Zhang Yuelu. I cannot afford to offend this daughter of the Yao family. I have to bow my head under the roof. I admit it.

But who do you think you are, you dare to laugh at me?

Because Zhang Jiaoling was on good terms with the Qi family, Zhang Yongyan was also on good terms with all the children of the Qi family. He was very sure that the person in front of him was not a member of the Qi family.

In today's Taoist sect, although the slogan of equality is loud and clear, when it comes to practice, can the children of aristocratic families and the orphans from the Wanxiang Taoist Palace really get along as equals?

This is just like the "world of great harmony" of Confucianism, with flowers in the mirror, the moon in the water, and castles in the sky.

The circle of children of these aristocratic families has a threshold. What is your surname, what is the position of the old man and how your ancestors got rich? This is very important. It is related to where you come from. If you are a new upstart, you will not be able to attract their attention.

As for how to define the nouveau riche, it generally goes back to before Xuan Sheng defeated Confucianism. This also makes sense, because those who followed Xuan Sheng before the defeat of Confucianism have become the norm after arriving at Zhongxing Daomen, and they are generally among the thirty-six Shenzhi Zhenren.

In the eyes of some aristocratic families, those who join the Taoist sect after defeating the Confucian sect are not worth mentioning, because the most difficult period of the Taoist sect has passed by then, and they are about to take over the world, so they are not considered elders.

If you ask about the deeds of your ancestors, it will involve various sects and complicated histories.

For example, if someone with a surname other than Li said that my ancestors followed Xuansheng as early as the second year of Tianbao, it would be a lie. Because the second year of Tianbao was the gloomiest year for Xuan Sheng, he encountered the biggest setback in his life. A major change and the destruction of his allies. He was the only one to survive. He also lost his realm cultivation. The Li family was also deposed. After losing his identity as heir, it can be said that everyone was betrayed and separated from his relatives. Xuan Sheng had to hide from the world and live in seclusion for four years. Who would follow a useless person at this time? So it sounds like a lie.

Therefore, not everyone can enter this kind of aristocratic family circle. Just a few simple conversations, if you have not studied that period of history in depth, the secret will be exposed immediately, and most of the aristocratic family members are self-taught.

In fact, this kind of threshold is not obvious in Zhengyiyi and Quanzhen Taoism. Because the Zhang family and the Li family are pressing down, no one can cross these two families. It is inevitably ridiculous to set up this kind of threshold, but the Zhang and Li families can even Dating back to the early days of Dao Sect, the threshold was already high enough, so there was no need to do anything extra.

But in Quanzhen Tao, where fish and dragons are mixed, the barriers are extremely tight.

Although Zhang Yongyan is not a native of the Quanzhen Taoist family like Qi Jianyuan, but because his father Zhang Jiaoling has a respected status, has an equal relationship with Qi Jiaozheng, the master of Shuzhou Taoist government, and is from the Zhang family, so Zhang Yongyan was easily accepted by the upper-level circles within Quanzhen Taoism. .

Because of this, he dared to travel openly with all the beauties at the feet of Wanshou Chongyang Palace, and he looked down on Qi Xuansu, even though Qi Xuansu was already a fourth-grade wine-sacrifice Taoist priest.

Qi Xuansu was not afraid and laughed it off.

The two continued to climb the mountain, Qi Xuansu said: "Cousin, is this the Quanzhen Taoist lady you want to introduce to your cousin?"

Without saying a word, Yao Pei suddenly quickened his pace.