Pawn Crossing the River

It is the fifteenth day after the New Year. There is only half a month before the general election. Many things are too late, so Qi Xuansu must get a few things done before the New Year.

The first thing is what he just said, to end the so-called conflict in the Darzun area on the border, and to end it in a relatively perfect manner, which is essentially to help Donghua Zhenren in the election. If it ends badly, there is a possibility that old scores will be opened, and it may even be traced all the way back to the Western Region War led by Donghua Zhenren himself. This conflict will be regarded as a continuation of the Western Region War, and it can be concluded that the Western Region War did not complete its full contribution. Even the conclusion of failure will make Master Donghua very passive.

Donghua Zhenren put Qi Xuansu in the position of the real person in charge of the Taoist government in the Western Regions against all opinions. It is for this reason that he believes that Qi Xuansu's ability can ensure the stability of the Western Regions.

Qi Xuansu did not disappoint Master Donghua. He killed Monk Xiao and avenged Chen Zheng first, and he was already in an invincible position. Next, Xiao Bodhisattva will be severely injured. As long as the conflict is successfully ended, passivity will be transformed into initiative.

Now there is only the last step left, just follow the steps.

The second thing is what he is doing now, which is to promote good things for Master Donghua and Master Cihang.

Putting aside the issue of the ownership of the Heavenly Master and the Earth Master for the time being, just consider it from the perspective of the general election. Although Cihang is ranked last among the three princes, it does not mean that she has no supporters. If the two form a Taoist couple, then the votes of the two can be concentrated on one person.

However, it is difficult to grasp the scale of this matter. If you push too hard, Cihang will feel that Qi Xuansu is forcing her to withdraw from the election. Cihang can

Not Qiniang, Qiniang is just unforgiving in words, but in fact she is very tolerant of Qi Xuansu. Master Cihang is easy to talk to, but after all, she is separated by a layer and is easily disgusted. If Master Cihang's rebellious mentality is aroused, then... Self-defeating.

But if we don’t mention it, whether it’s Master Cihang or Master Donghua, they are all people of high status, and they are very reserved. No one will say this, let alone take the initiative. There must be a middleman.

Many Taoist elders want to be this middleman, but the results are not ideal. To sum it up in one sentence: With this face, the relationship between the two people is almost meaningless. There is enough affection, but not enough in terms of face.

Qi Xuansu is different. Needless to say, they are close friends. He is the son-in-law of Master Cihang and a disciple of Master Donghua. There is no closer relationship than this.

As for face, Qi Xuansu might have been a bit shy in the past, but Qi Xuansu is no longer what he used to be. In those days, the states of the Qi court were divided into upper, middle and lower levels. They were all the same state officials, and the rank of Shangzhou was higher than that of Xiazhou. high. The Taoist sect also has this idea. The importance of the masters of different Taoist houses cannot be generalized. Qi Xuansu became the master of the Taoist house in the Western Regions. He is at the top of the ranking and is already a candidate for Jiutang. It is not an exaggeration to say that Qi Xuansu has become more mature. .

Even the Third Master can no longer regard Qi Xuansu as a "child". When children grow up, even parents can no longer act arbitrarily and have to seek their children's opinions.

And unlike the older generation who rely on their elders to support their elders, they cannot be allowed to bow their heads and say the word "beg", which is somewhat like pressing their heads hard. As a member of the younger generation, Qi Xuansu mainly keeps his head down and acts small.

There is no baggage about this.

So Qi Xuansu decided to test carefully while slowly advancing.

Since Master Cihang himself took the initiative to clarify the issues of "accompanying people" and "Celestial Masters with different surnames", a lot of things can be said easily.

At this time, only Qi Xuansu and Cihang were in the pledge room, and even Qian Wan had left.

Master Cihang bypassed the desk and began to pace back and forth in the signing room.

Qi Xuansu regarded this as a signal and decided to go further: "Mother-in-law, this issue must be considered. Although I am the son-in-law of the Zhang family, I have to say something fair. Even Qingxiao, the eldest member of the Zhang family, cannot tolerate him. , sent Qingxiao to Beichen Hall. Unless Dazong really had no successor and had the will of the Heavenly Master, there would be no possibility of compromise. To put it bluntly, Qingxiao, a member of the Zhang family, is like this, and her mother-in-law is not named Zhang. , No matter how close the relationship is, the Zhang family will never give up the position of Heavenly Master."

Master Cihang stopped and glanced at Qi Xuansu, but did not refute.

This undoubtedly encouraged Qi Xuansu to continue talking.

Qi Xuansu continued: "Of course my Uncle Zhang is not as far away as my mother-in-law, but the elders of the Zhang family standing behind him should not be underestimated. Even the Heavenly Master has been hampered by them in recent years. Just as My mother-in-law said that if the elders of the Zhang family do not support my mother-in-law, it will be difficult to win the position of Heavenly Master."

Qi Xuansu paused for a moment, observed Master Cihang's face, and continued: "If the competition for the Great Master fails, my mother-in-law is in her prime, and there are still decades of good time, so she cannot waste it on the position of Master Pingzhang. . It’s not that Pingzhang Dazen is not good, but

Ping Zhang Da Zhenren has too many limitations, which not only wronged his mother-in-law, but also wasted her talents. In the end, it was not only the mother-in-law’s loss, but also the Taoist sect’s loss. "

Master Cihang finally said: "What do you think it should be?"

This is asking knowingly. Master Cihang wants to reach a higher level. Qi Xuansu intends to show off in a high-profile way: "Forgive Xuansu for speaking out. In order to better serve the Taoist sect, and also for the sake of the overall harmony and stability of the Taoist sect, my mother-in-law Regardless of personal reputation gain or loss, you should be prepared with both hands and try your best to win the position of the Grand Master's wife. The Grand Master's wife is the first female Taoist priest, and now the mother-in-law is indeed the first female Taoist priest. In this position, besides the mother-in-law, no one else can. There is no more suitable candidate, many people are looking at my mother-in-law."

Speaking of this, Master Cihang can no longer pretend to be confused: "I have thought about it for a long time and thought about fighting for this position, but I have many worries and can never take a step forward. If I really take this step, then How will you evaluate me in the future?"

Qi Xuansu said in a deep voice: "Back then, Emperor Taizong of the Qi Dynasty killed his brother and imprisoned his father, but he was still a sage king and lord who will be remembered for generations. Coincidentally, Emperor Taizong of the Wei Dynasty raised an army to suppress the troubles, and he was also a sage king and lord who shouldered the heavy burden of the world. The merits and demerits of this person are beyond anyone’s ability to judge.”

Master Cihang was silent for a long time, and finally sighed softly: "If that's the case, then so be it."

The words were a bit ambiguous, but Qi Xuansu still understood the meaning and said: "Xuansu resigned."

Master Cihang waved

Waving his hand: "Before you leave Yujing, give me an answer."

Qi Xuansu was determined, and his voice suddenly rose a little higher: "Yes."

After leaving Tiangang Hall, Qi Xuansu went straight to Ziweitang.

It’s not easy to be a matchmaker.

If Qi Xuansu went to Tiangang Hall to go to his mother-in-law's house, then when Qi Xuansu went to Ziwei Hall, he went back to his own home. The journey was smooth and no notification was needed until he was outside Donghua's signature room.

After Gong Jiaojun informed, Qi Xuansu walked into the signing room of Master Donghua.

Master Donghua was dealing with official documents and asked without raising his head: "Tianyuan, have you finished your work?"

"Yes." Qi Xuansu responded, then pretended to hesitate.

Master Donghua raised his head, glanced at Qi Xuansu, understood, and signaled Gong Jiaojun to go out.

After Gong Jiaojun left, Qi Xuansu walked to Master Donghua's desk and began to help Master Donghua polish his ink: "Master, I just came back from Master Cihang."

Master Donghua paused in his marking movement, but still did not raise his head: "Is there anything going on with Master Cihang?"

"That's not true." Qi Xuansu said slowly, "It's just that I had some feelings and suddenly had an idea."

"What do you think?" Master Donghua asked.

Qi Xuansu said slowly: "Master wants to compete for the Great Master, and he is missing a partner."

Master Donghua put down the ink pen in his hand, looked at Qi Xuansu, and said nothing.

Qi Xuansu regarded this as tacit approval and continued: "The position of the Grand Master's wife has been vacant for a long time, even longer than the position of the Grand Master. I heard that the female Taoist priests are very dissatisfied, saying that the top leaders of the Taoist sect have not When it comes to equality, there are not enough female Taoist priests.”

Where is Donghua Zhenren?

Li still didn't understand, so he asked directly: "Then what do you mean?"

Qi Xuansu couldn't help but curse in his heart: "Could it be that you two had discussed it in advance, why are you always talking like this?"

However, Qi Xuansu kept his face quiet and said bluntly: "It's time for Master to find a Taoist companion."

Master Donghua was noncommittal: "I'm already this age, is it appropriate?"

Qi Xuansu had done his homework a long time ago and hurriedly said: "There is nothing inappropriate. After all, the concepts of so-called Taoist couples and secular couples are different. They get married casually and are not bound by secular patriarchal laws. There is no need to start a family together. Yes. If the Taoist precepts prohibit sexual intercourse between men and women, then there is no such thing as intercourse between men and women. What happens specifically depends on what precepts you have received and what you have accomplished."

Regarding this point, Qi Xuansu is really not making up nonsense. Strictly speaking, both Zhengyi Dao and Taiping Dao allow marriage. In these two Dao, there is basically no difference between Taoist couples and husband and wife. Although Qi Xuansu is a Quanzhen Taoist, he was originally a disciple of Zhengdao, and he was able to start a family. Strictly speaking, he and Zhang Yuelu were both husband and wife and Taoist lovers.

Quanzhen Taoists were not allowed to have families, but this rule gradually became looser, and many Quanzhen Tao disciples also started families. Later, the obvious distinction was the name. Those who keep their surnames can start a family. If a disciple of the Quanzhen Tao who abandons his real name and uses a Taoist name is similar to a Buddhist disciple, he must abide by the precepts and eat vegetarian food and not get married. In this situation of non-marriage, there is a difference between Taoist couples and husband and wife. Taoist couples are Taoist couples, and husband and wife are husband and wife.

Husband and wife need to be united and start a family, but this is not necessarily the case for Taoist couples.

Qi Xuansu's suggestion was that the two of them should form a

Taoist couples should not start a family. After all, Master Cihang is the head of the Su family, and Master Donghua is the head of the Pei family. If they really want to start a family, the two families have too many involvements, and it is difficult to balance them in a moment. It is better to form a pure marriage. Taoist couple, even the matters of men and women are omitted.

Strictly speaking, the wife of the Grand Master can be either the wife of the Grand Master or the Taoist companion of the Grand Master.

In other words, apart from being Taoist companions in name only, the two of them still went back to their respective homes without interfering with each other. Of course, if the two of them are interested and really want to go further, then no one will say anything, it all depends on the two of them.