Pawn Crossing the River

After a major personnel change, the Western Region Daofu finally calmed down for a short time and was back on track.

Although some positions have not been completely sorted out, the top leaders of the Daofu have been completely determined, with Qi Xuansu, the head of the mansion, as the center, the chief deputy mansion master Li Zhuyu, and the second deputy mansion master Lu Yujue. This is very different from the previous power structure of the Western Region Daofu. Although the position of the head of the mansion is still firmly in the hands of Quanzhen Dao, the chief and second are both from Taiping Dao, which has never happened in hundreds of years.

Hu Jiaochong proposed that the top leaders of the Daofu make a collective appearance. This is actually a routine. Qi Xuansu has experienced a lot. Every time he takes office, there is usually a welcoming banquet within the Daofu, and then there is a banquet to invite people from all walks of life who are not from the Daofu to participate. In fact, it is just a show, everyone gets to know each other, and it is convenient to carry out work in the future.

This time, because Qi Xuansu took office in a hurry, the war was imminent, the previous head of the mansion was assassinated, and there were internal spies, he really couldn't take care of these, so he simply skipped this step. Now the Daofu has been stabilized initially, so Hu Jiaochong proposed to take advantage of Li Zhuyu's appointment to organize a banquet, which is equivalent to combining three banquets into one, so that the local snakes in the Western Regions can get to know the three newly appointed Daofu senior officials. Of course, the acquaintance is mutual, and Qi Xuansu can also take this opportunity to have a general understanding of the leading figures in the Western Regions.

Qi Xuansu thought about it and agreed, but he did not advocate a grand ceremony. After all, the front line was still fighting, and the Daofu should keep everything simple.

Hu Jiaochong is a senior member of the local faction and has a good relationship with the people, so this matter will be arranged by him.

Three days later, this belated banquet was held in the Snow Mountain Palace. The people invited to the banquet were all big figures on the ground in the Western Regions. These people were also very active and eager to get to know and please the new real person in charge of the government. After all, the emperor has his own ministers, and no one knows what the future will be like.

The old mansion master Chen Zhengxian died, the old chief Yao Pei went to Ziwei Hall to be the chief, and the old deputy Zhao Jiaowu defected. This time, the Daofu was reshuffled. The new mansion master Qi Xuansu, the new chief Li Zhuyu, and the new deputy Lu Yujue have a common feature. They are all from Beichen Hall, and they are the chief deputy hall master, deputy hall master, and assistant respectively. This is a bit chilling.

This seems to indicate that Jinque is very dissatisfied with the current situation of the Western Region Daofu and wants to "help" the Western Region Daofu. The recent series of personnel changes have also confirmed this speculation.

This makes the recent climate very depressing.

After all, no one dares to say that he is absolutely clean. Usually, he can't avoid dealing with people in the Daofu. There are some contacts. Now a large number of people in the Daofu have fallen and are imprisoned. God knows whether he will be implicated. Now people from Beichen Hall are leading the Western Region Daofu. Isn't this the rhythm of a big case? If it falls into the hands of Beichen Hall, how can it be good?

For people outside the Daofu, the "concern" of Ziwei Hall has nothing to do with them, but the "help" of Beichen Hall can always involve them.

The three senior officials of the Daofu appeared collectively to give speeches. Qi Xuansu stood in the middle, with Li Zhuyu on the left and Lu Yujue on the right.

In fact, it was just some polite words. It was impossible to talk about official business in such an occasion. At most, he talked about some fantasies about the future. Then Qi Xuansu handed the "stage" to Li Zhuyu and Lu Yujue, and he went to the lounge first.

Anyway, he is the real person in charge of the house. He is the biggest here. Others can't control him. They can only cooperate with the real person in charge of the house. There is no reason for the real person in charge of the house to accommodate themselves.

Qi Xuansu came to the lounge and sat on the sofa. Hu Jiaochong and Yan Yongzhen followed in one after another. They would specially introduce some important people to meet Qi Xuansu alone. Qi Xuansu had similar experience, such as Qi Muyu introducing Chen Jianqiu to him. Many relationships were established in such occasions.

These people usually have some resources and can help Qi Xuansu. At the same time, they also need Qi Xuansu and will use their connections to get in touch with Qi Xuansu. Therefore, the first meeting usually takes place in some more private occasions to release goodwill and get closer.

Today's first guest is a woman, a widow, surnamed Ma.

This certainly cannot be said to be very popular with women, because this Madam Ma is about the same age as Qi Niang, only less than ten years younger than Qi Niang.

Of course, her achievements cannot be compared with Qi Niang, after all, they are in different circles. In fact, Qi Niang is considered to be a relatively ordinary person in their circle, not as good as Cihang Zhenren, and a little worse than Zhou Mengyao. Unfortunately, the threshold of this circle is a bit too high. Even the more ordinary Qi Niang can be called a giant in the world.

However, in the eyes of ordinary people, this Madam Ma is already a great figure.

No matter where you go, there is always a local emperor-like existence. This is the case with the family of this Madam Ma. Although it is not as influential as the Zhang family and the Li family, it is still the one who has the final say in a prefecture. Madam Ma's husband died in an accidental revenge killing in his early years, and her eldest son, who had grown up, also died in an unclear manner. She was pregnant at the time. She managed the family business for more than 20 years. Not only did she not let others lose their family, but she also raised her youngest son and kept the family business going.

She has always had a problem. Her husband has a brother, her brother-in-law, known as Ma Erye. When Ma Daye and Ma Dagongzi died, Ma Erye was afraid and dared not stand out, which allowed Madam Ma to take the position and take power. But when the situation stabilized, Ma Erye wanted to pick peaches again. He wanted to drive Madam Ma away under the banner of the family heir and satisfy his addiction as the head of the family.

The two have been fighting for the power of the family for many years. Although Ma Erye has not been able to defeat Madam Ma, Madam Ma cannot do anything to him. It is not that Madam Ma is kind-hearted, but that Ma Erye is not easy to mess with. He has a lot of connections. In the past few years, he even got close to the Yao family. It just so happens that Yao Pei is the chief deputy lord of the Western Region Daofu. Although Yao Pei said nothing and did nothing, the mere existence of Yao Pei made Madam Ma very afraid.

Madam Ma could only tolerate it again and again. Originally, Ma Erye had secretly united with many swaying elders and was about to seize power. Who would have thought that Yao Pei would be promoted all of a sudden, not in the Western Region Daofu, but in Yujing. As the saying goes, the county magistrate is not as good as the current one. The Daofu has undergone a major change, and without a backer, some things are not so easy to handle. Those elders who originally promised to do so began to waver again, and the matter of seizing power was out of the question.

Seeing that he failed to seize power, and his nephew was growing up day by day, it would be even more difficult for him to deal with the boy when he could support the family. The father died and the son inherited the family, so what was wrong with him as an uncle? It was not legitimate! So he simply proposed to split the family and save half of the family property first.

This was a reasonable thing, and the elders of the clan also had this idea. After all, it was not right to keep making trouble, but Madam Ma was in a difficult situation. She and Hu Jiaochong were old friends, so she came to Hu Jiaochong for help.

For Hu Jiaochong, it was not difficult for him, the deputy lord of the mansion, to suppress Ma Er. The key was that Hu Jiaochong did not want to offend the Yao family, so he gave Madam Ma an idea to ask the new master of the mansion.

In terms of master-disciple relationship, the master of the mansion was the junior brother of Master Yao; in terms of seniority, he was the cousin of Master Yao. As long as the master of the mansion was willing to come forward, Master Yao would not say anything, and Ma Er would not be able to make a big wave.

So Madam Ma asked Qi Xuansu for help under the recommendation of Hu Jiaochong.

This is also an exchange of interests. As long as the real person in charge of the mansion is willing to help, then no matter what the real person in charge of the mansion asks in the future, whether it is public or private, she will never say anything. With the support of the local snake like the Ma family, Qi Xuansu will have a more stable foothold in the Western Regions.

Qi Xuansu can certainly use the power in his hands to force the Ma family to help him, but the result will inevitably be lip service, how can it be compared with active cooperation?

And this matter is not about principles, he can preside over this justice.

So Qi Xuansu did not refuse, he didn't even have to take action, as long as he allowed Madam Ma to use his banner and clearly supported Madam Ma, then Madam Ma could solve the rest of the things by herself.

To put it bluntly, Madam Ma does not lack the support of power from below, but lacks the claim of power from above, she needs a "name of the real person Qi".

Qi Xuansu can give this name, he needs the resources in Madam Ma's hands to support him in doing something. Qi Xuansu is not interested in money and sex, but if he wants to control the Western Region Daofu, he can't do without the support of Taiping money.

After Hu Jiaochong led Madam Ma in, he asked Madam Ma to wait aside. He first made a brief introduction to Qi Xuansu. Yan Yongzhen served two cups of tea, and then the two of them withdrew, leaving the space for Qi Xuansu and Madam Ma.

Qi Xuansu did not care too much. He had experienced this kind of thing many times, and it was a similar process.

However, when Madam Ma came to Qi Xuansu, Qi Xuansu suddenly felt something strange.

Qi Xuansu was not Li Changge. His "Heart of the Immortal Stone" did not have the magical power to predict danger, but Qi Xuansu had the "Gui Zang Lantern", which could also play a similar role. After he became the real person in charge of the house, he had no shortage of divine power, and he always kept the "Gui Zang Lantern" in a state of sufficient "lamp oil".

Just now, the "Gui Zang Lantern" issued a warning to him, allowing him to see a fragment of the future. That fragment had nothing but a pair of fake eyes.

Madam Ma sat opposite Qi Xuansu, with a kind but fake smile on her face, and said in a gentle voice: "Master Qi, we meet again."

The atmosphere in the lounge suddenly froze, and Qi Xuansu's face became extremely solemn.

"Madam Ma" looked directly at Qi Xuansu and said to herself: "Where is that strange little girl? Isn't she with you? Without her, can you still hold your biggest trump card? Even if you can, this is the Great Snow Mountain Palace, there are so many people, you dare not summon the "Heaven" at will?"