Pawn Crossing the River

Although the statement of Cihang Zhenren's withdrawal from the election was unexpected, it was reasonable if we calmed down and thought about it carefully.

This was the consensus of the Taoist sect. Anyone who had studied the Taoist election knew that it was mainly the competition between Donghua Zhenren and Qingwei Zhenren. Cihang Zhenren was more or less a vase. Now that Cihang Zhenren had withdrawn from the election, it simply meant that both sides had completely revealed their cards and the competition had entered a white-hot stage.

So after a brief shock, the Taoist sect quickly accepted Cihang Zhenren's decision and did not cause too much waves.

What really caused waves was another piece of news.

That was the big event that Qi Xuansu had been preparing and planning for a long time.

Cihang Zhenren and Donghua Zhenren each issued a statement: After careful consideration, Pei Xuanzhi and Su Zhisheng decided to become Taoist couples, and hereby inform their relatives and friends.

Compared to the commotion when Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu became Taoist couples, the two were very low-key. It was just a simple notice, without polishing, publicity, no promise of growing old together, writing on red paper, no oath of red leaves, and no record of love.

It was more like a daily official letter, straightforward, as if the two hall masters inspected a place.

On the other hand, when Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu got together, there was a lot of commotion. The venue was arranged in advance, invitations were widely sent out, and guests from all walks of life gathered in Yujing, almost affecting half of the Taoist sect. Everyone knew about it.

Although Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu didn't worry much, it was because others carried the burden for them, so they had a peaceful life. In other words, Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu were also manipulated at the time.

However, in terms of the impact on the situation of the Taoist sect, Donghua Zhenren and Cihang Zhenren were far better than Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu.

No matter how promising Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu are, that is a matter of the future, at least decades later, but Donghua Zhenren and Cihang Zhenren are things that are just around the corner, and may even affect the upcoming Lantern Festival election.

The affiliation of the Grand Master will inevitably affect the power structure. Whether to move up a level or go to Kunlun Daofu to cultivate the Taoist temple is just a matter of time.

Damn it, it will affect the official career.

Because of this, although the announcements of Donghua Zhenren and Cihang Zhenren were extremely low-key, the waves they caused were huge, and they instantly became the hottest news in the entire Taoist sect. What about the conflict between Dazun, the Holy Court Observation Group, and even the recent withdrawal of Cihang Zhenren from the election were all overshadowed by this news.

Many people's first reaction is: Is this true? Could it be a rumor?

After all, Donghua Zhenren and Cihang Zhenren are also old, grandparents, can the sunset still be red?

Regarding this matter, except for close people like Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu, it is difficult for others to get the information. At most, they can hear some rumors that are difficult to distinguish between true and false. Therefore, secretaries are so important as people around them. Many people make friends with secretaries just to get a few words about the big shots.

Even if Donghua Zhenren and Cihang Zhenren have made up their minds, they will not shout everywhere. They must hide it in their hearts. Only a very small number of people can know it. Therefore, many people do not know about this matter. Even if they hear rumors, they are skeptical.

Qi Xuansu knows it, but it does not mean that others can know it.

If anyone can get the same treatment as Qi Xuansu, then Qi Xuansu has not struggled in vain.

After this news came out, many people asked around for information. It is naturally unrealistic to want to talk directly to Donghua Zhenren and Cihang Zhenren, the two parties involved. These are the top ten big shots in the entire Taoist sect. They can't talk whenever they want. At most, they can talk to the secretary, and then the secretary will block it. Everything is subject to the announcement. Most people are not willing to waste a rare opportunity to ask such things.

So many people came to ask Qi Xuansu.

Not long after the notice was issued, Qi Xuansu's side became lively.

Of course, these people could not contact Qi Xuansu directly. They could only contact Qi Xuansu's signing room and Yan Yongzhen. However, among these people, there were some respected old Taoist priests, and Qi Xuansu could not ignore them.

Not only could he not ignore them, but he had to be careful.

Qi Xuansu knew that those who could find him here were not ordinary people. Many old Taoist priests were potential members of the election committee for the Grand Master. They were at least the rank of second-grade Taiyi Taoist priests, and there were even first-grade innocent Taoist priests.

Although it was not worth it to please these old Taoist priests, there was no need to offend them.

These old Taoist priests were basically complaining about how to make a surprise attack. People of their age were trying to form a Taoist couple. It was not good to look at, not to hear, and not to say.

Many old Taoist priests were also cunning, no, they were experienced. They suspected that Qi Xuansu was jumping around in it and finally facilitated this matter.

Qi Xuansu would of course deny it, and said how could a junior like him influence two elders? This is nonsense. Even if someone was bringing them together, it must be a higher elder, such as the sixth generation disciples.

This is a hint to the Heavenly Master.

It would be hard for the Heavenly Master, because these old Taoists didn't dare to ask the Heavenly Master for confirmation anyway.

The old Taoists saw that Qi Xuansu was sincere and didn't confront the old senior like Zhang Yuelu did. They thought that this kind of thing was indeed not something that the juniors could do, but the Heavenly Master was a peer, and he was the one who was more advanced among his peers, so it wouldn't work if he relied on his seniority.

The old Taoist priests dared to force Zhang Yuelu, but they immediately withered when facing the Heavenly Master. This was not only due to the difference in realm cultivation and power and status, but also the role of seniority. In terms of seniority, they were the ancestors of the master, and Zhang Yuelu was the grandson of the disciple, but in front of the Heavenly Master, the Heavenly Master was the senior brother. They could not compete when they were young, and they could not compete even more when they were old.

So the old Taoist priests could not say much, and could only complain a few words, saying that such a big thing did not give a notice in advance, making everyone very passive, and so on.

This was of course a big event, like a marriage between two countries, a big event that profoundly affected the political landscape.

However, whether it was Master Donghua or Master Cihang, they did not want to make a big fuss, but just invited friends to witness it together.

To put it bluntly, although the old couple was getting married for the first time, they were still a little embarrassed because they were too old. The key was that the disciples were all married, and it was even more embarrassing to marry later than their own disciples.

However, these friends are also very particular, and naturally they are not ordinary people. Except for Qi Xuansu and Zhang Yuelu, they are mainly relatives and friends.

For example, Su Yuanzai of the Su family, his sons are married, and then he came to attend his sister's "wedding", which is a very wonderful feeling.

Similar to Su Yuanzai is Pei Xiaolou, who has also been married for many years, and finally has a sister-in-law. Although Pei Xiaolou's position is not as good as Su Yuanzai, he was also invited to participate.

In fact, the benchmark for Su Yuanzai should be Pei Shenfu. Donghua Zhenren also invited Pei Shenfu, but it is not clear whether Pei Shenfu will come.

First, Pei Shenfu and Qi Xuansu had a conflict. Can they laugh off their grudges? Qi Xuansu can do it, but Pei Shenfu may not.

Second, Pei Shenfu has always opposed this matter. Donghua Zhenren has no offspring and Taoist partners. Pei Xiaolou and Pei Xiaoyun are used to being bullied by her. The Pei family is her biggest. No matter how powerful Qi Xuansu is, he is not a biological son. After all, he is an outsider. He can inherit the Taoist tradition of Donghua, but he has no right to interfere in the affairs of the Pei family. Just like Zhang Yuelu inherited the mantle of Cihang, but had no right to interfere in the affairs of the Su family. Master is master, family is family, not every family can be as firmly bound to master as Zhang and Li.

From Pei Shenfu's point of view, he was originally the only one in the family, but he suddenly had a sister-in-law, and she was a strong sister-in-law that he could not do anything about. He would definitely not be happy.

However, this time Donghua Zhenren and Cihang Zhenren only became Taoist couples, not married. They will still live their own lives in the future. Not getting married is still within Pei Shenfu's acceptable range, so Pei Shenfu did not directly refuse.

In addition, Baili Zhenye, Zhang Jucheng, the elders of the Zhang family, Qi Niang, Wu Niang, Jiang Da Zhenren, Lan Da Zhenren, Xu Dacheng, Ning Lingge, Shi Da Zhenren, Yun Qingping, Ye Qingshuang, Yao Shu, Qi Jiaozheng, etc. will also participate.

These people have two things in common. One is that they are in high positions and have great power. They are either the head of the hall or the head of the mansion. The second is that they are from Zhengyi Dao and Quanzhen Dao respectively. It can be said that with this opportunity, the top leaders of the two sects formally completed the last step of a comprehensive alliance to jointly fight against the Taiping Dao. The two major camps of Taoism have basically come to a showdown.