Qi Xuansu and Zhang Jucheng sat in the office drinking tea while waiting for news.

At their level of authority, most matters no longer required them to act personally. Issuing orders was enough.

Li Tianlan had been busy accompanying the Western Daoist delegation on their tour of Jiangnan Daoist Mansion.

Naturally, this was not Li Tianlan’s own intention, but Zhang Jucheng’s arrangement.

Zhang Jucheng’s reasoning was, “Second Deputy Li has spent the longest time in the Jiangnan Daoist Mansion among all of us, so he is the most familiar and knowledgeable about Jiangnan. Having Second Deputy Li accompany the guests on their tour could not be more appropriate.”

The reason was valid, leaving Li Tianlan with no room to refuse.

This was the authority of a strong Mansion Master.

Even though Li Tianlan clearly knew that Zhang Jucheng’s move was meant to tie him down and keep him too occupied to act elsewhere, he could not do anything about it. After all, Zhang Jucheng was the Mansion Master, while Li Tianlan was merely the Second Deputy. He had no choice but to obey orders.

This situation could not be compared to Qi Xuansu’s circumstances back in Poluo. That was because Qi Xuansu had gone there bearing the status of a Golden Tower Council special envoy. Second, he had Great Sage Lan backing him. This was different from merely having influential supporters behind the scenes. Great Sage Lan was the highest authority of the Poluo Daoist Mansion, so he could act openly and override the Mansion Master. Background influence had to operate indirectly, nowhere near as immediate or effective.

It was the combination of these two factors that gave Qi Xuansu such great autonomy, allowing him to disregard Wang Jiahe’s orders.

Yao Shu had been manipulated by Sage Donghua, who had personally shaped the power structure of Poluo Daoist Mansion. Pei Xiaolou, Xie Jiaofeng, Ji Jiaozhen, and others were Sage Donghua’s people, so they naturally understood Sage Donghua’s intentions and obeyed Qi Xuansu’s commands. Yao Shu himself was originally one of Sage Donghua’s people as well, but after disagreements arose between Sage Donghua and the Earthly Preceptor, they were no longer on the same side.

Li Tianlan no longer possessed such favorable conditions. After the second major Jiangnan case, the power structure of Jiangnan Daoist Mansion had been reshuffled and thoroughly purged. As such, many of Li Tianlan’s arrangements came to naught, greatly weakening his influence.

One should not underestimate Li Tianlan. During the first major Jiangnan case, Sage Donghua had advocated a strict and thorough investigation, declaring his intention to use this case to create a wedge to expose the truth. Yet even after two major Jiangnan cases, Li Tianlan still stood firm. Although he had the Li family as his backing, this still demonstrated that Li Tianlan’s methods were exceptionally formidable. However, no matter how skilled he was, it was impossible to remain completely unscathed. Through the two major cases, Li Tianlan had paid a considerable price and had been weakened gradually.

This gave Qi Xuansu and Zhang Jucheng the opportunity to attack.

Qi Xuansu had also seen this clearly. He had originally thought that Zhang Yuelu would one day become the Jiangnan Daoist Mansion Master and that she would bring down Li Tianlan during her tenure.

That would have become quite the story, as it would be Zhang Yuelu’s third campaign against the Jiangnan Daoist Mansion.

What Qi Xuansu had not expected was that he would drastically accelerate the process, leaving no need for Zhang Yuelu to personally handle a third major Jiangnan case.

The person specifically tasked with carrying out the operation this time was Zhang Qingyue. Although Zhang Qingyue lacked his younger cousin Zhang Yuelu’s fame and talent, he was far from ordinary. As a seventh-generation disciple with Wuliang-stage cultivation, he was currently a Deputy Palace Master in the Dazhen Mansion. Zhang Jucheng had specially transferred him from Wuzhou to execute this mission.

Zhang Qingyue was a seventh-generation disciple. Although in terms of family seniority, he belonged to the same generation as Zhang Yuelu, in Daoist generational hierarchy, he was one generation above her, effectively placing him in the same generation as his uncle Zhang Jucheng. Age-wise, Zhang Qingyue was just slightly older than Bai Yingqiong, which was how he barely made it into the tail end of the seventh generation.

In other words, Zhang Qingyue belonged to the youngest cohort among the seventh-generation disciples, while Bai Yingqiong belonged to the oldest cohort among the eighth generation. In reality, the two were only one year apart.

However, Bai Yingqiong was on track to becoming an Omniscient Sage, while Zhang Qingyue remained merely a Deputy Palace Master. Cultivation level was a hard requirement and did not automatically guarantee a high office. Even among Immortals, some became Grand Masters, while others only reached the level of Virtuous Great Sage. It depended on personal opportunity.

In this regard, male and female Daoists each had their own advantages.

Male Daoists found it easier to attain supreme authority. Or rather, supreme authority was almost always held by male Daoists.

On the other hand, female Daoists found it difficult to attain the highest positions of power. That was because no one would be a gentleman when it came to supreme authority, and there would be no preferential treatment. Everything depended entirely on ability.

However, under the Daoist Order’s broader principle of gender equality, female Daoists could sometimes take shortcuts. Many positions required a certain number of women, something many powerful figures jokingly referred to as “displaying flower vases.” As a result, female Daoists could indeed advance a few steps ahead in certain situations and positions, sparing themselves considerable effort.

To put it bluntly, competition among male Daoists was simply too intense. Sometimes, with the same cultivation level and the same qualifications, a female Daoist could advance one step further and even be held up as a model example for widespread praise, while a male Daoist would remain where he was, regarded as utterly ordinary.

This could be viewed as a form of political correctness or preferential treatment, but it only applied at the lower and middle levels. Once one reached the upper levels, it instead became a disadvantage.

Whether this constituted a form of hidden discrimination or merely an objective statement of fact was open to interpretation.

Bai Yingqiong had another advantage, which was her status as an eighth-generation disciple. That label aligned with the Daoist Order’s push toward promoting youth. As such, Zhang Qingyue suffered from being classified as a seventh-generation disciple.

In summary, such preferential treatment only extended as far as the second rank. Beyond that point, whether one was male or female ceased to matter. Everything depended entirely on one’s capability.

The reality was that within the Golden Tower Council, male Daoists still occupied the overwhelming majority. Among those Qi Xuansu had personally encountered, there were only three female Omniscient Sages—Sage Cihang, Li Ruoshui, and Ye Qingshuang.

After all, a leader had to be strong in order to command respect. Women more often took on the role of the protected rather than the protector. A man who failed to protect his wife and children would be mocked and criticized, yet no one criticized a wife for being unable to protect her husband. Thus, this did not instill confidence for great responsibilities.

Only by first tearing away the label of “the protected” and taking on equal responsibility could one achieve true equality and obtain equal power.

Power gained through preferential treatment was nothing more than charity bestowed by others. Though it could be granted to a woman for the sake of equality, it could just as easily be taken away for the sake of something else.

Wanting everything all at once would never work. To gain something, one must also lose something.

After receiving Zhang Jucheng’s orders, Zhang Qingyue immediately led his men to Li Tianlan’s residence.

Li Tianlan naturally had guards stationed there, but he could hardly assign a Wuliang-stage expert to watch over his household. The cultivation levels of these guards were therefore fairly limited.

In truth, Li Tianlan’s greatest protection was not these guards but the Daoist Order itself.

If outsiders to the Daoist Order attempted to harm his family, it would amount to provoking the entire Order, which would trigger retaliation. If insiders within the Daoist Order wanted to touch his family, they had to do so with legitimate and reasonable grounds. Otherwise, they would be punished by the Order, essentially shooting themselves in the foot.

That was why Qi Xuansu and Zhang Jucheng had gone through such enormous effort and taken such a long detour. Everything was for the sake of this legitimacy.

Zhang Qingyue knocked on the gates of the Li residence. The attendant who came to answer the door carried himself with a certain poise. Though inwardly alarmed, his expression remained unchanged as he asked, “Who are you, people? What do you want?”

Though he was merely a Daoist believer, he showed not the slightest fear when facing a crowd of Daoist priests and Spirit Guards.

Zhang Qingyue remained silent. A Daoist priest at his side produced an official warrant. “We request that the lady of this residence come with us for questioning and investigation.”

The attendant seemed unable to process those words. “You want the Madam to go with you? Do you even know who the Master of the house is? My master is the Second Deputy of the Jiangnan Daoist Mansion. Under whose orders are you acting?”

The Daoist priest calmly replied, “We are acting under the orders of the Mansion Master.”

Only then did the attendant begin to feel afraid. The current Mansion Master was not like the previous ones. His authority was immense, so much so that even Li Tianlan had to yield to him to some extent.

Just as the attendant was hesitating on what to do, Zhang Qingyue, who had remained silent all this time, finally spoke. “Move aside!”

The Daoist priest beside Zhang Qingyue simply reached out and shoved the attendant aside, after which Zhang Qingyue led his men directly into the Li residence.

At this moment, the residence’s guards also rushed out.

Zhang Qingyue declared, “Under the orders of the Mansion Master, we are taking Gu Ying away for investigation. Anyone who dares obstruct us will be treated as opposing the Daoist Mansion!”

To oppose the Daoist Mansion was to oppose the Daoist Order itself, so the guards immediately hesitated. Such an accusation was too grave for them to bear. Moreover, the situation was unclear. If Li Tianlan had truly gotten into trouble, there was no reason for them to die alongside him.

The captain of the guards asked, “Who are you? I’ve served in the Daoist Mansion for many years. How have I never seen you before?”

Zhang Qingyue replied, “I am Zhang Qingyue, Deputy Palace Master of the Dazhen Mansion, ordered to assist in a cross-regional investigation.”

Upon hearing the words “cross-regional investigation,” everyone’s faces turned pale again. Why would outside personnel be brought in for the case?

Yet duty bound them, and they did not dare retreat easily. They were trapped between advancing and withdrawing. Of course, some were unafraid of the Daoist Mansion, such as members of the Heavenly Court. However, Li Tianlan could not keep these rogues in his residence. Most often, the Heavenly Court members would disappear immediately after completing dirty work. The guards here all had legitimate identities.

Just as the situation stood on the brink of erupting, Gu Ying finally appeared.