Chapter 99: The Black Robes

Chapter 99: The Black Robes

Qi Xuansu smiled. “Why won’t I dare to say that? Anyway, I don’t know who my parents or ancestors are since I was adopted by the Wanxiang Daoist Palace. So I’m not afraid of gossip or embarrassing anyone.”

“You want to marry into my family? I think you’ve read too many novels. ” Zhang Yuelu rolled her eyes at him.

She continued, “The Zhang family won’t like that. The Li family, on the other hand, are quite fond of having their son-in-law take their last name. They don’t mind having an adopted son or a son-in-law become the head of the family. Since they can’t choose the gender of their child, they can choose their son-in-law or adopted son. That’s why the Li family still remains prosperous to this day.”

Qi Xuansu commented. “I heard about this before. Those who were not born in the Zhang family are not allowed to inherit the position of the Great Heavenly Preceptor. This has been the ancestral motto of the Zhang family for generations. It’s said that the Holy Xuan wanted to abolish this rule once, but the Zhang family still insisted on it.”

Zhang Yuelu explained, “Actually, this is only what the outside world thinks. In fact, this rule is just for show. Although there is such an ancestral rule that only the Zhangs could inherit the position of the Great Heavenly Preceptor, the Holy Xuan issued an edict to remove the word ‘great’ from the title, making it the Heavenly Preceptor instead. Thus, it would not conflict with the ancestral rules. Later, the Taiping Sect also dropped the title of the Great Teacher and accepted the title of Imperial Preceptor from the Imperial Court. Together with the Earthly Preceptor, these formed the Three Preceptors we know today.”

Qi Xuansu was astonished. “Wow, that’s possible?!”

“Fortunately, the Zhang family members are still up to par. Since the Holy Xuan revived Daoism, five out of the six generations of Heavenly Preceptors were Zhangs. The only Heavenly Preceptor with a different last name was also trained by the Zhang family. So, they didn’t really break this ancestral rule.” Zhang Yuelu sighed softly.

Qi Xuansu asked with a smile, “Qing Xiao, I wonder if you can become the first female Heavenly Preceptor.”

Zhang Yuelu said hesitantly, “It’s hard to say. If I want to be a Heavenly Preceptor, those old geezers won’t let me get married so as to keep the title within the Zhang family. I will either have to spend the rest of my days alone or marry someone who will take my last name.”

Suddenly, there was an awkward silence between them.

Qi Xuansu deliberately changed the topic earlier to divert Zhang Yuelu’s attention, not because he wanted to marry into the Zhang family. T/his chapter is updated by nov(ê(l)biin.co/m

In the existing society, a man taking a woman’s last name was viewed as inferior to other men. It was not something to be proud of since they would be living under someone else’s roof and would not be able to call the shots.

Even if Zhang Yuelu agreed to marry Qi Xuansu, he would not have an interest in living in such a restrained environment.

Zhang Yuelu coughed lightly. “Let’s get back to business. Yulan Temple is just a trap. It’s clearly not the cult’s stronghold. I don’t think that the underground palace we saw using the Purple Star Astrology is here.”

Qi Xuansu nodded in agreement.

“Our priority now is not to kill this group of cultists but to prevent the divine descent. If the divine descent is successful, we’ll be in big trouble even if we kill all these cultists.” Zhang Yuelu analyzed.

Qi Xuansu asked, “Where do you think their stronghold will be?”

Zhang Yuelu said after some thought, “Ever since the Ancient Immortal believers infiltrated Xuan City and the Purple Mansion, the Beichen Hall and Tianji Hall have conducted an inspection of the Daoist mansions all over the continent every three years. The local Daoist mansions will then inspect the Daoist temples within their territory every year.

“That’s why it’s easy to convert Daoist priests into cultists, but it’s extremely difficult for them to convert Daoist temples into cult strongholds. From this, we can rule out Qingbai Temple. We can exclude the Yulan Temple as well. That leaves us with the wealthy gentry.”

At this moment, Luo Xiao anxiously led some people over. This Green Phoenix Guard Major was obviously frightened by the scene earlier. “Mage Zhang, please tell me what we should do next.”

The garrison system was divided into three levels: capital, guard, and station.

The Capital Commander’s Office was also referred to as a Capital Office. The highest-ranking officer in this division was the Capital Commander, who was an upper-second-rank military officer subordinate to the Five Armies Commander’s Office.

Under the Capital Commander’s Office was the Guard’s Office. The head of the Guard’s Office was the Guard Commander, who was superior to the Lieutenant Colonel's Office and the Major's Office.

The twenty-two guards in the emperor’s personal commandery were called the Imperial Army and were not affiliated with the Capital Office and Five Armies Commander’s Office.

In other words, Guards were normally subordinate to the Capital Office. However, the Green Phoenix Guard, also known as the Green Phoenix Imperial Army, was directly subordinate to the emperor. Thus, the person in charge was an upper-third-rank Guard Commander, also referred to as the Lord Commander.

In the previous dynasties, most emperors would appoint the Commander in Chief, the Capital Commander, the Deputy Capital Commander, or the Capital Commander Adjutant to concurrently serve as the Lord Commander of the Green Phoenix Guard. Thus promoting them to first- or second-rank officials.

However, the Great Xuan Dynasty no longer had the Five Armies Commander’s Office and the Capital Office, so the highest-ranking official was only in the third rank, and he had little power.

The Black Robes were soldiers who went by another system.

Initially, the Commander was responsible for safeguarding a region, while the Chief Military Officer was a temporary position for wartime. The Chief Military Officer had supreme authority over the army during the war.

Later, when the garrison system began to collapse, the Chief Military Officer became the highest-ranking military officer in the local garrison, replacing the function of the Commander.

The Great Xuan Dynasty made the Chief Military Officer a permanent position and added a Chief Admiral, who was at the same level as a Pacification Commissioner.

The Supreme Commander controlled several states and held significant military and political power.

The Supreme Commander held these concurrent titles: Minister of War, Right Censor in Chief, State Governor, Chief Admiral of Provisions, River Management, and Pacification. Therefore, the Supreme Commander had the civil authority of a Pacification Commissioner but also the military authority of a Chief Admiral, making them the Minister of Frontiers.

Zhang Yuelu wanted Luo Xiao to involve the local Black Robes. Although the Black Robes were no match for the Green Phoenix Guards in one-on-one combat or small skirmishes, the Black Robes were better at large-scale battles or siege warfare. The greater the number of combatants, the greater the disparity.

As a member of the Daoist Order, Zhang Yuelu certainly had no right to mobilize the local county magistrate or commandants. However, the Pacification Commander of the Green Phoenix Guard was an imperial envoy with a special mission, so he could mobilize troops.

Luo Xiao understood this and immediately went to the Major’s Office. Meanwhile, he ordered the rest of the Green Phoenix Guards to follow Zhang Yuelu’s orders for the time being.

Zhang Yuelu instructed the guards, “Let’s surround Xia Chang’s house. Don’t let anyone get away!”

Several Green Phoenix Guard senior captains accepted the order.

Seeing this, Qi Xuansu sighed with emotion. “I was always acting on my own in the past when I was traveling the world. I never would have imagined that I would be going to battle with the Green Phoenix Guards one day. But this is an impressive troop. I quite like this feeling.”

Zhang Yuelu remarked, “The most terrifying thing in the world is not being able to distinguish who’s the enemy. Now that the demons hidden among us have been uncovered, we can clearly distinguish ourselves from the enemy. Then we can openly annihilate them in one fell swoop.”

When Qi Xuansu heard this, his face stiffened slightly, and he felt a little guilty.