Upon entering the courtyard, Fan Xianchong greeted an old man sitting in the gatehouse drinking tea: "Director Wang from the Women's Federation has arrived to greet you!"
"What connection?" The old immortal looked up at Fan Xian and his wife, then glanced at Wang Yao, and asked in a hoarse voice.
"The Women's Federation!" Fan Xian said with a smile.
"Who from the Women's Federation?" Old Immortal asked again, blinking as he sat there.
"Go fill out this form, I'll take the Matchmaker inside." Fan Xian turned to his wife and called out, then led Wang Yao straight ahead. The old immortal, however, remained indifferent, as if he hadn't seen anything.
"Has your gatekeeper been injured before?" Wang Yao asked curiously. To be honest, this was the first time he had ever seen a truly deaf immortal. People like the Queen Mother of the West who pretended to be deaf and mute were not to be counted.
"As far as I can remember, Old Chang shouldn't have suffered any serious injuries. He's just old. There are many immortals like him in the Heavenly Court. They made some contributions in the past, but their cultivation levels have been stuck for years. Now that they're old, they're just going home to wait for their death. Once an immortal loses their motivation, it's a very troublesome thing."
As Fan Xian spoke, he led Wang Yao into the next courtyard. Wang Yao could see immortals busily working in the side rooms and main room around the courtyard.
"Don't underestimate Old Chang just because he can't hear properly. If he were to go to the human world, he could easily become the leader of some kind of cult. He could easily wreak havoc on a world or disrupt a region. That's why the Heavenly Court has this policy."
"As long as the retired immortals are willing, they will be rehired and given some light work within their capabilities to earn some merit. This will not only allow them to retain their chance to advance and prolong their lives, but also allow them to contribute their remaining energy to the Heavenly Court. Most importantly, it will help stabilize the Six Realms."
"Of course, this only applies to those who are relatively law-abiding within the system. There are too many immortals in the immortal realm who have reached a certain age and have not yet achieved immortality. This is what is meant by guarding against gentlemen but not villains."
As they spoke, Fan Xian led Wang Yao into the third courtyard.
"Oh, I thought the Heavenly Immortals had retired and were leisurely attending Immortal University," Wang Yao said with a laugh.
"How could that be? How many Immortal Universities are there in the Immortal Realm? How many immortals are old enough to attend? It's impossible for them all to attend. Besides, Immortal Universities only teach things like music, chess, calligraphy, painting, fashion, cooking, singing, dancing, fishing, and playing cards. Some immortals don't actually like that kind of thing."
As Fan Xian spoke, he led Wang Yao to the last courtyard of the siheyuan. Upon entering the main house, they saw a spacious hall with a huge plaque hanging in the center, bearing the four characters "Ren Xian Wei Xian" (任仙唯贤).
Interestingly, the painting below the plaque depicts a basket of crabs. Several crabs have already climbed onto the edge of the basket and are about to escape, but most of the crabs remain obediently inside.
Outside the basket, several crabs proudly raised their pincers as if in a show of defiance. Suddenly, a large hand with its five fingers outstretched reached into the basket, seemingly trying to pick up the crabs that had crawled onto the edge of the basket and put them inside.
The painting is vivid and interesting, and the images are lifelike. Wang Yao felt that the crabs in the painting looked like they were about to crawl out of the painting.
On either side of the crab picture hangs a couplet: the first line reads, "If they say you can do it, you can, even if you can't," and the second line reads, "If they say you can't, you can't, even if you can."
Wang Yao felt that the couplet and the painting had a very intriguing meaning. He was about to savor it when Fan Xian tugged at his sleeve and led him into the room on the left side of the hall.
"Director Yang, the newly appointed Director of the Women's Federation, Wang Yao (at the ministerial level), has already arrived to receive you," Fan Xian announced loudly as soon as she entered the room.
"I know, Xiao Fan. Why didn't your wife come with you?" A gentle voice came from the room. Wang Yao looked in the direction of the voice and found that the room's structure was quite peculiar. At first glance, it didn't seem very big, just a small room with a round table in the center and a few chairs around the table.
On the wall directly opposite the door was a painting depicting a study. Inside the study were many quotes from the Heavenly Emperor and various objects that resembled maps or talismans. A middle-aged immortal sat behind a desk piled high with documents in the middle of the study, seemingly engrossed in writing.
But Wang Yao soon discovered that it was not actually a painting, because as the sound came from the wall, the person in the painting also moved. The middle-aged immortal who was writing furiously at his desk threw his pen on the table and then smiled as he walked down from the wall.
At first, Wang Yao thought that Director Yang was like Zhao Cai in the Zhenxie Heavenly Prison, working in a painting on the wall. But when he looked at the wall again, it seemed that the wall had disappeared after Director Yang came down from it.
The room's structure was finally revealed: two rooms, one inside and one outside. Wang Yao looked at the smiling Director Yang and couldn't help but wonder what Director Yang's purpose was in making things so mysterious with just two rooms in Taiqing Immortal City.
"Old Chang's hearing isn't very good, so Xiao Xi is helping him with the registration," Fan Xian explained to Director Yang with a smile.
"Oh..." Director Yang nodded noncommittally and smiled at Wang Yao.
"Is this the famous Matchmaker Wang Yao?" Director Yang asked with a smile.
Upon approaching, Wang Yao was surprised to find that Director Yang was also at the Mahayana stage, just like himself. He quickly bowed to Director Yang, feeling quite puzzled.
According to Fan Xian, someone like himself, a Mahayana cultivator, should be a ministerial-level leader in the Heavenly Court. So why is this Director Yang, who is only a director, also a Mahayana cultivator?
He was unaware that in the Heavenly Court, the Mahayana stage was the threshold for ministerial-level leadership, but that didn't mean that Mahayana cultivators couldn't hold positions below the ministerial level. It just meant that Mahayana experts generally looked down on ordinary positions; otherwise, Zhao Cai wouldn't have become the jailer in the Evil Suppression Heavenly Prison.
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