Inheriting a Taoist temple, the story begins with Wu Zetian offering incense.

Chapter 149 Sima Qian: Huo Qubing and I together slew sixty Xiongnu! [Seeking monthly votes]

When Gao Qiu was struck by lightning last time, rumors were already circulating throughout Tokyo. However, the Taoists felt that it was an exaggeration. When they performed rituals, they liked to give themselves titles such as disciples of Zhang Daoling.

But today, in front of all the Taoist priests, after Li Qingzhao gave a stern scolding, a bolt of lightning really struck down from the sky, turning Liang Shicheng, who was in charge of supervising the ritual, into a charred corpse.

Everyone was stunned. The other eunuchs who were waiting to receive their kickbacks were so shocked that they couldn't utter a word.

Li Qingzhao used a whisk to dust off the ash on her body, then stamped her feet to clean the dust off her white shoes. She turned gracefully and strode out.

The imperial guards at the gate were caught in a dilemma: whether to stop them or not.

Finally, an official who had come to maintain order stepped forward, bowed to Li Qingzhao, and whispered:

"Your Excellency Osmanthus, Liang Shicheng is suspected to be the illegitimate son of Grand Scholar Su, and your father was Grand Scholar Su's student..."

He didn't say much, but he hinted at Liang Shicheng's identity.

Li Qingzhao reacted quickly and shouted:

"That vile eunuch dares to claim to be the son of Master Su, disgracing the Su family's reputation. He deserves to die!"

Alright, with just one sentence, the relationship between Liang Shicheng and Su Dongpo has been completely severed, and no one will ever bring up their father-son relationship again.

If even the immortals have spoken while walking among mortals, how could it be false?

Li Qingzhao noticed the official's shifty eyelids and asked curiously:
"What's your name?"

The man bowed.
"My name is Zhang Shuye, and I am a humble servant serving as a translator."

Upon hearing this name, Li Qingzhao immediately thought of the record of Zhang Shuye sacrificing himself for his country, and her attitude softened considerably:
"You are very good. If the Song Dynasty were full of people like you, how wonderful that would be."

After saying that, she didn't linger and strode away from the Xiantian Temple, intending to reward herself with a pot of sweet Tumi wine before going home, packing her bags, and preparing to go to the Hunyuan Palace.

"Before I went there last time, I killed Gao Qiu with a single blow, and this time I killed Liang Shicheng with a single blow. I hope the immortal master won't think I'm a murderous maniac..."

The news that Liang Shicheng had been struck dead by divine lightning quickly spread throughout Bianliang City.

Some people think that Li Qingzhao should be punished for arbitrarily executing eunuchs, while others think that it was a good thing, as he pretended to be the son of a Grand Secretary all day long and deserved to be killed.

In the palace, Emperor Huizong (Zhao Ji) presented the note written by Li Qingzhao to the current emperor, Zhao Xu, with both hands:
"Your Majesty, I wish to cultivate immortality; please grant me permission."

Zhao Xu and Zhao Ji had a good relationship, but the better that was, the more they needed to consult each other. Otherwise, if a prince suddenly and openly wanted to break away from the royal family, it would be seen as dissatisfaction with the emperor at best, and rebellion at worst.

Therefore, Zhao Ji needed Zhao Xu's approval to cultivate immortality.

As soon as Zhao Xu received the A4 paper, he exclaimed in surprise:

"Where did this precious paper come from?"

He was an expert; he could tell at a touch that this was different from the Xuan paper he usually used. It was white, smooth, even, and flat, far superior to even the best Xuan paper in the palace.

Zhao Ji bowed and said:

"Brother, take a look at the characters first. What kind of brush do you think was used to write them?"

His reminder made Zhao Xu realize that the handwriting on the paper was delicate, but it was not written with a brush in the style of small regular script. Instead, it looked as if it had been carved on, with strong and vigorous strokes. The back of the paper was even raised.

"Its ink penetrates the paper without bleeding... The paper is precious, and the pen is divine!"

Zhao Xu exclaimed in admiration, then coughed, covering his mouth with a piece of silk, and looked at Zhao Ji, asking:

"Is this something from the gods?"

Emperor Huizong of Song was also unsure:

"This was a gift from the daughter of Li Gefei, an official in the Ministry of Rites. She can enter a secluded cave called Hunyuan Palace. Each time she goes, she stays for at least one day and sometimes three to five days, bringing back many mysterious and profound things. I wanted to follow her to cultivate immortality, but I received these words from her... Your Majesty, I have only ever indulged in pleasure since I was a child. Now that I have the opportunity to glimpse the path to immortality, please grant me your wish!"

Zhao Xu remained silent for a long time:

"If it were anything else, I would agree with you, but breaking away from the royal family is a violation of our ancestors' wishes. Once it is done, impeachment memorials will pour in like snowflakes..."

His military campaign against Western Xia had already displeased many court officials, who submitted memorials stating that reckless military action was an immoral act and urging the emperor to consider the well-being of the nation.

Zhao Xu knew very well that every single scholar-official in the court wished that the emperor was a clay statue enshrined on the dragon throne.

The more diligent and hardworking an emperor is, the more he will be targeted by his court officials.

Just as she was hesitating, a young eunuch rushed in and recounted how Li Qingzhao had killed Liang Shicheng.

Upon hearing that the eunuch sent from afar had been killed, Zhao Xu's face immediately turned cold:
Why kill him?

"Your Majesty, Liang Shicheng said that you... that you are frail and sickly and need to have intercourse with a hermit to bring good luck in order to prolong your life. He wanted to bring the Osmanthus Fairy to the palace to be a concubine, which angered the Osmanthus Fairy, who then summoned divine lightning to strike her into a charred corpse."

After hearing the whole story, Zhao Xu was immediately enraged:

"A mere eunuch who delivers imperial edicts dares to fabricate stories about my body... Hand over Liang Shicheng's family to the Court of Judicial Review for investigation and severe punishment!"

It is a major taboo to say that the emperor is weak and sickly in front of outsiders.

As for arranging for the Osmanthus Fairy to enter the palace, that was probably Liang Shicheng's own idea—to gain favor and secure a higher position. Zhao Xu thought for a moment and then said to Zhao Ji:
"Take the gifts and visit Li Gefei's house. Liang Shicheng's matter is his own fault and has nothing to do with that fairy... As for the matter of cultivating immortality, we'll discuss it another day."

After saying this, Zhao Xu wearily waved his hand, signaling Zhao Ji to leave.

Inside the Hunyuan Palace, after Zhou Yi finished offering all the peace tablets, he returned to his room, took out his black notebook, and wondered how much merit he could earn by killing an unborn blood corpse.

As soon as he opened it, he discovered that his merit had skyrocketed from eight taels and eight ounces to eleven taels.

Wow, are they doing a massive giveaway of merit points lately?
Zhou Yi stared intently at the notes page, as lines of annotations gradually appeared:
[Change the course of the Kaiyuan world, Merit +3]

Eliminate the incubating blood corpse, merit +4

[Li Qingzhao summons divine lightning to strike Liang Shicheng dead, merit +16]

He was mentally prepared for the first two Zhouyi, but the only thing that made him happy was that he killed a blood corpse without much effort today and was actually rewarded with four coins of merit. This reward was much higher than he had imagined. No wonder the senior Taoists liked to go down the mountain to eliminate evil. The return rate was really unbeatable.

However, what shocked him the most was the last one: Li Qingzhao actually killed Liang Shicheng, who was known as the "Hidden Man"... Su, your illegitimate child is gone!

Regarding Liang Shicheng's background, history has not provided a definitive answer. It is only known that the Su family has never denied this relationship, and that Su Zhe received considerable help from Liang Shicheng during his time as an official in Tokyo, and could even freely withdraw up to 10,000 strings of cash from Liang Shicheng's home.

The fact that historical records contain this information suggests that Su Zhe did indeed withdraw money, and perhaps more than once.

Later, when Liang Shicheng was listed as one of the six traitors, the Su family began to distance themselves from him, indicating that they were not familiar with this villain.

Now that Li Qingzhao has killed Liang Shicheng ahead of time, the Su family won't have to suffer... Hmm, that's a good thing.

Putting his thoughts aside, Zhou Yi calculated his merits and found that another coin had been deducted from his account. Now it was confirmed that the protective divine lightning did indeed consume his merits.

Just then, Wu Meiniang brought in a cup of tea:

"Please have some tea, Immortal Master."

Zhou Yi put down the notebook, took it from his hand, and said:

"Li Qingzhao just killed Liang Shicheng, a traitor of the Northern Song Dynasty, with lightning. Including Gao Qiu, she has now killed two traitors."

Gongsun Da Niang, who is always clamoring to eliminate treacherous officials, has only managed to cut off Hui Fan's nose. On the other hand, Li Qingzhao, without making a sound, always manages to kill big fish.

Upon hearing this, Wu Meiniang asked with a smile:

"Sister Zhao'er can kill a villain every time she strikes him down. At this rate, when will the Northern Song court be able to return to a peaceful state?"

Zhou Yi calculated the number of treacherous officials during the Northern Song Dynasty and shook his head, saying:
"There is no hope in the next three to five years... The rot in the Northern Song Dynasty started from the root. High-ranking officials were corrupt, and low-ranking officials were corrupt. Back then, Zhao Kuangyin elevated the scholar-official class too much, to the point that it became too powerful to be controlled."

Wu Zetian sat down, attempting to resolve the problem at its root:
"If that's the case, then the best solution is to save Chai Rong's life and prevent Zhao Kuangyin from ascending the throne?"

Zhou Yi nodded:

"The Song dynasty's rule was illegitimate. Relatively speaking, Chai Rong was more capable. He didn't need to favor the scholar-officials. As long as he was alive, Zhao Kuangyin would be his devoted follower and wouldn't dare to have the slightest thought of rebellion."

But now we can't even see a trace of Chai Rong, so how can we prolong his life?
When Zhou Yi mentioned Chai Rong, it was during the reign of Emperor Wu of the Western Han Dynasty. On the northern grasslands of Dingxiang, a group of Han soldiers were fighting against hundreds of Xiongnu people.

Holding the lance given to him by Zhou Yi, Huo Qubing rode his horse into the area where the Xiongnu were the most numerous.

With his feet in the stirrups and his hands wielding his lance, he moved swiftly and fiercely, causing the Xiongnu people to fall from their horses and die wherever he went.

Behind Huo Qubing, Sima Qian, dressed in full military attire, suddenly swung his sword and chopped off the head of a Xiongnu man. Hot blood splattered onto his face, and the scholar was instantly filled with heroic spirit.
"We young men should gallop across the battlefield and make contributions to the Han Dynasty!"

He hadn't learned the charging formations used in Huo Qubing's army, and he just grabbed a razor blade and charged around aimlessly, yelling and screaming.

After the Huns were wiped out, the soldiers began to clean up the battlefield.

Zhao Ponu and Zhang Qian rode up from the flank, intending to refine their three-sided encirclement tactics in preparation for the upcoming battle.

When Zhao Ponu saw that Sima Qian's face was covered in blood, he thought he was injured.

"Zichang, you're pushing yourself too hard! Quickly find a doctor to bandage your wound..."

Sima Qian laughed heartily:
"I only felt the thrill of the battle, I wasn't injured... This battle was truly invigorating, it really vented my anger!"

Zhang Qian said:

"I just killed nine Xiongnu. I'm really getting old. Ten years ago, I could have killed nine more without any problem."

Zhao Ponu tenderly wiped the Tang sword in his hand:

"I killed seventeen, and I directed the flanking maneuver, which delayed things a bit... Huo Biaoyao, how many Xiongnu did you kill?"

Huo Qubing, who was eating fried noodles, said calmly:
"Fifty-seven... Next time, I'll ask Master to buy you all a lance. This weapon kills people like it's piercing tofu, it's really useful!"

After saying this, the three of them looked at Sima Qian.

Sima Qian opened his mouth:
"I... I and Huo Biaoyao together took down sixty of them. We were the strongest!"

(End of this chapter)