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

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Upon hearing Xi Shi's voice, Li Qingzhao, Gongsun Da Niang, and Li Bai all ran out to watch.

She is the most beautiful woman in China. There are so many stories and legends about her in history that just hearing her name makes people's imaginations run wild.

Upon seeing Xi Shi in person, Li Qingzhao felt that she was a lotus flower untouched by the world, while Li Bai felt that she was a stunning beauty who struggled to survive in a chaotic world.

Only Gongsun Da Niang didn't pay attention to these details; upon meeting them, she immediately insisted on learning to dance.

"Sister Xi Shi, could you teach me the Xiangji Dance? The Taoist priest said that if I don't learn it, he will punish me by not letting me eat dinner for a month. How cruel!"

The Xiangji Dance is a dance created by Xi Shi herself. The sound of her wooden clogs echoes the small bells hanging on her dress.

It is said that King Fuchai of Wu was very fond of it, and even had the corridor hollowed out, placed water vats underneath, and then re-laid the floor, using the echo effect of the water vats to amplify the sound of the wooden clogs being stepped on.

Every time Xi Shi danced in this corridor, King Fuchai was completely captivated.

However, the beautiful woman is currently studying dance and etiquette in the Yue King's palace. She doesn't even know what King Fuchai looks like, let alone create the Xiangji dance based on his preferences.
"May I ask this fairy, what is the 'Sounding Clogs Dance'?"

These words stumped Gongsun Da Niang. She only knew that, according to legend, Xi Shi used the clapper dance to bewitch Fuchai, but she had no idea whether it was true or not.

Now that the King of Yue has been killed, Xi Shi no longer needs to go to the State of Wu, so the story of the Xiangji Dance is naturally out of the question.

Wu Zetian poured a drink and handed it to Xi Shi:

"Let's get down to business first. Why did you kill Goujian?"

Xi Shi accepted the gift with both hands, thanked the recipient, and then said:
“Last time, when Master Zhou escorted me back, as soon as we arrived at the Yue King’s palace, Goujian rushed over and yelled at me about where I had been. He even threatened to chop my parents up and throw them into the river to feed the fish. I panicked and took out the token that Master Zhou had given me.”

Li Qingzhao was furious upon hearing this:

"That Goujian was indeed a monster. Good riddance. It's a pity we don't have him in our world, otherwise he would have died many times over."

The incident of Xi Shi summoning divine lightning to kill Goujian happened rather suddenly. In addition, the sleeves of her Taoist robe were a bit long, so most people didn't see her movements clearly. They just thought that divine lightning had struck down and killed the king in broad daylight. In their shock, they began to discuss the new king of Yue.

Well, at this time, Goujian was just a defeated general who had been a slave in the state of Wu for three years before gaining his freedom. Although he slept on firewood and occasionally sucked on a bitter gall, his reputation had not yet spread, and the state of Yue had not yet carried out reforms to reduce taxes and corvée labor under the leadership of Wen Zhong.

It can be said that at this time, Goujian did not have a super strong reputation. When he died, he died. People would only think that he had angered the heavens, and no one suspected Xi Shi.

After Goujian's death, Lu Ying, who had just turned five, was supported to ascend the throne. Fan Li began to oversee the country, and Wen Zhong was in charge of all internal affairs. These two good friends easily joined forces and controlled the Yue state.

After Xi Shi disappeared during the ceremony to worship the moon goddess, everyone was searching for her. Just as Fan Li and Wen Zhong were about to dig three feet into the ground, Xi Shi reappeared and, coincidentally, stood next to the two of them.

It can be said that Fan Li and Wen Zhong witnessed the entire process of Goujian being struck by lightning and killed.

But the deceased is gone, and neither of them said much. Instead, they expressed their deepest respect to Xi Shi... Suddenly disappearing and then suddenly returning, wearing a very unique outfit and holding a token that could summon divine thunder, Fan Li would not dare to offend such a person.

"On the day Lu Ying ascended the throne, his strategist Fan Li came to me and asked me in detail where I had gone and who I had met. I answered him one by one and told him about his future fate. He was silent for a long time and asked me to send a letter to Zhou Fangshi. He also swore to the heavens that he would never make things difficult for my parents in this life, and that if he left Yue, he would take good care of my parents."

Li Bai listened with astonishment:

"As expected of Lao Tzu's grand-disciple, Fan Li's choice of sides is truly swift."

When Fan Li was young, he studied under Ji Ran to learn the art of governing a country. Ji Ran's teacher was Li Er, the author of the Tao Te Ching and the founder of Taoism who rode a blue ox westward out of Hangu Pass.

It's still a few years before Lao Tzu leaves Hangu Pass to the west, so if Xi Shi wanted to watch, she could easily catch up.

Lao Tzu served as the Keeper of the Archives of the Zhou Dynasty on several occasions. The Archives was the place where the Zhou Dynasty kept its books. The title of Keeper of the Archives may sound unfamiliar, but if it were called "librarian," many people would realize the importance of this position.

During the Spring and Autumn Period, Laozi was very famous. He went to the State of Lu to preside over the funeral of his friend. The seventeen-year-old Confucius walked there and earnestly asked Laozi for knowledge on the subject of rites.

At the age of twenty-six, Confucius traveled to the capital of Zhou and sought guidance from Laozi as a disciple.

At the age of fifty-one, Confucius, who had already founded Confucianism and had disciples all over the world, came to Laozi's hometown to seek his advice for the third time. This was also the last time the master and disciple met.

In 485 BC, Lao Tzu left the original text of the Tao Te Ching, consisting of five thousand characters, to Yin Xi, the gatekeeper of Hangu Pass, and rode westward on an ox. From then on, his whereabouts became unknown. Some say he went into seclusion on Lao Jun Mountain, while others say he ascended to heaven in broad daylight at Fengtai in Lintao.

Wu Zetian took out her phone, flipped through the calendar, and said:
“Sister Yiguang, if you set off for Hangu Pass now, you might be able to meet the Dao Ancestor himself.”

Xi Shi, unaware of Lao Tzu, asked in confusion:

Is he important?

Wu Meiniang pointed to the Tai Chi diagrams on everyone's bodies and said: "Our ability to become Taoists is closely related to Lao Tzu's thought. Without him, there would be no Taoism. If you can reach Hangu Pass and obtain the original version of the Tao Te Ching, it will definitely be of great benefit to our Hunyuan Palace. You might even be able to obtain one or two magical artifacts."

Since Zhou Yi wasn't around, Wu Meiniang told Xi Shi about history, the various schools of Taoism, and Lao Tzu's status in Taoism.

Last time, I only had a general overview of the history of Xi Shi in "Five Thousand Years of Chinese History". Today, after studying it again, I realized that I haven't mastered many details.

Through lectures, Wu Meiniang and the others also learned about the Spring and Autumn Period from Xi Shi.

This was the famous "Hundred Schools of Thought" period in Chinese history, during which the bronze inscriptions of the Zhou Dynasty had been independently developed into the writing systems of various states.

For example, the Great Seal script of the Qin state and the Bird Seal script of the Chu and Wu states have different fonts and pronunciations.

It can be said that if Qin Shi Huang had not unified the six kingdoms and made the decision to standardize writing and cart axles, the development of China would have been similar to that of Europe, with each small country having its own writing system and language, and it would have been impossible to form a unified autocratic empire.

At noon, Zhou Yi did not return. Wu Meiniang boiled water and cooked instant noodles, heated up a few steamed buns, and made do with the roast chicken and braised duck she bought yesterday.

When Xi Shi first tried the food here, she was so amazed that she couldn't stop smiling. Not to mention the roast chicken and braised duck, she couldn't get enough of the soup from the instant noodles.

Granny Gongsun asked while gnawing on a chicken foot:

"Sister Xi Shi, what do you eat where you're from?"

Xi Shi is hard to describe:

"It's just a lot of thick pastes, and you can hardly add any salt. Your seasonings are so plentiful, I'm so lucky... Can I have some more soup in the pot? Can I have another half bowl?"

Her delicate and frail appearance inexplicably touched Li Qingzhao's heart, so she ladled out a large bowl of soup and noodles for her, and even gave the poached egg from her own bowl to Xi Shi.

"None of us are very good at cooking, so let's make do with this for now. When the Immortal Master comes back, he can cook you something delicious."

Xi Shi asked timidly:
"If I kill Goujian, will the Taoist priest Zhou blame me?"

Grandma Gongsun laughed heartily:
"No, he actually praised you, saying you were a fraudster."

Xi Shi: ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

Why does it sound like a compliment?
On the other side, Zhou Yi signed a construction contract with Liu Guangzhi, Teacher Liu's nephew. The wetland park was shaped like a leaf, and the Dragon King Temple was located at the tip of the leaf. Liu Guangzhi had several blueprints for the temple, and Zhou Yi looked at them and chose the most ancient design.

Like the Earth God Temple, the Dragon King Temple is a grassroots temple. It doesn't need to be too fancy; simple and sturdy is enough.

To achieve this goal, Liu Guangzhi planned to drive precast piles into the four corners of the temple, make the foundation as deep as possible, and pour in the ring beams and other structures.

After finalizing the construction plan, everyone had lunch, and then Zhou Yi said goodbye and drove back to Yunwu Mountain.

Next, preparations need to be made for the consecration ceremony. First, a stele needs to be carved to record the names of the donors, and then an inscription needs to be written to commemorate the consecration ceremony of the Dragon King Temple.

This morning, people from the Municipal Cultural Relics Bureau went to see it and felt that the stone carving was quite large, but there were too few characters, so they reported it as a provincial-level second-class cultural relic.

Although it's not a high-level institution, it avoids the possibility of being targeted by high-end museums, which is a good thing for the people of Qingshui Town.

Back at Cloud Mist Mountain, Zhou Yi drove up the mountain. Just as he was about to call everyone to come down and pick out bicycles, he saw the innocent girl who had deceived him, happily eating a small pudding.

Wu Zetian walked over carrying a scroll of bamboo slips:

“My sister Yiguang arrived early this morning and brought you a letter from Fan Li.”

Just as Zhou Yi was about to receive it, he realized that the script used in the Spring and Autumn period was either Great Seal Script or Bird Script, which he, with his limited knowledge, most likely couldn't understand.

"What does it say? Is the writing on it bird seal script?"

Upon hearing this, Wu Meiniang shouted loudly to Xi Shi in the room:
“Sister Yiguang, the immortal master would like to test your understanding of bird script by translating Fan Li’s letter and showing the immortal master your knowledge.”

This airtight statement made Mr. Zhou feel somewhat embarrassed:
"You don't need to be so considerate of my feelings."

Wu Zetian whispered:
"That won't do. Our lives and fortunes are all in your hands. The more powerful and influential you are, the safer we will be."

Xi Shi walked over, first bowed to Zhou Yi, then picked up the bamboo slips and began to read the text on them:
"Immortal above, I, Fan Li, am but a foolish man, yet I have unexpectedly become famous in later generations. I am truly ashamed. I have presumptuously sent this letter to trouble you, for I have a question that urgently needs an answer: For the past month or so, I have often dreamt that I live in a palace without a roof. I do not know what this means. I earnestly hope that the immortal will reply. Fan Li bows."

(End of this chapter)