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

Chapter 226 Before entering Chang'an, first kill off a powerful relative of the empress to stir up hatred! [Seeking monthly votes]

After listening to the scout's report, Gan Yanshou picked up the walkie-talkie and asked:
"What banner are they using?"

"The title of Imperial Guard Commandant of the Great Han Dynasty also includes the character 'King'."

Upon hearing this, Chen Tang turned to Gan Yanshou and asked:

"Old Gan, are there any cavalry captains in the Imperial Guard with the surname Wang?"

Gan Yanshou recalled for a moment and thought of someone:

"Wang Shang, the younger brother of Wang Feng, the current Imperial Guard Commandant, is the Captain of the Imperial Guard Cavalry. He is arrogant and domineering, and often bullies men and women. If it weren't for his sister, Empress Wang, protecting him, he would have been beaten to death several times over."

During the reign of Emperor Yuan, there were two Wang Shangs. One was Wang Shang, the Marquis of Lechang, who was a cousin of Emperor Xuan of Han, Liu Xun. He was an upright man who worked tirelessly to appeal when Chen Tang was framed. He was a rare talent during the reign of Emperor Yuan. Unfortunately, after Emperor Cheng ascended the throne, Wang Shang, the Marquis of Lechang, was ostracized and died by the powerful minister Wang Feng. After his death, he was also given the posthumous title of "Li" (戾).

Another Wang Shang was Wang Feng's younger brother, Marquis of Chengdu, Wang Shang. He was arrogant, extravagant and dissolute. In order to experience the feeling of riding a boat, he had the Feng River diverted into Chang'an City, and then dug a huge pond at home, where he would sit on the boat and play all day long.

To escape the summer heat, he brazenly asked Emperor Cheng to let him stay at Mingguang Palace, acting as the emperor's brother-in-law, without any regard for himself.

Upon hearing the name Wang Shang, Chen Tang grinned:
“I beat this guy up at the gambling den once. Let’s grab our weapons. He’ll definitely cause trouble if he sees we outnumber him.”

Historically, Wang Feng held Chen Tang in high regard, but Wang Shang was different. This guy hated Chen Tang extremely. Not long after Wang Feng's death, he found a way to dismiss Chen Tang from his post and then exiled him to Dunhuang.

Fortunately, Chen Tang had no ulterior motives; otherwise, given his standing among the border people, he could have easily stirred up a great deal of trouble in Dunhuang with just a little bit of his influence.

Frankly speaking, exiling someone who has made great contributions to the border region to the border is something only someone with a stroke would do—it takes ten years of brain damage to commit such a brain-dead act.

Chen Tang and Gan Yanshou's entourage began to form ranks, while the group of rescued women moved to higher ground to avoid being caught in the crossfire.

Before long, Wang Shang's men arrived.

This relative of the emperor was not yet thirty years old. He rode a magnificent Akhal-Teke horse, his armor gleaming. His Imperial Guards shouted and yelled, like a group of lackeys accompanying a young nobleman on an outing.

Gan Yanshou found it extremely distressing to watch:
"The strongest cavalry of the Han Dynasty has fallen to this state; how heartbreaking!"

Chen Tang nodded, feeling quite displeased as well:

"If we had such excellent equipment when we went on the expedition against Zhizhi Chanyu, we could have easily wiped out Wusun and Kangju... It's a pity that such excellent equipment is only used to serve as an accomplice to the tyrants of the imperial relatives. It's such a waste."

Wang Shang led a thousand cavalrymen and instantly charged to the front of Gan Yanshou and Chen Tang's army formation.

He had already recognized that the person opposite him was a major contributor to the defeat of Zhizhi Chanyu, but what did it matter if they were contributors? He still had to give them a taste of their own medicine:

"I am Wang Shang, the Imperial Guard Commandant of the Han Dynasty. Who are you facing? You shall immediately dismount, remove your armor, and lay down your weapons, or you shall be considered to be committing treason!"

Well, no matter how great a meritorious official is, once a treason charge is pinned on him, he will behave himself.

Wang Shang grew up in a maternal relative's family and knew all too well the ins and outs of this place.

His plan was well-thought-out, but unfortunately, Gan Yanshou and Chen Tang are no longer the same people they used to be... With divine backing, what does the mere label of treason matter?

Just as Chen Tang was about to utter a few words of curse, Gan Yanshou rode forward and loudly proclaimed:
"Zixia, how have you been? We have just returned from the Western Regions and were surprised to find you welcoming us with such a welcoming procession. I am filled with mixed emotions. With the men of our great Han Dynasty so mighty and strong, how can we not defeat the barbarians!"

On the surface, he was praising the Imperial Guards, but in reality, he was full of sarcasm... After spending a lot of time with Chen Tang, Lao Gan's sarcastic and cryptic skills improved dramatically.

Even Chen Tang secretly gave a thumbs up, indicating that the sarcasm was spot on.

Wang Shang spat, spurred his horse forward, and gave a perfunctory bow:

"I have met General Gan. Just the other day, His Majesty praised you for upholding the backbone of the Han Dynasty. The Grand Secretary and the Prime Minister have already sent people to Longguan Pass to welcome you. I never expected to meet you here. It is truly an honor for this Commandant."

Upon hearing this, Chen Tang realized that choosing Xiao Guandao was a wise decision. Shi Xian and Kuang Heng must have come up with some other crooked ideas. It's a pity that these cowards, who didn't dare to take Xiao Guandao themselves, also treated others as cowards.

Fortunately, we didn't take the Longguan Road, otherwise we would have encountered even more trouble... After the incident of the Wuwei Prefect lining up to welcome the Qiang people, Tom Cruise's blood pressure could no longer withstand any more stimulation.

While they were locked in a standoff, inside the Hunyuan Palace, Zhou Yi finally met Wu Meiniang, who had returned from the Zhenguan era.

She carried a backpack with several pieces of calligraphy by Wang Xizhi, which she presented to Zhou Yi with both hands:
"His Majesty intends to build a monument to the heroes of the Tang Dynasty. He hopes that you, Immortal Master, can give him some advice. This is His Majesty's wish, and we hope you will accept it."

Upon hearing the words "erect a monument," Zhou Yi instinctively thought of the saying that spectacular sights lead to national ruin, but if it were a monument to heroes, then he would strongly support it.

The more similar wonders there are, the more they inspire patriotism and a belief in victory among the people; in gaming terms, it's like this:
[Courage +5], [Morale +5], [Popular Support +5]...

Zhou Yi, worried that the calligraphy might get damaged, had Wu Meiniang put it in a cabinet in his room. After settling the calligraphy, Zhou Yi mentioned the merits of the local temple:
“Yesterday, Qingzhao and I went to Sanlizhuang to bless the God of Fortune with our thoughts. I didn’t expect to receive so much merit when we came back. It seems that we should visit the statue of the god every now and then.”

Wu Zetian was overjoyed:
"This is a good thing. We will build more statues of gods in the future to help you earn more merit."

Zhou Yi nodded:

"I have the same idea, but these things can't be rushed; we can only let nature take its course."

Repairing temples in modern society is very troublesome. You need to prove that there is a temple in the place before you can carry out restoration work... This requires the efforts of the locals. Without the support of the locals, the I Ching cannot be used at all.

As the two were chatting, Li Qingzhao came in carrying a plate of washed lychees:

"Sister Meiniang, eat some lychees! Who would have thought that fresh lychees, which the Tang Dynasty transported with the full power of the nation, are now everywhere in modern society? Yesterday in the supermarket, I actually saw several kinds of lychees."

When Su Dongpo wrote in a letter, "I would eat three hundred lychees a day and not mind being a Lingnan native forever," Li Qingzhao was quite envious, thinking it would be wonderful to be able to eat lychees.

Now, that master is envious of us. When he comes back, we'll bring lychees to visit him, which will leave him speechless!

Wu Zetian peeled one open, tasted it, and said with a smile:

"This is truly delicious; no wonder Consort Yang loved it so much... Immortal Master, Yang Yuhuan is still six years away from being born. Should we ask Sister Gongsun to intervene in advance?"

Zhou Yi waved his hand:

"Just let things take their natural course, don't interfere unnecessarily."

If the Tang Dynasty hadn't encountered any trouble, Yang Guifei would have remained merely the wife of Prince Shou, with no real role to play. As for Yang Guozhong, he's accumulating a mountain of merit waiting to be unleashed. Given the chance, we should have Gongsun Da Niang or Li Bai kill him, as revenge for the Tang soldiers who died unjustly in Nanzhao.

Li Qingzhao ate lychees, her face full of emotion:
"Modern society is so great. Although Bianliang also has lychees, they are expensive and sold by the piece. It's not as satisfying as eating them here."

The girl has already decided to take a box of these with her when she leaves, so that the whole family can try them.

Zhou Yi gave a wry smile:
"It's not all good. For example, the system of punishing false accusations, which was implemented in the Qin Dynasty more than two thousand years ago, was strictly enforced in every dynasty, but now it can't be enforced anymore... The falsely accused have lost their families and become mentally ill, while the false accusers are recommended for postgraduate studies and given the green light."

At this point, Master Zhou shrugged and quoted a famous line from Ang Lee:

"I don't understand it, but I'm deeply moved!"

Seeing that Zhou Yi was in a bad mood, Wu Meiniang patted the back of his hand and said:
"Immortal Master, do not be sad. Let us do good deeds and not worry about the future. Let us do our best."

At the same time, in the world of Emperor Yuan of the Han Dynasty, Wang Shang chatted casually with Gan Yanshou for a while, when he inadvertently discovered a large group of scantily clad, trembling women on the nearby hillside. He immediately felt like he had caught Gan Yanshou red-handed.

"General Gan, you bring so many women with you on your march? Tsk tsk... Can your body handle it?"

Gan Yanshou said coldly:
"These poor women are all Han daughters who were kidnapped by foreign bandits and have just been rescued by us... Logically speaking, the area outside Xiaoguan is the patrol area of ​​the Imperial Guards, so why are there so many bandits? I can't figure it out."

These words made Wang Shang blush, and he retorted angrily:

"I find it hard to believe the general's one-sided account. I want to take all these women away for interrogation to see if it is true or false."

I haven't had a chance to play freely in the wild yet, so I'll take this opportunity to have some fun and let the Imperial Guards I brought along enjoy themselves too... Only by playing with women together can we become one of our own.

Gan Yanshou suppressed his anger and refused Wang Shang's request:

"I will take these people to Xiaoguan and hand them over to the Xiaoguan magistrate for disposal."

Upon hearing this, Wang Shang threw his head back and burst into laughter:
"Then I'll go find Commander Xiao Guan later and demand the person back. Within the borders of the Han Dynasty, there's nothing I, Wang Shang, can't do, and no one can't get!"

These words thoroughly enraged Chen Tang. He spurred his horse forward, wanting to unleash a torrent of curses, but then decided it was pointless to waste time arguing with a dead man.

"Wang Shang, if you were to die now, would you have any last words to say?"

Wang Shang looked around, then spurred his horse back a few steps, causing the Imperial Guards to surround him. He shouted, his voice sharp but weak:

"Chen Tang, I am a Cavalry Commandant personally appointed by His Majesty. If you dare to act recklessly, I will definitely report you to the Empress and make sure you rot in prison for the rest of your life!"

Chen Tang coldly pulled out the Hunyuan Palace token from his pocket and held it forward:
"You scum, worse than a pig or a dog, relying on your status as a relative of the empress to bully others, do you even deserve to be a cavalry commander? The reason why the Han Dynasty has declined is precisely because there are too many shameless scoundrels like you. Today I will act on behalf of Heaven and destroy you, you treacherous villain! Lei Lai!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than a bolt of lightning struck down from the sky, cleaving Wang Shang into a charred corpse...

(End of this chapter)