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

Chapter 337 Tsk, two more daughters! [Seeking monthly votes]

Chen Tang appeared alone at the gate. Wu Meiniang knew something was wrong, so she quickly ran to the Sanqing Hall and told Zhou Yi about the situation.

Zhou Yi was puzzled and looked up at the Three Pure Ones statues sitting side by side... The offerings were made and the incense was burned, but they took the money and did nothing.

This isn't like the style of the Three Pure Ones; it's more like the Buddhist sect that often does this kind of thing.

Just as he was about to ask Chen Tang what was going on, he saw the Bagua mirror on the cover of the black notebook flickering on and off:

"Huh, do we have to use the black notepad to operate it?"

Zhou Yi opened his notepad and saw three new notes on his page:

[Pilgrimage visitor Chen Tang wanted to bring the original inhabitants of the world of Emperor Yuan of the Western Han Dynasty to Hunyuan Palace. Touching the Bagua mirror with his right thumb was considered as consent, while touching it with his left thumb was considered as refusal.]

Newcomers brought in by pilgrims cannot return to their original world and do not occupy a laptop slot.

Newcomers to Hunyuan Palace must pay 30% of their merit each time they visit; first-time users receive a 50% discount.

Zhou Yi hadn't expected this situation. He said to Wu Meiniang:
"Now that Zhao Yan and Zhao Rui have arrived, they can't go back. Do you think I should agree to that?"

Wu Zetian took out her notebook and wrote down this restriction:

"It should be agreed that, in any case, it was not a bad thing for the Zhao Feiyan sisters to leave that world."

It's not a bad thing, but it requires accumulating merit... Zhou painstakingly accumulated over seven pounds of merit, but after deducting 30%, he'll immediately lose more than two pounds.

More than two pounds, how many Huns and Goguryeos would it take to make up for that!

After finishing his reflection, Zhou Yi closed the notebook, touched the still-flickering Bagua mirror with his right thumb, and immediately felt as if a tube of blood had been drained from his body.

Ever since I started accumulating merit, my physical strength has become synonymous with the total amount of merit I've accumulated.

When Zhou Yi had accumulated seven jin of merit, his body was like that of a professional athlete. Now that he has lost more than two jin, he has clearly dropped a level... It's time to slowly accumulate more merit again.

"Oh, you've finally arrived! Come with me to the Sanqing Hall to pay our respects to the immortal master."

After Zhou Yi touched the Bagua mirror, two little girls carrying bundles suddenly appeared in the doorway of the Four Heavenly Kings. They were Zhao Yan and Zhao Rui.

The two looked around and then followed Chen Tang to the Sanqing Hall.

On the way, they saw the car and solar streetlights parked in the yard. They looked at them curiously, wanting to ask Chen Tang, but worried about offending the gods.

Upon arriving at the Sanqing Hall, Chen Tang first bowed to the Three Pure Ones, then addressed Zhao Yan and Zhao Rui:
"This is Immortal Master Yiyuan. You two, come and pay your respects."

Upon hearing this, the two little girls immediately knelt down and kowtowed to Zhou Yi:

"I've met the master..."

That address of "master" nearly made Zhou throw out his back. He helped the two of them up and said:

"Just call me Immortal Master, don't call me Master. From now on, you two will be part of the Hunyuan Palace. Get to know each other for a few days and learn some basic modern knowledge. Then I will send you to school."

At first, Zhou Yi was a little heartbroken about losing those two jin of merit, but now, looking at the two little girls, he felt that two jin of merit wasn't much... Luckily, there was a 50% discount, otherwise he would have lost more than four jin of merit.

Although Zhao Yan and Zhao Rui are twins, they look quite different and have different personalities.

Zhao Yan is rather thin and looks delicate and frail, with a hint of sadness between her brows. At such a young age, she perfectly embodies the image of someone who is "too pitiful to look at".

Zhao Rui, with her noticeably chubby face, was more lively. Since entering the room, she had not only looked around the Sanqing Hall but also kept glancing at the fruit on the offering table... She seemed to be a little foodie!
Zhou Yi didn't know how to deal with little girls, so he simply handed the two maids over to Wu Meiniang:

"Meiniang, take them to familiarize themselves with Hunyuan Palace and have them pay respects to all the gods. We have a new family member visiting, so we need to let the gods meet her."

Wu Meiniang agreed and led Zhao Yan and Zhao Rui to pay their respects to the Three Pure Ones before leaving the Sanqing Hall. As they walked, she introduced every plant and tree in the Hunyuan Palace to the two young maids.

Inside the Sanqing Hall, Chen Tang spoke of Wang Qiang:

“My apprentice Liu Ao has found Wang Zhaojun and, citing a shortage of musicians, has transferred her to the Eastern Palace… Since the Zhao Feiyan sisters can come, shall I bring her along next time?”

Zhou Yi waved his hand, stopping him:

“Those who are brought here can’t go back. They can only stay in Hunyuan Palace as modern people. At the same time, it will deduct a lot of my merits. It’s not worth it. I’d rather write her name and try to make her a pilgrim in the future. That way, when you are on the front lines, Wang Zhaojun can send intelligence and supplies to Chang’an, so that you won’t be overwhelmed.”

Chen Tang never expected that bringing people along would come at such a high price:

"It seems that not everyone can be a pilgrim. We really need to be careful and not be rash."

Previously, they thought that the people they brought would be like everyone else and could come to Hunyuan Palace every few days. However, today, the Zhao Feiyan sisters explained that the people brought could not become pilgrims who travel between the two worlds and could only stay in modern society as ordinary people.

As for summoning by name, it doesn't seem to work very well. For example, Xie Daoyun and Zhuge Liang haven't appeared yet, clearly indicating that other conditions need to be met. Knowing the rules is essential to utilizing them, understanding the bugs is crucial to exploiting them, but unfortunately, we're completely in the dark right now and can only let things take their course… This does align with the core principle of the Daoist principle of following nature.

After leaving the Sanqing Hall, Chen Tang planned to take some supplies and leave. His wife and children were waiting for him at Lao Gan's house, and he needed to go back as soon as possible to let everyone know he was safe and sound, so as not to worry them.

Just then, Xi Shi pushed her bicycle over from Xiao Penglai. Seeing Chen Tang there, she asked curiously:

"Did you bring Zhao Feiyan?"

The Book of Changes says:

“I brought it, but it can’t go back. The old master needs to come by another means. We’ll talk about it when you get to Wei.”

Xi Shi agreed and took the action camera attached to the bicycle handlebars, handing it to Zhou Yi:
"I filmed some videos within the territory of the State of Ju. Take a look. I heard that there is a Great Wall and passes built at the border between the States of Ju and Qi. I will film them when I get there and save them on my computer as a souvenir."

Zhou Yi was very curious about what the Great Wall of Qi looked like. If he could take a picture of it and post it online, it would definitely cause a stir in the history community.

Chen Tang didn't linger. He took some laundry detergent, shower gel, and various daily necessities, and instructed the Zhao sisters, Yan and Rui, to be good and listen to the immortal. Then he disappeared through the doorway, leaving the two little girls wide-eyed in amazement.

"Is this how we appeared?"

When they first arrived, the two sisters were both very nervous and scared, but after praying to the gods, they were noticeably more relaxed and took the initiative to ask about Xi Shi's identity.

Upon learning that the woman before them was Xizi, known for her beauty that could make fish sink, the two sisters' eyes lit up with excitement, as if they were die-hard fans of their idol, calling her "elder sister" repeatedly.

With the arrival of newcomers, accommodations had to be arranged. Originally, it was already crowded enough for Wu Meiniang and three others to share a room, but now with two more maids, Zhou Yi had no choice but to move Li Bai's room to an empty room near the entrance of the courtyard, letting the Zhao sisters, Zhao Yan and Zhao Rui, stay in Li Bai's room.

Then he called the furniture store owner and ordered a set of wooden bunk beds, a desk, wardrobe, and other furniture, as well as bedding, all in one place, so he wouldn't have to go down the mountain to choose.

As for clothes, I'll have Meiniang take my measurements later and we'll go to town to buy a few sets.

With two more people suddenly appearing, Zhou Yi felt a bit flustered... Next, he still needed to resolve the household registration issue, introduce them to the world, and send them to school after they had gained some understanding.

These aren't maids, they're practically two extra daughters!

While Xi Shi and Wu Meiniang were teaching the two sisters, Zhou Yi returned to his room, opened his black notebook, and decided to see exactly how much merit he had lost.

As it turned out, another note had appeared in the notebook:
[The Zhao Feiyan sisters have settled in modern society, causing a significant shift in the timeline of the Western Han Dynasty under Emperor Yuan. The infamy of Empress Zhao as a scourge to the nation and its people is no longer present. Merit +88]

Ha, they even reward merit points! Now the loss has been reduced to a little over a pound of merit points. I hope Liu Ao will work hard and earn back that little over a pound of merit points as soon as possible... The Zhao Feiyan sisters, who are infamous in history books, have been taken away. If you don't work harder, it won't be right!
After reading the notebook, Zhou Yi walked out of the room and asked the Zhao sisters, Zhao Yan and Zhao Rui:
Have you eaten breakfast? Are you hungry?

Zhao Rui raised her hand and said:

"I ate, but I'm not full..."

Zhou Yi pinched the little girl's cheek:
"You're quite honest. Come on, I'll make you something else to eat."

This morning, Zhou Yi and Wu Meiniang were so busy setting out the offerings that they didn't eat much, so it's a good opportunity to eat together.

He heated up a basket of steamed buns, fried some eggs and sausages, and stir-fried some dried radish with cured meat. The dried radish was crunchy and very fragrant when sandwiched in the steamed buns.

These dishes, paired with the sweet potato and millet porridge I cooked this morning, make for a perfect meal.

Zhao Rui ate a whole steamed bun and drank a bowl of sweet potato and millet porridge, while Zhao Yan ate half of that. It's quite rare to see such a big difference in appetite between twin sisters.

The Book of Changes says:

"We eat three meals a day here. What would you like to eat for lunch? I'll start preparing it in a bit."

Without hesitation, Zhao Rui named her number one favorite food:
"Noodles with soybean paste! The general said you can eat noodles with soybean paste here every day. Just thinking about it makes me so happy."

Zhou Yi initially wanted to say that there was nothing to be happy about, but thinking about the sisters' past life, being able to eat white noodles and fried sauce with meat was indeed a great happiness.

Unfortunately, this kind of happiness is only the bare minimum compared to the food at Hunyuan Palace.

In less than half a month, these two girls will forget what jajangmyeon tastes like...

We don't need to worry about food, but the household registration issue is a problem. If it's not resolved properly, it might become a hidden danger in the future... Or, should we take the initiative to go to the police station to explain the situation?

But these kinds of things seem impossible to explain.

Just as Mr. Zhou was worrying, the blind man suddenly called:
"You weren't just running around playing around, were you? I led a convoy up the mountain, and if we didn't find anything, I'd donate those tens of thousands of military overcoats right then and there!"

A military overcoat?
Zhou Yi suddenly remembered the search traces left on the wholesale website... He didn't expect the blind man to actually be paying attention to his account. As for the household registration issue, why not ask him to help resolve it?
As the saying goes, the capable are often burdened with more work, and as a senior figure, the blind man certainly wouldn't mind... right?

(End of this chapter)