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

Chapter 380 The Sage's Carving Knife! [Seeking Monthly Tickets]

Inside the Hunyuan Palace, after listening to Wang Qiang's report, Zhou Yi thought that Lao Gan was really bold. He actually brought Liu Ao to meet the Xiongnu envoy and launched a fierce attack during the meeting... Wasn't he afraid that Liu Ao would wet his pants?

However, Liu Ao performed quite perfectly, killing a deputy envoy, intimidating the court officials, and securing his position as crown prince.

We should have Wang Qiang take a few boxes of mooncakes back later as a reward for the kid.

When Xi Shi arrived, Zhou Yi was pondering Wang Qiang's Taoist name.

Historically, Wang Zhaojun braved harsh conditions to go beyond the Great Wall, and among the twelve flower goddesses, she is revered as the camellia goddess for her fearlessness of the cold and her noble character. Although we no longer need to follow traditional folk customs, her destiny is favorable for flowers that bloom in winter, so the I Ching was used to interpret her fate:
Camellia, daffodil, plum blossom... which one do you like?

After some thought, Wang Qiang finally chose the camellia, with its large and vibrant red flowers, as her Taoist name. Thus, Hunyuan Palace gained a Camellia Fairy.

Wu Zetian brought her a stainless steel token and explained its usage.

Xi Shi handed the leaf from the Gouchen Emperor to Wang Qiang:
"Go back and let them know you're safe, so Liu Ao and the others won't worry. When you return, I'll send the Confucian Scholar's Pen to the Spring and Autumn period world so the old master can try to repair it."

Wang Qiang thanked her, thinking that Xi Shi was truly beautiful inside and out, and deserved to be called the greatest beauty in the world.

Several people escorted Wang Qiang to the Hall of Salvation from Suffering. Zhou Yi announced at the entrance that Wang Qiang was now allowed to travel to and from the Hunyuan Palace. The second most beautiful woman in history was now free to enter and leave the Hunyuan Palace.

After she left with the mooncakes, Zhou Yi said to Xi Shi:

"Before repairing the Confucian scholar's pen, ask Confucius how long it will take. If it can't be used for a year or two, then don't repair it for now, so that it won't be unusable on the battlefield of the Tang Dynasty."

It's quite risky for the eldest disciple to go to the battlefield at such a young age. The Confucian pen is his only support, and he can't leave it for an extended period of time.

Xi Shi agreed:
"I will explain it to the old master when I get back."

Wang Qiang would be back soon, so the group didn't leave and waited for her at the entrance of the Hall of Salvation.

Little chubby Zhao Rui sat on the doorstep, her hands supporting her round face, and sighed:

"Everyone else has a Taoist name, but my sister and I don't. I didn't have any presence when I introduced myself to Sister Wang Qiang just now... Immortal Master, may I have my own Taoist name?"

Zhou Yi didn't expect the chubby girl to care about this, and said with a smile:

"You've become so round and plump, just like the full moon. How about we call you Fairy Moon?"

Zhao Rui's eyes sparkled as she listened:
"I like this title, thank you, Immortal Master... My name is Fairy Bright Moon, and what about my sister?"

Zhao Yan looked at Zhou Yi with hopeful eyes, wanting to know what her Daoist title was.

The Book of Changes says:

"Yan'er is light and graceful, like a breeze, so let's call her Fairy Qingfeng... Almost every Taoist master has two disciples, Qingfeng and Mingyue, by his side. Today, I'll be extravagant and let you two be my disciples."

The Zhao sisters, Zhao Yan and Zhao Rui, immediately stood side by side and bowed respectfully to Zhou Yi.
"Thank you, Immortal Master, for bestowing upon me this Daoist title!"

When Xi Shi brought over the scholar's writing brush enshrined in the Wenxuan King's Hall, Wang Qiang also returned, carrying a set of Han Dynasty gold-inlaid lacquer boxes, which looked very high-class.
"The Crown Prince asked me to present this to the immortal, and there was also a letter of offering inside."

As expected of a disciple taught by Chen Tang, he even included a respectful invitation when giving a gift; he's truly sensible.

Wu Zetian took it and planned to put it in the cabinet first. After the new house was built, she would put it in the reserved collection room, together with the treasures presented by various worlds.

Zhou Yi looked at the Confucian Scholar's Brush. After being nurtured in the Hunyuan Palace for a period of time, the tip of the brush was no longer so blunt. However, after Xin Qiji used it, the tip became messy again. He felt that this thing could not be stimulated by righteous energy, as it would become worse if it was. On the other hand, using merit had no effect on the brush, so he could mess with it as he pleased.

Xi Shi left Hunyuan Palace with the Confucian scholar's brush and returned to the Spring and Autumn Period.

She handed the scholar's pen to Confucius, and then gave the several boxes of mooncakes she had brought to Zilu:
"Let me share this with everyone. There are many flavors, so feel free to try them all."

Confucius took the Confucian scholar's pen, his eyes filled with tenderness:

"With such severe damage, what exactly happened to this item?"

He held the scholar's brush in both hands, closed his eyes, carefully considered its meaning, and then sighed dejectedly.
"May I ask, Lotus Fairy, have my descendants of the Confucius family committed many acts that anger both Heaven and man?"

Some time ago, Zigong came to Wei from Lu and told in detail about his encounter with immortals. He also talked about how Confucianism was distorted by later generations, but he never dared to mention the actions of Confucius's descendants, for fear that his teacher would be angered to the point of illness.

Now, Confucius, holding the Confucian scholar's pen, sensed a vast and righteous energy within it being countered by an evil force, the source of which was related to his own bloodline.

Therefore, he easily guessed that it must be that the descendants of Confucius had done something wrong, causing an evil force to appear alongside the righteous. Xi Shi originally intended to wait until Confucius went to the Hunyuan Palace so that Zhou Yi could explain to him the procedures of revising the memorial tablet and altering the portrait of Confucius, but unexpectedly, the old master, after picking up the pen, sensed something beforehand and said:
"During the Han Chinese dynasties, the descendants of Confucius led the way in opposing the emperor, frequently ordering scholars throughout the land to disobey imperial decrees; when foreign tribes invaded, they preemptively labeled all members of the Confucius clan from generations ago with the names of foreign tribes, and even voluntarily shaved their heads and changed their clothes, groveling before the foreign tribes, and altering your portrait to resemble the money-rat tail of a foreign tribe..."

Xi Shi had just finished speaking when the hot-tempered Zilu drew his sword with a clang:

"May I ask, fairy, is it permissible for us to travel to the future world?"

Such unfilial descendants are only a scourge to be left behind. It would be better to clean house for our master in advance... Everyone would rather the Kong family line end than see this happen.

Other disciples of Confucius also gathered around, their expressions unfriendly.

Confucius remained calm and looked at Xi Shi, asking:

Which dynasty was the most outrageous among the descendants of Confucius?

"The Ming Dynasty was the last Han Chinese regime. After the Ming Dynasty came the Manchu Qing Dynasty. When they entered the pass, the descendants of Confucius in Qufu helped them by cheering them on."

Upon hearing this, Confucius closed his eyes and pondered for a moment, then said to Xi Shi:

"If one day someone from the Ming Dynasty goes to Hunyuan Palace, please let me know, Fairy, as I have something to ask of you."

After he finished speaking, he waved to everyone:

"Go do what you're supposed to do, don't crowd around here."

After his disciples left in twos and threes, Confucius, holding his scholar's pen, said:
"The inside of this pen has been tainted. The more it is used, the faster it will deteriorate. I plan to replace the nib and keep it with me to nurture it. It should be restored in about a year."

Upon hearing this time, Xi Shi was about to say that other worlds couldn't wait, when Confucius suddenly handed her the bronze engraving knife he used to revise bamboo slips when writing history:

"I used this to correct typos and have carried it with me for nearly fifty years. Take it to the immortal and see if it can be used. If it can, then we can exchange it for now."

In the early Spring and Autumn Period, writing with ink was not very common. To record things, people often had to carve the characters onto bamboo slips with a carving knife. Later, after writing with ink became popular, the carving knife gradually became an eraser... scraping off the wrong characters on the bamboo slips and rewriting them. This is the origin of the knife-pen.

In Confucius' time, in addition to carving knives, there were also special shaving knives, which were more convenient to use. However, as a promoter of rites and teachings, Confucius was quite traditional and insisted on using carving knives to make corrections.

From the Warring States period onwards, the knife became the mainstream tool for scholars. Until the end of the Han Dynasty, the knife and the pen held equally important positions in the scholar's study. As a result, the officials in the government who were specifically responsible for recording things were called "knife and pen officials".

With the advent of Xuan paper, the status of paper cutters declined, but they did not disappear. Instead, they gave rise to stationery items and decorative items such as paper cutters, clothes pressers, and paperweights. In the novel *Water Margin*, the clothes presser used by Song Jiang to kill Yan Poxi was a scholar's item used to prevent the hem of his robe from billowing up.

Xi Shi returned to Hunyuan Palace with the carving knife and handed it to Zhou Yi:
“Master, the old master said that the inside of the scholar’s ​​pen has been tainted, and he temporarily exchanged it for a carving knife. Do you think this item can be used?”

When Zhou Yi received the carving knife, it immediately became somewhat dull, and verdigris appeared in the gaps, but the overall appearance was still golden, very similar to the Chun Jun sword given to him by Fan Li.

Zhou Yi returned to his room, opened the black notebook, and quickly found new entries in the magical artifacts section:
[Ritual implement: Confucian sage carving knife]

It is indeed a ritual implement, and a ritual implement of the Confucian sage. This is much more advanced than the Confucian scholar's pen, especially since the Confucian scholar's pen has the character "残" (cán, meaning broken or damaged) on the back, which is completely incomparable to the Confucian sage's carving knife.

Wu Meiniang asked:
"How should this item be used? Should it also be done through merit and righteous energy?"

Zhou Yi was also unsure about this issue. With a group of workers on the construction site, he dared not attempt anything recklessly. He planned to keep it in the Wenxuan King's Hall for the time being, and then have his eldest disciple use it on the front lines when Li Bai arrived.

Anyway, the Tibetans there desperately need purification. As long as the eldest disciple doesn't create a seriously contaminated bomb, they can do whatever they want and kill as many as they want.

As he was leaving the room and heading towards the Wenxuan King's Hall, he suddenly saw Wang Qiang chatting with Zhao Yan and Zhao Rui... There were several great Confucian scholars at the end of the Western Han Dynasty, and his eldest disciple wouldn't arrive for several days. Instead of wasting time, he should give it to Liu Xiang and his son Liu Xin and see what surprises the father and son could create.

Thinking of this, Zhou Yi handed the carving knife to the Camellia Fairy Wang Qiang:
"This is Confucius's carving knife, a magical artifact. It should be powered by righteous energy. Take it with you and let Liu Xiang and his son Liu Xin study it to see if they can figure out how to use it."

Besides Liu Xiang and his son, Chen Xian, a devoted follower of Chen Tang, was also a great Confucian scholar. Especially during Wang Mang's reign in his later years, Chen Xian resigned from his official post in anger and lived in seclusion in the mountains with his children and grandchildren to write books.

This was the first time Wang Qiang had transferred such an important item, and she was somewhat worried.
"What should be done if someone forcibly takes it and refuses to return it?"

Xi Shi, who was drinking honey water nearby, said softly:

"If anyone refuses to give it to you, just summon divine lightning to strike their entire family to death. Whoever takes it, strike their whole family. No matter how stupid they are, they will eventually learn their lesson."

Wang Qiang: ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

Sister, how could such cruel words come out of your pretty cherry-like mouth?

(End of this chapter)