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

Chapter 1 Is this the Tang Dynasty? [Please add to your favorites]

On the bumpy mountain road, Zhou Yi walked while checking the Taoist temple's paperwork that he had just completed at the Religious Affairs Bureau.

From today onwards, at the age of twenty-three, he officially becomes the abbot of Hunyuan Palace in Yunwu Mountain, and can freely use the resources of Hunyuan Palace within the scope of the law.

Hunyuan Palace is the name of the Taoist temple that my grandfather spent his whole life working on. It is quite large, but the old man has always had a spirit of not feeling comfortable unless he is working on something. One day he would start the foundation to build the Sanqing Hall, the next day he would suddenly want to enshrine Pangu and Nuwa, and the day after tomorrow he would plan to move the Buddha to the Taoist temple for worship.

After much tinkering, Grandpa managed to bring in Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, and even mythological deities.

Unfortunately, he would turn to other things when each hall was only half-finished, so the entire Hunyuan Palace had almost no complete halls. Various antique-style bricks and tiles were piled up everywhere, making it a complete unfinished construction site.

Occasionally, someone would stumble up the mountain to offer incense, only to find the Hunyuan Palace too crowded to even step on. They would either hastily place offerings at the entrance and light a stick of incense, or simply turn away and never come back.

During his senior year internship, the old man called Zhou Yi and asked him to come home to inherit the Taoist temple, saying that his future was closely related to the temple and that working outside was a waste of time.

As a college student, Zhou Yi naturally scoffed at such feudal superstitious activities. He felt that after studying cultural knowledge for so many years, he should go to a big company to shine, preferably choose a prestigious job, settle down in a big city, buy a house, and then he would have a happy life.

After struggling for more than a year, Zhou Yi couldn't even compete with others for positions that didn't have strict educational requirements, let alone a decent job.

Despite having excellent looks, height, and education, no one was hired.

I passed the interview several times, but was ultimately rejected for some strange reasons.

For example, the boss is a devout Buddhist and feels uncomfortable seeing the words "I Ching"; or the boss was born in the Year of the Rabbit, which clashes with the Year of the Horse, while Zhou Yi, born in 2002, happens to be born in the Year of the Horse.

After all the back and forth, and with his grandfather's health deteriorating, Zhou Yi simply returned home and prepared to rest in his hometown.

On the day he arrived home, the old man was very happy. He talked to Zhou Yi for a long time and even took out all the paperwork for the Taoist temple in advance, explaining the procedures several times.

After making all the arrangements, the old man personally called a group of relatives and friends, set up several tables at home, and opened the good wines that he usually couldn't bear to drink. Everyone ate and drank until the sun set before they dispersed.

That evening, the old man changed into a brand-new Taoist robe, lay on the bed, instructed Zhou Yi to manage the Taoist temple well, and then passed away peacefully.

Even after his grandfather was buried, Zhou Yi couldn't believe it was real.

He really hoped that the old man would open his eyes with childlike innocence, point at everyone's mournful faces and laugh out loud, or simply take out his phone and take a picture to show during the New Year.

But no miracle happened; the old man had indeed passed away. When he was placed in the coffin, lividity had already appeared on his back, and the doctor gave the cause of death as sudden cardiac death caused by excessive alcohol consumption.

After arranging his grandfather's funeral, Zhou Yi, following the old man's last wishes, went to the Religious Affairs Bureau and the Taoist Association to complete the inheritance procedures for Hunyuan Palace, officially becoming the abbot of this unfinished Taoist temple.

The abbot's certificate not only bears Zhou Yi's name, but also the Taoist name given to him by his grandfather—Yi Yuan.

Upon seeing this Taoist name, Zhou Yi couldn't help but criticize the old man's unreliability:
“They named me Zhouyi, and as a result, almost all my classmates have asked me to tell their fortunes and interpret their divinations since I was a child… Now they’ve given me the Taoist name Yiyuan. Once I become famous, I guess everyone will call me Master Yiyuan.”

He walked up the mountain while complaining, occasionally rubbing the mud off the soles of his shoes on the grass by the roadside.

Yunwu Mountain is located in the western part of the Central Plains. It is not very high and is shrouded in clouds and mist all year round. The air humidity is high. My grandfather said that this mountain has a spiritual energy. Since the first grade of elementary school, he has urged Zhouyi to climb to the top of the mountain to exercise every weekend.

At that time, Zhou Yi strongly resisted this behavior. It wasn't until his freshman year of college, when he easily broke the school's long-distance running record that had stood for 25 years, that he realized that his childhood mountain climbing experience had laid a solid foundation for his body.

After walking past a crooked old tree, Zhou Yi stuffed all the paperwork into a file bag, walked through a patch of waist-high weeds by the roadside, and saw wild onions growing on the ground.

"Wow, it's growing so fast! We can eat wild onion stir-fried eggs again."

He bent down and plucked a handful of wild onions with his bare hands, intending to take them to the Taoist temple on the mountain to stir-fry with eggs... On the day he returned home, his grandfather accompanied him up the mountain and told him many stories about places where wild vegetables grew. The place where Zhou Yi plucked the wild onions was the "wild vegetable hunting spot" that his grandfather had marked.

Besides wild onions, this mountain also has a series of mountain delicacies such as wild leeks, lichen, noodle vegetables, bamboo shoots, and mushrooms. Although I haven't tasted them yet, just hearing these names makes them sound healthier than those heavy salt and oil takeout meals.

After successfully clearing the wilderness, Zhou Yi plucked a blade of grass, casually tied the wild onion in his hand into a bundle, and continued up the mountain, intending to return to Hunyuan Palace before sunset so as not to delay making dinner.

The summit of Yunwu Mountain connects with the Funiu Mountain range, and the flat area is where Hunyuan Palace is located.

The entire Taoist temple covers an area of ​​several dozen acres and has a very reasonable layout. However, all the palaces are only half-built, and further investment is needed before they can be opened to pilgrims.

Yesterday, Zhou Yi made a preliminary estimate and said that to build the entire Hunyuan Palace according to the standards set by Grandpa, it would cost at least 70 to 80 million.

Unfortunately, he only has a pitiful four-figure sum of money on hand. After buying rice, flour, and cooking oil tomorrow, it will probably be gone in no time.

Thinking about all these random thoughts, Zhou Yi walked to the gate of Hunyuan Palace, took out his key, unlocked the door, and went inside.

It was already evening, and the orange-red sunset slanted in, giving even the four fierce-looking Heavenly Kings on both sides of the mountain gate a softer and warmer glow.

After locking the gate, Zhou Yi passed through the mountain gate and arrived at the first courtyard. There he saw a young woman wearing a high-waisted ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress) anxiously pacing back and forth in the setting sun.

She was tall and slender, with a graceful figure. She wore various vintage-style jewelry, and every move she made exuded an indescribable charm, especially her eyes and brows, which revealed a captivating allure...

What an absolutely stunning beauty!

However, despite the other person being quite good-looking, Zhou Yi didn't give them a friendly look.

"Are you here to take photos in Hanfu? I'm speechless. These palaces aren't even finished yet, they're very dangerous. Couldn't you have waited until they were repaired before taking photos?"

Recently, many people have been coming here to take all sorts of ancient-style photos, which has become quite annoyed for Zhou Yi.

The woman in Hanfu suddenly heard someone speak, quickly turned around, and respectfully bowed.
"I am Wu Meiniang. I was ordered by His Majesty to go to the Sanqing Hall to offer incense and pray for Princess Jinyang. I don't know how I ended up here... What do you mean by the portrait you mentioned, young master? Are you... a prisoner? Why are you dressed so strangely?"

The Book of Changes: ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

Putting aside the question of whether I am a prisoner or not, could you first tell me why you call yourself Wu Zetian?
Has she gone mad from cosplaying?

He didn't know where to begin his rant, so he simply went along with what the other person was saying:

"Isn't Princess Jinyang that little rascal Li Mingda who died at the age of twelve? You're not only cosplaying a ruthless empress, but you're also praying for someone who died young... From the perspective of good fortune, you're practically dancing on a minefield!"

The words of the Book of Changes instantly stunned the woman in Hanfu before him:

"Princess Jinyang has just turned twelve this year. Are you saying she's going to die... or pass away?"

"Wow, are all cosplayers this into character these days? Their acting is way better than those short drama actors..." Zhou Yi didn't know what to say, so he simply asked:
"I clearly locked the door when I left. Did you jump over the wall to get in?"

The woman in Hanfu shook her head, pointed to the half-built Mahavira Hall next to her, and said:

"I was ordered to go to the Sanqing Hall of Taiji Palace. I had just arrived at the entrance when suddenly everything went black and I found myself here... Young master, is this the Tang Dynasty?"

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(End of this chapter)