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

Chapter 58 What?! Your name is Wei Qubing?! [Requesting monthly votes]

At the Yunwu Town vegetable market, Zhou Yi went to a frozen seafood wholesale store and bought a box of frozen meatballs, a box of ribbonfish, and a box of frozen shrimp.

The shop owner asked with a smile:

"Xiao Yi, are you planning to open a hot pot restaurant at the Taoist temple by buying so much at once?"

The shop owner was in his forties, surnamed Yang, and had a round head. People in town called him Big-Headed Yang.

Zhou Yi said with a smile:

"It's not easy to come down the mountain, so buy more so you won't be hungry in the middle of the night and have nothing to eat."

Upon hearing this, Big Head Yang immediately urged them on:

"How much can your refrigerator on the mountain hold? Why don't you just get a freezer over there and fill it with frozen food? You can eat whatever you want, it's more practical than a refrigerator."

Zhou Yi thought that made perfect sense and planned to take some time to go to the appliance store in town to pick out a larger capacity appliance, in case Chen Tang and the others brought too many sheep that they couldn't finish eating, they could freeze them.

After tying the frozen goods he bought to the back rack of the motorcycle, Zhou Yi was about to pay and leave when Da Tou Yang suddenly pulled him aside and whispered:

“Xiao Yi, my cousin and his wife haven’t had children for several years. Before the Lunar New Year, they adopted a baby girl from an orphanage. But less than six months later, my sister-in-law got pregnant… Now the couple is worried about whether to send the child back to the orphanage.”

While they were talking, Big Head Yang stuffed several hundred yuan into Zhou Yi's hand, and also waived the bill for the frozen food.

Zhou Yi, seeing the business opportunity, said seriously:
"Tell me your cousin and his wife their birthdays, and I'll use the Eight Characters (Ba Zi) to calculate their birth dates."

Big Head Yang hurriedly opened his phone, said the saved birthday, and also dug out the photo of the adopted child so that Zhou Yi could have a reference.

Zhou Yi used the Eight Characters to make a calculation and said to Big Head Yang:

"Your cousin and his wife are destined not to have children."

Big-Headed Yang asked in confusion:

"Then why is she pregnant now? Could it be my sister-in-law...?"

He wanted to admit to having an affair, but felt it would be too much to ruin his family's reputation, so he held back.

Zhou Yi waved his hand:

"Don't overthink it. Your cousin and his wife don't have children, but the girl they adopted is like a sibling to them... Don't send her back. Take good care of her, or something bad might happen."

Upon hearing this, Big Head Yang stuffed several hundred yuan into Zhou Yi's hand:
"Thank you so much, Xiao Yi. These past few days, the relatives have been saying all sorts of things, and my cousin and his wife have been feeling really uneasy. With your words, they can finally relax. Thank you so much."

Zhou Yi accepted the money and then added a reminder:
“This little girl will bring good fortune to your cousin’s family. You must treat her like your own daughter and not do anything that favors boys over girls, or you will ruin the family’s luck.”

"Okay, okay, I'll pass that message on."

After chatting for a few more minutes, Zhou Yi rode his motorcycle away, picked out a box of seasonings at a condiment shop at the entrance of the market, and rode back to Yunwu Mountain.

Upon returning to Hunyuan Palace, Zhou Yi immediately sensed something was amiss.

On the stone table and benches in the courtyard where they ate, there was a set of armor that looked somewhat similar to the one Chen Tang was wearing, but today wasn't the day Chen Tang was supposed to be here.

Moreover, Chen Tang's set was quite worn, with some parts even missing armor.

But this suit of armor is so shiny, it looks like it was rented from a film studio... Could it be that a new actor has arrived?
Zhou Yi, now experienced, didn't search around aimlessly. Instead, he went straight back to his room, took out his black notebook, and began to look through it.

As soon as he entered the house, a long-haired man dressed in a white robe jumped silently down from the roof, holding a Han sword in his hand, his sharp eyes fixed on the motorcycle that had sputtered in earlier.

Inside the room, Zhou Yi was still flipping through the black notebook.

As he looked at the pages, he noticed tadpole-shaped characters moving around on one of them. He quickly recited the "Meditation Mantra" to calm his mind.

Soon, the text on the page began to appear:
[Pilgrimage Visitor's Name: Huo Qubing]

[Time of Appearance: Early summer of the year Yi Si]

[Timeline: Year 6 of Yuanshuo (123 BC)]

[Account redemption progress: 0/365]

[Merit: None] After reading it, Zhou Yi was filled with excitement:
Holy crap, the Champion Marquis is here?

I wonder which palace he came from. Could it be the palace of King Wu Cheng?

Zhou Yi, lost in thought, closed his notebook and walked out of the room. Just as he was about to call out Huo Qubing's name, he saw a young man holding a Han sword standing four or five meters outside the door, staring at him warily.

He is over 1.8 meters tall, with a well-proportioned figure, handsome appearance, and youthful vigor, exuding an air of self-assurance.

As expected of a top-tier playboy of the Han Dynasty, his temperament is truly unparalleled... Zhou Yi originally wanted to greet him, but thinking of Huo Qubing's arrogance, he figured it would be difficult to have a normal conversation without showing off his skills. So he silently recited a spell, flicked his fingers, and cast a lightning strike spell on the open space in the courtyard.

"Click——"

A bolt of lightning struck down from the sky, startling the young man in the courtyard.

Zhou Yi stood with his hands behind his back, looked at the other person and asked:

"Huo Qubing?"

The lightning strike instantly brought the young man to his senses. He sheathed his Han sword and bowed respectfully.
"My name is Wei Qubing. I don't know what you mean by calling Huo Qubing, sir."

What? Wei Qubing?
Zhou Yi recalled the historical knowledge he had learned and remembered that Huo Qubing changed his surname after he was appointed General of the Cavalry. It was during his third expedition against the Xiongnu that he learned that his biological father was Huo Zhongru, a minor official in Pingyang County. He even made a special detour to visit him and recognize his biological father. Then, he bought land for Huo Zhongru in Pingyang County and bought many servants to serve him.

Huo Zhongru's son, who lived in Pingyang County, was brought to Chang'an by Huo Qubing to receive a good education. He was Huo Guang, the pinnacle of civil officials and a unique figure in the five thousand years of Chinese history.

One brother led an army to cripple the once-powerful Xiongnu and was hailed as the pinnacle of military generalship; the other wielded immense power in the court and even dared to depose the emperor and install a new one. Among civil officials throughout history, they were both considered the most outstanding.

It's safe to say that in the entire history of humankind, there will be very few brothers as peculiar as this pair.

The Book of Changes says:

"Your biological father's surname is Huo. Your mother will tell you when you become a General of the Cavalry... What is your military rank now?"

Huo Qubing answered honestly:

"Yesterday, His Majesty appointed me as the Commandant of the Fierce Guards. Today, I was supposed to leave the city to go to the camp to meet my uncle, but my mother insisted on dragging me to pray to the gods for safety. I didn't expect to end up here... How do you know that my biological father's surname is Huo?"

Sima Qian told me... The Book of Changes says:
"Before we talk about this, let me set the timeline for you. This is the world more than two thousand years after the Han Dynasty. You are very famous in history. You not only crippled the Xiongnu, but you also performed a sacrifice to heaven on the Xiongnu's sacred mountain, becoming a war god in Chinese history."

Huo Qubing listened, somewhat bewildered:
"Are you talking about me...? Every day in Chang'an, people are reporting me and requesting His Majesty to arrest me."

He was the most spoiled brat in Chang'an, born with a silver spoon in his mouth, and spent his days doing nothing and was often scolded by his elders. So when he heard this, he always felt that it wasn't about him.

Zhou Yi said with a smile:

"You have a terrible talent for war. You made great contributions on your first mission to fight the Xiongnu. Your achievements were the best in the army, so you were named the Marquis of Champion."

Looking at Huo Qubing, who still had a youthful air about him, Zhou Yi was filled with emotion.

Huo Qubing at eighteen, Wei Qing at thirty, Emperor Wu of Han at thirty-four... everyone was in their prime, perhaps the most domineering era of the Han Dynasty.

A little guidance can save you from many detours, and your merits will increase rapidly. You must seize this opportunity!

However, we can discuss the matter of merit later. The first thing to do now is to find out about the palace where Huo Qubing came from:

"Which palace did you come from? The Palace of King Wucheng?"

Huo Qubing shook his head and pointed to the second main hall, saying:
"That hall with the words 'Longevity' written above the entrance, every time I arrive at the door, a voice in my mind tells me that I cannot leave this place without Master Yiyuan's permission... Could it be that you are Master Yiyuan?"

Zhou Yi nodded, but his mind was in turmoil.

The shortest-lived military general in history actually came from the Hall of Longevity. Was the Emperor of Longevity joking?
However, recalling Li Bai's words last night while cleaning—"What's the use of offering longevity?"—Zhou Yi made a bold guess:

"Was it because Li Bai's musings last night made the Antarctic Emperor of Immortality feel that fate was unfair to these outstanding people who died young, and that's why he sent Huo Qubing?"

If that's the case, then all those who emerge from the Hall of Longevity in the future will be... short-lived ghosts who will be as famous as ever before?

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Second update delivered, please vote with monthly tickets, brothers!

(End of this chapter)