Journey to the West: Beginning with the Apprenticeship of Bodhi Patriarch

Chapter 289: The New Emperor Ascends the Throne, Searching for the True Person

The Master left Chang'an and walked the world again, passing through green mountains and clear waters, and seeing endless weeds and flowers. Time passed so quickly that before they knew it, several years had passed.

The Immortal and his group traveled to Liangzhou. After several years, there were very few people who blocked their way. Most of them were people who practiced lawlessness. The Immortal talked to Emperor Xuan about this and asked him to revise the laws, but the Immortal knew that the laws could not stop those who were determined to practice lawlessness. He felt helpless about this.

One day, the Immortal was traveling to Jincheng, Liangzhou. The group was looking for a place to stay and rest for a day or two when they suddenly heard a lot of noise ahead. It was an official publicly announcing that the country's name had changed and a new emperor had ascended the throne.

When the Immortal saw this, he said, "Niu'er, go ahead and find out what's going on there."

The Bull Demon King took the order and went.

Zhu Bajie put down his burden and said with a smile: "Master, there was a lot of noise just now, but you can hear something from it. It's the new emperor ascending the throne."

Zuo Liang led the white deer and asked in confusion, "How did the new emperor ascend the throne? When we entered Chang'an City in the past, the emperor was still in his prime. Now, it has only been four or five years, how come the new emperor has ascended the throne?"

Zhu Bajie laughed and said, "When the master talked to the Holy Mother Emperor in the past, she said that Emperor Dan had not grown up yet, but if Emperor Dan grew up, the artifact would be returned to him. Now that several years have passed, maybe Emperor Dan will grow up, so the Holy Mother Emperor replaced him with a new emperor and said the same thing again, and when he grows up, the artifact will be returned."

Zuo Liang shook his head and said, "Master Hu Ding, you can't speculate like this."

Zhu Bajie said, "It's just a talk, it's nothing serious."

The Immortal saw this but said nothing and waited for the Bull Demon King to return.

Green Ox was a little indignant. He took an orange and threw it at Zhu Bajie, saying, "How can there be a big or small problem in spiritual practice? You need to be careful, Zhu Bajie, you can't say that."

After listening to what Qingniu said, Zhu Bajie thought for a moment and said, "King Si is right, but I, the old pig, was wrong."

Qingniu said, "You, Zhu Bajie, have made mistakes more than once or twice. How can you practice like this?"

Zhu Bajie said with a bitter face: "King Si, it is not what I want, it is not what I want. But I can't control my mouth."

Qingniu said, "Why don't I go find the hero and ask him to give me a pill to seal your mouth so that you can't speak. This way you won't say anything wrong."

When Zhu Bajie heard this, he was terrified and said, "No need to do this, no need to do this!"

Zuo Liang saw this, shook his head and smiled.

The real man never spoke.

……

But the Bull Demon King walked forward and squeezed into the crowd. Looking at the noisy chatter around him, he felt overwhelmed and didn't know where to get the information from.

The Bull Demon King looked around for a long time. Relying on his large body, he squeezed to the front, just to take a look at what was written on the notice.

The Niu King struggled hard and finally squeezed to the front. He looked forward and saw a notice next to the official. The words on it were an imperial edict. "I have seen that the previous kings started businesses and all of them followed the will of heaven and followed human ethics. I have inherited the great cause and carried out the great plan. Now the tortoise shell has the divine writing, which shows the signs of yin and yang, and the Xuan Ji treasure image is in line with the time of the sun and the moon. I humbly hope that the great saint and divine emperor Wu will receive the divine mandate and possess the divine artifact. You can change the Tang Dynasty to Zhou, and the reign name is Tianshou. I am the King of Zhou, acting on behalf of the will of heaven..."

When the Bull Demon King saw this, his eyes widened. How could he not know what was happening? However, Empress Wu did not return the artifact or hand over the power, but proclaimed herself emperor.

How could Empress Wu dare to do such a thing? He, Old Niu, had traveled around the human world before, but he had never known that there was a woman who was an emperor. This was undoubtedly the first time in the world.

The Bull Demon King was surprised and had some respect for him, but he did not leave. Instead, he turned around and looked around. He saw an old man who looked like a poor scholar in a corner. He moved towards him.

The scholar saw the Bull Demon King approaching and asked, "Who are you?"

The Bull Demon King smiled and said, "Old sir, I am a cultivator passing by here, but I don't know what happened here. I saw that you are a scholar, so I came forward to ask."

The old scholar asked: "Cultivator? Where are you from?"

The Bull Demon King pointed to the west and said, "It came from far away in the west."

Upon hearing this, the old scholar said, "As you said, you are actually a barbarian."

The Bull Demon King said helplessly: "How can you say that I am a barbarian?"

The old scholar pointed at the Bull Demon King, shook his head and said, "You are from the West, not from China, you are a barbarian."

The Bull Demon King said: "This name is somewhat unpleasant."

The old scholar said, "You are barbarians, why are you unhappy?"

The Bull Demon King said: "I am unhappy, but please change your name."

When the old scholar heard this, he was about to say something, but suddenly he saw the Bull Demon King take out two copper coins and give them to him. The old scholar took the copper coins, smiled happily, and said, "Sir, this is a new name. Are you satisfied with this name?" Seeing this, the Bull Demon King said, "You are really honest, old man."

The old scholar said, "What if it's not true? The power in the court changes very quickly, business is difficult, and if you fail the imperial examination, wouldn't it be deceiving yourself if you don't tell the truth?"

The Bull Demon King said, "I won't tell you much, but I don't know what's going on here, please tell me."

The old scholar said, "Why do you not understand this matter? This matter is nothing more than a change in the court. At most, the change has a bigger momentum."

The Bull Demon King said: "I heard that the Queen Mother proclaimed herself as the Emperor. Is this still a change?"

The old scholar said, "Even if the Queen Mother proclaims herself the Emperor, what can it do? It will all change. It is us who are suffering. There will be no change."

The Bull Demon King was speechless and bowed deeply.

The old scholar said, "Is this all you are wondering about?"

The Bull Demon King shook his head and said, "I still have one doubt. When I traveled here in the past, it was when Emperor Dan was in power. Now the Queen Mother has ascended the throne despite the disapproval of the world. How will Emperor Dan deal with it?"

The old scholar said: "What is there to be troubled about? The emperor has been deposed long ago."

Upon hearing this, Bull Demon King understood everything. He had never thought that the Wu Queen would really dare to depose Emperor Dan. He knew what had happened and said no more. He bowed to the old scholar and then got up and left.

The Bull Demon King walked out, and soon he came to the side of the Immortal and said, "Master, the matter is clear now."

Jiang Yuan dismounted the white deer and asked, "What do you mean?"

The Bull Demon King then told the Immortal everything about the notice and what the old scholar had said, and told him what he knew.

Upon hearing this, the real person remained calm and said with a smile, "I never thought that something like this would happen."

The Bull Demon King said, "How come you don't look frightened at all, sir?"

The Immortal said: "Why should you be afraid? The Purple Star Emperor is in the palace now. Sooner or later, he will seize power and return to save the human world. So there is no need to be afraid."

Upon hearing this, Bull Demon King immediately understood the Immortal's intention and nodded in agreement.

Zhu Bajie stepped forward and said, "Master, why didn't you worry that Emperor Ziwei would fail?"

The real person turned around and smiled, "Why do you think the emperor will fail?"

Zhu Bajie said: "It's hard to say. It's difficult to cross the human world and escape from the sea of ​​suffering. It can't be determined in one lifetime. Success or failure in this life is common."

The Immortal said, "Bajie, what you said does make sense. It is not a one-lifetime achievement to save people from the sea of ​​suffering. If you want to achieve it in one lifetime, it will be very difficult. But the Emperor is not an ordinary person. Although there may be times of failure and discouragement in this life, it will never be now. The Emperor will definitely be able to seize power and return."

After hearing this, Zhu Bajie said no more, knowing that what the immortal said must be reasonable.

The Immortal said: "Now the Holy Mother Divine Emperor has declared herself the emperor, calling herself Wu Zhou, to replace the Li Tang. We can leave the Southern Continent and go somewhere else."

No one asked why, they just followed the immortal's orders, said "yes", and then got up and left Jincheng.

……

In the Imperial Palace of the Divine Capital.

When Empress Wu came to the throne, she was the new emperor. She controlled the court with strong political tactics and forced the world to recognize her throne. She even went so far as to invite Buddhism to claim that she was Maitreya who had come to earth to rule the world.

They even spread auspicious signs such as 'the sun and the moon in the sky' and 'a golden rabbit appearing in the world', saying that he was destined to be the emperor.

After all these things, Empress Wu was crowned emperor, abolished the Tang Dynasty and established the Zhou Dynasty, established the capital in Luoyang, and renamed it the Divine Capital.

In the imperial palace, Empress Wu was here, but at this time she was already the new emperor and called herself "Holy and Divine Emperor". Her full name was Wu Zetian, the Holy and Divine Emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty.

Wu Zetian is now the new emperor, but she is unhappy in her heart. This is because since she ascended the throne, for some unknown reason, the life talisman from the past was spit out and turned into a pool of ashes. Her health is not as good as before, and she is unable to handle government affairs.

Wu Zetian was greatly shocked, and realized that he had broken his promise, so he spat out the talisman.

Wu Zetian is now the new emperor, so how could she be willing to give up the country and power? Therefore, she dispatched troops to search for the immortals all over the world, intending to bring them back so that she could give him a life talisman.

(End of this chapter)