Traveling Through Journey to the West: I Am the Dragon King

A moment later, the two arrived at the Empress's palace.

The Empress was in her palace at that moment, holding her forehead, closing her eyes and sighing.

The White Crane Fairy stepped forward, bowed, and said, "Your Majesty, this servant has brought Chonghua here."

Upon hearing this, the Empress opened her eyes and sat up straight.

The Empress said, "Chonghua, you've arrived. I have something to ask you to do in the mortal realm."

Yun Chonghua stepped forward and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty, if you have any important matters to discuss, please feel free to instruct Chonghua. Chonghua will certainly go through fire and water without hesitation."

The Empress sighed, rubbing her forehead, and hesitated before speaking. Then she said, "Baihe, I am very troubled right now. You should speak to Chonghua."

Seeing the Empress's sighing and hearing her tone, Yun Chonghua knew that this matter was probably another shady affair.

Then Yun Chonghua and the White Crane Fairy went to the side hall.

Upon arriving at the side hall, Yun Chonghua asked, "Sister, what has happened? Why is Her Majesty so worried?"

The White Crane Fairy spread her hands, sighed, and said, "It's still about fairies longing for the mortal world."

"Huh? Could it be that the Seventh Princess has run away to the mortal realm again?" Yun Chonghua asked in surprise.

The White Crane Fairy shook her head and said, "This time it's not the Seventh Princess. But it is indeed related to the Seventh Princess. The Peach Banquet will be held in a little over a hundred days. Your Highness should probably start preparing in advance. And the most indispensable things for this banquet are the ceremonial music and the arrangement of the venue."

"In previous years, the arrangements for the grand gathering were all overseen by me, the Grand Steward of Yaochi. Fairy Ni Chang and the other Chang'e were responsible for the court music, dance, and song. Fairy Baihua led the flowers to decorate the venue. Then, the seven fairies under the Empress's command went to the Peach Garden to pick peaches to serve the honored guests. The most important part of the gathering, the colorful ribbons, and the new clothes worn by Fairy Ni Chang and the others for their dance performances, were all woven by Fairy Caizhi."

"But when I went to the Palace of the Jade Maiden, the Palace of the Moon, and the Palace of the Weaver Girl to look for the three of them, the Fairy of Rainbow Robes and the Fairy of a Hundred Flowers were both there, but the Fairy of Weaving was nowhere to be seen. I asked the servants under the Fairy of Weaving, and they said that the Fairy of Weaving had not returned for nearly five or six days."

Yun Chonghua said, "This... five or six days in heaven is equivalent to five or six years on earth. She's been away from her post for so long, and no one reported it? Don't celestial maidens have to clock in?"

The White Crane Fairy replied, "It's not that they don't need to, it's just that all the celestial maidens are under the Goddess's jurisdiction. Their attendance isn't as diligent as that of mortal immortals. As for the Weaver Girl, she, like you and me, is a trusted confidante of the Goddess. She has her own star palace in the heavens."

"The Weaver Girl's daily duties mainly involve palace weaving. Aside from the Peach Banquet and the Dan Yuan Grand Assembly, she has no other duties unless decreed by His Majesty or Her Majesty. Moreover, some brocades can only be found in the mortal realm, and their growth time is long, so she..."

It's quite common for her to descend to the mortal realm for several years to collect these items. Therefore, no one cared if she left for a few days.

"I initially thought she had descended to the mortal realm to find materials for weaving, but then I remembered the Seventh Princess asking her to borrow the Heavenly Shuttle to weave brocade. I then suspected that she had also gone to the mortal realm. However, to avoid further controversy, I did not go to Kehan ​​Si to inspect the stars in the heavens, but instead used the method of communicating with the underworld to check the Book of Life and Death."

With that, the White Crane Fairy sighed and said, "Alas! Just as I expected. She longed to descend to the mortal realm."

Yun Chonghua naturally knew the story of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, but he still asked curiously, "If we go to the underworld to check the Book of Life and Death, can we still find out where the immortals are?"

The White Crane Fairy replied, "Of course not. While I cannot find where the immortals are, I can find where my lover is."

"Huh?" Yun Chonghua asked, his face full of questions.

The White Crane Fairy said, "It was a tragic love affair, to be honest. Hundreds of years ago, the Weaver Girl fell in love with the Golden Ox Star Lord of the Twenty-Eight Mansions. The two had an affair. Although the Weaver Girl was in human form, she possessed the innate magical treasure, the Heavenly Shuttle, left behind by Leizu, the wife of the Yellow Emperor. After she successfully merged with the Heavenly Shuttle, she achieved the body of a celestial being. Unlike other fairies in heaven, such as Heng'e, who was a human-immortal, she was not allowed to experience love according to the heavenly rules."

"This matter was discovered by the censor Wang Lingguan, who reported it to His Majesty. Originally, both of them were to be banished to the mortal realm to undergo tribulations and rebuild their lives. However, the Golden Ox Star Lord was deeply in love and took all the blame upon himself. When he reported to His Majesty, he said that he had been captivated by the beauty of the Weaving Fairy and had become entangled with her. Although the Twenty-Eight Constellations were His Majesty's beloved generals, the rules of Heaven could not be defied, so His Majesty banished the Golden Ox Star Lord to the mortal realm to reincarnate and undergo tribulations."

"His punishment is to be devoid of family and romantic ties. Though he lives to be a hundred, he will be lonely and destitute in all five of his lifetimes. I checked in the underworld; he has already endured four lifetimes of misery, and this is his fifth. Now he is born in Anning Village, Nanyang County, in the mortal realm, and is named 'Cowherd.' But Cowherd, who should have been destined for loneliness, now has two children, and we can't even find out the origin of his wife. Can you guess who conceived these children for him?"

"Originally, because of his diligence and simplicity in his previous four lives, helping his neighbors and being kind to others, he had good relationships with people even though he had no kinship or romantic ties. Therefore, His Majesty specially reduced his lifespan in this life by fifty years. In another twenty years or so, after his final tribulation in this life ends and he dies peacefully, he can be freed from the suffering of birth, old age, sickness and death in the human world and return to the Heavenly Palace."

"But the Weaver Girl was bewitched by the Seventh Princess, and at this time, she caused such a huge mess by falling in love with the mortal world. If she had gone hundreds of years earlier, it would have been fine, but she did this wrong thing at the crucial moment when the Golden Ox Star Lord was about to complete his calamity. Her recklessness not only harmed herself but also others. And her matter was even more serious than that of the Seventh Princess. Although the Seventh Princess married Dong Yong, the two did not have time to secretly conceive a child. But the Weaver Girl gave birth to two half-divine children for the Cowherd."

"Fortunately, this one"

"This matter is currently known only to me and the Empress. If others were to find out, not only would the Weaver Girl be stripped of her celestial bones and banished to the mortal realm, but the Golden Bull Star Lord's five lifetimes of suffering would also be in vain. Not only would his suffering be wasted, but his sins might even be compounded. It's not impossible that he would suffer five more lifetimes of reincarnation."

Yun Chonghua asked, "So, Your Majesty means that I should go and capture the Weaver Girl, and then we'll settle this matter privately in the Jade Pool?"

The White Crane Fairy nodded and said, "Yes. While everyone is still unaware, Her Majesty is thinking of bringing the Weaver Girl back to Heaven as soon as possible. We can resolve this behind closed doors and pretend nothing happened. However, I have to prepare for the Peach Banquet and keep the fairies calm to prevent this from leaking out. I can't personally go down to the mortal realm to persuade her to come back."

"Now Your Majesty doesn't have many trusted and capable people around you. Among the female immortals of Yaochi, those you trust are no match for the Weaver Girl, and those who are can't be trusted. I can't leave either. So Your Majesty has thought it over and decided to let you handle this matter."

"However, you must remember one thing: whatever you do, do not make a scene. If you see the Weaver Girl, reason with her and appeal to her emotions. If she is willing to come back on her own, that would be best. If not, even if the two of you start fighting, do not attract the attention of those above. Also, be careful of her innate magic weapon, the Heavenly Shuttle. That thing can release thousands of threads, which are really difficult to deal with. If you are captured by her, don't expect me to come and rescue you in a short time."

Yun Chonghua said, "I understand. But if I go and bring the Weaver Girl back, what will happen to the Cowherd and his two children?"