Chapter 1305: Chapter 1303: Master and Disciples Demand Justice from the Jade Emperor
“Your Majesty!”
Hearing the Jade Emperor call his name, Jiang Liu slightly bowed his head, still maintaining a humble and courteous demeanor.
“You brought your disciples to forcefully break into my Lingxiao Hall, what is your intention?” The Jade Emperor spoke, immediately defining Jiang Liu and his group’s actions as a forced intrusion! Taking the lead in accusation!
“Jade Emperor, Your Majesty, this matter was due to the oversight of this humble monk, for which I apologize to Your Majesty…” Hearing the Jade Emperor’s words, which clearly had an accusatory tone, Jiang Liu maintained a good attitude and responded.
“Hehehe, Master, why be so polite with the old Jade Emperor? Didn’t we come to the Lingxiao Hall today to seek justice?” As Jiang Liu finished speaking, Sun Wukong chuckled and spoke up.
Sun Wukong’s words made the immortal officials and divine generals in the Lingxiao Hall look at each other in dismay.
Indeed? The appearance of the entire Journey to the West Pilgrimage Team at the Lingxiao Hall truly signified an important matter?
Seek justice? In today’s world, even immortals and Buddhas avoid them, who would dare wrong them? What justice are they seeking?
“Alright, you two don’t need to play both the stern and the kind roles…” The Jade Emperor frowned slightly while sitting on his throne, waving his hand to interrupt the dynamic between Sun Wukong and Jiang Liu playing the stern and kind roles.
Perhaps others couldn’t see it, but having once been a boy by the Hongjun Ancestor’s side, the Jade Emperor had personally witnessed the two saints of the Western Religion playing such roles many times, and was very familiar with their tactics.
Naturally, the situation with Jiang Liu and Sun Wukong was also clear in the Jade Emperor’s eyes.
“Amitabha…” Hearing the Jade Emperor’s words, Jiang Liu whispered a Buddhist chant, then stepped forward a few steps.
Jiang Liu focused his gaze on the Jade Emperor, saying, “Although Wukong’s attitude was indeed disrespectful to Your Majesty, he wasn’t wrong. Our purpose in seeking an audience with Your Majesty today is to seek justice!”
“Is that so? Justice? I wonder what kind of justice you’re seeking?” Upon hearing this, the Jade Emperor’s eyes squinted slightly, his expression turning unfriendly as he spoke.
The conflict between himself and Xuanzang was almost out in the open, a fact known throughout the Three Realms. They claim to seek justice, yet the Jade Emperor knew their intent was to provoke a confrontation.
“Jade Emperor!”
With the Jade Emperor’s words, Little White Dragon stepped forward a few paces, staring seriously at the Jade Emperor, and said, “Today’s visit was at my request; I urged my master and senior brothers to accompany me. I wish to ask on behalf of my unjustly slain uncle, what crime did my uncle commit against you that warranted setting a trap to take his life?”
“Your uncle? Who is he?” The Jade Emperor’s eyelids lifted slightly as he pretended not to understand, asking Little White Dragon Aolie.
“My uncle is the Dragon King of Jing River!” Little White Dragon Aolie responded aloud.
“The Dragon King of Jing River? The whole world knows he unlawfully altered my decree, completely changing the time and measurement for rain. Is such a crime not deserving of death? How can it be considered unjust?” The Jade Emperor’s expression remained calm as he questioned.
The Jade Emperor’s words made many nod in agreement.
The death of the Dragon King of Jing River was no secret. His actions led to his demise and could not be blamed on others. One wonders why Little White Dragon would bring this up again today and demand justice from the Jade Emperor.
“Jade Emperor, have you heard this saying?”
Little White Dragon Aolie stared earnestly at the Jade Emperor, showing no sign of retreat, and asked.
“What saying?” The Jade Emperor followed the conversation and asked.
“There’s a saying: ‘When officials push people to rebel.’ For most commoners, rebellion is not their initial intent, but some officials force them into it. My uncle was merely the Dragon King of Jing River, with not much support from the Water Clan. Why would he disobey your decree for no reason?” Little White Dragon Aolie spoke with a firm and resonant tone.
These words dissuaded not a few immortal gods in Lingxiao Hall, prompting them to nod quietly.
Indeed, even the Four Sea Dragon Kings hold little sway before the Jade Emperor. How could a mere Dragon King of Jing River dare to openly defy the Jade Emperor’s decree? There indeed seems to be dubious circumstances here!
“Dear sirs and immortals…”
Noticing the agreement in the eyes of many immortal gods around him, Little White Dragon Aolie scanned the audience and spoke, “Do you know why my uncle blatantly defied the Jade Emperor’s decree back then?”
“Desist from this disturbance!”
As Little White Dragon Aolie finished speaking, the Jade Emperor waved his hand with impatience and said, “No matter what reason the Dragon King of Jing River had, his violation of my decree is a fact. Given that, there is no injustice in his execution!”
“The Jade Emperor claims to be the master of the Three Realms. But should my uncle have a grievance, would Your Majesty not even allow me the chance to clarify it?” Interrupted by the Jade Emperor, Little White Dragon Aolie stared at him and asked.
“Jade Emperor, I find some sense in what Little White Dragon says. If there’s no discussion, there can be no clarity. Since he keeps insisting that his uncle has been wronged, why not let him finish his words!” At this moment, the Third Prince Nezha stepped forward and spoke to the Jade Emperor.
“Quite right, quite right, the Third Prince has a point!” With Nezha’s words, many Immortal Gods in the hall silently nodded in agreement.
The Jade Emperor sat high on his throne, overlooking Nezha and Jiang Liu’s group. At this stage, if he wanted to stop them from speaking, it seemed he couldn’t prevent it.
“Very well, since Nezha pleads for you, I shall grant you a chance to speak…” After a moment of silence, the Jade Emperor said.
“Jade Emperor, in the past, my uncle’s Jing River Water Clan suffered daily from being fished and caught in large numbers, depleting the Water Clan rapidly…”
With a chance to speak, Little White Dragon Aolie naturally took this opportunity to thoroughly explain the ordeal of his uncle, the Dragon King of Jing River, to all the Immortal Gods present.
From Little White Dragon Aolie’s words, these Immortal Gods came to understand what had happened back then.
As the Dragon King of Jing River, seeing his Water Clan dwindling daily, he was anguished, which was understandable.
For a moment, everyone’s attention was captivated by Little White Dragon’s tale.
“Later, my uncle discovered the reason for the Water Clan’s decline!”
“It turned out there was a diviner in Chang’an City who daily performed divinations for an old fisherman, guiding him on where to cast his nets and lines, allowing the old fisherman to return fully loaded every day!”
The revelation caused many Immortal Gods in the Lingxiao Hall to look at each other, sensing something amiss.
Before the Dragon King of Jing River was slain, though Xuanzang had yet to formally embark on his Journey to the West for Scriptures, the Immeasurable Kalpa had already begun, hadn’t it?
During such times, all means of calculation should be suppressed to a minimal level, even Immortals and Buddhas in the heavens would find it difficult to predict anything. Yet, someone in the Mortal World could accurately predict how to return fully loaded from the Jing River every day?
Could it be that there is such a remarkable person in the Mortal World?
Putting aside the thoughts of the Immortal Gods present, Little White Dragon continued, recounting the events of that year vividly!
“Later, my uncle, to save the Jing River Water Clan, made a bet with the diviner, wagering on the rain; if the diviner won, the divination coins would be given tenfold. But if the diviner was wrong! His stall would be overturned, and he would never be able to divine again in this lifetime!”
“Originally, my uncle believed that as a member of the Dragon Clan, the rain would be under his control, right?”
“Thus, he thought himself certain to win, and indeed, the diviner provided specific timing and amount of rain, even the exact times for the clouds to disperse and the rain to cease!”
“My uncle found it amusing and even contemplated how to overturn the stall when he went next to it.”
“But who would have thought, the next day, Spirit Official Li appeared, bringing a decree from the Jade Emperor, which outlined the timing and amount of rain, exactly matching the diviner’s prediction!”
“Shocked, my uncle realized the diviner’s capabilities were not to be trifled with. But for the Jing River Water Clan, my uncle decided to reduce the number of raindrops and delay the rain to counter this!”
“Ultimately, the events that unfolded are known to you all!”
At the mention of the final events, Little White Dragon stopped, as further elaboration was unnecessary—everyone was aware of what transpired afterwards!
“In this world, is there truly such a remarkable person who can accurately predict the Jade Emperor’s Imperial Decree?” After a prolonged silence, Han Xiangzi, one of the Eight Immortals, suddenly spoke up with an expression of amazement.
“Amitabha, this indeed was the intention of the Bodhisattva’s party to seek justice from the Jade Emperor!” As Han Xiangzi’s voice fell, Jiang Liu finally interjected.
“Justice? As Little White Dragon said, even if the Dragon King of Jing River defied my decree, it might be understandable, but that does not justify altering my decree alone!”
“For such actions, I stand by my words, even if it resulted in his death, it was not unjust!”
“No, the justice we seek is not about that!” Hearing this, Jiang Liu shook his head.
This statement caught the attention of all the Immortals in the Lingxiao Hall.
The Jade Emperor’s brows slightly furrowed as he looked at Jiang Liu with curiosity, “Not about that? Then what kind of justice do you seek?”
“Yuan Shoucheng knew the Jade Emperor’s decree in advance. I ask—would your decree be known to others a day earlier? Moreover, according to our investigation, that diviner Yuan Shoucheng was not proficient in the art of divination!” Jiang Liu spoke, directly highlighting the issue!