Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons

A month later, the Tang army arrived at the border of Datang.

The Prince of Jiangxia immediately submitted a memorial to the emperor, stating the reasons and consequences of Princess Wencheng's change of groom, and also attached a list of gifts that Gesar presented to Li Shimin, his relative, which was shining with the light of rich gold.

In fact, whether out of guilt towards Jiacha, or love for Zara, the eldest prince who was his nephew, or importance attached to the Tang Dynasty, a powerful country under the mountains, Gesar presented an extremely generous gift to Prince Jiangxia.

There were one golden Buddha, one jade Buddha, one crystal Buddha, and one agate Buddha, each of which was life-size and dazzling; the gems, the smallest of which was as big as a fist, were of excellent quality, and the boxes alone filled two large carts; there were two hundred highland horses, all of which were descendants of his Pegasus, with excellent bloodlines; and there were maps of two high-quality iron mines.

This thank-you gift was so generous that it was rare, especially when compared with the simple-minded Xueyantuo who drove a bunch of cattle and sheep and wanted to propose to the Tang princess.

At the end of the memorial, the King of Jiangxia recounted the story of Concubine Da Liu and asked the court to confer a title on her. Li Shimin's efficiency has always been first-rate, and his decree arrived at the same time as the group of people. The group of people escorted Concubine Da Liu to Fangzhou, and the governor of Fangzhou was already waiting outside the city gate.

The welcoming drums and music were halfway through when the eunuchs of the Yellow Gate arrived on horseback. Li Shimin had indeed conferred the title of Madam of Lingguo on Concubine Da Liu, and granted her a garden in Fangzhou and several maids for her old age.

Concubine Da Liu thanked for all these rewards calmly, and only revealed her unusual affection when she returned to her mother's grave.

The governor of Fangzhou found a man named Muramasa who knew the Liu family and said, "The old lady has been taking care of the tea garden. Others have advised her to remarry or adopt a son to take care of her in her old age. She refused, saying that she already has a husband and a daughter, and when they come back, she can't leave them with nowhere to go."

"It was raining two years ago, and the old lady slipped and fell on her way home, and she died. The villagers arranged her funeral. I am in charge of the Liu family's tea garden now. The account book is here, please take a look." The village chief took out the account book from his arms, with a complicated expression on his face. It was obvious that he was afraid that the noble lady who returned home in glory would take back the tea garden.

He had taken good care of Princess Daliu's mother when she was alive, and he also helped with the funeral and burial after her death. He felt that he had no regrets about taking the old lady's tea garden. But this Lady of Lingguo was someone's biological daughter after all...

Princess Da Liu seemed to be listening but not really listening, her eyes were fixed on her mother's tombstone. After a while, she put down her father's spirit tablet, knelt down, and pulled out the weeds that covered the grave with her hands.

Muramasa's voice finally faded away, and he realized that Princess Daliushan had no intention of arguing with him about the tea garden.

Wen Jiao said, "I see that the atmosphere in this grave is peaceful, without any resentment or injustice. Your mother must have died of old age, without any pain or suffering. It must be a happy funeral."

Muramasa almost raised his hand to wipe the sweat off his face. The ability of this Jingrong Zhenren had long been known throughout the country. It was said that not only was his magic skill superb, but his ability to read people was also extraordinary. Fortunately, he had done nothing wrong, otherwise if this expert had seen through it and said this in front of Madam Lingguo, would he still be able to save his life?

Princess Da Liu remained silent, pulling weeds non-stop, and then she wiped the tombstone. Seeing her expression, the maids did not dare to disturb her, but quietly handed her a wet towel.

After wiping the tombstone, she dug two small holes next to the tomb with her hands. Seeing this, Wen Jiao thought for a moment and ordered, "Put down the urn. I'll take care of it here. You all go down."

The maids felt relieved and retreated ten feet away with Muramasa. Wen Jiao asked them to go further away until they were sure they could not see the movement here, and then released the souls of Xiao Liufei and her son.

Xiao Liufei and her son kowtowed respectfully in front of the grave, then stood up and looked around at the green mountains and white clouds with nostalgia. After a while, she said, "Praise the Great Heavenly Venerable, the North Pole Mysterious Heavenly God, who benefits all living beings and subdues demons!"

She bowed in the direction of Wudang Mountain.

"Praise the Demon-Subduing Goddess."

She bowed to Wen Jiao.

She looked at the bright sun in her hometown, nodded, and sighed with relief: "I'm finally back."

With a sound, her figure became light and transparent. The breeze passed by, leaving no trace.

The little prince smiled at Wen Jiao, his eyes warm and gentle: "I am going to chase my mother. Thank you, the goddess, for sending us on our last journey. My father's soul is enshrined in the white-horned bison under the fourth big snow mountain west of the Kingdom of Hall. If one day his sins are exhausted, I beg the goddess to give him a release."

After saying this, he also entered the cycle of reincarnation.

Princess Da Liu placed the two urns into the pit, and fine sand flowed through her fingers, burying them.

Wen Jiao broke off a tea tree branch and stuck it in front of the tomb.

Her master, the Demon-Dangling Heavenly Master, who she had only met once, once picked a plum blossom as a token of faith when he was cultivating. Later, the branch grew into a towering tree. Although she did not have the magical power of her master, with a little spiritual nourishment, this branch would surely turn into a tall tree next year, lush and luxuriant, accompanying this family that had no chance to reunite in their lifetime.

The little prince thanked her, but why should he thank her? In the book, Yin Wenjiao was just another Baihuaxiu, another Liu Fei.

After paying homage to her deceased mother and burying her deceased father's spirit tablet and her sister and nephew's urns together with her mother's, Princess Dalius fell ill.

Ever since she witnessed her father being torn to pieces by demons when she was young, she had nightmares all the time. She burned incense in front of her father's spirit tablet every night, asking him to protect his sister who was in danger of dying. Now that everything had settled down and her anger had dissipated, the exhaustion of the past forty years came flooding back to her, almost overwhelming her.

The governor of Fangzhou was so anxious that he was fuming. If someone had a problem right after he came under his command, and if he died here, wouldn't he be criticized by His Majesty for not doing his job well? Therefore, he sent famous local doctors back and forth one after another.

Wen Jiao was very calm, she knew that Da Liu Fei's long-cherished wish had just come true, and a huge hole of fear had been left in her heart. This hole could only be filled by herself, and Wen Jiao believed that this woman who had experienced many hardships but had never been defeated could also get through this.

Sure enough, three days later, the much thinner Princess Liu took the initiative to go to the fields. After a hearty meal, she called Muramasa and gave him a large sum of money as a reward for taking care of Liu's mother and the Liu family tea garden over the years.

While waiting for Muramasa to come, she even watered the potted flowers in the house herself. Because of her illness in the past few days, the maids had no time to take care of these flowers and plants, and they were quite withered.

When Wen Jiao asked about her future plans, Concubine Da Liu was a little sad at first: "My parents wanted to make our family the largest tea merchant in Fangzhou..." She paused for a while, waved her hand, and said with a bit of pride, "Don't think about that. Master, tell me, with my status in Lingguo, if I sell tea here to Lingguo, will Gesar dare to collect taxes from me?"

Wen Jiao smiled: "I think that once this matter is finalized, all the tea merchants in Fangzhou will flock here and seek refuge with Madam."