Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons

Regardless of whether Yuan Tiangang's divination was a joke or not, it was not suitable to be spread out.

In the past, Emperor Yang of Sui's favorite concubine Yuan Ziyan predicted that Li would rule the country, causing all the people with the surname Li to keep their tails between their legs, and Li Yuan kept a low profile for many years. If Yuan Tiangang's prediction today were to spread, the entire Yingguo Mansion would have to live on the edge of a knife. Even the Wu brothers who harbored ill will towards their stepmother and sister could tell the severity of this matter.

After all, Wu Zetian was really a girl.

Wu Shigui and his wife immediately laughed: "Yuan Ling was just joking with everyone. We have forgotten what he said. Do you remember what he said just now?"

"I don't remember." Everyone said in unison.

The cub Wu Zetian looked at them, then at Yuan Tiangang and Wen Jiao, clapped her hands, and laughed: "You are all so stupid, you can't even remember what I said. Just now, this uncle said..."

Wen Jiao stretched out her arm, quickly hooked her into her arms, and rubbed her soft and smooth face twice: "You are so smart! You remember it, right? If you dare to say a word, I will rub your face into six-sided!"

The cub suddenly became silent.

The feeling of bullying the only female emperor in China's five thousand years was really flattering. Wen Jiao couldn't help but rub her head a few more times, and then she heard Yuan Tiangang stubbornly say: "I'm not kidding."

Wen Jiao deliberately misinterpreted his words and said with a smile: "It seems that our Yuan Banxian is reluctant to part with this 1,000 taels of gold for divination? Don't worry, I will compensate you for this amount of gold later, okay?"

Wu Shigui was very happy and winked at Madam Yang: "What do you think? I said they..."

Wen Jiao suddenly raised her voice and said, "Feng Ji! When I came here just now, I saw that the kitchen had bought several big carps that were alive and kicking, so they asked them to buy lamb and goose to make a barbecue. Go and see how they are preparing it. If it's ready, serve it up. Don't neglect the guests."

The owner of the house always only cares about fortune-telling and not entertaining guests. He would not keep any food for the guests even if the emperor came. Besides, Wen Jiao was supposed to practice swordplay, but she came to the front hall to make trouble, which was already "not doing her job properly". If she said that she took the time to go to the kitchen on the way here and asked the cooks to prepare food for the guests, it was clearly a lie.

Fengji knew that her preparation of the meal was fake, and her lie to expel the Yingguo family was the real one, so he immediately cooperated: "I will go and take a look right away."

Wu Shigui was not a person without tact. He knew that Wen Jiao was hinting at them to leave immediately, so he said with a smile, "My colleagues have set up a farewell party at the long pavilion outside the city. I have to go there quickly, so I won't bother Yuan Ling to take care of the meal."

Wen Jiao pretended to be regretful: "If there is a chance in the future, I will definitely invite you to taste the cooking skills of my chef. On good days, I will pack the 1,000 taels of gold back to Duke Ying."

"No need for that. It's no good to take back what you've spent. It will make people laugh. I don't need the money." Wu Shigui laughed and left with his family.

Wen Jiao put on her veil and personally sent them to the door, happily recalling the soft touch of the little Wu Zetian's pink face. She was as happy as a fool being shaken by a superstar.

Unconsciously, they walked back to the main hall. Yuan Tiangang was still sitting there in a daze. He must have sensed her approaching, he raised his eyes and repeated, "I'm not kidding."

Wen Jiao was stunned to see that he frowned slightly. His face, which was slightly blue due to lack of energy and blood, looked extremely stubborn.

His "joking" words were meant to ease the atmosphere. The "female ruler of the world" verdict was hard for the Wu family to believe. If they really believed it, they would have to kill the young girl, otherwise it would be harbouring the future emperor who would overthrow the Tang Dynasty, which was no different from treason. It would be better to treat it as a harmless joke.

But Yuan Tiangang was a man of great character, and any doubt would be an insult to his physiognomy, which he was proud of.

Wen Jiao retracted her gaze and lowered her eyes slightly: "I know."

"I know the child is a girl." Yuan Tiangang said.

"I know." Wen Jiao said. If the number one fortune teller in the Tang Dynasty couldn't even tell the gender of a child, it would be a joke.

"Duke Ying and his wife also thought I was joking."

"I know."

"You think I'm joking too?"

"I just think it's a bit inappropriate for Yuan Ling to say such a strange fate directly." Wen Jiao explained

Yuan Tiangang smiled coldly: "The secrets of heaven are unpredictable. However, those who ask for fortune-telling are not even afraid of guessing the secrets of heaven. They are bold enough to deceive heaven, but they turn around and are afraid of the truth of their fate. People in this world are really ridiculous."

Wen Jiao sighed, "After all, you and I were born in this world, so we are inevitably involved in the laws of the world. Even if you, Yuan Ling, let Feng Ji use his magical powers to clean this place spotlessly, can you clean the breeze, the soil, and the stones?"

"There is a country on the left corner of the snail, called Chu, and there is a country on the right corner of the snail, called Man. They fought with each other for land, and tens of thousands of corpses were left. They chased each other to the north for fifteen days before returning." She slowly recited the famous passage from "Zhuangzi".

"Are you implying to me that Fengji is not clean enough?" Yuan Tiangang's scalp suddenly felt numb and his whole body felt itchy.

Upon hearing this, Feng Ji cried out in pain: "Yuan Tiangang! Ancestor! This Fox King has already done his best and cannot be any cleaner! If you continue to nitpick, believe it or not, this Fox King will not do it anymore?"

Wen Jiao shook her head: "What I mean is, you see, even Zhuang Zhou, who lived nearly two thousand years ago, understood that even in the tiny place at the tip of a hair, there are three thousand dust particles. In this vast world, where is not covered with dust? With Yuan Ling's wisdom, why must he insist on getting to the bottom of it. There is nothing perfect in the world. Everything is enough as long as it is seven points satisfactory. What is the remaining three points? Who cares what it is!"

"Besides..." She thought for a moment and walked out the door.

Outside the window in front of the hall, there was a plum tree and a peach tree. It was late spring, and the flowers on both trees were about to wither. Even without wind, they would still float and fall in a slow and elegant manner. Because Yuan Tiangang hated falling flowers, Fengji had to set up a moving spell on the ground. As soon as the petals fell to the ground, they were moved to another place. Therefore, the falling flowers kept falling, but there was never a single withered flower on the green grass.

Wen Jiao stretched her hands to the air, and soon she had caught two hands of fallen petals. She held the flowers to Yuan Tiangang and said, "Besides, flowers bloom and fall, leaves fall back to their roots, the moon waxes and wanes, the tides rise and fall, aren't they all external manifestations of the cycle of nature? You love the prosperous and clean side, but if there is no shadowy side, how can there be cleanliness? Cleanliness and impurity are all relative."

She dropped the fallen petals one by one onto the crystal plate for viewing, humming a new tune she had just learned: "The evening river is still, the spring flowers are in full bloom. The flowing waves carry the moon away, the tide brings the stars."

The crystal plate was shining brightly, the peach pink and white reflected her bright face, which was incomparably delicate and pure.

Unprovoked wind and rain hasten the passing of spring, and all the peach and plum blossoms have fallen from the branches; there are people singing and laughing beside the peach trees, knowing that you are worried and troubled.

Thinking of the hexagram he had divined in the morning, Yuan Tiangang felt confused.