Filing a Complaint?

After Wukong caused a scene in the Underworld and crossed out names from the Register of Life and Death,

he informed the monkeys in the mountains about this...

Upon learning they were no longer under the jurisdiction of King Yama, the monkeys were overjoyed and knelt before Wukong one after another.

They addressed him by his new title, Great Sage Equal to Heaven.

The Monkey King was delighted and held another banquet, celebrating for several days.

In the days that followed, Flower-Fruit Mountain returned to its former tranquility.

Su Qing's days were also quite leisurely; besides her daily cultivation, she supervised the cultivation of the Little Sparrows and Gongsun Zhixue.

After all, Su Qing was looking forward to these little ones transforming into human form soon to keep her company!

Besides supervising their practice, Su Qing would occasionally go to the mortal world to collect some ancient texts to read when she had nothing else to do.

This kind of life was relaxed and pleasant.

It is said that a day in heaven is a year on earth.

One day.

While the Jade Emperor sat in the Lingxiao Treasure Hall of the Golden Cloud Palace, gathering his civil and military immortal officials for the morning court,

suddenly, the Perfected Qiu Hongji stepped forward to report: "Your Majesty, outside the Hall of Universal Brightness, Ao Guang, the East Sea Dragon King, has submitted a memorial and awaits Your Heavenly Venerate's summons."

Hearing this, the Jade Emperor nodded slightly and said calmly, "Summon him."

Ao Guang was summoned to the Lingxiao Hall. After completing his salutations, the attendant immortal boy took the memorial and presented it to the Jade Emperor.

The Jade Emperor glanced at the long memorial and smiled helplessly; this old Dragon King could not change his bad habit of being wordy even after ten thousand years.

Skipping over much of the nonsense, he began to read the main text.

The memorial described Wukong's series of actions in the East Sea Dragon Palace with much exaggeration.

It said Wukong, relying on his bit of strength, forced his way into his home and demanded a weapon.

After obtaining the weapon, he then relied on having a divine armament to threaten them into giving him a suit of armor.

He had no choice but to seek help from his brothers! Only then did they manage to scrape together a suit of armor for him.

Furthermore, when the demon monkey left, he even called them noisy.

After finishing with the demon monkey, he mentioned Su Qing... claiming that Su Qing had instigated the demon monkey.

At the same time, he exaggerated Su Qing's "crimes"... even claiming she had kidnapped his young daughter.

Finally, the memorial concluded: "Your servant reports today in hopes of Your Majesty's judgment. I beseech Your Majesty to dispatch heavenly troops to capture those two lawless monsters, so that the mountains and seas may be peaceful and the aquatic palaces tranquil."

After reading it, the Jade Emperor frowned, shook his head helplessly, and handed it to Taishang Laojun.

He smiled and whispered, "Laojun, look at what that little fellow you always praise has been up to lately. Is this the 'good child' you spoke of?"

Taishang Laojun gave a helpless smile, took the memorial, and read it silently to himself.

As he read, he couldn't help but start laughing...

It seemed he felt he now had a reason to poke fun at Bodhi.

Just as he finished reading one memorial, Celestial Master Ge Xianweng reported: "Your Majesty, King Qin Guang of the Underworld has brought a memorial from Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, the Lord of the Netherworld."

An attendant jade maiden took the memorial and presented it to the Jade Emperor.

The Jade Emperor took it and began reading from the beginning as before.

Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva's memorial was not as long-winded as the old Dragon King's; it was only about a hundred words.

It summarized Wukong's actions in the Underworld, including but not limited to injuring ghost soldiers and generals, frightening the Ten Kings of Hell, forcibly erasing many monkeys' names, and threatening to tear up the Register of Life and Death.

Naturally, because of the monkey's actions upon leaving, Su Qing was also mentioned in the memorial.

But it only said Su Qing was passive, failing to discipline her junior and not stopping his rampage... it didn't say what should be done to her.

Finally, it said: "This poor monk is old and lacks the strength to oppose the demon monkey. I can only beseech Your Majesty to dispatch heavenly generals and troops to capture him, so that the Yin and Yang may be ordered and the Underworld eternally secured."

After reading, the Jade Emperor simply ordered: "Tell the King of Hell and the Dragon King to return! I will send someone to capture that demon monkey."

Having said that, he tossed the memorial to Laojun again and said, "You take a look too!"

Having received their orders, the two kings naturally could not stay in heaven and returned to the Dragon Palace and the Underworld respectively.

After the two gods left, the Jade Emperor looked at the civil and military officials in the hall and then asked calmly:

"In what year was that demon monkey born? From what generation does he hail, to have such cultivation? Even the Dragon King and the King of Hell are helpless against him."

The Jade Emperor tapped the armrest, only asking about the demon monkey and completely ignoring Su Qing, who had been mentioned in both memorials.

As soon as the Jade Emperor finished speaking, Thousand-Mile Eye and Wind-Hearing Ear jumped out and said in unison:

"This monkey is the stone monkey born from heaven three hundred years ago. At that time, we thought nothing of it. We do not know where he has cultivated to become an immortal these past few years, but he already possesses the power to subdue dragons and tigers, and he has even forcibly erased himself from the register of the dead."

Having been by the Jade Emperor's side for a long time, they understood his intent perfectly; since he only asked about the monkey, they only mentioned the monkey and not the snake demon.

The Jade Emperor nodded slightly and then asked, "With the demon monkey having such strength, who is willing to go down and subdue him?"

At that, Taibai Jinxing bowed and reported:

"In the Three Realms, all creatures with nine orifices can cultivate to become immortals. This stone monkey was born of heaven and earth and nurtured by the sun and moon. Like a human, he stands tall between heaven and earth, consuming dew and mist."

"Since he has now achieved immortality and possesses such ability, how is he different from a human?"

"Your humble servant suggests that Your Majesty could issue an imperial decree of amnesty, summoning him up here to serve as a minor official."

"In the future, if he accomplishes tasks, his rank can be raised. If he commits another offense, it will be easier to capture him."

"By doing this, firstly, there is no need to mobilize troops, saving effort. Secondly, with his strength, if he submits to Your Majesty, he could become a great general."

"He only needs to temper his temperament!"

As soon as Taibai said this, it naturally caused dissatisfaction among many immortals.

It was truly difficult to understand why a demon causing trouble on earth was not killed outright but instead summoned to be an official.

However, Taibai's words perfectly matched the Jade Emperor's intentions. He didn't care what others thought and simply nodded, saying:

"Hmm, this method is excellent. It preserves the dignity of the Heavenly Court while resolving the demon monkey's chaos, and it adds a combatant to our forces. Good, good! Since you came up with this plan, I shall leave this matter to you!"

"Your servant obeys the decree." Hearing this, Taibai hurriedly bowed and spoke respectfully.

The matter of the demon monkey was concluded, but there was still one more thing left unaddressed.

At this time, someone reported, bringing up the matter of Su Qing:

"Your Majesty, the matter of the demon monkey is settled, but how should that snake demon be dealt with?"

The Jade Emperor's brow twitched slightly, and he gave the person who spoke an annoyed look.

Could they not see that he was intentionally ignoring Su Qing?

However, since the matter had been raised, he had to say a few words to stop the other officials from gossiping.

The Jade Emperor's gaze swept over the crowd and finally landed on Laojun beside him, saying:

"Laojun, how do you think this woman should be handled?"

Laojun understood the Jade Emperor's meaning and just chuckled, saying:

"Your Majesty, since the demon monkey is being offered amnesty, why not offer amnesty to this snake demon as well?"

"That snake demon is, after all, a disciple of Bodhi. Her temperament and aptitude are excellent. Although she is only at the Earthly Immortal realm now, her potential is limitless. Why not summon her and give her an idle post?"

The Jade Emperor nodded and then looked at everyone, asking, "What do the immortal officials think of this?"

Even that person could see what the Jade Emperor and Laojun meant and hurriedly said:

"Your servant thinks this method is wonderful."

If it wasn't "wonderful," he would be the one in trouble.

He was only acting on someone's behalf; he didn't want to ruin himself.

So-called sense of justice should only be exercised when appropriate.

At this moment, he was extremely depressed and couldn't help but grumble about the old Dragon King in his heart.

Couldn't you have done a proper investigation before filing a complaint?

Aren't you going to get me killed like this?

It was a good thing he was quick-witted, otherwise he really would have been screwed by the old Dragon King this time!

At the same time, he was curious about Su Qing's identity, seeing as both the Jade Emperor and Laojun were deliberately protecting her.

They were even being quite perfunctory with their acting.

Ignoring what the other immortals thought, the Jade Emperor nodded calmly and turned to Laojun, "In that case, the matter of offering amnesty to the green snake shall be left to you."

Laojun smiled, "Your servant obeys the decree."

The immortal officials were not stupid; they could naturally see that Su Qing's relationship with the big shots in the Heavenly Court was unusual.

"Are there any other matters to report?"

"Your servant has a matter to report."

The morning court continued, but no one mentioned Su Qing or the demon monkey again.

Soon, the court session ended.

The immortal who had spoken up for the Dragon King found him and immediately began cursing him out.

The old Dragon King was left bewildered. What was wrong with his old brother today? Why was he so angry?

After some questioning, the old Dragon King finally understood...

It turned out that even the Jade Emperor wanted to protect Su Qing and had no intention of punishing her at all.

Although an imperial decree was eventually issued, it was merely for amnesty.

"Amnesty" sounded nice, but it was just an excuse to avoid punishing her and to bring her to heaven to be an official.

Although it was just an idle post in the Lunar Palace, the intent was as clear as day.

Thinking of this, the old Dragon King rubbed his temples, sat on his chair, and muttered to himself:

"Just how many seniors is this fellow connected to?"

The old Dragon King was now completely numb...

After being messed with by the monkey, he had made another bad move.

If he had known, he wouldn't have been in such a hurry to finish the memorial...

Heavenly Palace.

The morning court ended.

Having received the decree, Taibai prepared to leave the South Heaven Gate and head to Flower-Fruit Mountain to find the demon monkey.

On the way, someone saw Taibai and complained, "Taibai, you really came up with a rotten idea... Why offer amnesty to that demon monkey?"

Taibai shook his head and said helplessly:

"Some things... aren't about what you think, but what His Majesty thinks... I was merely following His Majesty's wishes and providing an answer that satisfied him."

"His Majesty already knew everything and had already made his plans. Even if I had given a different answer, His Majesty would still have offered amnesty to the demon monkey."

"Besides, don't dwell on such a small matter... It's just a minor official post, why care so much?"

Hearing this, the person shook their head and said no more...

They simply turned and left.

Taibai gave a helpless smile, thinking that some people just couldn't see clearly.

With that, Taibai was about to set off when he saw Laojun approaching on his green ox.

Seeing Taibai Jinxing, Laojun said with a chuckle:

"What a coincidence. We are heading the same way, so let's go together."

Taibai bowed and smiled, "It is a great honor to travel with you, Senior."

Laojun shook his head slightly and said with a laugh:

"There's no honor in it; we're all just out on business. Let's go, let's go. Sigh, that worthless junior of mine is really causing me trouble."

Taibai was speechless, thinking to himself, "You don't look like you find it troublesome at all."

He didn't know if it was just his imagination, but Taibai felt the old man was quite satisfied with what Su Qing had done.

However, he didn't care to think too much; doing his own job was enough.

These seniors were all more calculating than the last; why should a little old man like him worry so much?

Just the Jade Emperor's thoughts were enough to keep him busy.

The two elders lowered their auspicious clouds and headed straight for Flower-Fruit Mountain.

As they neared the ground, Laojun rode his ox toward Su Qing's place, while Taibai Jinxing arrived outside the Water Curtain Cave.

He chuckled, and facing the little monkeys who were sizing him up, he spoke quite kindly, "I am an envoy sent from heaven, bearing an imperial decree. Please inform your king."

The little monkey outside hurriedly passed the message inside.

"Great King, an old man has arrived outside with some kind of imperial decree. He says he's an envoy sent from heaven and wants to see you."

Hearing this, Wukong couldn't help but chuckle, "From heaven? Interesting. Go and invite him in."

Meanwhile, Su Qing had already sensed their arrival and opened her courtyard gate early, waiting outside.

When Laojun arrived on his green ox and saw Su Qing already waiting outside, he laughed heartily and said:

"Little fellow, did you know I would be coming today?"

Seeing it was Laojun and not Taibai, Su Qing replied with a smile:

"How could I have such ability? I simply had a feeling and waited here. I never expected it would be you, Senior!"

Laojun laughed and marveled in his heart, "This little girl is truly blessed by heaven, to be able to sense even my arrival..."

Laojun laughed again and said, "Do you know why I am here today?"

Su Qing's brow twitched imperceptibly; she had no guesses.

After all, she only had a feeling and didn't know what had happened.

After thinking for a long time, she could only say, "I am dull-witted and do not know."

"Hahaha, naturally it's because you've done some 'good deeds' that have been reported to heaven," Laojun laughed.

Hearing this, Su Qing understood and said, "Did the old Dragon King file a complaint against me as well?"

"Why else?" Laojun said. "But you needn't worry. The Jade Emperor has no intention of punishing you, as you are not the primary offender."

"I see..." Su Qing smiled and said, "Senior, please come into the courtyard first! It's not right to keep you waiting outside."

Laojun chuckled and nodded slightly.

Laojun sat down with Su Qing, while the green ox was tied to a pillar.

Seeing the senior's arrival, Leng Xiang appeared to serve tea and then obediently retreated behind Su Qing without a word.

Laojun looked around the courtyard and couldn't help but say:

"Little girl, your courtyard is quite peaceful! It's truly a fine place to live! Much more comfortable than the celestial palaces."

"It's just a humble courtyard; how could it compare to the celestial palaces?" Su Qing smiled helplessly. "I only wonder... what was His Majesty's judgment?"