The Journey to the West is over, and the Perfect Life System is here

Chapter 27 Emperor Danzhu

Sun Wukong and the Junzhou City God were invisible to mortals. They rode on clouds and in a blink of an eye arrived above a mansion in the east of the city.

It can be seen that the mansion has carved beams and painted buildings, rockery and flowing water, and many servants are busy working between the pavilions and waterside terraces.

"My Lord, this is Liu Quan's home. It is much richer now than it was fourteen years ago and he deserves the title of the richest man in Junzhou." The City God of Junzhou pointed to the mansion below.

"Oh? How was it fourteen years ago?" asked Sun Wukong.

"He's only a wealthy man with a fortune of around ten thousand taels," said the Junzhou City God. "And when he went to uncover the imperial edict, he abandoned his children and his wealth."

"Since you have such a fortune, why would you do something to get yourself killed?" Sun Wukong was surprised. These were things that Chi Ran had not mentioned before.

"This story starts with his wife's offering of alms to monks." The City God of Junzhou showed a sarcastic look on his face.

"Feeding the monks?" Sun Wukong's heart moved, and he remembered the difficulty of resurrecting the good man Kou Hong on the journey to the West. Kou Hong was also a rich man who fed monks.

"Liu Quan was a wealthy family with a lovely wife and two sons and daughters. His life was originally harmonious and enviable," the Junzhou City God continued, "but one day fourteen years ago, a wandering monk came to his home to beg for food, and everything changed.

Liu Quan was not at home at the time, so his wife Li Cuilian went to the door to offer food to the monks.

Unexpectedly, the wandering monk said something, and Li actually took off the golden hairpin on her head and gave it to him.

Upon hearing this, Sun Wukong scratched his transformed beard and immediately concluded that there was something wrong with this wandering monk!

When wandering monks beg for food, they usually only ask for food, or at most enough money for a few meals.

How could I ask for such a valuable thing as a gold hairpin, which is something a woman wears close to her body!
With a master who was proficient in Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism, Sun Wukong was naturally familiar with the classics of the three schools.

He was well aware of the great influence of Confucianism in Jambudvīpa.

Speaking only of Confucian ethics, although the social atmosphere in the Tang Dynasty was relatively open, it does not mean that there were no ethical requirements for women.

As expected, the Junzhou City God said again, “After Liu Quan learned about this, he scolded Li, saying that she was unfaithful to her husband and had left her house without permission.

Li was so angry that she hanged herself, leaving behind a pair of young children who cried day and night.

Liu Quan was filled with remorse. Coincidentally, the Tang Emperor posted a notice recruiting talented people, so he abandoned his children and his wealth, took down the imperial notice, and immediately went to Chang'an City.

"What a righteous man who is loyal to his king and serves his country." Sun Wukong also sneered.

"That's what it looks like." The Junzhou City God sneered again, "But there are some unknown things."

"Oh?"

"Few people know that the wandering monk later returned to the Liu family and said something, which led to Liu Quan revealing the imperial edict. In fact, he felt helpless when he abandoned his family and son."

"Helpless? So, he really went to the underworld?"

"I'm not sure about that. I only handle Junzhou affairs. But what happened later was a little strange. After Liu Quan returned from Chang'an, he actually married another woman with the same name as Li Cuilian.

Besides being more beautiful, the new bride was very similar to the original Li in her speech, behavior, and moral character, and she was also very kind to Liu Quan's children."

"Interesting, interesting."

Of course, Sun Wukong could hear the hint in the City God's words.

How far is it from Junzhou to Chang'an?

From the time Li committed suicide to the time Liu Quan went to Chang'an, such a long time had passed that Li's body should have been gone long ago.

So she is most likely reborn from behind a dead body!

"Then how did Liu Quan become the richest man in Junzhou?" Sun Wukong asked again.

"I don't understand the business of traveling." The Junzhou City God shook his head, "But there is an interesting story that may be able to clear up the confusion for the Immortal.

When Liu Quan returned from Chang'an with his new bride, he also brought many royal items.

On another day, the then governor of Junzhou met Liu Quan's new wife and was so frightened that he knelt down and called her Princess Yuying.

I was curious about this, so I talked with the governor in my dream and learned that the bride looked exactly like Li Yuying, the sister of the Tang King.

As expected! A divine light flashed in Sun Wukong's eyes.

After hearing this, he could almost confirm that what Liu Quan had said about the melon was true.

The Buddhist calculations in this are self-evident.

The wandering monk begged for food and created a person who was willing to die to cooperate with the Tang King's announcement to recruit talents.

After Liu Quan presents the melon in response to the imperial edict, the underworld will release Liu Quan and his wife to return to the world of the living, and they will become very rich.

"Hmph, the usual!" Sun Wukong sneered, remembering similar things he encountered on his journey to the West.

Poor Liu Quan, he had a happy family, but he suffered this disaster.

Although he seemed to have become rich in the end and his wife had a new body as a princess, only Liu Quan himself knew whether this experience was good or bad.

Princess Yuying, whose body was borrowed, did not get any good treatment and had no place to seek justice.

"In front of immortals and Buddhas, the life and death of mortals, even if they are as noble as the princess of the Tang Dynasty, can only be at the mercy of others." Sun Wukong felt something in his heart, but he was thinking about his past experiences.

Even the Monkey King, the Great Sage Equaling Heaven, was plotted against along the way.

At this moment, the Junzhou City God saw that the person on the spiritual platform in front of him had fallen silent, and suddenly asked, "What is the relationship between the immortal and Chi Ran?"

Upon hearing this, Sun Wukong's eyes were as sharp as arrows, staring at the burly man with disheveled hair.

The Junzhou City God was startled by his gaze and quickly explained, "In the past fourteen years, only the Red-bearded Dragon of the Yellow River has come to investigate Liu Quan's case, but he did so privately and without questioning the ghosts and gods of the various Junzhou regions."

Sun Wukong didn't retract his fierce gaze and asked, "Who are you?"

He had doubts just now. The City God and the underworld have a subordinate relationship. Since he works for the underworld, and the underworld is now headed by Ksitigarbha, why doesn't the Junzhou City God know how to keep secrets for Buddhism?

The Junzhou City God was stunned by the question and remained silent for a while before he sighed, "Who am I? My name is... Danzhu, grandson of Emperor Ku and son of Emperor Yao."

Sun Wukong was very surprised: "After being the king of men for three years, he returned to Danzhu, Shun's son?"

Dan Zhu's eyes flashed with reminiscence, and he sighed, "The Immortal actually knew all this. I thought I had been forgotten. After all, no one recognized me as the Human King. Even my father said I was unworthy and unfit to rule the world."

Sun Wukong laughed and said, "In the Southern Continent, the human race has an ancient book called the Classic of Mountains and Seas. Among the ancient human leaders recorded in the book, only a few could be given the title of emperor, and you are one of them, called Emperor Danzhu.

Therefore, the human race has not forgotten you.

In addition, the great Confucian scholar Zheng Xuan of the Han Dynasty once said that one who has virtue that matches heaven and earth, is righteous and not selfish, is called an emperor.

If you have a clear conscience and everything you do is for the benefit of the people of this world, why would you care about the approval of others?

These words made Danzhu fall into deep thought, and he murmured: "Virtue matches heaven and earth, it is about justice, not selfishness."

As he spoke, his aura changed.

The eyes that were originally somewhat dejected and lifeless now became sharp and piercing, giving a feeling of looking down on the world.

Finally, he bowed solemnly and said, "Thank you, Immortal, for awakening me."

When Sun Wukong saw this change in him, he became happy and thought that this was a friend he could make friends with.

As for what I just said, it was not nonsense.

He had indeed seen such records in ancient books of the human race.

Moreover, the fact that Danzhu could become the city god who protected a city was enough to show his status in the hearts of the local people.

"I roughly know what the Immortal is investigating." Danzhu thought for a moment and then said, "No matter which side the Immortal is investigating this matter for, as long as it causes trouble for the West, then they are friends of my human race."

Sun Wukong was a little surprised when he heard this. It seemed that this former king of men knew a lot of things.

But think about it, Chi Ran was able to link the death of the Dragon King of Jinghe River to the journey to the West, and Dan Zhu had obviously always been concerned about the affairs of the human race, so there was no reason why he couldn't see this.

(End of this chapter)