The Legend of Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai

This gave Yama, the King of Hell, a real headache.

What made Yama even more troubled was that a heavenly official suddenly appeared, announcing:

The Heavenly Court has determined that the mortal woman Zhu Yingtai, through some unknown sorcery, disrupted the Heavenly Way and caused an earthquake in the celestial realm. The Heavenly Court has sentenced her to death! Because of the sorcery she used, her lifespan has been exhausted, and her soul wanders between the human and underworld realms. The Underworld must capture her as soon as possible and imprison her in the Lesser Hell to await the Heavenly Court's judgment.

The King of Hell is really in a bind.

When the Old Man of the Moon was still alive, he didn't dare to say that he would send the five great ghost generals to the human world to check on Liang Shanbo's situation. If Liang Shanbo was not a believer in the Light and ascended to immortality, then he would take Liang Shanbo's soul to the underworld.

As a result, the God of Love suddenly made trouble, and he didn't dare to breathe loudly, for fear of offending this great god.

Now, the Liang Shanbo affair is over, but the Zhu Yingtai affair has come up again.

Zhu Yingtai was also someone whom the Old Man of the Moon had protected, but now she was involved with the Heavenly Court, which sentenced her to death. Unfortunately, when Ox-Head and Horse-Face brought Zhu Yingtai back, they happened to run into the Heavenly Court's official who came to deliver the imperial decree.

Misfortune never comes singly.

Now that the Heavenly Court knows that the Underworld has captured Zhu Yingtai, Yama, the King of Hell, naturally dares not release her out of consideration for the Old Man of the Moon.

But if they don't release him, they'll offend the God of Love.

Whether he lets go or not, he will offend people.

As for who he might offend, that's his problem to deal with.

King Yama was very troubled. Why did he have to get caught up in the middle of these two giants? Although the underworld was under his jurisdiction, it was also under the rule of the Heavenly Court, and he naturally could not disobey the will of the Heavenly Court.

But the Moon Palace Island is no simple matter either.

In the celestial realm, people have always believed that the Thunderclap Temple of the Western Paradise and the Heavenly Court of the Immortal Realm are rivals, but this is not the case. There is another powerful force that has been overlooked because it is too indifferent to worldly affairs, and that is the Moon Palace Island.

The Celestial Realm is not actually a two-power co-rule, but rather a three-power balance of power, with the Moon Palace Island being one of the three powers.

This demonstrates the power of the Moon Palace Island.

Of course, although Moon Palace Island is one of the three strongest in the Heavenly Realm, its power is not widely known because of its indifference to worldly affairs, its low profile, and the fact that the Old Man of the Moon also serves as a matchmaker in the Heavenly Court.

Subconsciously, everyone believed that the Moon Palace Island was within the territory ruled by the Heavenly Court.

Even the Old Man of the Moon, the master of the Moon Palace Island, holds a position in the Heavenly Court. How could the Moon Palace Island not be under the rule of the Heavenly Court?

But that's not actually the case.

The true master of the Moon Palace Island is not the Old Man of the Moon, but the matchmaker. The Old Man of the Moon's position in the Heavenly Court is merely to curry favor with the Heavenly Court; it doesn't really mean he is under the rule of the Heavenly Court.

As the ruler of the underworld, Yama is exceptionally well-informed. Others may not know the strength of the Moon Palace Island, but he is very clear about it.

Because I understand this, it becomes very difficult to do.

……

After leaving the underworld, the Old Man of the Moon went straight to heaven.

The death of Liang Shanbo had already ignited a fire of anger within him.

Six hundred years ago, the couple who were bound by fate were killed once, and now they're being killed again. It seems the Heavenly Court's position and power as the matchmaker god are just a joke to this old man.

The Old Man of the Moon's anger burned fiercely in his heart.

Although he holds a position in the Heavenly Court, he is not someone the Heavenly Court can bully.

In a word:

The Moon Palace Island is not to be trifled with!

Upon arriving at the Heavenly Court, the Old Man of the Moon went directly to the Lingxiao Palace.

The Jade Emperor was discussing matters with several ministers, among whom were the two great gods, Laozi and Venus.

"Oh, isn't this our long-lost matchmaker, the God of Love? What brings you here? Judging from your expression, something seems a little off."

Laozi was the first to notice the arrival of the Old Man Under the Moon, and joked.

"Oh? The God of Love has arrived?"

Laozi's words also attracted the attention of others, and even the Jade Emperor couldn't help but look up at the old man who walked in from outside the hall.

"Your Majesty, the Old Man of the Moon did not even attend the recent Million-Year Conference of Heavenly Tremor, but now he comes to the Lingxiao Palace with a gloomy face. It seems that the Old Man of the Moon has something to discuss with you."

Venus couldn't help but offer some advice.

"Humph."

The Jade Emperor did not speak, but he snorted coldly, clearly showing his dissatisfaction with the Old Man of the Moon.

As a celestial official, his failure to obey his orders and attend the annual Heavenly Shock Conference clearly shows that he doesn't respect him as the leader of the celestial realm.

If the God of Love doesn't give him a friendly look, how can he possibly give the God of Love a friendly look in return?

When has the Heavenly Court ever needed to give others a friendly look?

"The God of Matchmaking, Yue Lao, greets the Jade Emperor!"

The Old Man of the Moon bowed to the Jade Emperor and said...

What distinguished his greeting from others was that he did not address the Jade Emperor as a subject, while others, even transcendent deities like Laozi and Venus, would address the Jade Emperor as "Your subject is Laozi [name]" or "Your subject is Venus [name]."

In addition, the Old Man of the Moon (Yue Lao) does not need to announce or report when entering or leaving the Lingxiao Palace; he simply walks in naturally and familiarly.

Laozi and Venus, among others, needed to announce their presence before they could enter.

Clearly, although the official position of the matchmaker god Yue Lao in the Heavenly Court does not have a specific rank, his status and position in the Heavenly Court are far higher than those of Taishang Laojun and Taibai Jinxing, the two strategists of the Heavenly Court.

"God of Matchmaking, not long ago, the Heavenly Court held the Million-Year Conference on Heavenly Tremor. All the immortals who served in the Immortal Realm came to attend the conference, and even the Buddha Tathagata of Leiyin Temple personally led his disciples to attend. Why did you not come?"

The Jade Emperor was the first to speak out. His words were calm, but everyone could tell that he was very dissatisfied with the Old Man Under the Moon, and his words carried a strong sense of questioning.

"Your Majesty, I was in seclusion on the island of the Moon Palace at the time and did not receive any notification. I was unaware of this matter."

The Old Man of the Moon's answer was rather bland; he didn't want to mention that he had gotten drunk and slept in late on the Moon Palace Island. However, not just anyone could enter the Moon Palace Island, not even the Jade Emperor.

No one knows what he was doing on the Moon Palace Island at the time, so whatever he says is the truth.

"..."

The Old Man of the Moon's reply left the Jade Emperor speechless.

The Old Man of the Moon looked intently into the Jade Emperor's eyes and said, "I have come here today to ask the Jade Emperor a question. In the past few days, has the Heavenly Court captured the soul of a mortal named Liang Shanbo? Or has the Heavenly Court taken in a believer named Liang Shanbo who ascended to immortality through faith?"

"Liang Shanbo? Never heard of him." The Jade Emperor frowned slightly, displeased. "Those who ascend to immortality through faith in light are people of my Heavenly Court. This doesn't seem to be your business, does it?"

The Old Man of the Moon said, "Your Majesty, you are mistaken! Liang Shanbo is someone I protected by using the power of the Heavenly Thread to connect heaven and earth, and he should rightfully belong to my Moon Palace Island!"

The Jade Emperor frowned slightly: "I was referring to those who ascended to immortality through faith in light, not some Liang Shanbo."

"I'm talking about Liang Shanbo, who could very well be the ascensionist of the faith in light that you, Jade Emperor, mentioned."

"This person is a member of my Heavenly Court, and no one can take him away from the Heavenly Court, not even the Thunderclap Temple!"

"No, Jade Emperor, he is from my Moon Palace Island!"

"presumptuous!"

"Hmph, does the Jade Emperor think that the privilege of being the God of Matchmaking is just a joke to this old man? Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai are people I protected by using the power of the Heavenly Thread. If the Heavenly Court recognizes my position as God of Matchmaking, then Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai should rightfully belong to my Moon Palace Island intact!"

"..."

Seeing the atmosphere become tense, Laozi hurriedly smoothed things over, saying, "Hehe, Old Man of the Moon, don't get agitated. The Heavenly Court hasn't received any information about Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai, whom you mentioned. However, the Lord of the Jinxian Palace recently reported that the Jinxian Palace sensed a strong power of faith in light in the mortal realm, suspecting the appearance of a person who has ascended to immortality through faith in light. But the Jinxian Palace hasn't received anyone yet and is thinking of going down to the mortal realm to investigate this matter."

"Is that really the case?"

"Why did I lie to you?"

"Alright, then I'll trust you this once. However, I must make this clear to you now." With that, the Old Man of the Moon glanced intently at the Jade Emperor and the others: "Liang Shanbo is someone I, the Old Man of the Moon, have protected through the power of the Heavenly Thread. He will be appointed as the Young Master of the Moon Palace Island. And Zhu Yingtai will be appointed as the Butterfly Fairy by the Moon Palace Island."

This was a decision made unanimously by the island lord and deputy lord of Moon Palace Island. Anyone who tries to take these two people from Moon Palace Island is an enemy of Moon Palace Island. Having said that, Moon Palace Island has other matters to attend to, so this humble deity will take his leave now!

"..."

"..."

"This is getting more and more outrageous! What do you think, esteemed immortals?"

As the supreme ruler of the Heavenly Realm, the Jade Emperor was subjected to a blatant warning, yet he couldn't retaliate due to the other party's status. He was seething with anger and extremely distressed.

"This matter needs to be investigated."

Laozi and Venus were undoubtedly intelligent. They would not speak rashly before things were clear, especially since this matter involved the complex relationship between the Moon Palace Island and the Heavenly Court. If things were not handled properly, they would be considered major criminals.

"Hmph, immediately order the Jinxian Palace to send those good-for-nothings from the Divine Reception Platform down to the mortal realm to investigate this matter. Tell them that if they can't find out the truth, they don't need to come back."

"The minister obeys the order!"

An official who was delivering the imperial decree received the order and hurriedly left.

"By the way, Your Majesty, the Old Man of the Moon also mentioned another person, Zhu Yingtai! Could this be the same Zhu Yingtai who, according to our previous investigation, disrupted the will of the Immortal Realm and the rules of heaven and earth?"

"Same person?"

Upon hearing this, everyone exchanged bewildered glances, sensing that things might not be going well.

The Jade Emperor frowned and instructed, "Venus, you are now in charge of investigating this matter and giving me a clear answer as soon as possible."

"Old minister, I obey the order!"