Chapter 81 The Jade Emperor's Plot

Inside the Lingxiao Palace, the Jade Emperor sat high on the dragon throne, looking deeply at Taibai Jinxing below.

"Taibai, has the monkey done anything recently?" asked the Jade Emperor.

Taibai Jinxing bowed and said:
"Your Majesty, Sun Wukong is still doing nothing in the Imperial Stables, drinking, eating meat and walking his dog every day."

"Well, it seems that he is determined to give up until the end."

Taibai Jinxing nodded and said:
"Your Majesty, the Buddhist sect seems to be a little anxious. The Tathagata Buddha has discussed with the Guanyin Venerable and wants Your Majesty to try to make Sun Wukong make trouble."

The Jade Emperor stroked his beard and said:
"Of course I know what they are thinking, but this monkey is still very useful to me, how can I let him fall into the calculations of the Buddhist sect so easily?"

At this time, the Jade Emperor thought to himself:
This monkey has the great merit of repairing the sky. If I can use him, he will surely help me consolidate my position in heaven.

Tathagata wants him to make trouble early so that Buddhism can take the initiative in the Journey to the West. But I will not let them do as they wish.

Taibai Jinxing said: "But if this happens, I'm afraid the Buddhist sect will be dissatisfied."

"So what if you are dissatisfied? Although the Journey to the West was agreed upon by all parties, I will not let them control me.

That monkey is greedy, and the peaches in the Peach Garden are extremely tempting to him. I want to see if he can resist them."

Taibai Jinxing suddenly realized: "Your Majesty is smart. If Sun Wukong stole the peaches, we will have evidence against him. Then Your Majesty can take advantage of the situation."

The Jade Emperor nodded and said, "That's right, go and make the arrangements."

"Yes, I obey my orders."

Taibai Jinxing took the order and left.

……

In the Imperial Stables, Sun Wukong was lying on a chair basking in the sun when he suddenly heard the voice of Taibai Jinxing.

"Wukong, quickly accept the order."

Sun Wukong was startled and stood up and knelt on the ground.

Taibai Jinxing read out the imperial edict:

"By the providence of Heaven, the Jade Emperor proclaims that, in view of the fact that Sun Wukong performed his duties conscientiously during his tenure as the Imperial Horse Supervisor, he is hereby appointed as the Manager of the Peach Garden, and will take up the position effective immediately."

Sun Wukong was delighted, but said:

"Thank you, Jade Emperor, for your grace."

After receiving the imperial edict, Sun Wukong secretly thought:

"The Jade Emperor suddenly promoted me. Is there some conspiracy? But the Peach Garden is a good place. I must try the peaches if I have the chance. Humph, never mind. I'll eat them first."

Thinking of this, Sun Wukong took Dahuang and Dahei to the Peach Garden.

Arriving at the Peach Garden, Sun Wukong saw peaches hanging from the branches all over the garden, the fragrance of the fruit filling the air, and he couldn't help but drooling.

"Wow, so many peaches, it's amazing!"

Sun Wukong said excitedly.

He ordered his strongmen and landowners, "All of you please leave. I want to inspect the Peach Garden myself."

The strong men and the land gods did not dare to disobey and retreated one after another.

Seeing that there was no one around, Sun Wukong prepared to pick a peach to eat.

But he suddenly remembered that he had a system that gave him an ordinary peach every day. Although it could only increase his lifespan by a few decades, he would develop resistance to the peaches if he ate too many.

And he knew that he would be held accountable if he ate peaches blindly, so he came up with a plan.

Sun Wukong secretly used his own ordinary peaches to replace some of the nine thousand year old and three thousand year old peaches in the Peach Garden with ordinary peaches to make them indistinguishable from the real ones.

Since he had the BUFF that concealed the secrets of heaven, in the eyes of the Jade Emperor and Taibai Jinxing, he didn't touch the peach at all.

The Jade Emperor looked at Sun Wukong in the crystal mirror and was expecting him to enjoy the peaches to his heart's content.

But he found that he walked through Pantao Garden without looking around, just like Tian Boguang who went into a brothel but did not visit anyone, and he was a gentleman.

I was filled with doubts.

"What's wrong with this monkey? Doesn't he like eating peaches?" The Jade Emperor frowned.

Taibai Jinxing was also surprised: "Your Majesty, perhaps Sun Wukong has some concerns and dare not eat the peach easily." The Jade Emperor snorted: "He will eventually be unable to resist, let's observe for a while."

However, after a few days passed, Sun Wukong still showed no sign of eating the peaches, which made the Jade Emperor puzzled.

He sat on the dragon throne, his hands tightly gripping the armrests, his eyes fixed on the image in the crystal mirror, his brows furrowed, his face full of confusion and depression.

"This monkey, what's wrong with him!"

Taibai Jinxing advised: "Your Majesty, perhaps we can think of other ways to lure him into eating peaches."

The Jade Emperor gritted his teeth and said, "Wait a little longer. I don't believe he can hold it in forever."

Taibai Jinxing stood aside, also with a puzzled look on his face. He stroked his beard and said thoughtfully:

"Your Majesty, this is indeed strange. Sun Wukong's behavior is completely beyond our expectations. Perhaps we can use one more trick to test him and see if he can really resist eating the peaches."

The Jade Emperor nodded:

"Well, go and make the arrangements. We have to be more careful this time and not let the monkey realize our intentions."

Taibai Jinxing took the order and left, secretly thinking in his mind how to create a more realistic illusion to test Sun Wukong.

Not long after, when Sun Wukong passed by Pantao Garden alone.

Suddenly, a breeze blew, and the peaches on the tree seemed to be pulled by some force and fell off one after another.

They drew graceful arcs in the air and finally fell to the ground, exuding an enticing fragrance.

Sun Wukong sneered when he saw this scene.

Do you really think you are a country bumpkin from the lower world?

In the past few days, he has already understood the habits of the peaches clearly.

This thing blooms once every three thousand years, bears fruit once every three thousand years, and matures once every three thousand years.

It has the same effect as the ginseng fruit in Zhenyuan Daxian's house.

When picking ginseng fruit, you need to use a golden hammer.

Peaches must also be picked with special tools, otherwise the fruit will easily be damaged.

Moreover, the ripening time of the peaches follows a fixed pattern; it is impossible for all of them to ripen and fall off suddenly.

He walked forward, picked up a peach and examined it carefully.

Some of the peaches had smooth surfaces and dull colors, and Sun Wukong immediately noticed something was wrong.

These peaches are not yet old enough, only 8,500 years old.

"Humph, someone is doing something wrong again."

Sun Wukong sneered and pretended to be calm as he called his warriors:
"Register these fallen peaches and send them to the Queen Mother immediately. Don't make any mistakes. These are treasures from the Heavenly Palace and not a single bit of them can be wasted."

The strong men responded quickly. They swiftly picked up the fallen peaches, carefully registered them, and then hurried away.

After doing all this, Sun Wukong nodded, put his hands behind his back and continued walking.

Haha, let’s start.

You want me to steal the peaches? No way!

The Jade Emperor became even more depressed when he saw that Sun Wukong remained unmoved.

"This monkey is really stubborn!"

Seeing this, Taibai Jinxing said:
"Your Majesty, perhaps we can try other methods."

"What do you mean?"

"This Sun Wukong is indeed different. Perhaps Sun Wukong doesn't know how delicious the peaches are. Let's see if he can really resist not eating them."

"The Peach Festival is about to begin. The monkey cannot go because of his rank. Why not let him have a taste of the sweetness?"

The Jade Emperor turned his head, stared at Taibai Jinxing, and a smile gradually appeared on the corners of his mouth.

The Jade Emperor pondered for a moment and nodded:
"Okay, let's try again. You arrange a peach feast and invite all the gods to come and taste the peaches. I don't believe that under such a feast, Sun Wukong can still let down his guard and resist eating."

(End of this chapter)