第 10 回

It is said that Emperor Taizong and Wei Zheng were playing chess, and before they knew it, it was noon.

Wei Zheng felt very sleepy, so he lay on the table and fell asleep.

Emperor Taizong secretly felt happy in his heart, thinking: I have delayed Wei Zheng, so I can save the Dragon King of the Jing River.

Unexpectedly, a noisy sound suddenly came from outside the imperial palace.

Generals Qin Shubao and Xu Maogong walked in, holding a bloody dragon head in their hands.

They said: This dragon head fell from the sky and landed on Chang'an Street.

At this moment, Wei Zheng happened to wake up.

He said very calmly: This dragon head is from the dragon I just killed in my dream.

Emperor Taizong was very surprised, and he asked: My dear minister has been here all along, how could you kill a dragon?

Wei Zheng replied: I was in my dream just now, and my soul left my body.

The Jade Emperor ordered me to go to a place called 'Guā Lóng Tái' and commanded me to carry out the punishment.

Emperor Taizong heard this and felt both happy and worried in his heart.

He was happy because there was a virtuous minister like Wei Zheng in the court who could communicate with gods and immortals.

He was worried because he had ultimately not kept his promise, causing the death of the Dragon King of the Jing River.

That night, Emperor Taizong indeed had a dream.

He dreamed that the Dragon King of the Jing River was holding that dragon head, covered in blood, coming to demand his life.

Emperor Taizong was very frightened, and just as he was struggling, Guanyin Bodhisattva appeared.

Guanyin Bodhisattva scolded the Dragon King back to the underworld.

Emperor Taizong let out a loud cry and woke up.

From then on, he fell ill and could not get out of bed.

Generals Qin Shubao and Yuchi Gong heard about this matter, and they voluntarily put on full armor, guarding outside Emperor Taizong's bedroom door every night.

Later, Emperor Taizong could not bear to let them work so hard all the time, so he ordered a painter to draw portraits of the two generals and paste them on the palace gate.

This is the origin of the folk custom of pasting door gods.

However, Emperor Taizong's illness still worsened day by day.

He had to call all the ministers to his bedside, preparing to explain matters after his death.

Wei Zheng stepped forward and said: "Your Majesty, do not worry too much, I have a way to let you return safely to the mortal world."

Emperor Taizong thought Wei Zheng was just comforting him and did not believe it.

Wei Zheng took out a letter and said: "Cui Jue, the old minister of the late emperor, is now serving as a judge in the underworld, managing the Book of Life and Death."

If Your Majesty can bring this letter to him, he will definitely find a way to help you.

Emperor Taizong put the letter in his sleeve, and soon stopped breathing and passed away.

Taizong's soul left his body and drifted to the underworld.

Suddenly, he heard someone calling him: Great Tang Emperor, please come over here.

Taizong looked and saw that this person was precisely Judge Cui Jue.

Taizong hastily handed Wei Zheng's letter to him.

It turned out that Wei Zheng requested Cui Jue's help in the letter to let Taizong return to the mortal world.

Cui Jue finished reading the letter and said with a smile: I was originally an old minister of the late emperor, and I am also an old friend of Prime Minister Wei, so of course I must do my best to help with this matter.

He immediately took Taizong to see the Ten Kings of Hell.

The Ten Kings of Hell treated Taizong very politely, and after saying a few words, they ordered Cui Jue to fetch the Book of Life and Death to check.

Cui Jue brought the Book of Life and Death and secretly flipped through it.

He saw that under Taizong's name it was written "Zhenguan thirteenth year", which is this year.

Cui Jue did not make a sound; he picked up a pen and added two horizontal strokes above the character "one", changing thirteen years to thirty-three years.

Then, he handed the book to the King of Hell to look at.

The King of Hell saw that Taizong's lifespan had not yet ended, so he ordered to send him back to the mortal world.

Cui Jue accepted the command and took Taizong away from the Hall of the Underworld.

On the way, when passing by a city of wrongful deaths, they saw countless wrongfully dead ghosts surging over.

These ghosts were all enemies killed by Taizong during battles while they were alive.

Now, they pestered Taizong, demanding money from him.

Taizong had no money on him; he hurriedly asked Cui Jue what to do.

Cui Jue said: In the mortal world, there is a good person named Xiang Liang, who has stored a treasury of gold and silver in the underworld.

We can temporarily borrow it to send away these ghosts.

After Your Majesty returns to the yang world, just give it back to him.

Emperor Taizong followed Cui Jue's words, borrowed gold and silver from Xiang Liang's treasury in the yin world, and distributed them to those ghosts.

Emperor Taizong also promised them that after he returns to the yang world, he will definitely hold a grand water and land ritual to help them transcend and be reborn.

The ghosts got the money and also received the promise, and only then did they slowly disperse.