Journey to the West: Tang Monk Conquers Everything-Chapter 464: The Overconfident Zhu Bajie
For Jiang Liu, suddenly, Benboba was delivered right to his doorstep—an event completely unforeseen. But now that they had met, it was an excellent opportunity to inquire about the relationship between Princess Wansheng and the Nine-Headed Serpent.
Therefore, Jiang Liu forcibly kept Benboba around and also called Little White Dragon to join them.
"Master, you guys sit first, Old Pig will go make congee for you!" For Zhu Bajie, it seemed to be his first time cooking, and he was quite excited about it.
"Should I go and have a look?" Since it was Zhu Bajie's first time cooking, even though it was just congee, Jiang Liu was still somewhat worried and spoke out.
Since Benboba was already staying, there was no rush to extract information from him.
"No need, Master, you go sit down, the congee Old Pig is making is the best in the world—ready to be served now!"
Zhu Bajie was filled with anticipation and excitement about cooking for the first time and did not want anyone else to interfere. He wanted to handle it all by himself, so even when Jiang Liu offered to come and watch, Zhu Bajie declined.
Well, since Zhu Bajie had refused, what else could Jiang Liu do? He returned to the dining area, where they all took their seats one by one.
"What did you say your name was? Ben, Ben something?" As Jiang Liu sat down, Little White Dragon, seemingly unable to wait, asked.
"Benboba! My name is Benboba!" Benboba answered.
"Hmm, that's quite a mouthful, isn't it? Your name is Benboba, right? I heard you work for the Nine-Headed Serpent?" Little White Dragon nodded, his expression calm, and asked, unable to discern any joy or sorrow on his face.
"Yes, my Prince Consort indeed is the great Nine-Headed Serpent. Why? Do you all know my Prince Consort?" Benboba asked innocently, nodding and then questioned Little White Dragon in return.
"Of course, we know him well!"
Though his expression was calm, the mention of the Nine-Headed Serpent still managed to sour Little White Dragon's face as he said, "Not just your Prince Consort, I'm also very familiar with your Princess Wansheng and Dragon King Wansheng!"
"Oh, it turns out you are friends from Green Wave Pool! That's wonderful!" Hearing Little White Dragon's words and thinking that everyone present was friends with the Prince Consort and the Princess, a relieved Benboba relaxed and sighed with relief.
"By the way, Benboba, we know that Princess Wansheng and the Nine-Headed Serpent are together, but how has their relationship been over these years?"
Not wanting Little White Dragon to continue questioning and unsure of how he might react if he did, Jiang Liu jumped in ahead of Little White Dragon and asked Benboba.
"Now that you mention it, between my Princess and the Prince Consort, it's truly a divine match..." Listening to Jiang Liu's question, Benboba smiled.
While speaking, he took out a box of rouge from his chest and said, "Gentlemen, you might not know, but these past years, since my Prince Consort married into Green Wave Pool, he and my Princess have been deeply in love, inseparable. And look, in a few days it will be my Princess's birthday. I went to the Royal Palace of Sai Country to steal, er, buy some fine rouge, which the Prince Consort will give to the Princess, and she will certainly be very happy!"
Jiang Liu glanced at Little White Dragon subtly.
Hearing about these years of close affection between Princess Wansheng and the Nine-Headed Serpent, Little White Dragon looked even more upset.
"Married into?"
Jiang Liu's gaze returned to Benboba, sharply picking up on the undercurrent in his previous statement, and asked, "Did you just say the Nine-Headed Serpent has married into Green Wave Pool?
"Yes! My Prince Consort is immensely skilled and utterly devoted to my Princess. To be with my Princess, he even bravely married into the Green Wave Pool Dragon Palace! Even our Dragon King, over the years, has gone from initially opposing this marriage to now approving of it!"
Wanting to extract more information from Benboba, Jiang Liu paused for a moment before continuing, "Your Princess and the Prince Consort, how did they initially meet? I vaguely recall hearing that your Princess was originally betrothed not to the Nine-Headed Serpent but to someone from the Western Sea, right?"
"It was the Crown Prince from the Western Sea Dragon King! Master, you really are quite familiar with my Prince Consort and Princess. You know all these things!" Seeing Jiang Liu unable to explain further, Benboba chimed in, picking up where Jiang Liu left off.
"Exactly, this…," nodding in agreement, Jiang Liu proceeded to inquire further about the secret drama behind why Princess Wansheng chose the Nine-Headed Serpent over Little White Dragon.
Though no one knew what the Nine-Headed Serpent looked like, when Little White Dragon transformed into human form, he was definitely a handsome man.
Moreover, the Nine-Headed Serpent was just a solitary demon creature, whereas Little White Dragon was the esteemed Crown Prince of the Western Sea Dragon Palace.
In modern terms, in front of Princess Wansheng, Little White Dragon would have been considered the epitome of tall, rich, and handsome. However, Princess Wansheng chose the Nine-Headed Serpent? That seemed illogical by any standard, didn't it?
Could it be that the Nine-Headed Serpent's lineage and identity were superior to those of Little White Dragon?
"Master..." However, just at this moment, Sha Wujing suddenly spoke up, interrupting Jiang Liu's words, "Second Senior Brother, why haven't you come out yet?"
"Ah?" Sha Wujing's words shifted Jiang Liu's attention.
Indeed, hadn't Bajie said that the porridge was already cooked? The serving should have been quick, so why hadn't he come out after such a long time?
Somewhat surprised, putting off the matter of idle chatter, Jiang Liu stood up and walked toward the kitchen.
There, Zhu Bajie was alone in the kitchen, looking at the pot on the stove with an utterly troubled expression.
At the same time, he was holding a calabash ladle with some clear water in it, hesitating whether to pour it in or not.
"Bajie, what's wrong? What happened?" Seeing Zhu Bajie's troubled look, Jiang Liu asked.
"Master?" Upon hearing Jiang Liu's words, Zhu Bajie looked startled.
"Bajie, what are you doing?" Jiang Liu asked curiously, noticing the ladle of water in his hand.
Glancing into the pot, what a mess, was this supposed to be porridge? It had turned into a mass of lumps.
"This, Master, when I left earlier, the porridge was already cooked. But then, after talking outside for a while, when I came back, it had turned into this!" Seeing that his master had discovered the thickened rice, Zhu Bajie hurriedly tried to explain.
While he was talking, he took the scoop of water he had prepared earlier and said, "Master, since the porridge is now cooked like rice, just by adding some more water, I believe it can turn back into porridge. My talent is still very high, right!?"
Jiang Liu didn't respond to Zhu Bajie's words but walked to the pot and stirred the already rice-like porridge with a wooden spatula.
Well, the bottom of the pot was already burnt.
"Cough cough, let's just leave this rice as it is for now!" Seeing that it was burnt, Jiang Liu coughed twice and instead of scolding Zhu Bajie, he just shook his head and said.
"No, Master, believe me, I think I do have a talent for cooking! Given some time, I'm sure I can become a divine chef like you!"
Although he hadn't managed to cook even the simplest porridge properly, Zhu Bajie was oddly confident in his culinary skills.
Ignoring Jiang Liu's words, Zhu Bajie dumped the ladle of water directly into the pot, then took the wooden spatula from Jiang Liu's hand and started stirring.
Watching the lumpy rice dissolve in the water, and even seeing some charred black matter due to the stirring, Jiang Liu helplessly shook his head inside; it seemed like a kind of dark cuisine.
"If you're happy, that's good enough!" Observing Zhu Bajie's misguided confidence, which completely disregarded others' advice, Jiang Liu twitched his mouth and stopped bothering him, turning to leave the kitchen.
"Master, how did it go?" Sun Wukong and the others, waiting in the dining hall, all looked at Jiang Liu.
"Hmm, Bajie still needs a bit more preparation, but he's almost done!" In response to Sun Wukong's question, Jiang Liu answered.
As he spoke, Jiang Liu took a seat at the dining table, showing no intention of wasting time, and directly asked Benboba, "Back then, why did Princess Wansheng choose a Nine-Headed Serpent and give up the third prince of the Western Sea Dragon Palace? Do you know why?"
"Of course, I know!"
Listening to Jiang Liu's question, Benboba, treating everyone as friends of the princess and the Prince Consort and not being guarded, spoke openly, "Actually, a very long time ago, the Prince Consort Nine-Headed Bug and Princess Wansheng knew each other and were mutually in love. However, our Dragon King didn't agree!"
"The Princess is our Dragon King's only daughter, and as beautiful as a flower. The Dragon King wanted her to marry into a good family. And since our Prince Consort didn't have any status or position, the Dragon King, without regard, set the wedding with the Western Sea Dragon King himself!"
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"But, the Dragon King underestimated the love between the princess and the Prince Consort! Even though they couldn't defy the Dragon King's will, the princess and the Nine-Headed Bug ended up getting together, and even consummated their marriage before the wedding day!"
"Hmph, that Western Sea Dragon Palace isn't anything good, and that dragon king's third son is no better, bullying with his power, completely ignoring our princess and the Prince Consort's love, trying to snatch the princess as his wife! He was a despicable lover-snatcher!"
"Luckily, that impulsive third prince of the Western Sea Dragon Palace brought disaster upon himself. I heard he was punished by the Jade Emperor, pressed under a place called Eagle Sorrow Stream, unable to turn over!"
