Chapter 168: Relationship Exposed, Tianpeng Demoted

The next day, Lingxiao Precious Hall.

At the time of the morning court, the immortals stood in their ranks, and the Jade Emperor sat high on the imperial chair, listening to the reports of the Three Realms from the immortal officials of various departments.

Everything was as usual, orderly.

Just as the morning court was about to end, Pagoda-Bearing Li Tianwang Jing suddenly walked out of the ranks and bowed down.

"Reporting to Your Majesty, I have a memorial to submit!" His loud voice instantly attracted everyone's attention.

The Jade Emperor raised his brows slightly and said indifferently: "Li Tianwang, what is the matter?"

Li Jing raised his head and said loudly: "Your Majesty, I wish to impeach the Great Marshal of the Tianhe Water Army, Tianpeng!"

"Oh?" A look of surprise appeared on the Jade Emperor's face, "Marshal Tianpeng is a heavy minister of my Heavenly Court and has always been loyal to his duties. I do not know what crime he has committed that you would impeach him in court?"

As soon as these words were spoken, a burst of whispering sounded in the court.

The gazes of all the immortals fell on Marshal Tianpeng, who had a blank face.

Tianpeng himself was also stunned.

He had just won the beauty's heart yesterday and was in high spirits, so how could he be targeted by his old rival Li Jing as soon as he went to court today?

He thought and thought, but couldn't figure out where he had made a mistake that was caught by Li Jing.

Just as Tianpeng was struggling to think, Li Jing's voice sounded again.

"Your Majesty! Marshal Tianpeng, as a marshal of the Heavenly Court, in charge of one hundred thousand Tianhe water troops, is in a high position with great power and should have strictly observed heavenly rules and been a model for the immortals. But he ignored the heavenly laws, moved mortal feelings privately, and after the celebration banquet last night, outside the Taiyin Star, publicly molested Fairy Chang'e, his words were frivolous, his behavior was improper, and he is truly guilty of heinous crimes!"

"Such behavior is a public provocation to our heavenly rules! If he is not severely punished, how can we rectify the hearing? How can we convince the immortals?"

"I implore Your Majesty to thoroughly investigate this matter and severely punish Tianpeng to serve as a warning to others!"

Li Jing's words caused a huge uproar in the entire Lingxiao Precious Hall.

All the gods and immortals in the Lingxiao Hall looked at Marshal Tianpeng.

Molesting Fairy Chang'e?

This crime was not small!

Marshal Tianpeng was stunned when he heard this.

When did he molest Chang'e?

He clearly made a deep confession to Fairy Chang'e last night, and Fairy Chang'e agreed; this was mutual affection, so how did it become public molestation?

"You are spouting blood!" Tianpeng was both shocked and angry, pointing at Li Jing, "Li Jing! I have had grievances with you for a long time, but you cannot be so slanderous!"

"Your Majesty!" He hurriedly turned to the Jade Emperor and said urgently, "Your Majesty, I am wronged! I do indeed admire Fairy Chang'e, but I have no disrespect for her. Last night, I only expressed my heart to the Fairy; how can it be called molestation? Please investigate, Your Majesty!"

The Jade Emperor looked at the two arguing below, his face as dark as water, and no joy or anger could be seen.

He spoke slowly, his voice majestic: "Li Tianwang, this matter is of great importance; do you have evidence?"

"I do!"

Li Jing answered without hesitation. He waved his hand toward the outside of the hall, "Summon the patrolling captain from last night, Zhang Xian!"

Soon, a heavenly general clad in armor walked into the hall quickly and knelt to salute.

It was the heavenly general who had seen the scene between Tianpeng and Chang'e last night.

"Minor general Zhang Xian pays respects to Your Majesty!"

"Zhang Xian." The Jade Emperor looked at him, "Last night, did you see Marshal Tianpeng and Fairy Chang'e outside the Taiyin Star?"

"Reporting to Your Majesty!" Zhang Xian raised his head and said loudly, "The minor general was patrolling with a team last night and saw it with his own eyes! Marshal Tianpeng was outside Guanghan Palace, pulling at Fairy Chang'e, his words were frivolous, his behavior was reckless; finally, he was even more arrogant and rude, forcibly holding Fairy Chang'e in his arms, making a loud noise, and acting ugly. Hundreds of heavenly soldiers under my command can all testify!"

"You are lying! I only confessed to Fairy Chang'e yesterday, and she agreed; how can you talk about molestation?" Tianpeng retorted angrily.

But as soon as he said this, he realized he was in trouble.

He had been provoked by Li Jing and had confessed without being asked.

After hearing Tianpeng's words, the Jade Emperor's face turned completely black.

He could never tolerate anyone daring to trample on the heavenly rules he had personally formulated!

"Tianpeng!" The Jade Emperor's voice was already filled with anger, "You are a righteous god of the Heavenly Court, yet you dared to have mortal feelings; now what else do you have to say?"

"Your Majesty! I..." Tianpeng still wanted to argue.

"Enough!" The Jade Emperor slapped the imperial chair and stood up, "The witnesses are here, and you have admitted it yourself; do you still want to quibble?"

"You are a marshal of the water army, yet you knowingly broke the law, and your crime is aggravated! I have never treated you poorly, yet you have betrayed my trust and committed such a violation of heavenly rules. If I do not punish you severely, where is the majesty of the Heavenly Court?"

The Jade Emperor's reprimand echoed in the Lingxiao Hall.

Tianpeng finally realized the seriousness of the matter and dared not speak again.

He looked at the furious Jade Emperor on the dragon chair and Li Jing with a raised corner of his mouth, knowing that he was truly finished this time.

In the face of the strict heavenly laws, he probably had no chance of escaping this time.

"Someone!" The Jade Emperor's voice was cold and ruthless, "Take Tianpeng for me!"

"Yes!"

Two golden-armored divine generals immediately stepped forward, holding the disheartened Tianpeng from left and right.

"Pass my decree!" The Jade Emperor's voice resounded through the hall.

"Marshal Tianpeng, ignoring heavenly rules, with ruined morals, is unfit to be a marshal! From this moment on, remove him from his post as Great Marshal of the Tianhe Water Army, strip him of his immortal status, cast him into the mortal world, and let him suffer in reincarnation!"

"The Tianhe Water Army shall be temporarily commanded by Pagoda-Bearing Li Tianwang Jing!"

When this verdict was issued, the immortals in the hall were in an uproar.

This punishment was simply too heavy!

Not only did he lose his official position, but he also had to be stripped of his immortal status and cast into the mortal world.

This meant that Tianpeng's countless years of bitter cultivation would be lost in one morning.

Those immortal officials who were on good terms with Tianpeng couldn't help but speak up to plead for him.

"Your Majesty, considering this is Tianpeng's first offense, I implore Your Majesty to show mercy!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

Many immortal officials in the Lingxiao Hall spoke up one after another.

"Heavenly rules are strict, and no one is an exception!" The Jade Emperor waved his sleeve and rejected everyone's plea.

Li Jing heard this result, the joy in his eyes flashed, and he made an impartial appearance, bowing to accept the decree: "I obey the decree!"

Tianpeng heard this verdict, and his whole body felt as if it had been struck by lightning, completely collapsing.

As for Chang'e, the Jade Emperor, out of consideration for the Wuqu Wuqu Xingjun of Taiyin, did not publicly punish her, but sent an immortal official to Taiyin Star to inform her of the matter and let the Wuqu Wuqu Xingjun of Taiyin deal with it herself.

In the end, the Wuqu Wuqu Xingjun of Taiyin ordered Chang'e to be grounded in Guanghan Palace and not allowed to leave for a thousand years.

A marriage that was originally beautiful ended in tragedy because of the ruthless heavenly laws of the Heavenly Court and the careful calculations of political enemies.

Marshal Tianpeng was carried out of the Lingxiao Precious Hall by two golden-armored divine generals and escorted to the Immortal-Demotion Platform.

On the Immortal-Demotion Platform.

The immortal official in charge of the execution looked at the disheartened Tianpeng and couldn't help but sigh: "Marshal, you say, for an immortal maiden, you lost your immortal status, and your cultivation will be scattered; is it worth it?"

Tianpeng shook his head when he heard this and looked at the immortal official: "You don't understand, what is love in the world, that makes people promise their lives! I don't regret suffering this punishment, I only regret implicating Fairy Chang'e."

"I really don't understand." The immortal official nodded: "Then have a safe journey! Execute!"

Following the order of the immortal official in charge of the execution, the Great Marshal of the Heavenly Court's water army had his cultivation scattered on the Immortal-Demotion Platform and was demoted to the mortal world. ===== CHAPTER 169 =====