Leaving the village, they went westward. After thirty miles or so, they came to the national boundary of Xiliang State. “Wu Kong, look at the thrilling sight!” Tang Monk said to Monkey King. “ Here must be the capital of the female country. You must pay attention to your words and deeds. Not to be loose in conduct. Don’t break our Buddhist disciplines.” His three disciples said they would follow his advice. And before long, they came into the down town. They found that people here, young and old, were all female. Everyone, with sleeked hair and powdered face, wore long skirt and short jacket in bright colors. All of them were doing business along the roadsides. Seeing three strangers coming here, they quickly crowded around their guests and clapped their hands and shouted, “Human seeds come! Human seeds come!” More and more women gathered. It was hard for the master and his disciples to move forward. “I’m not a human seed. I am pig seed!” cried Pig Bajie. “You’re so stupid,” Monkey King scolded. “Don’t talk nonsense! Just show your true colors.”
Shaking his head, Pig Bajie turned into a fat pig with two fan-like ears and a protruding mouth. With just one single cry, Bajie made the women scared to death. Making every effort, they made a break in the ring-after-ring encirclement. A few minutes later, they found a female official standing at the road side. “My dear guests,” said the female official, “you’re not allowed to go through the gate and enter the city. You should stay in a hotel and make a registration. I’ll go and report. Only after getting a permit from our queen can I let you pass.” With the help of the female official, they made a registration in the hotel and stay there.
Entering the palace, the female official made a report to the queen who was very happy. “Last night, I had a good dream,” said the queen. “I saw that the golden screen become more brilliant and colorful and the mirrior brighter and clearer than everbefore. It must be a good omen of today.” “Why?” asked the female official. “Tang Monk is the brother of the emperor of Tang Dynasty,” said the queen. “Since the founding of our country, not a single man has come here. The brother of the emperor of Tang Dynasty has come today. This is really a gift given by the heaven. I’m willing to marry him and then abdicate. He will be the emperor. I’ll be the queen. We’ll have many children. The great course of our country will continue generation after generation. It’ s a good thing, isn’t it?”
Everyone was delighted and made congratulations to the queen. “How about their appearance?” the queen asked. “Tang Monk, extremely handsome!” replied the female official. “He’s really a true man of Tang Dynasty. But his three disciples are ugly like demons.” “As matters stand,” said the queen, “we have to let the three disciples pass as soon as possible and ask Tang Monk stay here.” “Excellent!” all officials agreed with her. “But we need a go-between. Without a go-between, any marriage will be considered illegal.” “That’s right,” the queen agreed. “Then I’d like to ask our prime minister to be our go-between. She can go to the hotel instead of me and make my offer of marriage to Tang Monk. So long as Tang Monk agrees, I’ll go there to meet him without any delay.”
Tang Monk and his disciples were eating in the hotel. “The prime minister comes!” reported someone. “The prime minister comes for what?” asked Tang Monk. “It must be that the queen invites us!” said Pig Bajie. “If not an invitation, it must be an offer of marriage,” said Monkey King. “Wu Kong,” Tang Monk said. “If she forces me to marry her, what can I do?” “Don’t hesitate to agree to her terms,” replied Monkey King. “I’ll have my best way to deal with it in due course.” Before long, the prime minister and the female official entered the hotel and made a salute to Tang Monk. “I’m only a monk,” said Tang Monk. “How can I bother you with such a trip?”
Finding that Tang Monk really bore a grandeur appearance, the prime minister was very delighted and thought stealthily: “Our queen will have such a handsome husband! It’s really a good luck for both the queen herself and the people all over the country.” After making a salute, the two female officials stood together with Tang Monk. “Congratulations!” said the two officials. “I’m only a poor monk,” said Tang Monk. “Congratulate me on what?” “I come here instead of our queen to offer her marriage,” said the minister. “Thanks!” said Tang Monk. “But I come here without any children with me except for three disciples. I don’t know which one your queen wants to marry.” The female official told Tang Monk about the queen’s dream and marriage plan. On her words, Tank Monk only stood there without saying anything. “As a true man, you shouldn’t miss such a good opportunity,” said the prime minister. “It’s not uncommon to take in a son-in-law to bear bride’ s family name. But it’s indeed extremely rare for a queen to abdicate immediately after marriage. Please say yes to her request as soon as possible so as for me to make a report.”
On her words, not knowing what to say, Tang Monk could do nothing but keep silent. “Prime minister,” said Pig Bajie. “Go and tell your queen that our master is a devout monk. He likes neither her country nor her beautiful appearance. He certainly doesn’t agree to her request. Your queen should sign the relative diplomatic documents and let my master pass immediately so as for him to go taking the Buddhist ures as soon as possible. But I’m willing to stay here to marry your queen. How about it?” On his words, the prime minister was scared to death and did not dare to answer his question. The female official was really brave and said, “You’re male, but too ugly. So you’re not to her liking.” “Shut up!” Monkey King scolded Bajie. “Just listen to our master’s opinion. If he says yes, it will do. If he says no, it will not do. Don’t waste the precious time of the go-between.” “What’s your opinion, Wu Kong?” Tang Monk asked Monkey King. “I think you may stay here,” replied Monkey King. “It’s really a golden opportunity for you.”
“Really?” asked Tang Monk. “If we stay here to enjoy honor and wealth, who will go take the Buddhist ures? And if so, we’ll cause much harm to the emperor of our great Tang Dynasty.” “Master,” said the prime minister, “I dare not keep back the truth. Our queen only asks you to stay here to marry her. She is going to invite your three disciples to a big banquet and then let them pass to take the Buddhist ures.” “That’s reasonable,” said Monkey King. “We’re willing to let our master stay here. Please give us the relative diplomatic documents and let us pass. Whenever we are successful to take back the Buddhist ures, we ’ll pass here again and ask our master for some traveling expenses to go back to our great Tang Dynasty.” On Monkey King’s words, the prime minister was very delighted. “Thank you very much!” she said to Monkey King. “Prime minister!” said Pig Bajie. “We don’t need empty talk. Now that you promise to invite us to a big banquet, you should go and make a good preparation at once.” “No problem!” said the prime minister. “I’ll go immediately.” The prime minister and the female official went away.
Grasping Monkey King, Tang Monk scolded, “Naughty monkey! You put me to trouble. How can you say this sort of things? You let me stay here to marry the queen and you’ll go to take the Buddhist ures. I’d rather die than do this!” “Please rest assured, master!” Monkey King tried to comfort Tang Monk. “ How is it possible that I don’t know your temper? Now that we came here and met this sort of people, we could do nothing but turn their trick against themselves.” “But how to turn their trick against themselves?” asked Tang Monk. “If you persist in refusing her request, she won’t give us the relative diplomatic documents and we won’t be able to leave here,” Monkey King added. “Worse of all, if the queen has an ill intention, she’ll ask someone to cut off your flesh and prepare a delicious dish. If so, how can we stand by with folded arms? At that time, we’ll certainly try to fight them. You know that we have not only enormous ability but also excellent weapons. Maybe the people all over the country will be completely killed by us. Although they block our way, they’re not demons but human beings after all. I don’t think you can tolerate our brutality. But you can do nothing about it because it’ll be too late.” “What you said is quite reasonable,” said Tang Monk, “but if I agree to her request, she’ll certainly ask me to carry out my duty as a husband. As a monk, how can I do that sort of things? How can I ruin the Buddhist moral integrity?”
“Listen to me, please!” said Monkey King. “If you agree to her request today, the queen will certainly treat you as an emperor and she’ll surely come here to meet you. You just listen to her and don’t decline anything. You just follow her to the palace and sit in the throne at ease. At that time, you’ll be the true emperor, so you have the right to ask us to enter the palace for the purpose to sign our diplomatic documents. So long as we three get the documents, we’ll leave the palace immediately. And then you can ask the queen to let you go outside the town to see us off. At that time, Sha Monk will help you ride your white horse. I’ll use a magic to make the officials stand still. We’ll take the opportunity to leave this female country. A day and a night later, I’ll use my magic to make them move again. So you see, I won’t do any harm to their lives.” At the hint of Monkey King, Tang Monk suddenly saw the light.
Back to the palace, the prime minister made a report. “Congratulations!” said the prime minister to the queen. “Your dream has become true.” On her words, the queen was very happy, asking, “What did Tang Monk say?” “When I told him about your marriage offer, Tang Monk intended to decline at the beginning,” said the prime minister. “But his first disciple Monkey King agreed. He is willing to let his master stay here to marry you and to be the emperor of our country. His only request is that you sign their diplomatic documents and let them pass. Whenever they take back the Buddhist ures, they will come here again and ask you for some traveling expenses so as for them to go back home.” “What did Tang Monk say?” asked the queen. “He said nothing,” replied the prime minister. “But his second disciple Pig Bajie wants to have something to eat and drink first.” On her report, the queen ordered the relative persons to arrange a banquet immediately and she herself made a preparation to meet Tang Monk in the hotel. Before long, the queen came to the hotel. “Her Majesty has come!” someone told Tang Monk and his three disciples. Leading his disciples, Tang Monk walked out to meet the queen at once. “Which one is Tang Monk?” asked the queen. “The first one at the door,” someone told her. The queen found that Tang Monk really bore a grandeur appearance. She was very delighted and stepped up.
“Darling, let us go back to the palace,” said the queen. “I’ve already made a good arrangement for our wedding.” On hearing this, Tang Monk was trembling with fear and couldn’t stand still. “Don’t be too modest, Master,” Monkey King said. “Just go with her and ask her to sign the passports for us. You stay here and let me go west together with Pig Bajie and Sha Monk. Don’t hesitate to enjoy honor and wealth in the palace and wait for us. With tears streaming down like raindrops, Tang Monk didn’ say anything. “Don’t be worried,” Monkey King said to Tang Monk. “It’s difficult to come by this sort of honor and wealth. Don’t miss the boat.” Having no alternative, Tang Monk had to act according to Monkey King’s advice. Wiping off tears and trying to look cheerful, he stepped up to the queen. Hand in hand, Tang Monk and the queen got on the wagon. Thinking nothing but marrying Tang Monk, the queen was very happy. But Tang Monk set his heart only on going west to take Buddhist ures. Seeing Tang Monk and the queen sitting still, the officials were very delighted and ordered the guard of honor to set out. Before long, they came back into town. Monkey King, Pig Bajie and Sha Monk closely followed the wagon. Pig Bajie was so excited that he ran about. Seeing a restaurant, he even shouted and screamed madly.
“Everything is good. Everything is ready,” Bajie cried. “Halt on! Halt on! we should have wedding feast first.” “Who is he?” the queen asked Tang Monk. “He is my second disciple,” answered Tang Monk. “He has a good appetite. He is always hungry.” “Get the feast ready as soon as possible,” the queen said to an ADG. “It’s ready,” replied the AGD. “We have two menus. One is meat dish, the other is vegetable dish.” “You have two menus. Why?” asked the queen. “We ordinary people have meat dish,” the ADG said. “But I’m afraid the Buddhist would like to have vegetable dish.” “Which one do you prefer?” the queen asked Tang Monk. “Vegetable dish,” said Tang Monk. “But my second disciple can have some wine.” Before their conversation ended up, another official reported, “The feast is ready. We can go now. After the feast, the wedding will begin. And our new king can ascend the throne tomorrow because tomorrow is a lucky day.” “Great!” the queen exclaimed.
After the feast, all people came back to the palace. “Thank you for your feast,” said Tang Monk to the queen. “Please sign the passports for my disciples and let them go immediately.” The queen agreed but requested Tang Monk to mount the throne immediately after signing the passports. But Tang Monk politely declined. “I’d like to mount the throne tomorrow,” said Tang Monk, “because tomorrow is a lucky day. You’d better sign the documents and let them go first.” Readily accepting Tang Monk’s advice, the queen asked Monkey King, Pig Bajie and Sha Monk to show her their passports. Monkey King asked Sha Monk to open their bundle and took out their passports. The queen signed them without saying anything. Tang Monk thanked the queen and said to the queen, “I’m going to send them off outside the town so as for me to exhort them to go west at once.”
Without knowing this was just a scheme, the queen agreed but persisted in accompanying Tang Monk. Outside the town, Monkey King, Pig Bajie and Sha Monk said aloud to the queen, “It’s unnecessary for you to come so far to send us off, Your Majesty. We’d like to say goodbye to you here.” Stepping down the wagon, Tang Monk also bid farewell to the queen in a respectful manner, “Please go back, Your Majesty. Let me go west to take Buddhist ures.” On hearing this, the queen was taken aback and grasped Tang Monk’s cloth. “Brother,” said the queen, “I’m willing to marry you with all the wealth of the whole country as my dowry. Tomorrow is a lucky day and you will mount the throne. You are the king and I’m your queen. Moreover, you’ ve already had the wedding feast. How can you change your mind?” Hearing this, Pig Bajie was very unhappy and rushed forward with his large ears shaving madly. “We’re all monks. How can a monk marry a secular woman? You’d better let our master go!” Bajie cried to the queen. Seeing Bajie act wantonly, the queen was scared to death and escaped onto the wagon. Taking this opportunity, Sha Monk dragged his master from among the crowd and helped him to get on his horse. With the help of some gods, the master and his disciples left the female country and went west continuously.