"Ludicrous immortal, Xue Yao, do you admit to your crimes?"
Hesitatingly, Xue Yao glanced at the crowd before her, eyeing each one and meeting their tense gazes. Amongst the seven or so who sat around her, she only recognized the familiar face of her teacher, Yue Lao. Noticing the jug of wine that he held in his hand underneath the table he sat at and his red-tinged face, she rolled her eyes. Despite being the crucial god of matchmaking and love, the old man was never sober.
Turning her eyes back to the two who were supposed to decide her fate, the Celestial Emperor and the Queen Mother, Xue Yao respectfully bowed from her kneeling position, with a bit of a dramatic flair just to loosen the tension. "No, this small one does not know what crimes I have committed."
Instead of breaking up the tension like how she hoped, it seemed that the court took it in an offensive manner, thinking that she was sarcastic with her words when Xue Yao was actually one-hundred percent honest when she said that she didn't know what she did wrong.
All she knew was that one second, she was exploring a wonderful orchard and sampling the fruits to avoid her drunk teacher, Yue Lao, from sending her back to the Red Room to organize the red threads of fate, and the next second, a few celestial guards surrounded her and dragged her to the emperor.
Stiffly, the Queen Mother clenched her fists, speaking without an ounce of the mercy that Xue Yao heard that the Queen Mother was so proud of. "Absurd."
Xue Yao raised her eyebrows. "Queen Mother, this small one really does not understand. I know that… perhaps… oh, is that orchard yours? This small one just stumbled upon the orchard on accident, and because my favorite fruits are peaches, I just wanted to taste a few. They looked so tasty… "
Even thinking about the peaches in the orchard that she discovered, Xue Yao began to drool a little on the inside. Each peach was just such a lovely shade of blush, the skin of the peach perfectly hairless and delicate, the flesh of the peach watery but crisp. And not to mention, those peaches were the sweetest ones she had ever tasted…
The Queen Mother did not seem to be convinced by her answer. "Do you have any idea what you just did?"
Xue Yao shook her head, looking up at the goddess with a puzzled expression.
"Those peaches are not ordinary peaches. They are the Peaches of Immortality, and they were going to play in important role in the yearly Peach Banquet that I host."
Instantly, upon hearing her words, Xue Yao gulped. So… that was the reason for the anger from all of the court. She had heard of the Peach Banquet before, even though she had only been allowed to enter the Celestial Heavens two thousand years ago. It was such a famed banquet that every deity wished to receive an invitation to attend it, since the Queen Mother would serve a total of ten peaches to the ten greatest immortals in the heavens, each peach holding three thousand years of spiritual energy.
If Xue Yao indeed had eaten half of the ten peaches that were about to be served for the Peach Banquet… then things were not going to be as simple as she thought.
With swift movements, Xue Yao flung herself down on the floor. She had never desired to ruin any banquets or to consume the Peaches of Immortality. She just thought that they were ordinary— but awfully delicious— peaches. Surely, they could not punish her too severely because of her ignorance.
"Queen Mother, it's all this small one's fault! This small one did not know that they were your peaches… please do not punish this small one too severely!" As Xue Yao decided, perhaps she could invoke some pity now that she knew her mistake and would admit to it.
"So, now you are willing to admit to your mistakes?" A stern look crossed the Queen Mother's face. "How do you expect me to tell the ten immortals that this year, the banquet is canceled? Would it not make me the laughing stock of the heavens if I admit to the fact that I was careless enough that a small immortal like you managed to consume the peaches?"
Xue Yao frowned. What was this woman saying? Although she respected the Queen Mother for her almighty position in the Celestial Heavens, all that the goddess was doing was admitting the fact that yes, she was careless enough to allow Xue Yao to eat the peaches. The more Xue Yao thought about it, the more she figured that it wasn't completely her own fault.
Now, uncertain of what she should say, Xue Yao cast a pleading look towards her teacher, who was conveniently taking another gulp of wine.
That insane, aggravating old man!
She was his disciple, so how come when she needed his help, he was once again occupied with his wine? Surely whatever delight the wine brought him couldn't be as crucial as the life and safety of his own disciple, who was about to suffer the angry wrath of the Queen Mother?
"Drag this preposterous immortal down and ban her from the Celestial Heavens." The Queen Mother decided on her verdict, waving her hands. "I do not wish to see her face again."
Xue Yao's eyes widened in disbelief when she heard the words coming out of the other woman's mouth. How could this be? Was this a joke? The Queen Mother— how could she just ban her from the heavens as easily as that?
No! She had carefully cultivated for six thousand years, working just so that she could enter the heavens. If she was banned from the heavens now, all her hard work would be lost just because of her recklessness of the moment! That was not alright! She had to do something about it…
While two celestial guards pulled her up from her kneeling position, Xue Yao quickly scrambled forward in resistance to their attempt of tugging her away.
"Queen Mother! You cannot do this! This small one was just too ignorant! It will not happen again! Please do not ban me, Queen Mother! Queen Mother!"
Despite all of her desperate pleas, the Queen Mother simply turned her chin away and huffed slightly, unwilling to listen a second longer. Growing more desperate by the second, Xue Yao knew that she would be dragged away by the celestial guards in any moment now.
What could she do? How would she save herself now?
Clawing into the arms of the celestial guards, Xue Yao decided that she had to play her trump card. She didn't know if it would work, but it was the only thing that she could do now.
"Who dares to ban me from the heavens!" Xue Yao cried out at the top of her lungs. "I am the sole disciple of Yue Lao, the future inheritor of the red strings of fate!"
Silently, Xue Yao prayed that this was a statement loud enough to wake the old man from his drunken disregard.