老身力奏 It Was My Old Self Who Argued
金星道：「你當年在花果山為怪，伏虎降龍，強消死籍，聚群妖大肆猖狂，上天欲要擒你，也是老身力奏，降旨招安，把你宣上天堂，封你做弼馬溫。金星道：「你当年在花果山为怪，伏虎降龙，强消死籍，聚群妖大肆猖狂，上天欲要擒你，也是老身力奏，降旨招安，把你宣上天堂，封你做弼马温。
逐句解 Line by line
The Gold Star said, "In the year you were a monster on the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit, subduing tigers and taming dragons, striking your name off the register of the dead by force, gathering the demon host and running riot — heaven meant to take you, and it was this old self who argued the case, so that an edict came down pardoning you. You were called up to heaven and made Master of the Heavenly Stables."
The whole of the novel's opening act, recited by the man who arranged the amnesty. 為 is wéi, to be — you were a monster. Both readings of 降 appear in one sentence and they are not the same word: 降龍 is xiáng, to force a dragon into submission, while 降旨 is jiàng, an edict coming down. 強消死籍 is to strike one's name off the death register by force — Pilgrim's original crime, which was administrative. 弼馬溫 is Master of the Heavenly Stables, the job that sounds grand and turns out to be a groom, and the name puns on a phrase meaning to keep horses free of plague. Heaven's joke, and he never forgave it.
Venus's account is accurate and self-serving at once, which is the mark of a good diplomat's memory. Everything he lists did happen, and he arranged the outcome of all of it.
Notice what he does not mention: that the post he obtained for Pilgrim was an insult, and that the insult caused the war. He is listing favours and hoping nobody does the arithmetic.