#or the 2000 xiyouji after series giving bailong the name Ao Lie and everyone running with that

[the-monkey-ruler]

Can you elaborate on Yao Ji having her husband and first son killed? Because I looked her up but that part of her story didn’t show up in either version of her origins

So looking into it, it turns out that this was another case of a single piece of media making headcanon so popular that other pieces of media copy it. It was Lotus Lantern the TV series that makes Yao Ji Erlang's mother when she is more considered a daughter of the jade emperor (something the 1996 series kept right). And from there other series or stories have copied that format giving Yaoji that attention.

But the real name of Erlang Shen's mother is Yunhua 云花女. She is still considered a daughter in some myth but it is hard to tell which myths are the most popular. Yunhua, also known as Cloud Flower Girl, is a character also known as Zhang Xiangu, Zhang Sanjie, Zhang Yuntai, and San Shengu, her titles are Princess Bailian and Princess Lotus. The records mainly come from classical literary works such as "Erlang Baojuan" and "Journey to the West " as well as folklore. 

She is the wife of Yang Tianyou, the third princess of Heaven, and the owner of the Bullfighting Palace. Yunhua is either the third daughter of the Jade Emperor and the Queen Mother of the West (other theories believe that Yunhua is the sister of the Jade Emperor, and the Third Holy Mother is the daughter of the God of Huashan Mountain in Xiyue).

So sorry for the confusion! Here are links to both Yunhua and Yaoji if you wish to read more!