The Succession Struggle in the Dream of the Red Chamber

Chapter 10 All sorts of demons and monsters are mobilized

While Tu Chengyu was still considering how to respond to the apology from the Liu family father and son, his second brother Tu Chengming, who was not far away, could no longer sit still.

He stormed up to Liu Shigui and said, "What did you say? You almost hurt Xiao Wu last night?"

Startled by the sudden rebuke, Liu Shigui retreated repeatedly. He explained, "I didn't mean to. It was just because it was dark, and I don't know when the Fifth Prince was with the rebels, that I almost accidentally injured him."

After hearing his explanation, the second son, Tu Chengming, became even angrier and said, "What do you mean the Fifth Prince is with the rebels? If you dare to talk nonsense again, I'll smash your mouth in."

Liu Shigui seemed to realize he had said the wrong thing and apologized repeatedly: "I was clumsy with words and said the wrong thing. I will apologize to the Fifth Prince right away."

The Liu family father and son apologized and accepted the punishment, but Tu Chengyu dared not accept their apology and quickly said, "Since it's a misunderstanding, let's talk it out. We're all family, why be so formal?"

Liu Chengru said, "The Fifth Prince is magnanimous, but my son and I cannot be ungrateful. I will have my son kowtow to the Prince to apologize."

Tu Chengyu was furious. He knew exactly what the Liu family father and son wanted to do: they wanted to label him as arrogant, domineering, and ungrateful.

Everyone knows that the Prince An's mansion was besieged last night, and the Liu father and son risked their lives to rescue it, which is a great favor to the Prince An's mansion.

If it were to spread now that Tu Chengyu had forced the Liu family father and son to kowtow and apologize for a minor mistake, what would people think of Tu Chengyu? It might even implicate the heir.

At this moment, Tu Chengyu felt he could no longer remain ambiguous, and said very seriously, word by word, "I said, there is no need for an apology. If you are still not at ease, I promise in front of my mother that I will not hold these things against her in the future."

Seeing that the apology had turned into a standoff, the princess quickly said, "Since it's all a misunderstanding, let's talk it out."

With the princess's intervention, the matter was considered closed, and Tu Chengyu took his leave again, preparing to depart.

Just as they reached the door, they heard Liu Shigui's voice again: "I'm not worried about the Fifth Prince, I'm afraid that if the Heir Apparent knew about this, he would be worried..."

Before he could finish speaking, two angry roars rang out simultaneously in the hall.

"Shut up!"

"What nonsense"

The former is Tu Chengyu, and the latter is Tu Chengming.

After shouting, Tu Chengyu casually drew the sword from the guard at the entrance of the main hall, took a few steps and walked up to Liu Shigui. Pointing the sword at Liu Shigui, he said, "Liu Shigui, if you dare to implicate the young master, I will cut your tongue right now."

Tu Chengming also walked over, pointed at Liu Shigui and cursed, "Are you out of your mind or blind? How dare you spout nonsense here?"

At this moment, both Tu Chengyu and his brother understood that they could not allow Liu Shigui to say even the slightest bad word about the heir.

Liu Shigui was Tu Chengming's cousin, and to some extent, he could represent Tu Chengming. Therefore, if Liu Shigui spoke ill of the crown prince, others would see it as the second son being dissatisfied with the crown prince.

This could lead others to believe that the princes were already vying for the throne even before the new emperor had ascended the throne. At this time, if someone with ulterior motives were to stir things up, or if someone blinded by greed were to place speculative bets, it could create an opportunity for others to take advantage of the situation.

Hidden demons and monsters will also roam freely, and the entire harem will never be at peace again.

Brothers turning against each other and fathers and sons falling out will not be far off.

Liu Shigui had only meant it as a casual probe, but he hadn't expected the Tu brothers to react so strongly. Even the princess frowned, her face showing displeasure, while her father, Liu Chengru, practically spitting fire in his eyes.

He knew he had really said the wrong thing this time, and was about to explain when Tu Chengyu cut him off.

"Shut your filthy mouth! If you dare utter another word in the Prince An's mansion, I'll take your life today!" At this moment, Tu Chengyu's small body erupted with astonishing aura, making everyone feel that if Liu Shigui were to speak again, Tu Chengyu would dare to kill him on the spot.

Everyone in the hall, including the princess, unconsciously held their breath.

Liu Shigui kept his mouth shut. He knew very well that when a prince was willing to risk everything to intimidate others, the best way was not to anger him.

Seeing that Liu Shigui was sensible, Tu Chengyu threw away the knife, turned around and walked to Liu Shi and said, "Mother, what happened in Fengsheng Hall today has a great impact. I hope you will tell everyone not to spread it."

Liu nodded and said, "I will be careful."

Tu Chengyu took his leave for the third time. Finally, he was not hindered by anything and walked out of the main hall smoothly. He looked up at the sun in the sky and felt that it was so dazzling.

This throne is indeed a magic ring; just touching it can cause people to lose their minds and go mad.

The Liu family father and son used to be so humble and kind, and they were even more respectful to the crown prince. I never expected that after just one night, they would become irreconcilable enemies.

Lost in thought, Tu Chengyu swayed back to his courtyard, intending to catch up on sleep, but he couldn't fall asleep again. So he simply sat in the courtyard, quietly lost in thought.

Not long after sitting down, I suddenly heard footsteps. I looked up and saw that it was my maid, Xiao Xing, who had returned.

Xiao Xing also saw Tu Chengyu in the courtyard and quickly came over, saying, "Fifth Master, I was just looking for you. Your uncle has arrived and is requesting an audience at the side gate."

"Where did this uncle come from?" Tu Chengyu reacted quite strongly when he heard these words.

Xiao Xing didn't know why Tu Chengyu was angry, and timidly said, "It's Uncle Chen."

Tu Chengyu then realized that it was his uncle's family who had come.

Speaking of his uncle Chen's family, Tu Chengyu was also very angry because the family was too snobbish.

Back when Princess Chen of the former Prince An was alive, Prince An valued the Chen family highly and took good care of them. Several of his maternal uncles often visited the Prince's residence.

Later, Princess Chen passed away, and Lady Liu was promoted to the position of Consort. Prince An then paid less attention to the Chen family. Later, when the Crown Prince and Prince Ping were fighting, Prince An, fearing being implicated, deliberately kept a low profile and gradually lost influence in the court. Seeing the decline of Prince An's mansion, the Chen family sought other connections and gradually reduced their ties with Prince An's mansion.

The Chen family never imagined that Prince An, who had the least hope of winning the throne, would rise to power and become the emperor in one fell swoop.

This put the Chen family in a rather awkward position. However, compared to the potential benefits, what was this awkwardness? Sure enough, as soon as the news of Prince An's ascension to the throne spread, the Chen family eagerly came over.

It's true, once you ascend the throne and seize power, all sorts of demons and monsters come out of hiding.

Thinking of these past events, Tu Chengyu really didn't want to receive him, but it was his own uncle who hadn't visited in a long time, and it wouldn't be right to block him from entering.

After thinking for a moment, he could only let Xiaoxing bring the person in.

The one who arrived was the second master of the Chen family, Tu Chengyu's maternal uncle. He was tall and slender, with strong limbs, a square face, thick eyebrows, bright eyes, and a long, flowing beard.

If you don't know the person, you will definitely be deceived by their impressive appearance.

If you are familiar with it, you will surely recall the saying, "All that glitters is not gold, but rotten cotton inside!"

They invited their handsome second uncle to sit down and had Xiaoxing bring out tea and snacks.

(End of this chapter)