The Succession Struggle in the Dream of the Red Chamber

Chapter 100 Jia Lianchu's First Business Trip

Not long after Du Ruoheng left, Quan Wenwei came over from the house next door.

Tu Chengyu asked, "Mr. Quan, do you think Du Ruoheng will spread what I said today?"

Quan Wenwei said, "Your Highness, whether he passes it on or not is no longer important."

"The prince summoned him here simply to exploit his status as a scholar from Yuzhang Prefecture."

"What the prince said to him tonight will naturally be relayed by the Imperial Horse Administration."

"At the same time, spread the news of his meeting with the prince, and he will probably take the initiative to confirm it for the prince."

Tu Chengyu smiled and said, "That's true. Once he enters my household, he has no say in what he does."

Quan Wenwei chuckled a few times and asked:
"What are you planning to do next, Your Highness? Will you proceed with the ceremony as planned, or will you have the Imperial Horse Administration find one or two corrupt officials along the way to confirm the false information that was spread tonight?"

Tu Chengyu asked, "Mr. Quan, what do you think is the best course of action?"

Quan Wenwei said, "Since the prince has already released the news, let's confirm it as soon as possible to avoid people guessing that we released false information."

Tu Chengyu said, "Mr. Quan thinks the same way as I do, so let's do it ahead of time."

Quan Wenwei said, "Since Your Highness has made the decision, I will go and make the arrangements."

Tu Chengyu stopped Quan Wenwei and said, "Mr. Quan, there's no need to rush. I already have a good candidate in mind."

Quan Wenwei exclaimed in surprise, "Your Highness, did you prepare in advance?"

Tu Chengyu said, "I just remembered that there is such a person, and he is just right."

Quan Wenwei asked, "Is this man a bandit or a corrupt official?"

Tu Chengyu said, "He is a corrupt official, and a corrupt official with connections. Dealing with this person will surely draw everyone's attention to me."

Quan Wenwei asked, "Is this person the son of some noble family in the capital? If so, Your Highness should be cautious."

Tu Chengyu said, "He's not some noble son, just a servant of the Jia family."

Upon hearing this, Quan Wenwei asked with great confusion, "A servant of the Jia family? If he is a servant, how did he become an official appointed by the imperial court?"

Tu Chengyu said, "This is the way the Jia family behaves; they have never known the difference between superiors and inferiors."

"The old lady of the Jia family, just because one of her maids served her well, restored the maid's status and made her free."

"Later, the Jia family went mad for some reason and spent money to help this person get a job, making a servant a high-ranking official in the imperial court."

"Actually, it's not a big deal for a servant to become an official. No one has stipulated that servants cannot become officials."

"But the problem is that the Jia family promoted this person to be an official, but did not restrain him, and allowed him to embezzle and break the law and act recklessly in office."

"I didn't bother dealing with him before, but now that we're going to drag a corrupt official out for a show, I'll choose him."

Quan Wenwei said, "But Your Highness, the Jia family is now on the same side as you. Wouldn't it be inappropriate for Your Highness to specifically target the Jia family like this?"

Tu Chengyu said, "What's wrong with it?"

Quan Wenwei said, "From the outsiders' perspective, the prince and the Jia family are one entity when the prince and the Jia family form a marriage alliance."

"The saying 'one prospers, all prosper; one suffers, all suffer' perfectly describes the relationship between the prince and the Jia family."

"Now, instead of protecting the Jia family, Your Highness is specifically targeting them to deal with them. If others find out, who will dare to pledge allegiance to Your Highness in the future?"

Quan Wenwei spoke these words with genuine sincerity, and Tu Chengyu could see that he was truly thinking of him.

However, he didn't know how deep the pit was in the Jia family, so naturally he couldn't make the right judgment.

Tu Chengyu said, "Mr. Quan, you are mistaken. I am not doing this to punish the Jia family, but to save them."

Quan Wenwei waited with a puzzled look for Tu Chengyu to continue.

Tu Chengyu continued, "The two Jia family mansions appear to be prosperous and magnificent, but in reality, they are all show and no substance."

"Moreover, it has almost reached the point of being terminally ill. If we don't take drastic measures to treat it, it will only lead to death."

Quan Wenwei seemed to understand Tu Chengyu's thoughts and said, "Does Your Highness intend to have his bones removed for treatment, to completely heal the Jia family?"

Tu Chengyu said, "Cure it? It's not that easy. What I'm doing now is just squeezing out the festering sore on the Jia family, digging out the necrotic stuff inside, and seeing if I can let the Jia family survive for a few more years."

Quan Wenwei said, "I understand Your Highness's meaning. However, should we send someone to inform the Jia family of Your Highness's good intentions?"

Tu Chengyu said, "Hmph, I don't need to explain anything to them when I do things."

"It would be best if the Jia family could understand my approach."

"If they don't understand, or want to cause trouble, I don't mind dealing with them all at once."

Quan Wenwei fully understood Tu Chengyu's plan and stopped trying to persuade him.

He asked, "Your Highness, since we're going to deal with the servants of the Jia family, shouldn't we make some preparations beforehand?"

Tu Chengyu said, "No need to make many preparations. Since we're dealing with the Jia family's servants, let the Jia family's masters do it."

Quan Wenwei said, "Does Your Highness want Jia Lian, who came with you, to do this?"

Tu Chengyu said, "That is indeed what I think."

"Let Jia Lian and Jia Rong handle this matter. While dealing with this servant of the Jia family, I can also take the opportunity to assess the abilities of these two men."

"Take a look and see if they are worth training." "Mr. Quan, have someone summon Jia Lian and Jia Rong to me."

Quan Wenwei turned around and went out to call someone. Tu Chengyu sat alone, feeling helpless, thinking about how to talk to Jia Lian about this matter.

After sitting alone for about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, footsteps sounded outside the door, followed by Quan Wenwei's voice.

"Your Highness, Jia Lian and Jia Rong have arrived."

Tu Chengyu said, "Let them in."

As soon as Tu Chengyu finished speaking, the door was pushed open, and Quan Wenwei led the two of them in.

After they finished bowing and stood in line, Tu Chengyu asked:

"I've heard that one of your servants from the Jia family has become an official. Do either of you know who this person is?"

Upon hearing Tu Chengyu's question, the uncle and nephew from the Jia family exchanged a knowing glance.

Finally, Jia Lian spoke up, saying, "Your Highness, there is indeed such a person."

"His name is Lai Shangrong. He is the grandson of Granny Lai, who served the old lady in our household. In the early years, Granny Lai served the old lady well."

"The old lady then freed Granny Lai's grandson from slavery, which gave him the opportunity to become an official."

Tu Chengyu asked, "Was his appointment to an official position due to connections with your Jia family?"

Jia Lian replied, "Your Highness, I am unaware of this matter."

Since Jia Lian didn't know, Tu Chengyu turned to look at Jia Rong.

Jia Rong quickly shook his head and said, "This humble servant doesn't know either."

Tu Chengyu changed the subject and asked, "Do you know what Lai Shangrong's reputation is like?"

The two shook their heads again, saying they didn't know.

Tu Chengyu didn't bother to determine whether the two people were lying or genuinely didn't know.

He stated directly, "I have received information that Lai Shangrong, while serving as an official, was corrupt, abused his power, and oppressed the people."

"I am very angry about this and want to teach this Lai Shangrong a lesson. What do you say?"

Jia Lian and Jia Rong dared not disagree and immediately said in unison:
"Everything is up to Your Highness."

Tu Chengyu said, "Since you two agree with my idea, I will assign you a task."

Jia Lian said, "Please give your orders, Your Highness."

Tu Chengyu said, "Since this Lai Shangrong comes from your Jia family, he must have someone around him who is familiar with your Jia family."

"I will send the two of you to bring out one or two of Lai Shangrong's trusted confidants and hand them over to me. Can you accomplish this?"

Jia Lian and Jia Rong looked at each other, unsure how to respond.

Neither of them had any connection or relationship with Lai Shangrong.

All they knew was that the Lai family were the confidants of the old lady of the mansion and were highly regarded by her.

If the two of them help Prince Su deal with Lai Shangrong, it will be difficult for the old lady to find out.

Especially Jia Lian, who was from the Rongguo Mansion and was constantly under the old lady's watchful eye, found it even more difficult to move an inch.

Tu Chengyu felt annoyed as they remained silent for so long.

There's really nothing to say about the Jia family, these good-for-nothings.

After seeing this, Quan Wenwei said to Jia Lian and the other person:
"His Majesty has already sent people to investigate Lai Shangrong's corruption and abuse of power thoroughly, and the evidence is now conclusive."

"His Majesty originally intended to arrest him and hand him over to the Ministry of Justice for prosecution."

"However, the prince knows that this person has ties with your Jia family and is worried that your Jia family might be implicated because of this person."

"So they pleaded with the Emperor, hoping to give your Jia family a chance to redeem themselves through meritorious service."

"I never expected that your Jia family would actually try to protect this person. You're simply courting death."

Upon hearing Quan Wenwei directly accuse him of covering up for someone, Jia Lian and the other man quickly explained:

“Mr. Quan has wronged us. How could we possibly protect criminals from the imperial court?”

Quan Wenwei said, "If you don't want to cover it up, why don't you cooperate with the prince?"

"Don't you know that the Prince is doing this to help your Jia family escape punishment?"

Jia Lian and the other man hesitated, but neither dared to actually refuse Tu Chengyu's arrangement.

Now, after hearing Quan Wenwei's words, they know which option to choose.

Jia Lian suddenly became fierce and said through gritted teeth:
"Your Highness, I am willing to follow your arrangements."

Seeing that Jia Lian had agreed, Jia Rong quickly added, "This humble servant will also follow Your Highness's arrangements."

Tu Chengyu snorted coldly and said, "Since you have accepted this task, do it properly for me and don't try to slack off."

The two quickly replied, "We wouldn't dare."

(End of this chapter)