The Succession Struggle in the Dream of the Red Chamber

Chapter 136 Curing Xue Xu's Wild Thoughts

Yang Chun's arrival brought Tu Chengyu a glimpse into the dire situation of the grain fields in Jiangnan, and also reminded him that a group of his men were still in danger and needed him to find a way to rescue them.

If we're talking about dealing with the salt merchants, Tu Chengyu could barely manage with the power he currently wields.

But if the issue of grain fields were added, he wouldn't be able to handle it.

Now, he either takes on everything and asks the emperor to let him handle both matters at the same time.

He could either ignore matters concerning the grain fields, only report the findings to the emperor, and focus on managing the salt administration himself.

Both options have their pros and cons.

Choosing the first option allows you to do whatever you want and handle all the things you disapprove of. However, you must be prepared to stay in Jiangnan for a long time and bear the risk of failure.

Choosing the second option would reduce the pressure, but the question then becomes how to rescue his detained subordinates.

These all require careful consideration before a decision can be made.

Tu Chengyu and Yang Chun talked for a long time and clarified the main issues.

Seeing that Yang Chun's eyelids were about to close from exhaustion, Tu Chengyu quickly told him to leave and go to the guest room in the Lin residence to rest.

After Yang Chun left, Tu Chengyu realized that his lunch break was over, and he was no longer sleepy.

He decided to stay in the study and slowly ponder the news Yang Chun had brought back.

While he was pondering, Lao Yao returned from picking up the people outside the city and reported back to him about the situation of the people he had met.

Since Yang Chun had already told them everything, Tu Chengyu didn't question those people anymore.

Not long after Lao Yao left, Jia Lian, who had gone out with the imperial physician that morning, also returned.

Upon his return, Jia Lian immediately requested an audience.

Tu Chengyu also wanted to know Xue Xu's current condition, so he immediately summoned him and asked him to bring the imperial physician Du, who had gone to see him, along with him.

After Jia Lian and the other man entered and exchanged greetings, Tu Chengyu asked, "How is Xue Xu now?"

As the person in charge, Jia Lian was the first to answer: "Your Highness, Uncle Xue is out of danger and will recover after a few days of rest."

Hearing that Xue Xu was out of danger, Tu Chengyu breathed a sigh of relief.

He and Lin Ruhai had called the people over; it wouldn't be good if something happened to them in Yangzhou.

He asked, "That's good. Now, let me ask you, what illness does Xue Xu have, and how could it be so dangerous?"

Jia Lian said, "Your Highness, Uncle Xue's illness is not acute; he has been poisoned."

Upon hearing this, Tu Chengyu was greatly surprised. He asked in astonishment, "He has only been in Yangzhou for a few days, how could someone have poisoned him?"

Jia Lian shook his head and said, "We can't figure this out either. It was Imperial Physician Du who discovered the poisoning."

Upon hearing this, Tu Chengyu turned to look at Physician Du.

Knowing that Prince Su had summoned him to inquire about Xue Xu's condition, Imperial Physician Du was already prepared.

Now that he saw Prince Su looking at him, he immediately said, "Your Highness, I did indeed find poison in Xue Xu's body, and it was this poison that cured his illness."

Even though Tu Chengyu found it absurd, he had no choice but to believe what Physician Du said.

Since that's the case, he asked, "Tell me, what's the deal with this poison?"

Physician Du said, "Your Highness, strictly speaking, this poison is not a drug, but a food."

"This kind of food would not cause any problems for ordinary people, but Xue Xu suffers from a chronic illness and is very averse to it, especially if he eats it on an empty stomach, as it would be very dangerous."

According to Physician Du's description, Tu Chengyu felt that Xue Xu's problem was very similar to an allergy, a very severe one.

Generally speaking, patients with this type of allergic disease are very aware of it and pay attention to what they eat on a daily basis.

Especially for wealthy families like Xue Xu's, even if he forgets, those who personally serve him will remember these taboos.

It's not that easy to get infected.

Thinking of this, Tu Chengyu asked in confusion, "Since there is such a taboo, doesn't Xue Xu know about it?"

Physician Du said, "Xue Xu naturally knows, but he is used to being waited on hand and foot. With servants keeping track of these things, he wouldn't pay attention all the time."

"So this time, someone secretly put a forbidden food into the tea. The servant was careless and didn't check, and he was also careless and didn't notice it when drinking the tea, which is why he was poisoned."

It seems that he was indeed poisoned.

Moreover, judging from the method of poisoning, this person must have known about Xue Xu's ailments and his eating habits, otherwise they wouldn't have almost killed him.

Therefore, it is highly likely that the person who poisoned Xue Xu was someone close to him.

Thinking of all this, Tu Chengyu asked, "Have you found any clues about who poisoned the person?"

This time, Physician Du did not answer; instead, Jia Lian spoke.

He said, "Your Highness, there are still no leads on who poisoned the person. After Uncle Xue woke up, he said that now is not the time to investigate these matters, so we have not investigated."

As long as Xue Xu is alive, it doesn't matter to Tu Chengyu whether or not the person who poisoned him is investigated.

Moreover, as someone who has been navigating the business world for so many years, Xue Xu knows what's important and what's urgent. He must have his reasons for saying that he won't investigate now.

Since that was the case, Tu Chengyu decided not to worry about it anymore, but just asked one last casual question:
"Do either of you have anything else to say about Xue Xu being poisoned?"

Jia Lian clearly didn't know much, and he shook his head to indicate that he had nothing to say.

Physician Du looked hesitant, as if he had something to say.

Upon seeing this, Tu Chengyu asked, "Doctor Du, if you have anything to say, please speak freely without hesitation."

Upon hearing Tu Chengyu's words, Physician Du then spoke up:
"Your Highness, perhaps I am overthinking things. I just feel that there are many strange things about Xue Xu's poisoning."

Tu Chengyu asked curiously, "Is there anything strange about this? Tell me about it."

Physician Du said, "The strange thing about this matter is that although Xue Xu's illness came on fiercely, it is not a difficult or complicated disease. Once we understand it, it is easy to treat." "However, the servants of the Xue family said that they invited several famous doctors in Yangzhou City, but they were all helpless in treating this."

"Furthermore, since Xue Xu has this intractable illness, the Xue family should have some medicine on hand for treatment, but when I went there, the Xue family had no medicine at all."

"Therefore, I find this rather strange, but this is just my wild guess, and I hope it has not caused any trouble for Your Highness."

Tu Chengyu waved his hand and said, "What you said not only didn't cause any trouble, but it's also very important to me."

Hearing Tu Chengyu say this, Physician Du was also very happy.

At this point, there was nothing more to say, so Tu Chengyu let the two of them leave first.

After they left, Tu Chengyu fell into deep thought about the matter.

He felt like his brain wasn't working properly; why did he keep encountering so many things to think about today?

Moreover, one thing after another happens; before you've even figured out the first one, the second one comes right after.

Although he felt he was thinking about too many things, Tu Chengyu had no choice but to.

As Doctor Du said, Xue Xu's situation was too strange.

If a disease that is not particularly difficult to diagnose is treated by a rural folk doctor, it is understandable that he would not be able to see the cause.

If the doctors invited are from the city, and one or two of them cannot diagnose the cause of the illness, it can be assumed that their medical skills are inadequate.

This time, however, the Xue family invited several doctors from Yangzhou, including some famous physicians, but all of them said they couldn't cure the disease, which was very strange.

In this situation, it's either that none of the doctors in Yangzhou really know how to treat this illness.

Or perhaps they know how to treat the illness but choose to turn a blind eye and not seek treatment for some reason.

What could have made the doctors in Yangzhou choose to stand by and watch someone die at such a time?

Or rather, who has such power to silence all the doctors in Yangzhou?

Thinking of this, Tu Chengyu couldn't help but think of the Xue family's identity.

On the surface, the Xue family may appear to be just ordinary businessmen, but in reality, they have a powerful background.

Not only could they serve as royal merchants, but they could also conduct business exclusively for the royal family.

Moreover, he also has deep connections in the imperial court.

Xue Xu's wife was the younger sister of Wang Ziteng, the former military governor of the capital. Wang Ziteng's other younger sister was Jia Zheng's wife.

This relationship reveals that the Xue family not only had marriage alliances with powerful figures in the court, but were also related to long-established noble families.

In addition, the Xue family, along with three other families, was known to outsiders as the four great families of Jinling.

This shows that the Xue family has a very powerful background.

It is also evident that the Xue family has a very close relationship with the other families.

Since the Xue family and the Jia family have a close relationship, and Lin Ruhai is the Jia family's son-in-law.

Therefore, from an outsider's perspective, the relationship between Lin Ruhai and the Xue family is not simple.

Indeed, when Tu Chengyu needed someone to help with matters in the salt fields, Lin Ruhai immediately recommended the Xue family.

Moreover, before the matter had even made any progress, Xue Xu was summoned from Jinling to Yangzhou.

Because of this relationship, in the eyes of outsiders, especially those salt merchants who were cornered by Tu Chengyu, this was a very different story.

Xue Xu came to Yangzhou to compete with the salt merchants for Tu Chengyu's business.

Treating someone's money is like killing their parents.

Those salt merchants who were used to treating Yangzhou's salt affairs as their own business would never allow an outsider from Nanjing to interfere in their business at will.

Perhaps this is why the salt merchants resorted to such poisoning methods. Moreover, the salt merchants had the power to prevent all the doctors in Yangzhou from treating Xue Xu.

This is Tu Chengyu's guess, but he believes that his guess is not far from the truth.

Besides this plausible guess, Tu Chengyu had another guess in his mind that even he himself felt was unreliable.

That is, he believes that Xue Xu's poisoning may have been staged by Xue Xu himself.

Why did Tu Chengyu think this way? It was inspired by what Doctor Du said.

In his final words, Physician Du said that the Xue family had not prepared any medicine for Xue Xu's treatment.

It's highly unusual for someone with a chronic illness who has the ability to carry medication with them to not have any available after the onset of the illness.

If it weren't for the servants truly forgetting and not bringing the medicine.

The most likely explanation is that the Xue family deliberately hid the medicine and staged a scene where the patient had a serious and difficult-to-treat illness.

As for why Xue Xu would put on such a show, Tu Chengyu also has his own guesses.

That is, Xue Xu accepted Lin Ruhai's invitation and came to Yangzhou to try and steal business from the salt merchants.

But after arriving in Yangzhou, he discovered that things there were not so simple.

If I rashly get involved, I might offend the salt merchants and become a target for Prince Su to draw their fire.

As someone who has been in business for many years, I certainly wouldn't want to do something so extremely dangerous.

So he pretended to be sick, hoping to use the opportunity of treatment to leave Yangzhou and escape this vortex.

Of course, Tu Chengyu believes this possibility is very small.

If Xue Xu was feigning illness, then the Xue family would not have sent Jia Lian to find them and request the imperial physician to treat him.

(End of this chapter)