The Succession Struggle in the Dream of the Red Chamber

Chapter 150: The Twist Happened So Quickly
"Is the owner of that inn here?" This was the person Tu Chengyu was most concerned about.

The guard replied, "Your Highness, he happens to be among them."

Tu Chengyu: "It's good that he's here. You should quietly arrest him, but make sure the magistrate of Donghu County doesn't find out."

Tu Chengyu wanted to appease the magistrate of Donghu County for the time being, and then get involved in his affairs after he dealt with Wu Youwei. Therefore, he could not let Lü Chudan know about the arrest at the dock, at least not today.

"Yes, Your Highness." He accepted the order and quickly went to carry it out.

After that, Tu Chengyu stayed near the dock until all the men he had sent out replied.

Only then did he set off towards Donghu County.

Although Donghu County is not large, it has a large flow of people.

Moreover, Donghu County is a typical water town in the Jiangnan region, and the layout and architecture of the town have a very elegant charm.

Faced with such a beautiful place, Tu Chengyu couldn't help but take a few more glances after entering the city.

As Tu Chengyu was enjoying the scenery along the way, he inadvertently spotted a rather familiar figure in the window of a three-story restaurant along the street.

However, Tu Chengyu only caught a glimpse of it by chance, and the figure flashed by so quickly that he couldn't immediately recall who the familiar figure was.

As someone who tends to overthink things, seeing that familiar figure inevitably made me ponder things a little more.

This led to him never having the leisure to look at the scenery along the street again after that restaurant.

However, he also gained something from this.

That means he vaguely remembered who this person was.

However, he remembered that this person should be in the capital city, so how could he be here?

Could he have misremembered? Tu Chengyu felt it necessary to send someone to inquire about this person's recent situation; perhaps the person had really returned to Jiangnan.

Thinking about these things, Tu Chengyu walked directly towards the Donghu County Government Office.

When he arrived at the county government office, Lü Chudan, who had returned to the city early to handle some business, was already waiting for him there.

Tu Chengyu asked in surprise, "You're quite fast. Have you taken care of the task I assigned?"

Lü Chudan: "Your Highness, I have already sent people to seal up Wu Youwei's shops. Would Your Highness like to send someone to check them out?"

Tu Chengyu waved his hand and said, "There's no need to check. But I'd like to know, have all the shop assistants in these stores been caught?"

Lü Chudan: "Your Highness, all the shopkeepers and employees have been detained in their respective shops."

Tu Chengyu: "Then I'll trouble you to bring these people to the county government office."

"It's the prince."

After saying this, Lü Chudan prepared to go and take care of her business, but Tu Chengyu had something else to say:
"Please don't rush, I have something to tell you."

Lu Chudan quickly turned around and said, "Your Highness, please give your orders."

Tu Chengyu said, "I would like to borrow your county government's main hall. Is that alright?"

Lu Chudan had no intention of refusing Tu Chengyu's request. He said:
"Please feel free to use it, Your Highness."

Tu Chengyu: "Very well then. I will go into the main hall first, and you can go and take care of your business."

Upon hearing Tu Chengyu's words, Lü Chudan turned around and went off to handle his business once again.

After he left, Tu Chengyu led Yang Chun and a group of guards to the main hall of the county government.

The main hall of Donghu County Government Office is similar to that of other county government offices.

Each table has a high table on a raised platform in front, with an official's chair placed behind it.

On the left and right sides of the hall, there was a row of wooden shelves on which were placed water and fire sticks.

Seeing this setup, Tu Chengyu was eager to try it out and wanted to experience sitting in court to hear a case, but in the end he held back.

Because the main hall of the county government is where the county magistrate hears cases and conducts governance.

Generally speaking, only the county magistrate is qualified to sit in that position and do the work.

Even if someone else is the magistrate's superior, they cannot sit in the seat of authority while the magistrate is in office.

This is the law of the dynasty, and Tu Chengyu cannot easily violate it.

So he asked someone to bring a chair and place it on the side of the high platform in the main hall before he leisurely sat down.

Tu Chengyu wasn't sitting here for the thrill; he wanted to thoroughly investigate Wu Youcai's case.

Tu Chengyu felt that Wu Youwei's case must involve some very important figures.

Since there are important figures behind this, once he captures Wu Youwei, these people will definitely try every means to interfere and disrupt Tu Chengyu's interrogation in order to protect themselves.

Therefore, in order to prevent Wu Youwei's backers from having any opportunity to sabotage him, Tu Chengyu launched a surprise attack on Zhenjiang without any warning.

He wanted to capture Wu Youwei in Zhenjiang and interrogate him on the spot.

Try to find out who's behind Wu Youwei when those people finally realize what's happening.

That's why he sent people to arrest people as soon as he arrived in Zhenjiang.

Then he personally went to the county government office to prepare for a trial of Wu Youwei.

Tu Chengyu was quite confident in convicting Wu Youwei.

Whether it's the information revealed by Ding Jia or the confession of the salt workers' leader, it's safe to say that Wu Youwei will be convicted.

However, if it were just a matter of convicting him, Tu Chengyu wouldn't have needed to travel all this way in person.

His main purpose in coming here was to uncover the mastermind behind it all.

Tu Chengyu was fully prepared for this matter.

Now that Wu Youwei has been captured, Tu Chengyu can use his methods to teach this guy a lesson.

Just as Tu Chengyu was going over his plans again and again, Su Xuanbao finally returned with his men.

Su Xuanbao led the men to arrest Wu Youwei; he had previously sent someone to say that Wu Youwei had already been captured.

Hearing that he's back now means that Wu Youwei has also been arrested and brought back.

To prevent any unforeseen complications, as soon as Tu Chengyu heard that the person had been captured, he ordered them to bring the person in.

Wu Youwei was an old man in his fifties with gray hair and beard.

He was short and thin, and with his hunched back, he looked like a frail child.

I don't know if it was because he was suddenly arrested, or because he knew he had committed a crime.

Wu Youwei looked trembling, as if he were very scared.

Moreover, he was trembling so much that he could barely walk; Su Xuanbao had to drag him in.

As soon as he entered, he was so frightened by the fact that the person sitting above him was none other than Prince Su that he lost his balance and fell to his knees.

He exclaimed, "This humble subject pays respects to Your Highness, may Your Highness live a thousand years!"

After shouting, he even started kowtowing.

Tu Chengyu never liked people kneeling before him, and seeing him like this, he looked disgusted and told Su Xuanbao to bring it up.

Once Su Xuanbao had pulled him to stand up straight, Tu Chengyu began to ask questions:
"Wu Youwei, do you know why I brought you here?"

Although Wu Youwei looked terrified, he still stubbornly said:
"Your Highness, I don't know why Your Highness brought me to the county government office."

Being stubborn from the start is something every criminal would do, so Tu Chengyu wasn't surprised at all.

So, without the usual opening questions, Tu Chengyu went straight to the point. "I ask you, do you know Ding Jia, the fast-farming worker from Xingcheng County, or Zhong Da, the salt worker from Yancheng outside the city?"

Upon hearing Tu Chengyu mention these people, Wu Youwei initially seemed to want to deny it.

However, in the end, for some reason, he accepted it.

"I know these people."

Seeing how readily he understood, Tu Chengyu pressed his advantage and said:

"Since you know them, then I ask you, is it true that they said you forced them to help you smuggle goods?"

Tu Chengyu made a cunning move in this statement.

He deliberately altered the testimonies of Ding Jia and others, making it appear that Wu Youwei had forced them to do the work.

If Wu Youwei were a short-tempered person, he might have revealed a flaw because of this statement.

However, Wu Youwei was clearly not someone who would be easily fooled. After listening to Tu Chengyu's words...

He simply said softly, "Your Highness, I am but a humble merchant. How dare I coerce a county constable into doing my job?"

His little scheme was exposed, and someone even had a plausible explanation for it.

Tu Chengyu was not disappointed when he heard this, because he had evidence in his hands and was not afraid that Wu Youwei would not confess.

So Tu Chengyu had someone take the testimonies of Guo Dingjia and others to Wu Youwei to see.

He added, "Look carefully, there are so many people who can testify, and you still want to argue?"

Wu Youwei glanced at the testimony brought to him by the guard and said casually:

"Your Highness is wise; this is only their side of the story, and you should not believe it so easily."

Tu Chengyu shook his head and said, "It's not that I'm easily swayed by others, but rather that their testimonies do have many merits, which makes it impossible for me to refuse them."

Then, he listed out many details in the testimony, trying to convince Wu Youwei.

But this guy, although he looked terrified, was as stubborn as a mule.

Despite having such comprehensive evidence, he simply refused to admit it.

In fact, if we only want to convict Wu Youwei, based on this evidence alone, we can convict him regardless of whether he pleads guilty or not.

But Tu Chengyu was thinking about how to break down this person's psychological defenses and interrogate the person behind him.

So Tu Chengyu said to him, "It seems you won't give up until you've hit rock bottom. Well then, I'll make you admit defeat."

After saying this, he called out to the guards on both sides of the hall: "Bring up the witnesses."

As soon as Tu Chengyu finished speaking, the two guards at the door turned and left.

A short while later, the two guards brought in a prisoner.

As soon as they came in, before Tu Chengyu could even speak, Wu Youwei was the first to call out to them.

He stared at the person being escorted in by the guards and blurted out in surprise.

"How will you be here?"

After shouting, he seemed to realize what he had done, quickly shut his mouth, and turned his head to the other side.

However, at this point, nothing he did could change anything.

Tu Chengyu asked with a smile, "Wu Youwei, it seems you know this person."

Now that their relationship had been exposed, Wu Youwei no longer concealed it and said:

"Your Highness, I do indeed know this person."

Tu Chengyu said, "Since you know him, do you know who he is?"

Wu Youwei said, "Does this humble citizen know?"

"You know?" This time it was Tu Chengyu's turn to be surprised. He thought Wu Youwei would try to make excuses, but he didn't expect him to admit it directly.

So Tu Chengyu pressed further: "So you know he's a Japanese slave?"

Upon hearing this, Wu Youwei nodded in agreement.

Tu Chengyu felt a little uncomfortable with his sudden cooperation.

He said, "Do you know that the imperial court has regulations that prohibit ordinary people from colluding with Japanese pirates in private, and even more so from leading Japanese pirates ashore?"

"Any violation of this rule is a capital offense, do you know that?"

Wu Youwei nodded: "This humble subject understands."

His straightforward admission left Tu Chengyu somewhat unsure of what to do.

This person had been stubbornly arguing with himself for a long time to deny the charge of smuggling.

Tu Chengyu thought he was a tough guy, but he never expected that this man would refuse to admit to even minor crimes.

However, he accepted the death penalty without hesitation.

This bizarre situation is truly incomprehensible.

Tu Chengyu wondered if it was this Japanese soldier who had just advanced that made Wu Youwei give up resistance.

Thinking of this, Tu Chengyu couldn't help but look at the Japanese, but after looking at him for a long time, he couldn't see anything special about him.

However, it was no use thinking about these things now. Wu Youwei had already confessed, and Tu Chengyu needed to hurry up and find out who was behind it all.

So he asked, "Since you admit to colluding with the Japanese, do you also admit to smuggling goods?"

At this moment, Wu Youwei seemed to have gone all out and readily admitted to the crime.

Seeing that he had stopped being stubborn, Tu Chengyu was very happy.

He felt that the interrogation would soon yield results, and perhaps the mastermind would be found out soon.

Tu Chengyu pressed on, asking, "When you smuggle goods, who are you with, or rather, who are you working for?"

Tu Chengyu directly posed his ultimate question, wanting to force the seemingly timid Wu Youwei to give an answer.

But things took an unexpected turn once again.

On this issue, Wu Youwei became stubborn again, saying:
"What is Your Highness saying? This humble subject does not understand."

As he spoke, Wu Youwei's legs stopped shaking and his back straightened. He even dared to stare at Tu Chengyu after standing up straight.

Tu Chengyu naturally noticed this change in him immediately.

At this moment, Tu Chengyu had only one thought in his mind: Wu Youwei's behavior from the beginning was all an act.

The one who's bold enough to stare directly at Tu Chengyu now is probably his true self.

It seems Tu Chengyu underestimated this guy a bit.

But thinking about it, it makes sense. This guy has been dealing with Japanese pirates and salt workers for many years.

Moreover, he's in the dangerous business of smuggling; how could he possibly be someone who'd be so scared he couldn't stand up straight just by seeing him?

Thinking about all this, Tu Chengyu felt both annoyed at his own carelessness and excited to have met his match.

While you can get things done quickly against a weak opponent, you'll feel a greater sense of accomplishment when you succeed against a strong one.

Therefore, Tu Chengyu is really curious about Wu Youwei's identity and why he is putting on this show in front of him.
(End of this chapter)