The Succession Struggle in the Dream of the Red Chamber

Chapter 151 Prince Su is like a fish in a net

Although Wu Youwei suddenly changed his attitude, Tu Chengyu still asked the same questions as before.

"You say you don't understand what I'm saying, then I'll ask you, how did you, a mere merchant, manage to get a county constable and so many salt workers to work for you?"

Wu Youwei said, "This kind of thing is simple. Money makes the world go round. As long as you pay enough, not only a county constable, but even the county magistrate will do the work for you."

He spoke with such conviction that Tu Chengyu understood that what he said was very likely to happen.

However, Tu Chengyu did not believe that the smuggling business was so profitable that Wu Youwei alone could not possibly continue to do it so steadily for a long time.

Without a powerful backer to support him, he would have been eliminated by so many envious competitors.

Even a single constable like Ding Jia could easily swallow up his business.

Despite so many unfavorable factors, he managed to continue running his business steadily.

This is why Tu Chengyu believes he has powerful backers; otherwise, it wouldn't make sense.

Tu Chengyu asked, "You said they all worked for you because of the money. Then I ask you, why did those salt workers risk their lives to save you when I interrogated them? Was it because they were paid too much?"

Faced with Tu Chengyu's questioning, Wu Youwei glanced at the testimony from earlier and said, "They clearly confessed, so why does Your Highness say they wanted to protect us commoners?"

Tu Chengyu didn't intend to hide the truth from this question and said directly:
“They were all trying their best to protect you, but Ding Jia confessed, and the salt workers had no choice but to tell you in order to protect their families.”

Tu Chengyu told Wu Youwei about these things because he felt that Wu Youwei had a close relationship with the salt workers.

The reason I'm telling him this is to let him know that these salt workers once risked their lives for him.

In that case, we might be able to use the salt workers to pry him open up.

Upon hearing Tu Chengyu recount the story of the salt workers, Wu Youwei said with a complex expression:
"Your Highness, what are your plans for dealing with these people?"

This question struck a chord with Tu Chengyu, and he answered accordingly:
"These salt workers stormed the county town, which was tantamount to treason. Although they eventually confessed, it was difficult for them to save their lives. However, if we can find the mastermind behind it, perhaps we can reduce their punishment."

Tu Chengyu's words have made himself very clear; it all depends on whether Wu Youwei is willing to cooperate.

Wu Youwei was clearly still unwilling to reveal who was behind it all. He said:

"Your Highness, I am the mastermind behind this. Now that they have implicated me, why make things difficult for them?"

Wu Youwei took all the blame upon himself, which made Tu Chengyu shake his head in disbelief.

However, he didn't dwell on the matter further, but instead asked a meaningful question:
"You can barely take care of yourself, yet you still want to save these salt workers. It seems your relationship is quite special."

Wu Youwei said, "I just don't want to involve innocent people."

"Innocent? You're saying these people are innocent?" Tu Chengyu almost laughed in anger, as if he'd heard a joke. He said:

"These salt workers colluded with the Japanese invaders, rebelled, broke into the county town, and burned, killed, and looted. How can you say they are innocent? It's ridiculous."

Faced with Tu Chengyu's barrage of questions, Wu Youwei became somewhat agitated and shouted:

"You think they want to rebel? You think they enjoy this life of living on the edge?"

Seeing his agitated state, Tu Chengyu felt a surge of joy and quickly pressed for an answer: "From what you're saying, were they forced to commit arson, murder, and looting?"

Wu Youwei said, "He was forced into it."

Tu Chengyu asked, "Then tell me, who forced them to rebel?"

Wu Youwei retorted without backing down, "It's none other than the royal family; it was your Tu family who forced us to do this."

This answer surprised Tu Chengyu, who said with a straight face:
"I'd like to hear how the royal family has forced them?"

Wu Youwei said emotionally, "Your Tu family has confined these people to the lowest social class, making them salt workers for generations, and their descendants can only struggle in that muddy land. They can't get enough to eat or wear, and most of them don't live past thirty. What is this if not coercion?"

What Wu Youwei said was true, and Tu Chengyu had no way to refute it.

However, the fact that salt workers were demoted to the lowest social class was done by Emperor Taizu, and Tu Chengyu, a descendant of Emperor Taizu, dared not comment on it.

Tu Chengyu could only say, "Even if these salt workers had a reason for their rebellion, as far as I know, they only wanted to protect the salt fields by causing trouble. They never thought of attacking the county town or rebelling against the court."

"On the contrary, you, who stood up for them, sent a group of Japanese spies to lead the salt workers down the path of rebellion. What do you have to say about that?"

When questioned, Wu Youwei remained calm and said, "That's right, all of this was done by ordinary people, and has nothing to do with the salt workers."

Tu Chengyu asked, "Did you collude with the Japanese pirates and plot a rebellion against the imperial court?"

Wu Youwei replied without hesitation, "It was all done by ordinary people."

Hearing his straightforward admission, Tu Chengyu understood that Wu Youwei was the kind of person who hated the royal family to an extreme degree.

Moreover, it's clear from their conversation that this guy isn't afraid of death at all.

For such people, it doesn't matter whether they were coerced or voluntarily took the blame for someone else.

It's impossible to easily get the whereabouts of the mastermind out of him.

Therefore, there is no need to continue interrogating Wu Youwei.

Thinking of this, Tu Chengyu waved his hand and said:
"Take him away and lock him up in a secluded place. Don't let anyone have contact with him."

Upon hearing this, the two guards below the hall stepped forward and took Wu Youwei away.

After they left, Tu Chengyu summoned Su Xuanbao and asked him:

"What was Wu Youwei doing when you went to arrest him?"

Su Xuanbao thought for a moment and replied, "Your Highness, when I led my men into his house, Wu Youwei had finished bathing and was changing his clothes."

Showering and changing clothes in broad daylight sounds a bit abnormal.

Tu Chengyu continued, "What was his reaction when he saw you grab him?"

Su Xuanbao said, "He looked very scared and was so frightened that he couldn't move. I had to take him out of his house."

That's a normal reaction, but Tu Chengyu had just witnessed this guy pretending to be scared in front of him.

So I have some doubts about whether his fear when he was caught was genuine.

Tu Chengyu then asked, "When you led your men into Wu Youwei's house, did you encounter any resistance?"

Su Xuanbao shook his head and said, "After I arrived, I led my men straight in, and the Wu family didn't even have time to react. We didn't encounter any resistance along the way."

"However, when we arrived at the inner courtyard of the Wu family, there were more than a dozen young men who claimed to be Wu Youwei's adopted sons who tried to stop us. We captured them and brought them here."

Tu Chengyu was somewhat surprised and asked uncertainly, "Adopted son?"

Su Xuanbao: "Yes, Your Highness, he is indeed Wu Youwei's adopted son. I have confirmed this with the Wu family."

Since he had an adopted son, Tu Chengyu immediately thought of Wu Youwei's family, so he asked:

"Where are Wu Youwei's family members? Did they come with him?"

Su Xuanbao said, "Your Highness, Wu Youwei has no wife or children, and he only has two female servants."

"Really?" Tu Chengyu asked, somewhat shocked.

Su Xuanbao nodded and said, "Your Highness, that is indeed the case. I remember Your Highness's instructions to bring his entire family here this time."

"So after I captured Wu Youwei, I immediately searched for his family members, but I couldn't find a single one."

"Finally, we learned from the servants of the Wu family that Wu Youwei had no wife or children at all, only his adopted sons." Upon hearing this, Tu Chengyu was speechless for a moment.

After thinking for a long time, he finally asked, "What about his parents?"

Su Xuanbao said, "He also has no parents, who are said to have died a long time ago. Moreover, this Wu Youwei has no relatives or friends."

This Wu Youwei was actually a lonely man with no father, no mother, no wife, and no children.

No wonder this guy dared to challenge me, a prince, and readily admitted to crimes that were punishable by confiscation of property and extermination of the entire clan.

It turns out that he was all alone, and nothing could threaten him except his own life.

Besides, the way this guy looked just now, it seemed like he wasn't afraid of dying anymore.

Tu Chengyu really couldn't do anything about this kind of person for the time being.

However, the more difficult it was for Wu Youwei to break through, the more interested Tu Chengyu became in him.

He thought for a moment and said to Su Xuanbao, "Go and talk to his adopted sons and find out about Wu Youwei's background. I don't believe that Wu Youwei appeared out of thin air."

After speaking to Su Xuanbao, Tu Chengyu then said to Lao Yao:

"Send someone back to Yangzhou and have Lord Lin re-interrogate the salt workers' leaders to see if they know anything about Wu Youwei's background."

"Judging from today's situation, Wu Youwei seems to care a lot about these salt workers, and their relationship might actually be quite special."

After the two men went to carry out their tasks, Tu Chengyu said to Yang Chun beside him:

"I reckon the other team should be back by now."

Yang Chun replied, "Your Highness, before we entered the city, General Quan sent someone to say that he was on his way back. Now that so much time has passed, they must have arrived by now."

Tu Chengyu said, "Now that you have captured the people you wanted, go and interrogate them. As for this Lü Chudan, I will keep him here for the time being."

What Tu Chengyu and Yang Chun were talking about was the arson case.

He came to Donghu County with two things to do.

One is to interrogate Wu Youwei, but unfortunately, it has now reached a stalemate.

So now he can only do the second thing first, which is to re-examine the arson case.

Yang Chun knew more about the arson case than Tu Chengyu, so they agreed from the beginning that Yang Chun would be the one to interrogate the suspects.

Tu Chengyu only steps in when Yang Chun encounters a problem he cannot handle.

However, their original plan was to deal with Wu Youwei's matter today and postpone the arson case until tomorrow.

Unfortunately, an unexpected situation arose, so Yang Chun had to deal with the arson case first.

Since it had been discussed beforehand, Yang Chun did not hesitate after Tu Chengyu spoke, and immediately led his men out of the city to handle the matter.

Considering the diverse population in the city, Yang Chun interrogated the witnesses on the boat they had arrived on.

So after Yang Chun left, only Tu Chengyu and his guards remained in Donghu County.

The reason why Tu Chengyu stayed in Donghu County was, as he just said, to keep the magistrate of Donghu County, Lü Chudan, in check.

In the arson case, the county magistrate Lü Chudan was implicated in some way, no matter how you looked at it.

Therefore, to understand the arson case, one cannot bypass Lü Chudan.

However, Lü Chudan is still the magistrate of Donghu County, an official appointed by the imperial court.

Even if Tu Chengyu were a prince of the current dynasty, he could not arbitrarily interrogate a county official without evidence.

Therefore, he needed Yang Chun to find evidence of Lü Chudan's involvement in the arson case from other witnesses so that he could take targeted action.

However, Tu Chengyu's high-profile arrest of people in Donghu County today might initially deceive Lü Chudan.

But as time goes on, he will inevitably realize that this is why Tu Chengyu stayed in the county town.

He needed to keep an eye on Lü Chudan to buy time for Yang Chun's interrogation.

This is why Tu Chengyu kept assigning tasks to Lü Chudan as soon as they met.

The goal was to keep him constantly busy so he wouldn't have time to care about anything else.

However, things always come to an end, and not long after Yang Chun left.

Lu Chudan, who was sent by Tu Chengyu to arrest Wu Youwei's shopkeeper and employee, has finally returned to report.

In order to prevent Lü Chudan from having the time and energy to interfere with Yang Chun's work.

After he reported back, Tu Chengyu used the excuse of inquiring about Donghu to keep him there.

I would chat with him about this and that, and we even ate at the same table.

Lu Chudan didn't know what Prince Su was doing, but being of low status, she could only stay with Tu Chengyu for the whole day.

The two chatted about this and that until it was time for bed, Tu Chengyu finally put Lü Chudan back.

Although Lü Chudan might learn about what happened today after she returns, Tu Chengyu has already bought Yang Chun a day, which is basically enough.

That night, Tu Chengyu stayed in Donghu County and spent the night in an inn.

The next morning, Tu Chengyu woke up early.

After finishing breakfast, he planned to send someone to inquire about the details of Yang Chun's interrogation the previous day.

However, before he could send anyone, he heard that Yang Chun was requesting an audience.

Yang Chun must have gotten the answer to the question by entering the city so early.

So Tu Chengyu didn't delay and quickly called him in.

As soon as he entered, he immediately asked, "How did the interrogation go yesterday?"

Yang Chun replied, "Your Highness, all those who have been captured have been interrogated, but the results were somewhat unexpected."

Tu Chengyu asked in surprise, "How is this unexpected?"

Yang Chun said, "All the witnesses, whether they were caught at the dock or captured by General Quan from various places, eventually said that the arson was instigated by Magistrate Lü."

"So everyone says that?" Tu Chengyu asked incredulously.

“Yes, Your Highness,” Yang Chun replied affirmatively; “Moreover, many of them have evidence to prove that it was Magistrate Lü who did it, and this evidence can corroborate each other.”

Everyone agrees that Lü Chudan is the murderer, so Tu Chengyu should be happy to hear that.

But Tu Chengyu knew that Lü Chudan wouldn't be the one to do this.

Moreover, from another perspective, it is remarkable that so many people can speak with one voice.

Not only did it not prove that Lü Chudan was the murderer, it also made Tu Chengyu think that someone must have been secretly arranging this matter.

Perhaps someone is weaving a net to catch Tu Chengyu, this big fish.

(End of this chapter)