The Succession Struggle in the Dream of the Red Chamber

Chapter 153 Confusing and Difficult to See Clearly

Tu Chengyu believes that Lü Chudan's death was very likely not a suicide, or at the very least, his death was definitely influenced by others.

Otherwise, there wouldn't have been this message that implicated Tu Chengyu.

This message reveals that the person behind the scenes is likely targeting Tu Chengyu, the Prince of Su.

Tu Chengyu naturally couldn't let the enemy succeed so easily, so he quickly asked, "Where is the servant who delivered the message last night?"

Upon hearing this, the woman said, "I was preoccupied with my husband's affairs and didn't notice the servants."

Tu Chengyu said, "Then hurry up and have someone bring him here?"

The woman said with some doubt, "Young master, is there something wrong with your urgent search for the servants in your household?"

At this point, Tu Chengyu no longer concealed anything and said:
"Your husband may not have committed suicide, but was murdered."

Tu Chengyu shared his guess, but the old woman didn't seem very surprised. She said:

"I don't believe my husband would commit suicide either, but what does this have to do with the servants in the manor?"

Tu Chengyu said, "What you just said about Magistrate Lü sending someone to tell you last night that he wanted to have a long talk with Prince Su is false. Your servants may have lied, so I wanted to find them and ask them about it."

Although Tu Chengyu also suspected that Lu Chudan and his wife might be lying, he couldn't say it to their faces right now.

However, this is not a big problem. As long as we find the servants and ask them, it will be clear who is lying.

The woman said, "How can you be sure, young master, that my husband and Prince Su talked all night last night was not true?"

Tu Chengyu looked at her and said, word by word, "Because I am Prince Su, I am certain that I did not have a long talk with Magistrate Lü last night."

The old woman and her family were surprised when Tu Chengyu revealed his identity.

After a long while, Lü Chudan's wife stammered:
"Are you really His Highness Prince Su? My husband really didn't have a long talk with you all night?"

Tu Chengyu nodded and said, "I am certain that I parted ways with Magistrate Lü at 9 PM last night."

Upon hearing Tu Chengyu's words, the woman in front of him clearly felt a sense of relief.

At first, Tu Chengyu didn't understand why she was like this, but after thinking about it for a while, he realized what she was thinking.

Lu Chudan's wife first heard that Lu Chudan hanged himself after having a long talk with Prince Su all night.

In this situation, regardless of whether Lü Chudan committed suicide or was murdered.

In Lady Lü Chudan's view, it was all inextricably linked to Prince Su.

In that case, the Lü family would become enemies with Prince Su, the current prince.

Not only will they be unable to avenge themselves, but they may also be silenced by Prince Su at any time.

This is a tremendous disaster for the Lü family, especially for the Lü family who have just lost their pillar of support.

So when she heard Prince Su say that he had parted ways with her husband early the previous night and that her husband's death had nothing to do with Prince Su, how could Lady Lü Chudan not breathe a sigh of relief?

Moreover, from the conversation just now, she also sensed that Prince Su seemed to have been plotted against as well.

If nothing unexpected happens, Prince Su will likely take action against those who did what happened last night, which might allow his family to extricate themselves from the situation.

Thinking of this, Lu Chudan's wife felt it was necessary to cooperate with Prince Su.

So she quickly said to the old maid beside her, "Go tell the housekeeper to bring Hu You over."

Hu You guessed that this was the person who relayed the message last night.

After the old woman left, the old woman came over to talk to Tu Chengyu.

She said, "Your Highness, my husband, an official of the imperial court, was murdered like this. Your Highness must seek justice for my husband."

Tu Chengyu waved his hand and said, "Madam Lü, rest assured, this matter will definitely be resolved."

Tu Chengyu only said that he had given an explanation, but he did not guarantee who gave the explanation or how it was given.

Even now, Tu Chengyu is not sure if Lü Chudan is innocent in this matter.

Who knows, it might eventually be discovered that this guy really did collude with someone else and set fire to Tu Chengyu's men, killing them all.

The old woman didn't seem to understand Tu Chengyu's evasive answer, or perhaps she understood but didn't dare to ask any further questions.

In short, she didn't dwell on the matter; instead, she sincerely thanked Tu Chengyu.

After exchanging pleasantries, Tu Chengyu continued, "Madam Lü, can you recall if anything unusual happened in your household or with Magistrate Lü today?"

The old woman thought carefully for a moment and said, "My husband has not acted strangely these past few days, and there is nothing unusual about the house. If there is anything different from usual, it is that a literary gathering was held at our house the day before yesterday, and many talented scholars from Jiangnan came, which made my husband very happy."

Holding literary gatherings was a common practice among the gentry in Jiangnan and could not be considered unusual.

Tu Chengyu didn't believe Wen would have any problems, but he still cautiously asked a question.

"Does Madam Lü know which famous scholars attended the literary gathering the day before yesterday?"

This question made the old woman pause for a moment, clearly she wasn't very clear about which talented men from Jiangnan had come.

However, she still thought hard for a long time before coming up with an answer.

"Your Highness, I only remember my son saying that one of the most famous people coming this time is named Hu Guangjin."

"Hu Guangjin?" Tu Chengyu was puzzled for a moment, but then he remembered seeing a familiar figure in a teahouse on the street when he entered the city yesterday.

He vaguely remembered who it was, but he wasn't sure.

Now, upon hearing the name Hu Guangjin, Tu Chengyu is 100% certain that the person he saw yesterday was indeed Hu Guangjin.

What puzzled Tu Chengyu was that Hu Guangjin should have been in the capital waiting for his official appointment, or on his way to take up his post.

Why would he appear in Jiangnan and even come here to attend a literary gathering of the son of a county magistrate?

This matter gave Tu Chengyu an indescribable feeling, making him pay attention to it.

Tu Chengyu remembered that because of him, this person was originally a hot favorite to be the top scorer in this year's competition.

On the eve of the imperial examination, they encountered a difficult period.

Therefore, in reality, Tu Chengyu and Hu Guangjin had a grudge against each other.

However, at that time in the capital, Tu Chengyu had the advantage of status and location, so Hu Guangjin dared not speak out against him.

But now that we're in Jiangnan, which is Hu Guangjin's territory, Hu Guangjin might dare to teach Tu Chengyu a lesson.

Thinking about all this, Tu Chengyu felt that he really needed to find out more about Hu Guangjin and what had happened to him after he left the capital, and why he was in Jiangnan.
If you want to learn about Hu Guangjin, you don't need to make any special inquiries; there's a very good channel right in front of you.

That is the son that Madam Lü just mentioned.

Madam Lü knew the name Hu Guangjin from her son, so her son must know something about Hu Guangjin's recent situation.

So Tu Chengyu asked, "Madam Lü, where is your son now? May we ask him to come out and be questioned?"

Madam Lü said, "After the astronomical gathering the day before yesterday, my son went out to have fun with his friends. I guess he's no longer in this county."

Since the person was not in the county, Tu Chengyu did not insist.

Then, Tu Chengyu was about to ask some other questions when he heard the guard report that the coroner had finished the examination and wanted to report.

Tu Chengyu wanted to go out to hear the coroner's report, but dared not turn his head and see Madam Lü's expectant face.

After thinking for a moment, he said, "This concerns Magistrate Lü, so you should come and listen too." The group came out from the back courtyard and immediately saw the coroner standing under the eaves waiting.

Tu Chengyu beckoned them over and asked, "Tell me the truth about what you found."

"Yes, Your Highness," the coroner replied, and after a moment's thought, began to speak.

"I have examined Magistrate Lü's body, and one thing is certain: Magistrate Lü did not commit suicide."

This result was exactly what Tu Chengyu had expected. He asked, "So, Magistrate Lü was murdered. How was he killed?"

The coroner replied, "Your Highness, Magistrate Lü was strangled to death with a rope. After his death, his body was hung from the roof beam to make it look like a suicide."

Before Tu Chengyu could react, Madam Lü, who was standing behind him, burst into tears again.

Tu Chengyu understood her sadness, so he did not interfere.

He simply continued, "Anything else discovered besides this?"

The coroner said, "We also found a jade pendant in Magistrate Lü's hand and a letter on his person."

"There are still these things," Tu Chengyu said, "Where are these two items now?"

The coroner did not reply, but only glanced at the guard beside him.

These guards are the same people who were monitoring the coroner's autopsy earlier.

Upon hearing Tu Chengyu's words, one of them quickly stepped forward and presented the letter and jade pendant he was holding.

Tu Chengyu felt no unease about things that a dead person had handled, so he simply took them.

After he received the two items, he first looked at the jade pendant on the outside.

This is an ordinary jade pendant; it doesn't look very big, and the material feels ordinary.

However, this jade pendant must have been worn for a long time, as it feels very smooth and delicate to the touch.

Lu Chudan was holding this thing in his hand when he died, so it might be a good clue.

After examining the jade pendant, Tu Chengyu then opened the letter.

This is a letter with an envelope, but the envelope is not sealed.

Tu Chengyu easily took the letter out of the envelope and unfolded the two thin pages to take a look.

The text above is brief, but its content is quite shocking.

This letter turned out to be Lü Chudan's confession.

In the letter, Lü Chudan wrote that he had instructed his men to set fire to the inn outside the city.

Now that he knows that Prince Su is coming to investigate the case, he is afraid and that's why he thinks of committing suicide to atone for his sins.

If Tu Chengyu had found the letter earlier, he might have believed its contents.

Now that it has been confirmed that Lü Chudan was murdered, his confession has no credibility.

Tu Chengyu handed the letter to the still weeping Madam Lü and asked:
"Look at the handwriting on this letter, is it Magistrate Lü's?"

Madam Lü took the letter, read it carefully, and then said:

"Your Highness, the handwriting in the letter is indeed my husband's, but the content is certainly not what he intended. This letter must have been written under duress by those people."

What Madam Lü said was the same as what Tu Chengyu was thinking.

After finishing the letter, Tu Chengyu handed the jade pendant to Madam Lü and asked her:

"Do you recognize this thing?"

Madam Lü examined the jade pendant over and over for a long time, but couldn't figure out what it was about.

She shook her head and said, "I have never seen this jade pendant before."

Since she had never seen it before, Tu Chengyu decided to take it back and hand it over to the guards for safekeeping.

However, before he could get his hands on the jade pendant, he heard a voice coming from not far behind him.

“Mother, I recognize this jade pendant.”

Upon hearing the sound, everyone turned to look and saw a boy standing at the entrance to the back courtyard.

Tu Chengyu recognized at a glance that this boy was the same boy who had been crying next to Madam Lü just now.

Since he said he recognized the jade pendant, Tu Chengyu told him to come over quickly.

Upon hearing this, the boy glanced at his mother first, and only after she nodded did he run over.

When he arrived, Tu Chengyu handed him the jade pendant and said:
"Take a closer look, is this the one you recognize?"

The boy took the jade pendant, examined it carefully, and then said:

“This jade pendant is the one I recognize.”

Hearing his words, a glimmer of hope ignited in Tu Chengyu's heart, and he asked:
"Since you know each other, do you know whose jade pendant this is?"

The boy, barely a teenager, replied, "Does this jade pendant belong to Mr. Kang?"

The young man's tone was firm, and he didn't seem to be lying. However, just to be on the safe side, Tu Chengyu still asked:
"Why are you so sure that this jade pendant belongs to Mr. Kang?"

The boy said, "Besides helping my father with his chores, Mr. Kang often taught us. After spending a lot of time with him, I remembered this jade pendant."

His argument was so logical and well-founded that it was impossible not to believe him.

Tu Chengyu temporarily believed what he said, so he quickly asked, "Mr. Kang works for your father, so who is he?"

The boy said, "Mr. Kang was an advisor that my father hired after he came to Zhenjiang."

Tu Chengyu pressed further, "Where is this Mr. Kang now?"

The boy said, "Two days ago, Mr. Kang said he had something to do at home, so he asked for leave and went home."

The man surnamed Kang went home on leave, but his jade pendant ended up in the hands of the deceased Lü Chudan.

That makes the whole thing seem strange.

Tu Chengyu's first reaction was that Lü Chudan's death was closely related to the man surnamed Kang.

However, a simple jade pendant is not enough to prove anything.

The best way is to bring Mr. Kang here and ask him in person; maybe we can find out something.

So Tu Chengyu asked, "Do you know where this Mr. Kang lives?"

The boy said, "I heard it's in Yuzhang Prefecture, but I don't know the exact address."

Upon hearing this, Tu Chengyu was extremely depressed.

After asking around for a long time, there seemed to be many clues, but not a single relevant witness could be found.

It's almost as if it was all pre-planned.

(End of this chapter)