The Succession Struggle in the Dream of the Red Chamber

Chapter 157 A Letter Arrives from the Capital: The Crown Prince Has Something to Do
Two groups of people went to capture him, and Yang Chun's group returned quickly.

After all, it was within the county town, and Chai Suwen's family seemed to be completely unaware of it, so Yang Chun caught them all in one fell swoop.

These people were taken to the county government office. Tu Chengyu had no interest in interrogating them personally, so he handed the matter over to Yang Chun to handle.

However, it's unclear whether the Chai family was unaware of what Chai Suwen had done, or whether they simply didn't want to punish him lightly.

In short, Yang Chun's initial interrogation of the Chai family yielded nothing of value.

Since that's the case, Tu Chengyu could only tell Yang Chun not to conduct the trial for now.

Let's wait and see if Su Xuanbao can capture Chai Suwen. We'll decide what else to do based on the outcome of the capture.

But they waited and waited, until nightfall, without receiving any news from Su Xuanbao and the others.

While waiting, He Lizhang, the prefect of Zhenjiang Prefecture, rushed from the prefectural city to Donghu County.

After discovering that Lü Chudan had been murdered in the morning, Tu Chengyu had the news reported to Zhenjiang Prefecture.

Tu Chengyu thought that the Zhenjiang prefect would not arrive until the next day at the earliest.

Unexpectedly, he arrived that very day.

It is evident that this prefect put a lot of effort into this matter.

This prefect of Zhenjiang was a rare young and promising official among all the officials Tu Chengyu had met along the way.

Judging from his appearance, he looked to be in his early thirties.

Tall, with a long, beautiful beard and a square face, he was the epitome of a handsome man in this era.

Such a young prefect is rare even among officials of the dynasty.

Such officials are generally either from powerful backgrounds or have outstanding abilities.

Tu Chengyu guessed that this person might fit one of the criteria.

Unexpectedly, after inquiring with Yang Chun, he learned that this Prefect He actually met both criteria.

He not only had a powerful background, but was also a protégé of the current Grand Secretary.

Moreover, he was exceptionally capable, a trait he demonstrated from the beginning of his official career.

He took the initiative to request to serve as an official in a border prefecture. In just ten years, he rose from a small county magistrate in the mountains to the prefect of a major town in Jiangnan, which shows that he was quite capable.

Even just hearing about his past makes one look at this prefect in a different light.

In addition to his outstanding appearance, Tu Chengyu took a liking to him after meeting him.

This Prefect He was also very good at interpersonal relationships.

After he arrived, he learned about Lü Chudan's case from Tu Chengyu.

The first thing he did was to tell everyone around him that Lü Chudan's death had nothing to do with Prince Su.

Although anyone familiar with the case would not believe that Tu Chengyu is the murderer.

Even if Tu Chengyu doesn't bear this reputation, it won't affect him in the slightest.

However, since the prefect was a high-ranking official, Tu Chengyu was quite satisfied with him for speaking like that in public.

After making these public statements, Prefect He requested a private meeting with Tu Chengyu.

Although Tu Chengyu didn't know what he wanted to talk about, he had a good impression of him from earlier.

Tu Chengyu also gave him a chance.

Tu Chengyu randomly found a room in the county government office, and had Yang Chun and others guard the door while he took He Lizhang in alone for a detailed discussion.

As soon as they entered, He Lizhang told Tu Chengyu some not-so-good news.

He said, "Your Highness, on my way here, I sent people to inquire and they found that everywhere they go, it is said that Your Highness forced Magistrate Lü to commit suicide."

Tu Chengyu had anticipated such rumors circulating in the outside world.

However, he did not expect the news to spread so quickly, becoming the talk of the town in just one day.

This shows that someone must have been secretly instigating this matter.

However, Tu Chengyu couldn't understand why they would do this. Was it simply to pin the blame on him?

But as a prince, you have no solid evidence; rumors alone are of no use to you.

Tu Chengyu said, "Let it be spread, it doesn't matter to me."

He Lizhang shook his head and said, "Your Highness, you must not underestimate this matter. The reason I came here in such a hurry is to tell Your Highness about this."

Tu Chengyu asked doubtfully, "Is my reputation that important that a prefect like you would rush over to tell me?"

He Lizhang said, "Your Highness's reputation is naturally important. We officials are paid by the emperor, so we must uphold the dignity and honor of the royal family."

"However, I dare not deceive Your Highness. There are indeed other reasons for my visit."

If He Lizhang insists that he came here to help Tu Chengyu salvage his reputation...

Tu Chengyu would definitely think this person is too fake and is just flattering him.

However, he was able to frankly say that he came for other purposes, which prevented Tu Chengyu's goodwill towards him from decreasing too much.

Therefore, Tu Chengyu asked, "So what brings you here?"

Upon hearing Tu Chengyu's question, He Lizhang stood up straight and said with a serious expression:
"Your Highness, what I am about to say may offend you. Please forgive me."

Seeing his expression, Tu Chengyu felt that what he said about being offensive was definitely not a nice thing.

Although Tu Chengyu also enjoys flattery, he is not without tolerance for harsh words, provided that they are true.

Tu Chengyu said softly, "Speak your mind. I am not a petty person."

Upon hearing this, He Lizhang first bowed deeply to Tu Chengyu before speaking:
"Your Highness, I have come here to persuade you to stop."

His opening remarks were quite shocking.

Although Tu Chengyu found his words very uncomfortable, he held back and calmly replied:
"What do you want me to do to stop?"

He Lizhang said firmly, "Your Highness, I would like to advise you to stop causing trouble in Jiangnan and return to the capital as soon as possible."

Upon hearing this, Tu Chengyu couldn't help but twitch his eyebrows. His perception of this person had undergone a complete transformation in a short period of time.

He suppressed his rising anger and said, "You say what I did in Jiangnan was causing trouble?"

Although He Lizhang knew that his words were somewhat excessive, he had no choice but to continue speaking now.

"Your Highness, I misspoke. Please forgive me. But I really want Your Highness to withdraw from Jiangnan."

Tu Chengyu said coldly, "Tell me your reasons."

He Lizhang said, "My actions were primarily for the sake of the Crown Prince and the Prince's reputation." Tu Chengyu asked, "You say it was for my sake, which is understandable, but how did it involve the Crown Prince?"

He Lizhang explained, "Because the Crown Prince is on the verge of fighting with the ministers in court for your sake."

Tu Chengyu had never imagined such a thing would happen. He asked, "The Crown Prince is going to fight with the court officials for my sake? What's going on?"

He Lizhang was also surprised and asked, "Aren't you aware of the recent events in the court?"

Tu Chengyu shook his head. During this period of time, he had only written home, but had not yet received a reply.

Furthermore, he hadn't made any special effort to inquire about news from the court, so naturally he didn't know.

Therefore, he asked anxiously, "What exactly happened in the court, especially concerning the Crown Prince?"

Seeing that Tu Chengyu's appearance did not seem fake, He Lizhang thought to himself that perhaps the Emperor and the Crown Prince did not want Prince Su to worry, which was why they did not tell Prince Su about what had happened in the court.

Thinking of this, He Lizhang said, "In recent months, there have been three matters concerning the Crown Prince in the court."

Things that attract the attention of these local officials must be of great importance.

Three such incidents actually happened to the Crown Prince.

Upon hearing this, Tu Chengyu asked anxiously, "What is it? Tell me quickly!"

Upon hearing this, He Lizhang said, "Your Highness, the first matter is this year's special imperial examination."

When the imperial examination was mentioned, Tu Chengyu thought of the dispute he had with the candidates before leaving the capital.

The reason he left the capital so early was to avoid being implicated in any trouble after the palace examination.

Now it seems that even though I left the capital, this storm still affected me.

However, because he was not in the eye of the storm, the controversy may have affected the crown prince.

Tu Chengyu thought so, but he didn't say anything, just waited for He Lizhang to continue.

He Lizhang watched as Tu Chengyu remained expressionless upon hearing this.

Unable to fathom Tu Chengyu's thoughts, he could only continue:
"On the day of the palace examination, for some unknown reason, Hu Guangjin, who ranked highly in the provincial examination, was renowned for his talent, and was considered by all the scholars to be the undisputed champion, ended up in last place. As soon as the news spread, it was all over the capital..."

At this point, He Lizhang glanced at Tu Chengyu discreetly, but dared not say anything more.

Although he didn't say it, Tu Chengyu could guess that they must be spreading rumors that Hu Guangjin's poor ranking was definitely related to him, the Prince of Su.

But what does this have to do with the Crown Prince?

Tu Chengyu asked suspiciously, "Could it be that the Crown Prince did something in this?"

When the Crown Prince was mentioned, He Lizhang seemed somewhat hesitant, and he said in a low voice:
"Your Highness, the scholars are whispering that Hu Guangjin came in last place precisely because the Crown Prince requested the Emperor to do so?"

For a subject to spread gossip about the Crown Prince everywhere, especially in front of the Crown Prince's own brother, is not a good thing.

However, He Lizhang had no choice but to do so, so as soon as he finished speaking, he lowered his head deeply, as if waiting for Tu Chengyu's judgment.

Although Tu Chengyu hated it when people brought up the Crown Prince, He Lizhang couldn't resist the punishment he might receive and told them all.

Tu Chengyu was very grateful; otherwise, if no one had told him, he might have continued to be unaware of the situation.

He waved his hand, signaling He Lizhang to raise his head, and said, "I forgive you, please continue."

Upon hearing this, He Lizhang was naturally extremely grateful, and then continued, "Because of this matter, the senior officials of the Council of State Affairs once wrote to the Emperor. Although the Emperor eventually took responsibility for the matter himself, a rift developed between the Crown Prince and the senior officials of the Council of State Affairs."

Although He Lizhang's explanation was brief, a closer look reveals that there must have been many disputes involved; otherwise, how could the Crown Prince have a rift with the bigwigs of the Council of State?

However, these were secrets of the upper echelons of the court, and even if lower-ranking officials knew them, they couldn't go around talking about them. Therefore, Tu Chengyu didn't ask He Lizhang to explain in detail.

He asked, "This is the first one, so what about the other two?"

He Lizhang said, "The second thing is that after you left the capital, you did several things along the way, including killing so many of your clansmen in Longxing County during the ancestral worship ceremony."

“These matters were reported to the Emperor by various local authorities, and the censors, knowing what Your Highness had done, naturally would not let it go, and one by one they submitted memorials to impeach you.”

"In order to protect Your Highness, the Crown Prince had a heated debate with the censors in the court. As a result, in the end, these censors not only continued to impeach you, but also impeached the Crown Prince."

After hearing his explanation, Tu Chengyu felt that things had gone beyond his expectations.

The first thing was to vent his anger by making Hu Guangjin come in last place, which wasn't a big deal.

However, he later argued with the censor because he was impeached, which seemed a bit irrational.

But based on Tu Chengyu's understanding of the Crown Prince, he wasn't such an irrational person.

There must be other things involved, otherwise how could the crown prince have done such a thing?

Thinking of this, Tu Chengyu began to worry about the Crown Prince.

However, he was too far away to intervene, so he could only continue listening to what was happening to the Crown Prince.

Tu Chengyu asked, "What is the third thing?"

He Lizhang said, "The third thing happened after the second thing. It is said that for some reason, Prince Qi spoke ill of Your Highness outside. Later, the Crown Prince found out and summoned Prince Qi to the Crown Prince's Palace and beat him up."

"Moreover, because of this matter, even the other princes were implicated and punished by the Crown Prince."

Upon hearing this, Tu Chengyu thought, "It's that third brother causing trouble again."

Before his father became emperor, the third son was a clever man in the Prince An's mansion.

He not only won the favor of Prince An and his wife, but also received considerable attention from the crown prince.

Unexpectedly, this clever man repeatedly did some foolish things after his father ascended the throne as emperor.

Before Tu Chengyu left the capital, he almost ruined the great situation that the emperor had worked so hard to achieve because of his reckless behavior.

He was even punished by the emperor to kneel in front of the imperial study.

Tu Chengyu thought that he had learned his lesson and would be able to calm down no matter what.

I really didn't expect that he would do such a stupid thing again in such a short time.

Tu Chengyu fully supports the Crown Prince in this matter.

However, while the Crown Prince's education of his younger brothers wasn't entirely a secret, it was also impossible for a mere prefect in Jiangnan to know about it so easily.

Therefore, Tu Chengyu looked at He Lizhang with a suspicious gaze and asked, "Prefect He, how do you know about these things?"

This was a question that He Lizhang naturally couldn't answer.

He opened his mouth several times, but in the end, he couldn't utter a single word.

Seeing this, Tu Chengyu's face became serious.

(End of this chapter)