The Succession Struggle in the Dream of the Red Chamber

Chapter 162 Recalling the Past: Where to Go From Here?

Quan Wenwei rushed back, and Tu Chengyu thought something serious had happened, but after hearing what he said, it turned out to be nothing important.

Quan Wenwei said, "Your Highness, Prefect He has left Donghu County."

Tu Chengyu asked, "Do you know why he left at this time?"

He Lizhang came to Donghu with the primary purpose of serving the Grand Secretary. Now that the Grand Secretary's problems remain unresolved, why is he suddenly leaving?

Quan Wenwei said, "The students found the attendant left behind by Prefect He, who told them that Prefect He left Donghu to investigate clues elsewhere because he had found some leads in the case."

Tu Chengyu looked bewildered. He didn't remember asking He Lizhang to investigate the case, so how did he get involved and find clues in such a short time?

He asked Yang Chun, "How did He Lizhang know about the case investigation?"

Yang Chun thought for a moment and replied, "Your Highness, I probably learned about it from the officials in Donghu County. After meeting with Your Highness yesterday, Prefect He summoned all the officials in Donghu County."

That's quite possible. After all, the case happened in Donghu County, and my investigation over the past few days has been observed by those officials. It shouldn't be difficult for them to understand a thing or two.

However, Tu Chengyu was more worried about whether He Lizhang knew about today's interrogation.

Once he realizes that he has already discovered Wu Youwei's relationship with the Grand Secretary, he will likely have no chance to try and get some information from He Lizhang.

Therefore, Tu Chengyu asked Quan Wenwei, "When did He Lizhang leave?"

Quan Wenwei replied: "According to the attendant, he left Donghu County early this morning, but I learned from the yamen runners that Prefect He left before lunch."

Although it's impossible to tell who's telling the truth, the fact that a simple investigation outside of Donghu has turned into so many convoluted events suggests that something unusual is going on.

Tu Chengyu thought for a moment and asked, "What did you do before and after lunch?"

Tu Chengyu was worried that something he had done might affect He Lizhang, and that He Lizhang would find out about it, which is why he left in a hurry.

Go deal with the beginning and end of this matter, or leave East Lake to avoid it.

Quan Wenwei and the others exchanged glances, and finally Yang Chun spoke:
"Before lunch, we learned from Chai Ye about his relationship with the Grand Secretary and were verifying it back and forth. It is possible that Prefect He saw this process and became suspicious."

"I was so shocked by the news that I lost my composure and failed to conceal it. This is all due to my poor performance, and I beg Your Highness to punish me."

Tu Chengyu waved his hand and said, "Such important news would make anyone lose their composure upon hearing it. This is not your fault, there is no punishment. Just be more careful next time."

"What I'm worried about now is whether He Lizhang has only guessed something, or whether he already knows the results of our interrogation?"

Quan Wenwei replied, "Your Highness need not worry. During the interrogation today, the three of us students were watching over the entire time, and the guards around us were also from the Prince's residence."

"Therefore, the results of the interrogation could not possibly be leaked; at most, He Lizhang could only guess the general direction."

"However, this is inevitable. After all, if the situation is true and Wu Youwei and the other two really grew up in the Grand Secretary's family, then He Lizhang would very likely know about this situation as well."

"Therefore, it is normal for him to be able to guess some things based on our actions."

If Quan Wenwei's assessment is correct, then there is no major problem.

Tu Chengyu said, "Whether he knows a lot or a little, it's still a bit of a problem for us. We may not be able to get any information out of him."

Tu Chengyu felt a little regretful, but Quan Wenwei smiled and said:
"Your Highness, this matter may not necessarily be a bad thing."

Upon hearing this, Tu Chengyu became interested and asked, "What do you mean?"

Quan Wenwei said, "In this matter, the most anxious people should be Prefect He and his colleagues, especially since they don't know how much information we actually have."

"He might be tempted to test us. If he has such thoughts, he might reveal a weakness. At that time, Your Highness only needs to seize the weakness and you will be able to get what you want."

Tu Chengyu thought about it and realized that this was indeed the case.

Since I've caught them red-handed, they're the ones on the defensive, so why am I in such a hurry?

Now, all I need to do is wait quietly and see what He Lizhang and the others do.

Having understood this, Tu Chengyu said to the three of them:

"Let's just stick to the original plan and ignore He Lizhang."

After saying that, Tu Chengyu remembered something else and said:
"Since you are all here, I'll ask you this: if it is ultimately confirmed that Wu Youwei and his companion do indeed have such a relationship with the Grand Secretary, what should I do?"

Tu Chengyu asked about the case, but his real intention was to ask how he should deal with the power struggle between the Grand Secretary and the Vice Grand Secretary.

Should we side with the Grand Secretary, or remain neutral?

As for siding with the second-in-command, Tu Chengyu didn't even consider it, because the second-in-command might have sided with the second-in-command.

The three men were fully aware of Tu Chengyu's predicament, so none of them advised him to handle the case impartially and hand over all the information he found to the court.

Apart from this point, the three made different choices.

Quan Wenwei still insisted on his consistent idea, which was that Tu Chengyu should stand on the side of the Grand Secretary, take the opportunity to fight against Prince Xing, and make his stance clear.

He said, “Your Highness, at this time, the Emperor has been on the throne for less than a year, and it is precisely the time when the court needs stability.”

"Even if the Emperor wanted to replace the Grand Secretary at this time, he would do so in a gentle manner and would never allow the Grand Secretary to become a criminal and cause a commotion in the court."

"Therefore, whether the prince actively exposes the Grand Secretary's crimes or secretly hands these things over to the court, it does not meet the emperor's needs."

"In that case, why doesn't Your Highness use the leverage you have to exchange some of the things Your Highness needs from the Grand Secretary, while also helping the Crown Prince gain an ally?"

"Why not do something so profitable?"

Quan Wenwei's words make a lot of sense, but it's not appropriate to show your inclination before Tu Chengyu has decided whether to actively participate in the struggle.

So he didn't express his opinion, but instead asked Yang Chun, "What are your thoughts?"

Yang Chun's relationship with Tu Chengyu was not as deep as Quan Wenwei's, and he was not very clear about some recent events in the court, let alone the difficult choice Tu Chengyu was facing.

He was simply analyzing the situation in a way that would be most advantageous to Tu Chengyu.

Yang Chun said, "Your Highness, I believe you cannot make this decision yourself. After all, this matter involves the Grand Secretary, and once it is taken action, it will implicate the entire court."

“If Your Highness makes a decision on this matter, you may offend all the officials in the court.”

"What's more serious is that this involves the Grand Secretary, and only the Emperor can make the decision. If the Prince does this instead of the Emperor, it will likely incur the Emperor's wrath."

"In my opinion, Your Highness only needs to investigate the case, and whatever the result may be, it should be left to His Majesty to handle."

His idea was entirely based on considering Tu Chengyu's current situation.

However, before Tu Chengyu could speak, Quan Wenwei objected.

He said, "Lord Yang, as I just said, at this time, the Emperor will not use these things to deal with the Grand Secretary, so the results of the investigation will have no impact whether or not they are handed over."

Yang Chun shook his head and said, "Mr. Quan, these are opportunistic and profit-driven words. How can you entice the prince to deceive the emperor for some petty gains?"

"This is not something a wise person should say. Do you know that once the Emperor finds out that the Prince has been deceiving people on such an important matter, the consequences will be irreparable no matter how much benefit one gains."

If Quan Wenwei truly wanted Tu Chengyu to use the evidence he had gathered to gain benefits from the Grand Secretary, then Yang Chun's criticism that he lacked wisdom was entirely justified.

However, Quan Wenwei's purpose was not to profit; he simply wanted to use this incident to get Tu Chengyu to actively participate in the struggle for the throne.

However, only he and Tu Chengyu knew these things, so he could only endure Yang Chun's words.

Tu Chengyu knew the inside story and naturally couldn't stand by and watch Quan Wenwei be talked about like that.

So he stepped in to smooth things over, saying, "You two shouldn't argue anymore. I've heard your opinions clearly, and I will carefully consider how to proceed." "Besides, we still don't know what the final outcome will be, so it's too early to argue now."

Both of them were acting on Tu Chengyu's orders, and they were only discussing the matter at hand; they had no personal grudges against each other.

So after hearing Tu Chengyu's words, they all apologized to each other.

Once the initial spark of anger between the two had subsided, Tu Chengyu no longer wanted to discuss the matter.

After exchanging a few other words, he dismissed the three of them under the pretext of trying to interrogate Wu Youwei.

Next, Tu Chengyu instructed Quan Wenwei and the others to interrogate Wu Youwei, Chai Ye, and the group of people captured from the dock.

At the same time, he patiently waited for He Lizhang to return, wanting to see how He Lizhang would react.

So he waited for three days in Donghu County, but He Lizhang never showed up.

Just when Tu Chengyu thought that He Lizhang might not be coming back and was preparing to take the prisoners back to Yangzhou.

He Lizhang, however, came to see him early on the fourth day.

Tu Chengyu originally wanted to see He Lizhang as soon as possible, hoping to take advantage of his anxiety to dig out some useful information.

Unexpectedly, they dragged it out for three days, making Tu Chengyu a little less confident.

After all these days, there has been no progress on my side at all.

Meanwhile, the other side may have already made ample preparations.

However, since He Lizhang had come to see him, Tu Chengyu did not intend to delay any longer and had him brought in.

At the same time, Tu Chengyu also had someone call Quan Wenwei over, so that even if there were any unforeseen circumstances later, there would be someone to discuss things with.

Soon, the two of them arrived in front of Tu Chengyu.

At first, Tu Chengyu was thinking of acting with Quan Wenwei to test He Lizhang's thoughts.

But before the two of them could even begin their performance, He Lizhang took the initiative to reveal his true identity.

He said, "Your Highness, you must already know the identities of Wu Youwei and Chai Ye?"

Tu Chengyu was caught off guard by this question. He did not expect He Lizhang to be so straightforward in bringing it up.

Moreover, Tu Chengyu is not entirely certain that these two people have such a relationship with the Prime Minister.

Therefore, Tu Chengyu could only vaguely say, "I do know their identities, but I don't know if they are the identities you mentioned?"

Even in his panic, Tu Chengyu still didn't reveal his hand.

Upon hearing this, He Lizhang said directly, "Your Highness should have found out that these two are descendants of salt workers and were raised by the Grand Secretary's family."

Seeing how frank he was, Tu Chengyu stopped hiding his intentions and said:

"So, the Grand Secretary is indeed entangled with the salt workers. I'd like to know, what exactly is the purpose of the Grand Secretary's family raising the orphans of the salt workers for decades?"

Tu Chengyu's question directly attacked the crux of the matter, presenting He Lizhang with the most fatal problem.

Faced with such a question, Tu Chengyu thought He Lizhang should at least be nervous.

But so far, Tu Chengyu hasn't seen anything that He Lizhang has to be nervous about, which shows that He Lizhang has indeed made thorough preparations in the past few days.

He calmly replied, "The Grand Secretary's act of raising the salt workers' orphans is merely following his ancestors' wishes and fulfilling his duty of care."

His words were inexplicable; he made such a trivial matter of colluding with salt workers sound so easy.

Tu Chengyu asked, "I'd like to hear what kind of relationship exists between the Grand Secretary's family and the salt workers?"

He Lizhang said, "Your Highness may not know this, but the ancestors of the Grand Secretary and the ancestors of the salt workers were from the same lineage."

His words startled Tu Chengyu. After thinking for a moment, he vaguely realized something and asked:

"You mean, the ancestors of the Grand Secretary's family were enemies of Emperor Taizu when he was vying for the throne, but as far as I know, these people were all demoted to salt workers. How could his family still hold official positions, let alone rise to the position of Grand Secretary?"

He Lizhang said, "This matter involves some secrets, which Your Highness may not have heard of."

Tu Chengyu said, "Then tell me this secret."

He Lizhang said, "Your subordinate obeys."

Then he recounted that hidden history.

It turns out that when Emperor Taizu was vying for power, he encountered his greatest enemy in the Jianghuai region: a rebel army composed of salt workers and merchants.

This group of people is rich, has many people, and is also very good at fighting.

At that time, if it weren't for the blessing of the heavens, and the enemy making a mistake in a crucial battle, which allowed the Taizu to turn the tide in one fell swoop.

Even so, the Taizu side suffered heavy losses in this battle.

Emperor Taizu was already in a bad mood after this incident.

But at this very moment, the rebel army led by the leader did not quiet down.

They split into several factions and attacked Taizu's army from all directions.

This prevented Emperor Taizu from exerting his full strength when conquering other forces, greatly affecting his progress in the struggle for the throne.

So when Tai Teng took action, he concentrated his forces and wiped out these scattered rebel groups.

All those captured were demoted to salt workers, and a special decree was issued ordering the counties in charge of managing the salt workers not to let them live too comfortably.

On the surface, everyone thought that the Taizu Emperor had turned the rebel army into salt workers.

In fact, a small group of rebels were spared from being forced into salt production because they wisely surrendered at a crucial moment.

One of the leaders of this small rebel group was an ancestor of the current Grand Secretary.

This explains why the Grand Secretary's ancestors were from the rebel army, yet he was still able to become an official.

Both the retired emperor and the emperor were aware of this situation, which is why He Lizhang dared to speak so frankly.

However, Tu Chengyu only heard about past secrets from He Lizhang's words, but not about what happened afterward.

He sensed that He Lizhang was intentionally concealing this information, so he asked:
"Prefect He, does the Emperor also know about the Grand Secretary's family secretly raising the salt workers' orphans?"

He Lizhang knew this problem would be discovered, but he didn't expect it to be discovered so quickly.

So he could only bite the bullet and say, "His Majesty may not know about the matter of raising orphans."

Tu Chengyu raised an eyebrow and said, "So, the Grand Secretary is still colluding with the salt workers in secret?"

Upon hearing Tu Chengyu's words, He Lizhang anxiously said:

"Your Highness misunderstands. The Prime Minister's family only provided relief to the descendants of a few people with whom they had a past relationship. They did not have any dealings with other salt workers, so it cannot be considered collusion."

Tu Chengyu said with a sneer, "But as far as I know, their family took many orphans away from the salt fields back then. So many years have passed, who knows how many they took away?"

Hearing that Tu Chengyu was determined to pin the blame for colluding with salt workers on the Grand Secretary, He Lizhang was so anxious he almost jumped up.

(End of this chapter)