The Succession Struggle in the Dream of the Red Chamber

Chapter 164 A Future Ruined by a Favor

To Tu Chengyu's astonishment, He Lizhang actually uttered the name Hu Guangjin.

Tu Chengyu was certainly familiar with this person.

Moreover, Tu Chengyu remembered that Hu Guangjin had arrived before he came to Donghu County.

At that time, Tu Chengyu saw this person in a roadside restaurant. Lu Chudan's family also said that Hu Guangjin was invited by them to attend the literary gathering.

Later, He Lizhang also talked about Hu Guangjin's situation after the palace examination.

Tu Chengyu thought that Hu Guangjin's return to Jiangnan was at most because he was disheartened after failing the imperial examination and went home to relax.

Now that He Lizhang has said this, it seems that this guy's return to Jiangnan is not so simple.

Tu Chengyu asked incredulously, "How could Hu Guangjin do such a thing?"

He Lizhang replied, "I don't know the reason either. I only heard from others that after the palace examination, Hu Guangjin visited the home of the Vice Minister Tang several times."

Tu Chengyu asked thoughtfully, "So, Hu Guangjin's actions were instigated by Lord Tang?"

He Lizhang neither confirmed nor denied this, but said ambiguously, "This humble official is not sure either."

Tu Chengyu didn't want to pay any attention to such a slick answer.

That's just how these people are; they like to use veiled language unless there's an emergency.

They want others to understand their meaning, but they don't want to be too direct and give others a handle to use against them.

Right now, Tu Chengyu just wants to figure out the whole story as soon as possible and doesn't want to get entangled with him here.

He then said, "Since you don't know why Hu Guangjin did this, then tell me why Yin Weixing listens to Hu Guangjin so much."

“Yin Weixing should understand that all the things Hu Guangjin asked him to do were against me.”

He Lizhang thought for a moment and said, "Your Highness, according to the information I obtained from people around Yin Weixing, this may be related to Yin Weixing and his son wanting to replace the salt merchants' quota."

Upon hearing this, Tu Chengyu recalled that when he first arrived in Yangzhou...

Lin Ruhai once said that Yin Weixing and his son had always wanted to use means to squeeze out one of the twelve salt merchants and then replace him with their own family.

Moreover, in order to accomplish this, they deliberately arranged for Wei Yuncai's son to crash into their own carriage.

They wanted to use their status as princes to help them get rid of those who were standing in their way.

Hearing He Lizhang mention this reason now echoes what happened before.

This makes He Lizhang's words seem quite credible.

After thinking through the connections between the events, Tu Chengyu said, "Go on."

He Lizhang then continued, "The Yin family has been making trouble in Yangzhou for more than a year over this matter, and they have also stirred up discord among the twelve salt merchants."

"Just when they thought things were about to come to fruition, Your Highness happened to arrive in Yangzhou and even stepped in to reprimand twelve salt merchants."

"But the prince's reprimand caused these salt merchants to disregard their previous differences and unite once again."

"This indirectly thwarted the Yin family's plan, which may be why Yin Weixing was so determined to take action against the prince."

After listening to his words, Tu Chengyu said, "According to you, this matter is because Yin Weixing held a grudge against me for unintentionally hindering his plan."

"And Hu Guangjin found out about his thoughts. In order to help Lord Tang deal with the Grand Secretary, Hu Guangjin used Yin Weixing."

"Then Yin Weixing instructed Wu Youwei and others to set fire to my men, killing them, and also instigated a rebellion among the salt workers?"

He Lizhang nodded and said, "Your Highness is absolutely right. This is exactly what I have found out."

Upon hearing his confirmation, Tu Chengyu sneered and said, "So that means it was all the Prime Minister's people who made a stupid mistake, were used by others, and ultimately harmed my people."

"And you still want me to help you keep this a secret? You really dare to dream."

Seeing that Tu Chengyu was angry, He Lizhang immediately said, "The Grand Secretary also knows that the Prince was implicated, so he will help the Prince get justice."

Upon seeing this, Tu Chengyu asked, "What are your plans to help me seek justice?"

He Lizhang said, "The Grand Secretary said that this whole thing was caused by Yin Weixing, so he will hand over the father and son and let the Prince deal with them as he sees fit."

From these words, Tu Chengyu could sense the Prime Minister's sincerity, but also understand his ruthlessness.

Based on previous information, Yin Weixing's family and the Grand Secretary had an extremely close relationship.

The Yin family, relying on the Grand Secretary's authority, acted with impunity in Jiangnan. It is highly likely that the Yin family were released by the Grand Secretary's family to conduct business and make money for them.

Now, they know that the Yin family has offended Tu Chengyu and indirectly done things for the Prime Minister's rival.

They swiftly abandoned the Yin family father and son, handing them over to Tu Chengyu for disposal.

He truly lives up to his reputation as a cunning old fox who has held power in the government for many years.

As for Tu Chengyu, ever since he learned that the incident of crashing into his carriage was orchestrated by Yin Weixing...

Tu Chengyu had already decided to deal with him, and with all that had happened, he was even less likely to let him off the hook.

However, Tu Chengyu, as a prince, disdained to get entangled with a merchant himself.

If this gets out, those in the know probably won't say anything.

Those who were unaware of the situation thought that Tu Chengyu was after other people's family fortune.

Moreover, the Prime Minister's handing over the Yin family was not only to reach a deal with Tu Chengyu, but also possibly to get rid of trouble.

In that case, wouldn't Tu Chengyu be doing the Grand Secretary's bidding by taking action?

Tu Chengyu would never do something so disgraceful.

So he said, "The people are yours, you can decide how to deal with them yourselves, I will not interfere."

They probably anticipated that Tu Chengyu wouldn't do that, so as soon as Tu Chengyu finished speaking, He Lizhang immediately replied:
"Since Your Highness has said so, I will do as Your Highness wishes and guarantee that Your Highness will be satisfied."

After he finished speaking, Tu Chengyu nodded, which was considered an agreement.

Then He Lizhang said, "Your Highness, what do you plan to do about the news regarding the Grand Secretary's identity?"

He said this in order to get Tu Chengyu to make a statement now and temporarily conceal the matter of the Grand Secretary raising the orphans of salt workers.

Tu Chengyu was inclined to help the Prime Minister, but he couldn't show it so easily.

Therefore, he said, "Let's talk about this matter after you've dealt with the Yin family father and son. Besides, there's something else I've always been curious about and would like to hear you talk about."

He Lizhang felt helpless when he heard that Tu Chengyu still hadn't given a clear answer to his request, but he still mustered his spirits and responded to Tu Chengyu's words.

"What does Your Highness wish to ask? Please speak freely."

Tu Chengyu said, "I am very curious about your relationship with the Grand Secretary. Why would you give up such a promising future to help the Grand Secretary?" At He Lizhang's age, being able to become a prefect of a prefecture can be said to have a very bright future.

As long as there are no major problems in his future career, he will basically be able to rise to the position of an important minister in the imperial court.

With a bit of luck, it's not impossible to even enter the Council of State.

Despite such a promising future, he openly helped the Grand Secretary with his affairs.

It should be understood that when serving as an official in the imperial court, one is first and foremost an official of the court, and one's actions must prioritize the affairs of the court.

The most taboo thing is to use public office for private purposes, to serve the court while doing things for private individuals.

Once the emperor finds out about this kind of person, he will basically never be given an important position again.

He Lizhang not only violated this taboo, but he did so in front of Prince Tu Chengyu.

It's fair to say that there's basically no future for them.

Therefore, Tu Chengyu was very curious about the relationship between He Lizhang and the Prime Minister.
He was willing to risk his future just to help the Grand Secretary.

He Lizhang may not have expected Tu Chengyu to ask this question, or perhaps the answer is hard to say.

In short, after Tu Chengyu asked him the question, he thought for a long time before answering it.

“Your Highness, things have come to this point, and I dare not deceive you. I was once an orphan of a salt worker and was raised by the Grand Secretary.”

This answer surprised Tu Chengyu and also shocked him.

Just as Tu Chengyu was so shocked that he didn't know how to ask a question, the door was suddenly pushed open from the outside.

Tu Chengyu looked up and saw that it was Lao Yao who came in with two guards.

Following closely behind them were Quan Wenwei and a nervous-looking Xiao Xuanzi.

Tu Chengyu had no idea what had happened that allowed them to barge in without reporting it.

Then he saw that after Lao Yao came in, he did not greet him, but instead surrounded He Lizhang with two other guards, looking very wary.

At this point, Tu Chengyu finally understood that it was because Lao Yao and the others, upon hearing He Lizhang reveal his identity, were worried about Tu Chengyu's safety and had rashly barged in.

Understanding their actions, Tu Chengyu was both amused and exasperated, but also felt that their approach was understandable.

After all, everyone knows that the Tu family and the salt workers have been enemies since their ancestors.

Now that I suddenly hear that Tu Chengyu, this child, is living alone in a room with the descendant of a salt worker, how can I not worry?

He Lizhang remained calm in the face of the guards who suddenly barged in.

He simply took two steps back to allow the guards to surround him more completely.

Upon seeing this, Tu Chengyu knew that this person had no intention of harming him at all.

However, since Lao Yao and Quan Wenwei had come in, Tu Chengyu didn't let them leave, just in case.

After Xiao Xuanzi closed the door as instructed by Tu Chengyu, Tu Chengyu continued the previous conversation, asking:

“You said you were an orphan of salt workers, and that the Prime Minister rescued and raised you. But you said before that the Prime Minister only helped one group of orphans, namely Wu Youwei and others.”

"But judging from your age, you don't seem to be the same age as Wu Youwei?"

He Lizhang explained, "Your Highness, what I said before was not a lie. It's just that there were some twists and turns in the story of how I was rescued."

Tu Chengyu remained silent, waiting for him to continue explaining.

He Lizhang continued, "When the Grand Secretary treated Wu Youwei and others, he originally intended to rescue my father as well."

"But my father was quite old at the time and had experienced some things, so he had some opinions about the court and refused to be rescued, and stayed in the salt field."

He Lizhang said his father had opinions about the imperial court, but that was just a euphemism. The truth was, his father probably hated the Tu family.

However, this was a legacy of history, and even if Tu Chengyu was aware of it, he wouldn't dwell on it. He asked, "Since your father insisted on staying, why did you end up at the Grand Secretary's house?"

He Lizhang said, "At first, when my father was alone, he could barely endure the environment of the salt field. But after I was born, my father couldn't bear to see me live in the salt field for the rest of my life like him."

"Therefore, before my father passed away, he asked someone to request the Grand Secretary to take me out of the salt field. So it was not the Grand Secretary who took me out on his own initiative."

"It is precisely because the Grand Secretary brought me out of a place like the salt fields and sponsored my current parents to raise me, and also enabled me to study and become an official."

"Such kindness is like being given a second chance at life. Therefore, even if it costs me my future, I cannot stand by and watch the Grand Secretary be framed."

He Lizhang became somewhat agitated at this point.

Tu Chengyu listened with deep emotion. If the whole thing was true, then He Lizhang was indeed quite admirable.

However, a person can give up a promising future for one thing.

Therefore, it's unlikely that what he did was fake.

From this perspective, Tu Chengyu felt that what he had said earlier had some credibility.

However, compared to those troublesome matters, Tu Chengyu was more interested in the person in front of him.

Tu Chengyu asked, "Don't you feel sorry for losing your future like this?"

He Lizhang probably sensed that Tu Chengyu's attitude towards him had changed, so he took a deep breath and said very sincerely:
"Your Highness, to be honest, I never wanted to be an official from the beginning. I only took the position because of my adoptive father's request."

"Now that this has happened, it has given me an excuse. After this is over, I can use this as an excuse to resign and go home to take care of my parents."

Tu Chengyu believed that He Lizhang did this to repay the Grand Secretary's kindness and had no choice but to do so.

Now it seems that they might not care about these things, and might even have asked to do it on their own initiative.

Hearing this, Tu Chengyu became even more interested in him.

So he asked, "Do you simply dislike being an official, or do you simply not want to do any work?"

He Lizhang seemed not to understand Tu Chengyu's question and asked in confusion, "Your Highness, I don't understand what Your Highness means."

Tu Chengyu said, "If you just don't want to be an official, then you can come and help me after you resign."

He Lizhang's expression upon hearing this was even more shocked than when Tu Chengyu heard about his background.

He stammered, "But...but...I am the orphan of a salt worker."

Upon hearing this, Tu Chengyu seemed somewhat angry and said with a stern face, "So you don't want to be an official because you still hate the imperial court?"

This is a difficult question to answer. If one answer is wrong, He Lizhang might not be able to resign from his post.

(End of this chapter)