The Succession Struggle in the Dream of the Red Chamber

Chapter 177 A Palace Servant Wants to Deceive His Master?
Faced with Tu Chengyu's question, Xiao Liu didn't think too much and replied directly:

"The Crown Prince was indeed not angry about this matter, but a few days later, our casual conversation at the time was spread outside the palace."

Meanwhile, during this period, an imperial censor was impeaching Fifth Brother for his actions in Jiangnan. This censor had heard rumors and collected them as evidence for the impeachment.
This angered the Crown Prince greatly, and he summoned us all together and gave us a severe scolding.

In that case, Tu Chengyu could understand why the Crown Prince was angry.

If it's just private complaints, the Crown Prince can tolerate it.

However, their complaints were so easily spread from the palace that they even became accomplices in the censor's impeachment of Tu Chengyu, which was something the Crown Prince could not tolerate.

Thinking deeper, who leaked their private conversations inside the palace to the outside world?

Judging from the situation at the time, the most suspicious people were the brothers present.

So, if the Crown Prince doesn't go after them when problems arise, who else will he go after?

Judging from Xiao Liu's current reaction, the Crown Prince must have scolded them quite severely back then.

However, the Crown Prince scolded them because of Tu Chengyu.

Therefore, Tu Chengyu could not say much about it, and could only comfort Xiao Liu and tell him not to take it to heart.

Xiao Liu responded to Tu Chengyu's reassurance with great composure.

He said, "Although the Crown Prince summoned everyone, he mainly scolded the second and third brothers, and only said a few words to us younger ones."

"If you hadn't suddenly asked me about it today, I would have completely forgotten about it."

Tu Chengyu patted Xiao Liu on the shoulder and said, "I'm very happy that you think this way."

After finishing their business, the two brothers chatted for a while, and then Xiao Liu went back to his study to read.

As soon as he left, Tu Chengyu sent someone to inquire whether the emperor had finished court.

Tu Chengyu assumed that since lunchtime had passed so long, the Emperor must have already finished his court session.

Unexpectedly, the eunuch who went to inquire returned and said that the emperor was still discussing important matters with his ministers in the outer court and would not be back for a while.

Since that's the case, Tu Chengyu stopped waiting for the emperor to finish court.

His original plan was to first request an audience with the Emperor, and then go to the Empress.

Since the Emperor was busy, he had no choice but to send Xiao Xuanzi to the Empress to inform her that he would be going to pay his respects.

This time, everything went smoothly. Xiao Xuanzi returned shortly after she left, saying that the Empress was waiting for her in the palace.

Tu Chengyu immediately got up and went to the Empress.

It didn't take long to pay respects to the Empress.

However, Tu Chengyu unexpectedly received a task from the Empress.

The situation was like this: After Tu Chengyu finished paying his respects, he wanted to leave, but the Empress spoke up:
"Yu-ge'er, when you're in the palace, take good care of Little Eleven when you have time."

Tu Chengyu didn't understand why the Empress said that, so he looked at her in confusion.

The Empress understood Tu Chengyu's doubts and continued:
"Consort Hui is pregnant and hasn't had the energy to take care of Little Eleven lately, so I'm asking you to take care of him when you have time."

"Your Majesty has given the order, and I will obey it," Tu Chengyu agreed at first. But then he asked, "However, I am still young, and Your Majesty and the other ladies are all in the palace. How can you expect me to take care of Xiao Liu?"

This wasn't Tu Chengyu deliberately shirking responsibility; rather, doing so was itself highly irregular.

The Empress smiled and said, "Yu-ge'er, you're overthinking it. What I meant wasn't that you should always look after Little Eleven, but rather that when you encounter Little Eleven..."
Just keep an eye on him. You know, Little Eleven is naturally slow-paced and doesn't like interacting with people. Right now, his mother doesn't have the energy to look after him.

He wouldn't tell anyone if he suffered any injustice. But you, Yu-ge'er, have always been able to talk to Xiao-shiyi, which is why I'm giving you this instruction.”

Hearing this, Tu Chengyu finally understood that he wasn't actually being asked to take care of Xiao Shiyi, but rather to keep an eye out for anyone bullying her.

Tu Chengyu felt that the Empress's worries were somewhat unnecessary; in the palace, who would dare to bully a prince?

Although he thought this in his heart, he readily agreed:

"Your Majesty, rest assured, I will certainly take good care of Little Eleven."

After recounting this trivial matter, the Empress dismissed Tu Chengyu.

Some things are quite coincidental. Before anyone mentioned Xiao Shiyi, Tu Chengyu had never encountered him alone in the palace.

The Empress just mentioned Little Eleven today, and Tu Chengyu ran into him as soon as he stepped out.

Tu Chengyu had originally planned to take a detour to visit the Imperial Study, but he hadn't arrived yet.

From a distance, we could see several eunuchs, one of whom, a rather tall one, was carrying a child and walking toward us.

Tu Chengyu looked and saw that the eunuch was holding the little eleventh child they had just been talking about.

Since it's such a coincidence that we've run into each other, and Tu Chengyu had just promised the Empress that he would take care of Little Eleven.

So he beckoned the eunuch over.

Although Xiao Shiyi is a year older than Xiao Shier, they are about the same size in terms of build and height.

Moreover, compared to the cleverness of the twelfth child, the eleventh child is rather dull, doesn't like to talk, and doesn't like to play with others.

However, as the Empress just said, Tu Chengyu is one of the few people who can talk to Xiao Shiyi.

So when Xiao Shiyi walked up to Tu Chengyu, her previously sullen face broke into a smile.

He dismounted from the eunuch, bowed respectfully to Tu Chengyu, and then spoke softly:

"Greetings, Fifth Brother."

Tu Chengyu smiled and patted his head, asking, "Who made our Little Eleven angry?"

Little Eleven shook his head and said, "Fifth Brother, no one made me angry. I just miss Mother Consort."

Unexpectedly, this was the reason. Tu Chengyu then said, "If you miss your mother, have a eunuch take you to see her. Don't be upset."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Shiyi nodded slightly.

Then he asked the eunuch holding Little Eleven, "Are you taking Little Eleven to see Consort Hui?"

The eunuch said, "Your Highness, this servant is here to escort Your Highness to Consort Hui's palace."

Tu Chengyu then asked, "Since you're going to see Consort Hui, why does Little Eleven look unhappy?"

Upon hearing this, the eunuch explained, "Your Highness, it's just that His Highness recently fell ill, so he's been very attached to Consort Hui. If he doesn't see her for even a short while, he keeps asking to see her."

Tu Chengyu never expected that Xiao Shiyi would develop such a problem after being sick once.

Moreover, judging from Xiao Shiyi's long face just now, this problem is quite serious.

So Tu Chengyu said, "Since Xiao Shiyi doesn't want to leave Consort Hui, let him stay in Consort Hui's palace. Why do you have to bring him to the Imperial Study?"

Upon hearing this, the eunuch said with an embarrassed expression, "Your Highness, it's not that the Empress doesn't allow His Highness to stay in the palace, it's just that lately, for some reason..."

His Highness is prone to crying and fussing, and since His Majesty is pregnant and needs to rest, I was able to take His Highness to the study as usual.

It turns out that Xiao Shiyi himself misbehaved, which is why this happened.

Thinking of this, Tu Chengyu looked down at Xiao Shiyi. As soon as their eyes met, Xiao Shiyi lowered her head shyly.

Therefore, it seems the eunuch was telling the truth. Tu Chengyu then said to Xiao Shiyi, "You're all grown up now, why are you still causing trouble for Consort Hui?"

Upon hearing this, Xiao Shiyi lowered her head even further, looking very embarrassed.

Seeing this, Tu Chengyu tentatively asked, "Fifth Brother hasn't seen you in a long time, I miss you so much. Why don't you skip seeing Consort Hui today and come have some fun with Fifth Brother?"

Faced with Tu Chengyu's invitation, Xiao Shiyi was clearly tempted, but after hesitating for a while, he shook his head, obviously wanting to see Consort Hui more.

Tu Chengyu had no choice but to let the eunuch take him back.

But just as the eunuch was about to pick him up, Little Eleven reached out his little hand and tugged at Tu Chengyu's clothes.

When Tu Chengyu looked down at him, he saw Xiao Shiyi looking up with his little face up, muttering something softly.

Unfortunately, he spoke too softly, and Tu Chengyu didn't hear a word he said.

Seeing that he was still muttering, she simply picked him up and brought him close to her ear.

At this moment, Tu Chengyu heard what Xiao Shiyi said.

"Fifth Brother, can you help Eleventh Brother?"

Tu Chengyu looked at Xiao Shiyi's little face with surprise and asked softly:

"What do you need Fifth Brother's help with?"

Upon hearing Tu Chengyu's response, Xiao Shiyi's eyes lit up, and she quickly said:

"Fifth Brother, I don't want to leave Mother."

Xiao Shiyi's words seemed disjointed, but considering what he said before, Tu Chengyu guessed that he might be asking Tu Chengyu to plead for him so that he wouldn't leave Consort Hui.

So Tu Chengyu tentatively asked, "You want me to plead with Consort Hui on your behalf so that you can stay in her palace?"

Tu Chengyu thought his guess was correct, but to his surprise, Xiao Shiyi still shook his head and said:

"Fifth Brother, I don't want to stay in the palace; I don't want to leave Mother."

These words left Tu Chengyu completely confused. Staying in the palace meant being with Consort Hui, didn't it?

Tu Chengyu was unsure of the situation, but seeing Xiao Shiyi's expectant face, he continued to guess.

He asked from a different angle, "Is there someone who doesn't want you to stay by the Empress's side?"

Little Eleven nodded quickly.

It seemed the question had been asked correctly, so Tu Chengyu continued in that direction:

"Tell Fifth Brother, who is it that won't let you stay by the Empress's side?"

Upon hearing this, Xiao Shiyi secretly glanced at the eunuchs beside him.

Tu Chengyu understood that one of these eunuchs must have said something to Xiao Shiyi.

However, Tu Chengyu did not suspect that the eunuchs had any malicious intent; it was highly likely that the eunuchs knew that Consort Hui was pregnant.

Not wanting Xiao Shiyi to cause trouble for Consort Hui, she privately told Xiao Shiyi not to get close to Consort Hui for the time being.

Perhaps because Xiao Shiyi was still young, he misunderstood the eunuch's words and thought that the eunuch was going to take him away from Consort Hui, so he sought help from Tu Chengyu.

This also explains why Xiao Shiyi has been very clingy lately, crying and fussing whenever she can't see Consort Hui.

It seems that Xiao Shiyi lacks a sense of security, which is why she keeps causing trouble.

Thinking of this, Tu Chengyu said to Xiao Shiyi, "Do you want Fifth Brother to plead with the Empress for you so that you can stay by her side?"

Xiao Shiyi nodded again, it seemed that this time, their understanding was correct.

To reassure Xiao Shiyi, Tu Chengyu said directly, "Don't worry, Xiao Shiyi, Fifth Brother will definitely not let you leave the Empress."

Hearing Tu Chengyu agree so readily, Xiao Shiyi's eyes brightened even more, and a charming smile spread across her face.

Then, Xiao Shiyi wrapped his arms around Tu Chengyu's neck, brought his little mouth close, and gave Tu Chengyu a big kiss on the face. After the kiss, he chuckled foolishly.

Faced with this sudden attack, Tu Chengyu was somewhat stunned.

When he came to his senses, he and Xiao Shiyi started laughing like idiots together.

After they finished laughing, Tu Chengyu had Xiao Xuanzi take Xiao Shiyi aside first, and then called over the eunuch who had been holding Xiao Shiyi.

He said to him, "You're still in eleventh grade, just coax you around. Don't say anything you shouldn't, do you hear me?"

Although the eunuch didn't know what Xiao Shiyi had just said, judging from Tu Chengyu's reaction, it certainly wasn't something nice.

However, the person in front of him was, after all, a prince, and the eunuch dared not contradict him, so he could only nod and bow, saying:

"This servant has remembered Your Highness's instructions and will certainly keep the servants in check to prevent them from speaking carelessly in front of Your Highness."

Hearing this, Tu Chengyu nodded in satisfaction.

Then Tu Chengyu gave them a few more instructions and let them leave.

Watching them walk away, Tu Chengyu became worried again.

Although he understood that Xiao Shiyi's request for help was most likely due to a misunderstanding of what others had said.

However, the possibility that the eunuchs bullied Xiao Shiyi cannot be completely ruled out.

After all, there were all sorts of people among the eunuchs.

They might even castrate him. Seeing that Xiao Shiyi is still young, they deliberately said such things to scare him.

Tu Chengyu thought to himself that when he had time in the future, he could check it out privately to see if such a situation existed.

The reason he investigated privately, instead of reporting the matter to the Emperor and Empress, was that he did so privately.

The main reason is that this was said by a child, and there's no way to guarantee how much of it is true.

Besides, this matter is ultimately a matter within Consort Hui's own palace. It wouldn't be appropriate for Tu Chengyu, a junior, to rashly interfere.

So he planned to investigate privately, and if he found nothing, he would pretend that nothing had happened.

It's not too late to report it if problems are found.

While pondering these random thoughts, Tu Chengyu continued walking towards the study.

When he arrived at the study, he happened to find them resting and playing in the courtyard after they had finished reading.

When Tu Chengyu entered, the large and small group of people naturally saw him.

Compared to the young imperial uncle and the sixth prince, the others haven't seen Tu Chengyu who returned from Jiangnan yet.

So these guys rushed over and excitedly jumped around Tu Chengyu.

Especially Little Twelve, who, taking advantage of her small size, squeezed through the crowd and grabbed Tu Chengyu's leg to ask for a gift.

Tu Chengyu was both amused and exasperated. He had been coaxing the child on the way here, and now he still had to coax the child here.

(End of this chapter)