The Succession Struggle in the Dream of the Red Chamber

Chapter 179 Brothers Fighting Tigers Together

Tu Chengyu turned his head and saw that the person who ran out was actually Xiao Qi.

He shouted, "You dog slave!"

Then, like an arrow released from a bow, he rushed to the nearest eunuch, jumped up, and kicked him.

Although Xiao Qi was young, he was sturdy and strong, and the eunuchs dared not fight back.

He was then kicked to the ground by Xiao Qi with a solid kick.

The eunuch, who had been kicked to the ground, struggled to get up.

Xiao Qi wouldn't let him get up; she quickly straddled him and unleashed a flurry of wild punches.

Although a small child cannot possibly suppress an adult.

However, the eunuch was also afraid that if he got up rashly, he would drop Xiaoqi on the ground.

So all he could do was dodge Xiaoqi's wild punches while trying to pick her up.

Unfortunately, after trying for a long time, I still couldn't succeed.

Xiaoqi's bravery gave the other brothers tremendous courage.

They followed suit and rushed forward in a swarm, directly attacking the eunuchs who were blocking their way.

At this moment, apart from Tu Chengyu not making a move, even the little rascal Xiao Shier came up to Xiao Qi and took advantage of the situation to kick him a few times.

However, Xiao Qi's actions gave the eunuchs a reason to prepare.

So after they rushed up, they didn't manage to capture a single eunuch.

However, since it was the princes and grandsons of the emperor who were making the move, although none of the eunuchs fell, they were also defeated and forced to retreat.

They could no longer contain Little Eleven. The eunuch who was holding Little Eleven quickly took him out from inside.

When they arrived behind Tu Chengyu, Xiao Shiyi could no longer hold back and burst into tears.

"Fifth Brother, I'm scared!"

Seeing his pitiful appearance, Tu Chengyu could only take Xiao Shiyi from the eunuch's hands, coaxing him while watching the others vent their anger for Xiao Shiyi.

"Don't be afraid, Little Eleven, Fifth Brother is here. Look, your Sixth Brother is avenging you, and even Little Twelfth is helping you."

Perhaps when talking about Xiao Shier, who is even younger than him, Xiao Shiyi, while shedding tears, did not forget to turn around and look for Xiao Shier's figure.

That day, I saw Little Twelve sticking out his little bottom, vigorously waving his fists and beating the eunuch that Little Seven was riding on.

Little Eleven forgot her fear, clenched her little fists, and it was very satisfying to watch.

Seeing Xiao Shiyi made him feel better, and Tu Chengyu, who originally wanted to stop his brothers, temporarily put that aside.

Taking advantage of this break, Tu Chengyu asked the eunuch who had just held Little Eleven.

"Which palace of the Eastern Palace sent people to block your way?"

The eunuch dared not conceal the truth and said, "He is someone from Empress Dowager Cixi's side."

Tu Chengyu asked again, "Were their actions today due to the eunuchs acting recklessly, or were they ordered by the Empress Dowager?"

This was a difficult question for a eunuch to answer. He looked conflicted, hesitated for a long time before finally saying:
"It seems that the Empress Dowager instructed them to do this."

This answer was not unexpected for Tu Chengyu, but it was quite surprising that the eunuch dared to say it to Tu Chengyu's face.

However, Tu Chengyu was still puzzled. He asked, "Do you know why the Empress Dowager sent people to ambush you here?"

The eunuch said, "The Empress Dowager sent someone to take the Eleventh Prince to her palace."

Tu Chengyu thought there was some unavoidable reason, but it turned out that the Empress Dowager simply wanted to see Xiao Shiyi.

So he said, "If the Empress Dowager wants to see Xiao Shiyi, then you should take Xiao Shiyi to pay her respects. Why are you pulling and tugging here?"

The eunuch said, "Recently, the Empress Dowager has frequently summoned the Eleventh Prince to play. At first, the Eleventh Prince was quite happy."

However, after going a few times, he became unwilling to go anymore. Later, the Empress Dowager sent people to forcibly take the prince away.

So His Highness was very frightened during this period. That's right, before the class in the Imperial Study was over, he told me to hurry back to the Empress's palace.

I thought this would allow me to avoid the Empress Dowager's people, but I never expected that as soon as I arrived here with His Highness, we would be blocked by them.

As usual, they tried to take His Highness away, but His Highness was afraid and clung tightly to the servant girl, refusing to let go. The servant girl was also worried about His Highness, so she stopped them.

Who could have imagined that these people would be so audacious as to attempt to snatch someone? I had no choice but to send someone to Your Highness for help.”

The eunuch briefly recounted the whole incident to Tu Chengyu. Although he didn't explain why the Empress Dowager wanted to see Xiao Shiyi every day, he did understand the course of events.

He asked, "Have you mentioned this to Consort Hui?"

The eunuch said, "This concerns Your Highness, how could I dare to conceal it? However, since the matter involves the Empress Dowager, Her Highness cannot say anything, especially since Her Highness is pregnant."

"Then let us servants take good care of His Highness."

Based on this information, it seems that the Empress and Consort Hui were aware that the Empress Dowager had summoned the Eleventh Prince.

However, the adults only saw it as Grandma wanting to see her grandson, so they didn't take it to heart.

However, this matter seems to have a very serious impact on Xiao Shiyi.

Thinking of this, Tu Chengyu suddenly remembered that after meeting the Empress, she had specifically instructed him to take care of Xiao Shiyi.

It was because of the Empress's instructions that Tu Chengyu noticed Xiao Shiyi, and then he encountered the current situation.

Tu Chengyu wondered if the Empress had discovered something amiss regarding the matter of Xiao Shiyi.

However, this matter involved the Empress Dowager, and she couldn't intervene directly, which is why she instructed me to help her resolve this issue.

Judging from the current situation, Tu Chengyu's guess is very likely true.

If that's the case, things might get a little complicated.

Because even the Empress didn't want to deal with it publicly, it certainly wasn't something that a little brat like Tu Chengyu could easily solve.

But things had already progressed to this point, and since it involved Xiao Shiyi, Tu Chengyu couldn't just stand by and do nothing.

However, there are some things that Tu Chengyu still doesn't understand.

That is why the Empress Dowager summoned Xiao Shiyi to Tu Chengyu so frequently, and why Xiao Shiyi was initially willing to go, but is now terrified.

These two questions are related to the whole incident, and Tu Chengyu felt it was best to understand them clearly.

So he asked the eleventh child, "Don't you like seeing the Empress Dowager?"

Upon hearing this, Little Eleven shook her head rapidly, looking very worried.

Upon seeing this, Tu Chengyu asked again, "Why don't you like seeing the Empress Dowager?"

Little Eleven whispered, "The Empress Dowager wants to take me away from the Empress."

Xiao Shiyi had said this to Tu Chengyu before, and also to Xiao Liu and the others.

It's just that the versions are different.

He previously told Tu Chengyu that someone wanted to take him away, and told Xiao Liu and the others that someone wanted to snatch him and make him someone else's child. Now he's saying that the Empress Dowager wants to do this.

Tu Chengyu heard three different versions in three different places.

Considering that this was said by a four or five-year-old child, he might not be able to say everything each time he speaks.

Therefore, Tu Chengyu connected the three things he heard and removed the identical content.

He could easily summarize it in one sentence: "The Empress Dowager wants to take Little Eleven away from Consort Hui and make Little Eleven her child." This sentence seems absurd, but it was what Tu Chengyu extracted from Little Eleven's words.

If Xiao Shiyi wasn't lying, then this matter is true.

To verify the truth, Tu Chengyu asked again, "Little Eleven, are you saying that the Empress Dowager wants you to be her child?"

Upon hearing this, Xiao Shiyi quickly nodded, it seemed to be true.

Tu Chengyu asked again, "Did the Empress Dowager tell you this herself?"

Little Eleven nodded again.

Tu Chengyu then asked, "Do you remember what the Empress Dowager told you?"

This question seemed to be beyond Xiao Shiyi's capabilities. He thought about it again and again, but still couldn't say the Empress Dowager's exact words.

I held it in for a long time and my face turned red.

Finally, he mumbled, "The Empress Dowager said I should sleep with her and be her grandson."

Hearing this, Tu Chengyu was filled with surprise.

If what Xiao Shiyi said is true, then the Empress Dowager intends to take Xiao Shiyi over to raise herself.

But what Tu Chengyu didn't understand was why the Empress Dowager would do this.

Just as Tu Chengyu was thinking about these issues, he suddenly heard a series of noisy footsteps coming from inside.

Tu Chengyu looked up and saw a group of eunuchs and palace maids crawling out of the doorway, but he couldn't see who it was.

Immediately afterwards, he heard a voice, filled with anger, coming from inside the door.

"Stop it, all of you! What kind of behavior is this?!"

Hearing the voice, Tu Chengyu knew that it was Empress Liu who had arrived.

Sure enough, as soon as the voice fell, Hao Hao's figure walked out of the palace gate.

Tu Chengyu could recognize the Empress's voice, so naturally the others could as well.

So after that shout, Xiao Liu and the others quickly withdrew from the chaotic battle.

One by one, they ran to Tu Chengyu's side, drenched in sweat.

Although they were reprimanded by the Empress, their expressions were filled with excitement.

Clearly, they had thoroughly enjoyed beating up those eunuchs.

Little Twelve, that clever little devil, ran behind Tu Chengyu, avoiding the Empress's gaze, and whispered:
"Fifth Brother, Fifth Brother, did you see that? Wasn't I amazing just now?"

Before Tu Chengyu could answer, Little Eleven, whom he was holding in his arms, happily turned to look at Little Twelve and said:

"Twelfth Brother is amazing."

Upon hearing this, Little Twelve excitedly raised his head high, his eyes almost closing into slits.

He waved his little fist and said, "Eleventh Brother, I've avenged you."

After hearing this, Xiao Shiyi nodded quickly, clearly approving of Xiao Shier's act of avenging him.

Seeing the two little kids chatting happily, Tu Chengyu simply put Xiao Shiyi down and let them stand together and talk slowly.

In just a short while, the Empress bypassed the eunuchs whose clothes had been disheveled by Xiao Liu and his men, and walked up to Tu Chengyu and the others.

Upon seeing this, everyone quickly bowed and paid their respects.

The Empress, ignoring all of this, raised her eyebrows and asked:

"Why aren't you studying in the Imperial Study? What are you doing here fooling around?"

Don't be fooled by how fearless these guys seemed just now; when they're around the Queen, they all cower like quails.

They all remained silent, only glancing at Tu Chengyu with their eyes.

As the oldest among them and the backbone of the group, Tu Chengyu naturally cannot back down at this time.

Moreover, Tu Chengyu had no intention of backing down. He said:
"Reporting to Your Majesty, we heard that someone was trying to snatch Little Eleven from the palace, so we came to rescue him."

After Tu Chengyu finished speaking, everyone nodded in agreement, indicating that this was indeed the case.

Upon hearing this, the Empress's eyebrows nearly shot up, and she said:

"Nonsense, how could there be a kidnapping of a prince within the palace?"

Tu Chengyu didn't waste any words, pushed the eunuch who had been holding Little Eleven out, and said:
"If Mother doesn't believe me, you can ask him."

The Empress looked at the eunuch and said softly, "Since you know, tell me properly what happened."

Upon hearing the Empress's greeting, the eunuch nervously repeated what he had just said to Tu Chengyu.

This time, however, he only talked about what happened here today, without bringing up past events or mentioning Empress Dowager Cixi.

After hearing the eunuch's words, the Empress's face darkened. She turned to the group of eunuchs who had been beaten and asked in a deep voice:

"Is what he just said true?"

Among the eunuchs who were beaten, the leading old eunuch stepped forward and said:

"Your Majesty, we have come to invite the Eleventh Prince to see the Empress Dowager, not to abduct him. Your Highnesses may have misunderstood us."

Seeing this old man lying in front of everyone, Tu Chengyu was furious.

Someone as impatient as Xiaoqi would immediately retort.

Tu Chengyu knew this was not the time to argue with them, so he signaled to everyone not to act impulsively.

Given this incident, the Empress naturally wouldn't listen to the old eunuch's one-sided story.

She turned around again, looked at Tu Chengyu and the others, and said:
"Is what he said true?"

Tu Chengyu naturally wouldn't let the old man succeed, so he said:

"Your Majesty, he is lying. When we arrived, he was leading his men to snatch Little Eleven. Even when I told them to stop, they refused to let Little Eleven go."

As soon as Tu Chengyu finished speaking, Xiao Shier, who was least afraid of the Empress, quickly added a sentence.

"Mother, what Fifth Brother said is true, and I saw it with my own eyes."

The Empress, who had a gloomy expression when facing others, softened her expression unconsciously when she saw Little Twelfth.

However, at this moment, she didn't coax Little Twelve, but pointed at him and said:
"You're so young, barely the size of a palm, how did you learn to fight? It's ridiculous."

Despite the Empress's accusations, Little Twelve was not afraid at all.

He ran over, grabbed the Empress's leg, and said with a fawning expression:

"Mother, I wasn't fighting. I was saving Eleventh Brother. You didn't see it, Mother, I was really fierce just now."

The empress glared at him and said, "What's all this talk about being amazing or not? It's all nonsense."

It has to be said that Little Twelve's skill in clinging to powerful figures is becoming increasingly adept.

The empress tried several times to push him away, but failed.

In the end, instead of pushing her away, Little Twelve's cute antics actually managed to reduce the Queen's anger by a level.

(End of this chapter)