The Succession Struggle in the Dream of the Red Chamber

Chapter 18 After you sing, I will appear on stage

Once everyone had arrived, the emperor said to Xie Xishu, "Everyone is here, continue asking your questions."

After receiving the decree, Xie Xishu said to the leader, a fat man, "Imperial Censor Wang, you submitted a memorial to me yesterday, stating that Imperial Censor Lu Feiwu had brought the Crown Prince's token and asked you to come forward and collude with the officials to protect the Crown Prince's position. Is this true?"

Upon hearing this, Imperial Censor Wang nodded hurriedly and said, "This is indeed true; I would not dare to lie."

Xie Xishu asked, "Do you know where Lu Feiwu obtained the Crown Prince's token that he mentioned?"

Imperial Censor Wang replied, "Imperial Censor Lu once said that he obtained it from Lord Chen Chongzhi."

Upon hearing that he had been slandered, Chen Chongzhi quickly tried to explain, "Nonsense..."

Before he could finish speaking, Xie Xishu stopped him: "Lord Chen, in the imperial court, one must not speak carelessly unless questioned."

Chen Chongzhi had no choice but to shut up. Xie Xishu continued to ask Imperial Censor Wang, "Imperial Censor Wang, now that Lu Feiwu is dead, your words can no longer serve as testimony. What explanation do you have?"

Wang, the Imperial Censor, said, “I was not the only one who heard what Imperial Censor Lu said. Many of my colleagues were present at the time and can testify for me.”

Xie Xishu looked at the other twenty-odd green-robed officials and said, "Among you, who can testify for Imperial Censor Wang?"

As soon as he finished speaking, seven junior officials in green robes stepped forward and answered in unison. There were actually two more than the five people mentioned earlier.

After examining it, Xie Xishu asked, "Imperial Censor Wang, I ask you again, how do you determine that what Imperial Censor Lu brought is the Crown Prince's token?"

Imperial Censor Wang said, “I have the Crown Prince’s calligraphy that I obtained from Lord Chen. By comparing them, we can confirm that the letter in the token is in the Crown Prince’s handwriting. The other token, a jade pendant, is a royal artifact with the Crown Prince’s emblem engraved on it, so it cannot be faked. Therefore, I dare to confirm that these two items are indeed the Crown Prince’s tokens, and my colleagues can also testify to this.”

The green-robed officials who stepped forward all nodded in confirmation.

Hearing this, Tu Chengyu was furious. His second uncle had prepared everything for the other person, almost to the point of securing the real token for them. If Tu Chengyu didn't know his uncle well, he would have thought his second uncle was conspiring with others to frame the Crown Prince.

At this moment, Xie Xishu turned to the emperor and said, "Your Majesty, I have finished asking my questions."

At this point, the situation is not good, as the testimonies of the witnesses match up.

Besides, these officials are from various government departments, and they are all minor officials. No one would believe that they conspired together to lie and plot against the crown prince.

Now we'll see if these tokens are real or fake. If they are, the Crown Prince will be in real trouble.

Hearing this, the emperor lost his earlier decisiveness and appeared hesitant. His gaze darted between the officials and the crown prince, but he remained silent.

The Crown Prince's gaze was intriguing, his brows furrowed, a look of worry on his face. This made Tu Chengyu nervous. He wasn't worried that the Crown Prince would allow officials to collude in private; what he feared was that something else might be involved.

Tu Chengyu hesitated, considering whether to take advantage of his young age, stand up and make a scene, and ruin the whole thing. After all, he was young and didn't need a good reputation; at worst, he would be impeached by the officials, which might even draw everyone's attention to himself and reduce the pressure on the Crown Prince.

However, before he could make a decision, King Chungsun stepped forward once again.

As expected of a prince of the imperial family, the prince closest to the royal family, he truly stood up without hesitation when faced with difficulties.

"Your Majesty, in my opinion, all of this is utter nonsense. A group of lowly officials, with so-called tokens obtained from who-knows-where, dare to collude in private. Leaving aside the authenticity of the tokens, their very act of colluding smacks of forming cliques for personal gain and harboring opportunistic ambitions. Can such officials be trusted? There is no need to verify the tokens they present. Furthermore, how can our dignified Crown Prince be questioned to his face by a few petty officials on the very day of his investiture? Where is the majesty of the nation? Where is the dignity of the royal family? Where is the face of the Crown Prince? Such people seeking fame and fortune are simply outrageous. I implore Your Majesty to issue an edict to expel these individuals from the court."

King Chungsun, a cunning old fox who had been navigating the court for over a decade, struck at the heart of these lowly officials with his first move. Moreover, King Chungsun was known for his respect for all officials, regardless of rank, treating them all equally.

Unexpectedly, today, for the sake of the Crown Prince, Prince Zhongshun has torn off all pretense of civility, hurling insults at a lowly official who forms cliques and engages in favoritism, and another petty official who seeks fame and fortune. He's practically trampling the faces of these twenty-odd green-robed officials into the ground.

King Chungshun's words not only slapped the face of the minor official but also hurt the feelings of the court officials. After all, who among them hadn't climbed their way up from a low-ranking position? Therefore, some officials immediately expressed their dissatisfaction.

An official in a red robe stepped forward from among the ministers, holding a tablet, and bowed: "Your Majesty, I, Hong Lin, the Vice Censor-in-Chief, have something to report. Please grant me permission."

Another hothead from the Inspectorate; I have no idea what he's going to say.

The emperor nodded in agreement, and Vice Censor-in-Chief Hong Lin then turned to Prince Zhongshun and said, “Prince Zhongshun, you are mistaken. The discussion of politics in the court is permitted by the emperor and agreed upon by all officials. What reason does Your Highness have to obstruct it? Your Highness keeps saying that the words of a lowly official are not credible, which is simply absurd. How can a person’s credibility be determined by the size of his official position?”

Today, Prince Chungshun finally experienced the power of the censors, being verbally attacked in the face by two ministers from the Censorate. He angrily shouted...
“Imperial Censor Hong, don’t downplay the seriousness of the matter. Why don’t you mention their collusion and factionalism in private?”

As a high-ranking official in the Censorate, Hong Lin was experienced in verbal battles and could not possibly be unaware of this point. He calmly said, "Your Highness may see them as colluding in secret, but in my opinion, they are simply eager to protect their master. Anyone who hears that someone is plotting to seize the Crown Prince's position cannot stand idly by. Although these men are of low rank, they dared to stand up to protect the Crown Prince. Isn't such behavior worthy of praise?"

King Chungshun was furious. He couldn't win an argument, so he could only change the subject, saying that he was testifying: "You all keep saying that someone is plotting to seize the position of Crown Prince, but I haven't seen anyone plotting against the Crown Prince. On the contrary, you all claim to be protecting the Crown Prince, but in reality, you are slandering his reputation. How do you explain this?"

King Zhongshun was right this time; these people were indeed slandering the Crown Prince's reputation.

Faced with the questioning, Hong Lin calmly replied, "It was they who said that someone was plotting to seize the position of Crown Prince. I was not aware of it. My words were merely to remind Prince Zhongshun not to insult court officials, and even more so, not to arbitrarily obstruct the court from discussing politics."

After saying this, he acted as if nothing had happened and returned to his original position. He left without a trace, leaving not a trace behind. He perfectly embodied the image of a cunning and sly old fox.

Tu Chengyu watched his performance up close and was amazed. He never expected that there was such a person among the current ministers.

(End of this chapter)