The Succession Struggle in the Dream of the Red Chamber

Chapter 180 Two Women Make a Show
The Empress was naturally furious about what had happened, but she was unable to easily deal with the situation at hand.

Because the people involved in this matter cannot be dismissed with just a few words.

Regardless of the princes standing in front of her, pretending to be quails.

And those few disheveled eunuchs were not easy to deal with.

It wasn't that the Empress didn't have such power, but the fact that this struggle involved the princes and the Empress Dowager forced her to be cautious.

In addition, such an incident in the palace is not something to be proud of, so the Empress probably wanted to suppress the matter first and deal with it after understanding the whole story.

Therefore, after Little Twelve's tantrum and cute antics, the Empress, who was no longer so angry, said to Tu Chengyu and the others:
"Have you all had enough of this nonsense?"

Tu Chengyu's group all kept their heads down, and no one dared to reply.

The Empress seemed to have no intention of getting a reply. After asking that question, she immediately added:

"Now that you've had enough, why don't you disperse?"

From the Empress's words, Tu Chengyu understood that the Empress had characterized the matter as nonsense.

It seems the Empress intends to downplay the matter, but this approach is actually a good thing for Tu Chengyu and the others.

After all, Tu Chengyu's main purpose in coming here was to snatch Xiao Shiyi. Now that he had achieved his goal, it was best to leave.

Therefore, Tu Chengyu quickly took the lead in replying: "Your subject thanks Your Majesty, Your subject takes his leave."

With Tu Chengyu taking the lead, the others were not to be outdone and bowed to the Empress to take their leave.

Just as the Empress was about to dismiss Tu Chengyu and the others, a sudden voice rang out from the side.

"Wait a minute"

Who is so bold as to speak before the Empress?

Out of curiosity, Tu Chengyu turned his head to look in the direction from which the sound came and saw a familiar face.

The eunuch Zhou who served Empress Dowager Cixi was the same eunuch who was beaten up by Tu Chengyu last year for accepting silver notes from the Jia family.

When he saw that everyone was looking at him, he also noticed the Queen's unfriendly gaze.

The old man's face tensed up, and then he took small steps and ran to the Empress.

"Your Majesty, the Empress Dowager has ordered that everyone stay put."

Upon hearing this, the Empress's relaxed brows furrowed again, but since it was the Empress Dowager's words, the Empress could not directly refute them.

She could only ask tactfully, "Has the Empress Dowager said how long I should wait?"

Although the Empress spoke calmly, to Eunuch Zhou, it was more frightening than anger.

He said cautiously, "Your Majesty the Empress will not have to wait long. The Empress Dowager is already on her way."

It turned out that Empress Dowager Cixi was coming, and the Empress's expression immediately turned serious.

This was not because the Empress was afraid of the Empress Dowager or was making a mountain out of a molehill, but because the Empress Dowager had rarely left the East Palace since she moved there with the retired Emperor.

Now, after a conflict broke out between the eunuchs serving the prince and the empress dowager, he suddenly said he wanted to leave the East Palace and come here.

This is clearly closely related to what just happened, and it's very likely that they've come to cause trouble.

As for who they're going to cause trouble for, that's pretty obvious.

The Empress sighed inwardly, glanced at Tu Chengyu who was standing quietly, and remained where she was, saying nothing more.

At this moment, Tu Chengyu was also full of thoughts. He could guess that the Empress Dowager's sudden arrival was to cause him trouble.

However, Tu Chengyu was not worried about the trouble that was about to happen, but was recalling what had just occurred.

He wondered if the Empress Dowager's people snatching Little Eleven and then him running over to rescue her was a coincidence or something orchestrated by someone else.

From Tu Chengyu's perspective, this whole thing is indeed too much of a coincidence.

It's important to know that it was because the Empress had specifically mentioned Little Eleven that Tu Chengyu had the idea of ​​taking care of Little Eleven.

Immediately afterwards, Tu Chengyu happened to run into Xiao Shiyi and heard Xiao Shiyi asking for advice.

Next, when Xiao Shiyi's friends come to ask for help, Tu Chengyu will assume that Xiao Shiyi is in danger.

Without hesitation, they rushed over to rescue the person.

During the rescue, a conflict broke out with people from the Empress Dowager's palace, and then the Empress Dowager herself came.

The whole process happened so smoothly, as if someone was directing the entire operation, that Tu Chengyu couldn't help but have doubts.

However, Tu Chengyu did not doubt that Xiao Shiyi was involved in the design process; a child like him could not do such a big thing.

But precisely because they are children, they are more easily exploited by those with malicious intent.

Moreover, others could use Xiao Shiyi's status as a child to lower Tu Chengyu's guard and unwittingly lead him into a trap.

Excluding Xiao Shiyi, Tu Chengyu suspects two people the most.

One is the Empress Dowager, which needs no further explanation. In the entire palace, only the Empress Dowager sees Tu Chengyu as a thorn in her side.

The other reason is the Empress, because the Empress suddenly mentioned Little Eleven to Tu Chengyu today.

If this is true, then it means that the Empress and the Empress Dowager have indeed joined forces.

This is Tu Chengyu's wild guess, and it's still unknown whether it's accurate.

However, Tu Chengyu had a question in his mind: if this was a conspiracy, what was their purpose?
Is he trying to teach himself a lesson, or does he have a bigger plan?

Just as Tu Chengyu's mind was filled with all sorts of chaotic schemes, the Empress Dowager arrived in her palanquin.

As soon as the Empress Dowager arrived, the Empress led everyone present to pay their respects to her.

In response to everyone's greetings, the Empress Dowager merely gave a soft hum.

Then, with the help of Eunuch Zhou, the Empress Dowager stepped down from the palanquin.

Once she stood on the ground, chin held high, she first looked at the group of eunuchs in her own palace who had been beaten, then turned her head and glanced sideways at Tu Chengyu.

Then she said leisurely, "I heard that someone beat someone in my palace?"

She faced the Empress, but her eyes were fixed on Tu Chengyu. Clearly, in the Empress Dowager's mind, the person who hit someone must be Tu Chengyu.

Tu Chengyu stood obediently to the side, head bowed, encouraging the timid Little Eleven, completely unaware of the Empress Dowager's gaze.

Of course, even if he notices it, he won't rashly step forward to talk to someone.

Seeing that no one responded for a long time, the Empress had no choice but to speak herself.

"Your Majesty, it's just children's nonsense. Your Majesty is so magnanimous, why bother with them?"

Upon hearing the Empress's reply, the Empress Dowager withdrew her slanted eyes and sneered, saying:
"I would like to be magnanimous, but I cannot let this go so easily when I have been bullied for no reason."

"Your Majesty, you shouldn't say these things to me. You are their mother, and naturally you would want to protect them."

If the twelfth prince hadn't been involved in the beating, it's uncertain whether the Empress would have protected the princes. However, since the twelfth prince was involved and acted very actively, the Empress will undoubtedly protect the princes.

The Empress said, "Your Majesty, although they are all my children, I will naturally establish the rules that should be followed."

If they really made a mistake, I would educate them properly without the Empress Dowager saying so. How could I possibly protect them?

However, this time it was really a misunderstanding that caused the mischief, and the children did not deliberately try to make things difficult for the Empress Dowager.

Besides, even if they had ten times the courage, they wouldn't dare to cause trouble for Your Majesty.

The Queen's explanation was simply to portray the incident as children's silly antics, claiming that nothing else had happened.

But the Empress Dowager had finally managed to leave the Eastern Palace; how could she be so easily dismissed?

She pointed to the group of eunuchs who had been beaten by Xiao Liu and his men and said:

"You've beaten my people to this state, and you still say it's just nonsense."

In retrospect, these eunuchs were indeed beaten quite badly.

They were all disheveled and covered in dust.

Most of the clothes were torn to shreds and were basically unwearable, with many footprints on them.

However, Tu Chengyu knew that although these people looked miserable on the surface, they had not actually suffered much harm.

Since they were all children, how much damage could they have suffered even if they didn't fight back?

Didn't you see that their faces were all well protected, without any injury?

Of course, there is one exception.

That was the eunuch who was kicked to the ground by Xiao Qi when he wasn't paying attention at the beginning.

Because he fell to the ground, that little brat, Twelve, rode on his face and beat him up, and now he looks a bit bruised and swollen.

These eunuchs were quite cunning; they pushed the only one with a facial injury to the front, while the rest kept their heads down.

From the Empress Dowager's perspective, it looked as if all her men had been beaten black and blue.

So when the Empress Dowager saw this, she became even angrier and questioned the Empress with a stern face.

The Empress continued to persuade her, "Your Majesty, please calm down. They are just children; how much strength could they possibly have?"

As she spoke, the Empress pointed to the eleventh and twelfth little boys, her meaning quite clear: how badly could these little brats possibly beat someone?

The Empress Dowager said, "There is a saying among the common people: 'Even when beating a dog, one should consider its owner.' They are princes, yet they beat me, the Empress Dowager, without any regard for my feelings. How is this any different from slapping my face?"

Besides, not everyone is as young as Little Eleven. Some people are incredibly capable; they shouldn't be treated like children.

Her previous statement elevated the whole matter to a question of face, clearly indicating that she was not willing to let the matter rest.

The following sentence, however, clearly singles out Tu Chengyu.

Because Tu Chengyu was taller and stronger than his peers since he was a child, he looks almost the same age as the third child, even though he is eleven years old now.

In addition, Tu Chengyu had already taken charge of things on his own some time ago, and had gone to Jiangnan to do errands for the emperor.

Therefore, when the Empress Dowager said that Tu Chengyu should not be treated like a child, she was naturally referring to him.

Of course, the Empress Dowager's decision to single out Tu Chengyu at this time might have another meaning.

She might have wanted to tell the Empress that she had only come to cause trouble for Tu Chengyu, and that she would not pursue the others, hoping to persuade the Empress to stop interfering with him.

But how could the Empress allow the Empress Dowager to have her way?

Even in private, because Prince Xing was vying for the throne with the Crown Prince, the Empress might be happy to see Tu Chengyu suffer.

However, how could the Empress stand idly by while the Empress Dowager bullied Tu Chengyu in front of everyone?

Doing so would not only displease the emperor, but also greatly damage her reputation as empress.

Therefore, even after hearing the Empress Dowager's hint, the Empress still refused to compromise.

She said, "Your Majesty is right. Children may be young, but they cannot be treated like adults. However, Your Majesty, you may not know that there is a reason why the children hit them."

Upon hearing this, the Empress Dowager asked, "What reason could they possibly have for daring to take action in the palace?"

The Empress said, "I heard that it was a eunuch from Your Majesty's palace who was trying to snatch Little Eleven here, which led to the misunderstanding."

People rushed over to help, and a fight broke out.

The Empress Dowager clearly did not want to admit to this statement, saying:

"I do not believe that the people in my palace would be so ignorant of the rules as to dare to snatch someone from the palace."

The Empress smiled slightly and said, "I didn't believe this would happen either, which is why I said it was a misunderstanding. Now that the misunderstanding has been cleared up, please don't be angry anymore."

Unfortunately, the Empress Dowager was not one to know how to restrain herself. She ignored the Empress's attempt to save face, turned to the group of eunuchs in her palace who had been beaten, and asked:
"The Empress said that you were here to snatch people, is that true?"

Whether the Empress Dowager did it on purpose or genuinely didn't understand the needs of those in her palace, she actually asked this very difficult question.

If these people pleased the Empress Dowager, then they would accuse the Empress of lying.

If they didn't want to offend the Empress, then the Empress Dowager wouldn't let them get away with it.

So after the Empress Dowager finished asking her question, they all lowered their heads and didn't utter a single complete sentence.

When the Empress Dowager saw this, her face darkened even more than when she had seen Tu Chengyu earlier.

She raised her voice and said, "Are you all mute, or deaf?"

Perhaps knowing that they were currently serving the Empress Dowager, the leading old eunuch stepped forward to reply after the Empress Dowager shouted.

"Your Majesty, you know this old servant. Even if you gave me a few times the courage, I wouldn't dare to snatch the Eleventh Prince."

Although he did not explicitly refute the Empress's words, he clearly meant that what the Empress said was wrong.

After hearing the old eunuch's reply, the empress's expression did not change at all.

The Empress Dowager, however, was somewhat persistent. She said, "This old servant has served me for so many years; he wouldn't dare lie to me."

The implication was that the Empress had just lied.

The Empress remained unfazed and said, "Your Majesty, we cannot completely trust what this servant says. We should ask others first."

Upon hearing this, the Empress Dowager did not argue with the Empress about the credibility of the old eunuch's words, but instead followed the Empress's lead and said:

"As the Empress wishes, let's ask someone else. However, I think that only Little Eleven was present from beginning to end, so why not ask Little Eleven directly?"

Upon hearing the Empress Dowager mention Little Eleven, Tu Chengyu could clearly feel Little Eleven, who was leaning against him, tremble, obviously somewhat frightened.

It seems the Empress Dowager has her sights set on the Eleventh Prince.

(End of this chapter)