The Succession Struggle in the Dream of the Red Chamber

Chapter 181 Grandfather and Grandson Bickering
The Empress Dowager may have targeted the eleventh prince because she wanted to take advantage of his young age and inability to clearly describe things, thus attempting to confuse the public.

This ultimately led to a situation where both sides had their own version of events, and she wanted to absolve the eunuchs in her palace of their crimes.

If she succeeds, then Tu Chengyu and the others' beating will be wrong, and the Empress Dowager can then use this as an excuse to make trouble.

This was clearly a clever scheme, so as soon as the Empress Dowager finished speaking, everyone looked at the Eleventh Prince.

This frightened Xiao Shiyi, who clung tightly to Tu Chengyu's clothes and whispered:

"Fifth Brother, I'm scared."

Ignoring everyone's gaze, Tu Chengyu turned around, took Xiao Shiyi's hand, and comforted her:

"Don't worry, Fifth Brother is here."

While comforting Xiao Shiyi, Tu Chengyu was thinking to himself.

In front of everyone, with the Empress present, Little Eleven was surprisingly afraid of the Empress Dowager.

This shows how terrible an impression the Empress Dowager left on the Eleventh Prince.

And how terrified he must have been when he met the Empress Dowager alone earlier.

Thinking of this, Tu Chengyu squatted down and leaned close to Xiao Shiyi, whispering, "..."

"The Empress Dowager wants to ask you a question. Do you dare to answer?"

Little Eleven quickly shook his head, repeatedly saying, "Fifth Brother, I'm scared."

Seeing this, Tu Chengyu knew what to do, but before he could speak, the Empress Dowager couldn't wait any longer.

She urged, "What are you waiting for? Let Little Eleven come out and give us a reply."

Upon hearing this, Tu Chengyu stood up, turned around, and shielded Xiao Shiyi behind him, saying in a deep voice:
"Your Majesty, the Eleventh Prince was too frightened to speak just now."

It's understandable that a child would be scared in this situation, and Tu Chengyu believed that the Empress Dowager couldn't find fault with it.

As expected, the Empress Dowager was not angry because the Eleventh Prince did not come out to reply, but she did not let it go.

The Empress Dowager looked at the eleventh child, her voice softening, and said:

"Little Eleven, don't be afraid. I'll stand up for you. Speak up boldly."

After hearing this, Tu Chengyu couldn't help but want to roll his eyes at the Empress Dowager.

What do you think Xiao Shiyi is afraid of? He's afraid of you.

At this point, without anyone backing him up, Xiao Shiyi might not dare not come out and respond.

However, with Tu Chengyu standing in front of Xiao Shiyi, after hearing the Empress Dowager's words, Xiao Shiyi tried even harder to hide behind Tu Chengyu, showing no intention of going out to reply.

The Empress Dowager naturally saw through Xiao Shiyi's thoughts, and her face immediately turned ugly.

She looked at Tu Chengyu and raised her voice, saying, "Xiao Wu, don't block Xiao Shiyi. Let him come out and answer."

Since Tu Chengyu had decided to stand up for Xiao Shiyi, he wouldn't give up halfway. He calmly said:

"Your Majesty, I am terrified and unable to answer your questions. I beg your forgiveness."

Tu Chengyu once again blocked the Empress Dowager's order, which greatly angered her. She glared at her and said angrily:

"Little Five, you're ignoring what I say. You're not letting Little Eleven out because you're worried he'll tell the truth."

Tu Chengyu knew the truth of the matter perfectly well.

Moreover, he wasn't worried that Xiao Shiyi would lie when she came forward.

What he was worried about was that once Xiao Shiyi came forward, the Empress Dowager would try every means to distort the truth and put Xiao Shiyi in the eye of the storm, which was something Tu Chengyu did not want to see.

Moreover, the Empress Dowager came in a very aggressive manner, and her ultimate goal was to cause trouble for Tu Chengyu.

If that's the case, why should Tu Chengyu hide and drag others into it?

So Tu Chengyu confronted the Empress Dowager directly to see what she was up to today.

Therefore, they turned the tables on the Empress Dowager, saying that Tu Chengyu was afraid that Xiao Shiyi would speak out.

Tu Chengyu simply replied: "Before the Empress Dowager arrived, Xiao Shiyi had already told me about it. It was these eunuchs in your palace who were incredibly audacious and tried to snatch a prince from the palace."

If the Empress Dowager doesn't believe it, she can ask the eunuchs around the Eleventh Prince, or the Sixth Prince and the others; they all saw it."

Without the Empress Dowager asking, Xiao Liu and the others stepped forward to testify on Tu Chengyu's behalf.

Especially the Empress's youngest son, Twelfth Prince, and the Emperor's youngest son, Uncle Prince, both stood on Tu Chengyu's side without hesitation.

This was probably something the Empress Dowager hadn't anticipated.

With so many princes as witnesses, the Empress Dowager could not force the issue by saying that Tu Chengyu's words were false.

At this point, instead of framing Tu Chengyu, she might very well expose the lies of the people in her palace.

Therefore, after Xiao Liu and the others stepped forward to testify, the Empress Dowager remained silent for a while, probably trying to find a way to deflect the blame onto the old eunuch and the others.

After thinking for a while, she asked the old eunuch again, "Is everything Xiao Wu said true?"

The old eunuch had already lied before, so he couldn't admit it now.

He continued through gritted teeth, "Your Majesty, perhaps the Fifth Prince has misunderstood. We only wish to invite the Eleventh Prince to the Eastern Palace; we had absolutely no intention of seizing anything."

After hearing this, the Empress Dowager seemed to have heard something very true. She turned to look at Tu Chengyu and said very seriously, "It seems that you misunderstood, Fifth Prince."

Tu Chengyu was furious after hearing this. They were blatantly trying to fool people.

Tu Chengyu couldn't help but ask, "Why is Your Majesty so certain that I've misjudged you?"

The Empress Dowager said, "They have served me for many years, and I know their character and conduct well. Besides, they came to take the eleventh prince to the Eastern Palace on my orders."

I specifically ordered them to invite the Eleventh Prince; how dare they disobey my orders?

This long speech, seemingly an explanation to Tu Chengyu, actually reveals that the Empress Dowager wanted to use her position to forcibly clear the name of the people in her palace.

If Tu Chengyu still insists on disagreeing at this point, it would be a sign that he doubts the Empress Dowager's character.

In this era where filial piety was the foundation of governance, Tu Chengyu could not push the Empress Dowager too far.

This is the advantage of being of a higher generation; one can use one's seniority to act unscrupulously when in a weaker position.

Tu Chengyu had no way to deal with this, but fortunately, he did not use the matter to do anything to the Empress Dowager.

His current goal is to end the current situation as soon as possible, since it's not a good thing for a family to cause trouble in the palace.

Therefore, Tu Chengyu followed the Empress Dowager's words and said:

"Since it was a misunderstanding, now that it's been cleared up, everything will be fine. If the Empress Dowager has no further instructions, your grandson and the others will return to the West Palace."

Since the Empress Dowager admitted to the kidnapping incident, Tu Chengyu did not mention the assault.

The Empress Dowager seemed to have no good solution to this.

She had come all the way from the East Palace in a huff, but if she accomplished nothing and had to slink back like this, wouldn't she be furious?

Therefore, when Tu Chengyu offered his leave, the Empress Dowager's eyes lit up and she began to speak again.

"You may leave if you wish, but leave Little Eleven behind. I have not seen Little Eleven for many days and miss her dearly."

Xiao Shiyi, who thought she could leave with Tu Chengyu, looked worried again after hearing these words.

The two little hands gripped the homeowner Tu Chengyu's hand tightly, but they were afraid that Tu Chengyu would let go.

Seeing this, Tu Chengyu whispered, "Don't be afraid, Eleventh Brother. Fifth Brother won't let you go with the Empress Dowager."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Shiyi's worried expression lessened a little, but she still refused to let go of Tu Chengyu's hand.

Tu Chengyu didn't mind, and said while holding Xiao Shiyi's hand:

"Your Majesty, I heard that Little Eleven has just recovered from an illness and has encountered this situation today. At this time, Little Eleven should be handed over to Consort Hui for comfort and should not be sent anywhere else."

The Empress Dowager said, "I see that Little Eleven is perfectly fine, why can't he go to my place? Besides, I am Little Eleven's grandmother."

"If you go to my place, I will naturally take care of Little Eleven. What is there to worry about?"

Tu Chengyu remained unmoved, saying, "If the Empress Dowager wishes to see Little Eleven, she can do so at any time. Why must it be today? Please, Empress Dowager, have compassion on Little Eleven."

Seeing that Tu Chengyu remained unmoved, the Empress Dowager became even angrier. She pointed at Tu Chengyu and said:
"Xiao Wu, you are too presumptuous. I just want to see Xiao Shiyi. How dare you point fingers and obstruct me?"

Besides, the Empress is right here; when did it become your place as a child to make decisions?

If the environment were different, no one would stop the Empress Dowager from seeing her grandson.

However, given the current situation, Little Eleven is clearly very afraid to go to the Empress Dowager's place.

Therefore, Tu Chengyu cannot easily allow the Empress Dowager to take Xiao Shiyi away.

Even if the Empress Dowager no longer held the power she once had in the palace, Tu Chengyu would not easily compromise.

Therefore, when the Empress Dowager had clearly broken off relations and even dragged the Empress into it to pressure Tu Chengyu.

He remained standing there, protecting Xiao Shiyi behind him, showing no intention of handing her over to the Empress Dowager.

Upon seeing this, the Empress Dowager snorted coldly and turned to the Empress, saying:

"Your Majesty, look at the state of the palace! There's no manners at all. A mere prince dares to prevent me from seeing my own grandson! It's utterly outrageous!"

The Empress was also in a dilemma. It wasn't that she lacked the courage to handle the matter, but rather that it was difficult to deal with.

The Empress Dowager had a perfectly legitimate reason to see the Eleventh Prince, and as the Empress, she could not stop her.

But now it's obvious to everyone that Little Eleven is terrified of seeing the Empress Dowager.

If the Empress were to allow the Eleventh Prince to accompany the Empress Dowager, it would be tantamount to directly offending the princes, including Tu Chengyu, and would also displease the Emperor.

But the Empress Dowager didn't give the Empress a chance to hesitate and said directly:
"Your Majesty, you are the head of the palace. I wish to see the Eleventh Prince. What do you suggest we do?"

The Empress Dowager spoke with such confidence that she didn't consider the Empress's feelings at all, which made the Empress's face turn very ugly.

Just as the Empress made up her mind and was about to say something, footsteps could be heard again from afar.

Upon hearing the sound, everyone turned to look again.

Tu Chengyu was no exception. When he saw clearly who the criminals were, he couldn't help but sigh.

What a lively day!

(End of this chapter)