The Succession Struggle in the Dream of the Red Chamber

Chapter 19: Who Will Move the Pieces in the Court Game?

Distracted by Hong Lin, King Zhongshun's momentum weakened, and he was speechless for a long time.

Seeing that this wasn't working, Tu Chengyu wanted to intervene himself. But when he turned his head, he inadvertently saw the Crown Prince giving him a meaningful look. Upon closer inspection, the Crown Prince's meaning was clear: Tu Chengyu was not to get involved.

Trusting the Crown Prince, Tu Chengyu forcefully suppressed his impulsive thoughts.

At this moment, the emperor on the throne spoke: "There is no need to argue. Since there is evidence, present it for the crown prince to identify."

As soon as the emperor finished speaking, a eunuch from the Imperial Street quickly stepped forward, took the brocade pouch from Wang Yingben's hand, opened it, checked that there were no problems inside, and then presented the pouch to the Crown Prince.

The Crown Prince took the pouch, opened it, took out the two items inside, glanced at them casually, and said, "That's right, these two items are indeed mine."

Upon hearing this, the court was immediately in an uproar; the Crown Prince's token was actually genuine.

The Crown Prince ignored the reactions of the court officials and said to himself, "I remember that these two items should be in the Prince An's residence, in my original study. How did they end up in the hands of Imperial Censor Wang?"

Wang Yingben quickly replied, "This was given to me by Imperial Censor Lu. I only dared to contact others after seeing that this item was genuine."

Upon hearing this, the Crown Prince said, "In that case, I should thank you."

Wang Yingben lowered his head and repeatedly said he dared not.

The Crown Prince continued, "I said I hadn't given anyone any tokens, yet you've produced them now. It seems only that dead man, Lu Feiwu, knows the real reason behind this. I'm truly at a loss for words. Lord Xie, you were the one who reported this matter. Tell me, what should I do?"

Xie Xishu said, "In that case, please have His Majesty order a thorough investigation of this case. Then the Crown Prince's innocence will naturally be cleared."

The Crown Prince disagreed, saying, "I am innocent and do not need anyone to vouch for me. As for the tokens you mentioned, they were in my study on the night of the turmoil. After the turmoil, I stayed in the palace and never left, nor did I have time to give these two items to anyone else. Therefore, just find out who entered my study in the Prince An's residence on the morning after the turmoil; that person is the one who took the items."

The Crown Prince's words were reasonable and well-founded, which made him convincing.

The emperor's eyes lit up, and he immediately ordered Xia Shouzhong to send people to the Prince An's residence to thoroughly investigate the matter.

Just then, a eunuch entered through the entrance of the Hall of Supreme Harmony and announced that Dai Quan, the chief steward of the Daming Palace, requested an audience.

At this point, why did the retired emperor send Dai Quan here? Did he think the court wasn't chaotic enough already?

Dai Quan represented the retired emperor, and the emperor could not refuse to see him, so he had to summon him.

After Dai Quan entered and paid his respects, the emperor asked, "Has Chief Eunuch Dai come here because Your Majesty has given instructions?"

Dai Quan said, "Your Majesty, I was not sent by the Emperor Emeritus. Last night, Your Majesty ordered me to investigate the case of Lu Feiwu's suicide. I received the order and dared not neglect it. I worked all night and finally made a discovery. I came here immediately to report to Your Majesty."

The emperor asked in surprise, "What did Chief Steward Dai find out? Tell me quickly."

Dai Quan remained calm and spoke in a steady tone, yet he uttered news that sent shockwaves through the court.

"My investigation has revealed that Imperial Censor Lu Feiwu is not dead."

That one sentence alone sent chills down anyone's spine.

The power struggle in the court today was started by this person, and the reason it remains unresolved is because he is dead, leaving a crucial witness missing.

Now, Dai Quan claims he's still alive, meaning the most crucial witness in the case is in place, and the case is about to be solved. However, for some, this isn't good news.

If the crown prince is lying, this person's arrival will expose his lies, and his position as crown prince may be shaken.

The crown prince is the foundation of the nation. He was only appointed half a day ago. If this happens, the entire court will be in for a headache.

It would be best if the other party lied, so that the loss would only be the censor-in-chief and a few minor officials in green robes, which would not be a big loss.

The emperor, clearly trusting the crown prince, quickly asked, "Is he still alive? Where is he now?"

Dai Quan replied, "Your Majesty, Lu Feiwu is waiting for Your Majesty to summon him outside the Meridian Gate."

The emperor immediately said, "Quickly summon him in."

Dai Quan received the decree, withdrew from the Hall of Supreme Harmony, and went to personally summon Lu Feiwu.

The entire court was silent, everyone waiting for the arrival of Imperial Censor Lu.

Just then, a series of thuds were heard as people fell down in the main hall.

In the silent court, the sound of the fall was so loud that many of the stunned people trembled in shock.

Tu Chengyu was just like that. When he came to his senses, he saw two people, one in front of the other. The one behind him was Wang Yushi, a minor official in green robes. His whole body was shaking like a sieve. He was lying on the ground, struggling to get up, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get up. Even with two people helping him, it was no use.

The previous one was Prince Zhongshun, who surprised Tu Chengyu for the third time today.

At this moment, King Chungshun's face was deathly pale, and large beads of sweat streamed down his face. His body was also trembling slightly, but fortunately, he was not as disheveled as Censor Wang, and he stood up with the help of his nephews.

Tu Chengyu was surprised, thinking to himself, "You were just now so imposing, arguing with the censor. Why are you suddenly like this? Are you unwell or are you starving?"
That shouldn't be the case. I've never heard of Prince Zhongshun having any hidden health problems. Fainting from hunger is also unlikely; Prince Zhongshun is in his prime. How could he possibly faint from hunger in just half a day? Tu Chengyu couldn't figure it out.

The emperor, sitting high on his throne and facing all his officials, naturally had a clearer view and was the first to react.

When Prince Chungshun fell, the emperor realized what was happening. He quickly got up from his throne, walked to the front, and arranged for people to help Prince Chungshun up while also having a chair brought over so that Prince Chungshun could sit and rest.

As for Imperial Censor Wang, who also fainted, the emperor didn't even glance at him from beginning to end. Only two junior officials in green robes who came with him helped him up. In the end, when they saw that he was too weak to be helped up, the two officials stopped caring about him and let him crawl and struggle on the ground by himself.

Two eunuchs quickly brought over a chair, and the Crown Prince personally stepped forward to help Prince Chungshun sit down.

After drinking a few sips of the ginseng tea bestowed by the emperor, Prince Chungshun finally recovered.

The emperor was relieved and asked, "Brother, how are you feeling now? Should we call the imperial physician?"

When Prince Chungshun heard the emperor's question, he struggled to get up to answer. Seeing this, the emperor quickly comforted him, "Brother, there's no need for that. Just sit down and answer."

Prince Zhongshun then sat down, cupped his hands, and replied, "Your Majesty, I have lost my composure."

The emperor waved his hand and said, "It's alright, my brother is family, there's no need to be so polite."

Prince Zhongshun then said, “I don’t know why, but I suddenly feel dizzy and lightheaded, and my body is shaking violently. I’m afraid I won’t be able to continue. I would like to ask Your Majesty to grant me permission to leave court early and go home to recuperate.”

Upon hearing this, the Emperor stood up again and asked anxiously, "It is so serious. Fortunately, my brother is in the palace. The imperial physicians are waiting outside the Hall of Supreme Harmony. I will summon them to diagnose my brother immediately."

After saying this, he loudly ordered the eunuch to summon the imperial physician, but made no mention of letting Prince Chungshun go home.

King Chungshun had no choice but to sit down and sigh.

The conversation between the emperor and the cousin of Prince Zhongshun left not only Tu Chengyu bewildered, but also the old foxes in the court who had always played the role of statues.

What's going on? Just a moment ago, they were cousins ​​fighting side by side, with the royal family working together to protect the crown prince. Now something seems off. Have they fallen out?
Regardless of what others in the court speculated, the emperor simply followed his own plan and arranged for two imperial physicians to treat Prince Zhongshun. A young physician also gave the censor two acupuncture treatments, allowing the seemingly dying official to barely stand up.

After all this commotion, Dai Quan brought in Lu Feiwu, who had seemingly come back from the dead. He was a very young official, and although he looked somewhat listless, he had a very upright appearance.

As this fellow, who had single-handedly disrupted the new emperor's coronation ceremony, cautiously walked in, many veteran officials couldn't help but show expressions of disgust.

After he finished kowtowing, the emperor asked, "Are you Lu Feiwu?"

Lu Feiwu bowed his head and replied, "It is indeed your humble servant."

At this moment, the emperor looked at Xie Xishu and said, "The key witness has arrived. Continue your questioning."

The moment Xie Xishu saw Lu Feiwu, his face turned extremely ugly, and he lost his previous composure. He could only grit his teeth and continue asking questions.

He said to Lu Feiwu, "Several censors, including Wang Yingben, submitted a memorial saying that you obtained a token from the Crown Prince three days ago in the afternoon, intending to use it to connect the Crown Prince with the officials. Is this true?"

Upon hearing this, Lu Feiwu replied without hesitation, "Wang Yingben is lying. The so-called token was not obtained from the Crown Prince. Instead, someone took it from me and forced me to take it, and then instigated me to contact other officials. Imperial Censor Wang was also present at the time."

Xie Xishu turned to Wang Yingben and asked, "Is what Imperial Censor Lu said true?"

Wang Yingben didn't know if he was still recovering from the fall or if he was too afraid to answer. He stammered for a long time without uttering a single word.

Xie Xishu raised his voice in anger and said, "Now that things have come to this, are you still trying to argue? Answer the questions truthfully."

Seeing that he couldn't avoid the question, Wang Yingben could only honestly answer, "What Imperial Censor Lu said is true."

Xie Xishu snorted coldly, then turned to Lu Feiwu and asked, "You said the token was forced on you by someone else. Who forced you to give it to them?"

Lu Feiwu replied, "It is Sun Xiang, the chief steward of the Prince Zhongshun's residence."

This is another answer that sounds unbelievable, but seeing how King Chungshun fell to the ground when he heard that Lu Feiwu was still alive, and how the emperor's attitude towards King Chungshun suddenly changed, we know that this answer must be true.

Who could have imagined that this plot against the Crown Prince was orchestrated by Prince Zhongshun, who has been speaking out in defense of the Crown Prince all day?

Who could have predicted that the emperor, who seemed to be passive at every turn and bullied by his subjects from the very beginning, would ultimately be the victor?

(End of this chapter)