The Succession Struggle in the Dream of the Red Chamber

Chapter 191 Father and Son Team Up to Scam the Prime Minister

At this point, the Prime Minister's face no longer showed the anger and gloom that had preceded him.

His facial expression returned to calm.

Come to think of it, he's about to step down from his position as Grand Secretary, so there's no need to worry about many things.

Especially regarding today's impeachment, there's no need to bother with it anymore.

Moreover, the two people who impeached him fell silent after hearing that the Prime Minister had indeed offered his resignation, clearly indicating that they did not want to pursue the matter any further.

Furthermore, today in court, the emperor seemed to be subtly favoring the chief minister.

Given all these factors, the Grand Secretary's resignation should proceed smoothly.

Perhaps having considered these things, the Grand Secretary, now free of burdens, showed only gratitude in the face of the Emperor's praise.

He said to the emperor, "Your Majesty, this old minister is too old and frail to help you with your worries."

However, before I depart, this old minister has something to report to Your Majesty, and I humbly request Your Majesty's permission to do so.

According to the rules of the imperial court, every senior official who was about to leave office would submit a final memorial to the emperor before departing.

This memorial is generally the old minister's final advice to the emperor, and it may also be his true feelings.

If the Grand Secretary's departure was a normal one, he would naturally have had time to write such a memorial.

But today's events happened suddenly, and the Grand Secretary's resignation also happened suddenly; he simply didn't have time to write a memorial.

What he is about to say is likely his last piece of advice.

How could the emperor possibly refuse such a request?

He quickly said, "Minister Shen, if you have anything you wish to say to me, please speak freely."

The Grand Secretary said, "Your Majesty, this old minister would like to say that the important affairs of the court are under Your Majesty's overall leadership, with the court officials assisting you."

Therefore, matters of the court should not be neglected because of certain individuals, nor should the departure of veteran officials delay the decision-making of the government.

"Your Majesty should make a decision regarding the imperial envoy for disaster relief as soon as possible."

Upon hearing his words, Tu Chengyu couldn't help but sigh, "As the saying goes, a person's words are always kind when they are about to pass away."

The departing prime minister had abandoned partisan strife and was only concerned with matters of state.

Upon hearing this, the emperor sighed deeply, as if the matter of the imperial envoy had put him in a very difficult position.

The emperor said, "Minister Shen is quite right. I should prioritize state affairs."
However, the selection of the imperial envoy for disaster relief has not been finalized in the past few days, and I am uncertain about the outcome.

"Since that's the case, why not take advantage of the fact that Minister Shen is still in court and help me finalize this selection?"

The departure of the chief minister is very good news for the deputy chief minister's side.

Because of this, not only did the Second Grand Secretary Tang have no one above him in the court.

Moreover, without the Grand Secretary's pressure in the selection of the next imperial envoy, Lord Tang's side will have an absolute advantage.

Tu Chengyu could sense that some people in the court couldn't help but smile.

However, this situation has now been pushed back into uncertainty by a single sentence from the emperor.

Why did the emperor allow the Grand Secretary to participate in subsequent matters even when the Grand Secretary clearly stated his intention to resign?

The reason seems obvious: the emperor did not want the deputy prime minister to be appointed as an imperial envoy.

That's why they dragged in the prime minister, who was about to leave, to disrupt things.

Whether out of a desire to avoid discouragement or to distance himself from further trouble, the Grand Secretary, upon hearing the Emperor's words, replied directly:

"Your Majesty, how can an old minister who is about to leave still be involved in court affairs?"

The emperor shook his head and said, "Until I agree to let Minister Shen leave, you will still be the Grand Secretary, and of course you have the right to participate in court affairs."

After saying this, the emperor, as if remembering something, chuckled and said:
"Minister Shen, if you don't help me decide on the imperial envoy today, I won't let you leave."

Although the emperor said this in a joking tone, his intention to ask the chief minister for help was quite clear.

Since the emperor has said so, the chief minister certainly cannot refuse any longer.

"Since Your Majesty has said so, this old minister will help Your Majesty with this last matter. However, this old minister must make it clear first..."
This old minister has no suitable candidates in his pocket, so I can only offer some advice to Your Majesty.

The Grand Secretary's words indicated that he did not want to get too involved and would only say a few words in accordance with the Emperor's wishes when the candidates were selected.

If that's the case, then the Grand Secretary's influence on the selection of imperial envoys is not as great as one might imagine.

Faced with this situation, the emperor seemed quite satisfied and directly addressed the court officials:

"You can tell me who you want to recommend now."

As soon as the emperor finished speaking, a figure stepped forward from among the court officials.

This person probably prepared their words in advance, and as soon as they came out, they announced the person they were recommending and listed many reasons.

It made it sound as if the person he recommended was exceptionally outstanding, and that it would be a loss for the court if the emperor did not choose him.

However, usually, the candidates initially nominated are just cannon fodder.

It's usually the brick used to start a conversation.

Sure enough, as soon as the person who came out to recommend the candidate finished speaking, before the emperor could even open his mouth, someone impatiently rushed out and overturned the first candidate.

With this brick, there will be more jade stones later on.

The list of candidates then came from different people and reached everyone's ears.

Moreover, the higher the rank of the recommended person, the higher the status of the recommended person became, with some recommended candidates reaching the rank of vice minister.

However, faced with so many candidates, the emperor did not approve of any of them.

Even the candidate approved by the Grand Secretary was rejected by the Emperor with some reason.

With the emperor's repeated rejections, everyone vaguely sensed that the emperor must already have someone in mind, but no one spoke of this person.

Upon realizing this, those courtiers who still wanted to make recommendations unconsciously stopped in their tracks, and no one spoke up anymore.

However, everyone's gazes were subtly drawn to the newly appointed Imperial Censor Zhang Henian.

Because Zhang Henian came from the Prince An's family, he was the emperor's absolute confidant among all the ministers in the court.

If the emperor has someone in mind but is not comfortable saying it aloud, he will usually instruct a trusted minister to bring it up in court beforehand.

At this point, everyone knew who the emperor had chosen and how to deal with the situation.

But after everyone stared at him for a long time, Zhang Henian remained unmoved and didn't even have the idea of ​​standing up.

Not only did he remain unmoved, but none of the other newly promoted ministers of the emperor stepped forward either.

What's going on? Did the emperor not tell his confidants his thoughts?

Tu Chengyu initially thought the same thing, and like everyone else, he kept his eyes on Zhang Henian.

However, when he saw that Zhang Henian remained silent, he knew that his father must have made different arrangements. So Tu Chengyu subconsciously turned around to look at the emperor on the throne, and what he saw made him discover something amusing.

While everyone was speculating who would speak up for the emperor, the emperor himself was exchanging glances with the chief minister.

That's not quite accurate. It should be that the emperor was staring at the chief minister, while the chief minister was avoiding the emperor's gaze.

Tu Chengyu was curious. What were these two, the emperor and his minister, up to at such a crucial moment?
Perhaps it was Tu Chengyu's gaze that was too unrestrained, which made the emperor feel it.

Then, the Emperor suddenly turned around and made eye contact with Tu Chengyu.

Tu Chengyu was very embarrassed to be seen being so presumptuous by the Emperor again.

He just wanted to lower his head quickly to avoid the emperor's gaze.

But just as Tu Chengyu was about to lower his head, the emperor gently winked at him and nodded slightly.

The direction he nodded was clearly pointing towards the Prime Minister.

Seeing the emperor's coded gesture, Tu Chengyu was momentarily stunned.

It wasn't that Tu Chengyu didn't understand the emperor's meaning, but rather that he hadn't expected the emperor to make such a move in the imperial court.

This gesture was a secret signal between Tu Chengyu and his father when they were still at the Prince An's residence.

Usually, it's Prince An who wants someone next to him to speak, but he himself can't say it.

At this point, Prince An would give Tu Chengyu this coded signal, asking Tu Chengyu to mention this person for him, or, depending on the situation, directly ask that person a question.

Now Prince An is using this code once again, his target being Grand Secretary Shen, who is hiding from the Emperor and remaining silent.

The emperor's meaning was clear: he wanted Tu Chengyu to help him get the chief minister to speak, or to ask the chief minister questions directly.

However, at this moment, Tu Chengyu didn't know how to get the Grand Secretary to speak, nor did he know what questions to ask to satisfy the Emperor.

Tu Chengyu thought for a long time, but still had no clue. He couldn't help but look at the Emperor again.

Perhaps sensing Tu Chengyu's confusion, the Emperor kept gesturing to the Grand Secretary.

Seeing the Emperor's eyes darting around several times, Tu Chengyu suddenly had a premonition and realized something.

Although the answer that Tu Chengyu came up with in a flash of inspiration was somewhat absurd, he felt that this was the answer the Emperor wanted.

Thus, in the tranquil Hall of Supreme Harmony, Tu Chengyu spoke for the first time that day.

"Your Majesty, I have something to say."

Although Tu Chengyu spoke out, it was at the Emperor's suggestion.

But at this moment, the emperor still pretended not to know and said with a stern face:
"The entire court is discussing the selection of the imperial envoy, what are you doing here causing trouble?"

Upon hearing this, Tu Chengyu couldn't help but roll his eyes inwardly.

He thought to himself, 'Didn't you tell me to come out? How come we've run into each other now?'

However, since the person above was his own father, Tu Chengyu had no choice but to accept it, even if he had his own thoughts.

He sighed softly and said, "Your Majesty, I am not trying to cause trouble. I simply wish to recommend a candidate who is a close envoy."

Upon hearing this, all the officials' eyes turned to Tu Chengyu.

Everyone was probably thinking, 'The person who stood up for the emperor wasn't a trusted minister, but Prince Su, who suddenly appeared at the court assembly.'

The court officials were unaware of the situation in the palace and had no idea that Tu Chengyu had not seen the emperor at all during the many days since his return, let alone relayed any messages on his behalf.

Based solely on what they saw, they speculated that the emperor had arranged for Tu Chengyu to do this long ago.

It wasn't just the ministers in the court who had this idea; even Tu Chengyu's own brothers probably shared the same thought.

The group of them were all looking at Tu Chengyu with inquisitive expressions.

The Crown Prince, in particular, looked at Tu Chengyu with a mixture of doubt and confusion, as if asking, "Why didn't you mention this yesterday?"

Of all the officials in the court, only the emperor was satisfied with Tu Chengyu's words.

He asked, "You also have someone to recommend? Then tell me who you recommended. If you recommend someone randomly, I won't let you off easily."

Hearing this, Tu Chengyu hesitated. He wasn't so sure about the person he was going to recommend.

However, now that he has stepped forward, it won't be so easy for him to back down.

Now, Tu Chengyu has no choice but to bite the bullet and speak his mind.

"Your Majesty, the person I recommend is none other than Grand Secretary Shen."

These words caused another uproar in the room.

Everyone found it utterly absurd; how could the Prime Minister, a man of such stature, do such a thing? Even though this Prime Minister was about to leave office.

Tu Chengyu paid no attention to the commotion. His eyes were fixed solely on the emperor.

He wanted to see if his father was satisfied with the answer he gave.

Then, Tu Chengyu saw that the moment he uttered the title of Grand Secretary, he clearly saw a slight smile appear on the Emperor's lips.

Clearly, Tu Chengyu had once again guessed his father's thoughts and given the answer the emperor most wanted to hear.

While Tu Chengyu was observing the Emperor, he didn't see that the Grand Secretary, Sisi, was staring at him.

If Tu Chengyu turned around at that moment, he would see the Prime Minister's face filled with rage.

He could also see that in the Prime Minister's eyes there was no surprise or incomprehension, only anger at being tricked.

Amidst this strange atmosphere in the court, the emperor spoke once again, asking:
"Tell me, why did you recommend the Grand Secretary for this imperial envoy?"

The emperor's words seemed ordinary, but they evoked different emotions in the hearts of the court officials.

This was the first person the emperor did not directly reject among all the recommended candidates today, but instead inquired about the reasons.

This makes people wonder if the emperor's choice for the imperial envoy is the Grand Secretary.

However, the Grand Secretary is the head of all officials. How could the emperor allow the Grand Secretary to put aside state affairs and become an imperial envoy for disaster relief?

Some might think that this was because the Grand Secretary was about to leave office, and the Emperor wanted to let the veteran minister contribute his remaining energy before leaving the court.

However, the departure of the Grand Secretary was a sudden event that occurred in the court today, and the Emperor could not have known in advance.

So how could the emperor have arranged for Prince Su to step forward and propose to become the chief minister at this time?

Was it the emperor's foresight, or was it a last-minute decision by the father and son?

This bizarre situation makes one wonder.

Tu Chengyu was in a dilemma. He had recommended the Grand Secretary because he had guessed the Emperor's thoughts. Now that he was asked to explain his reasons, he didn't know where to begin.

After thinking for a long time, I had no choice but to make it up on the spot.

(End of this chapter)