The Succession Struggle in the Dream of the Red Chamber

Chapter 193 The Emperor and the Crown Prince Have a Growing Relationship

Even after saying that, Tu Chengyu was still afraid that the old fox, the Prime Minister, would insist on implicating him.

Tu Chengyu immediately added, "Besides, I have just returned from Jiangnan and am quite exhausted. I have no heart to do anything right now."

After Tu Chengyu finished speaking, he looked at the Grand Secretary to see if he had anything else to say.

To Tu Chengyu's surprise, the Grand Secretary merely smiled slightly upon hearing Tu Chengyu's words and said:

"It was precisely because Prince Su had been to Jiangnan and had experience in handling affairs that I recommended him. Now it seems that Prince Su has no intention of getting things done."
"In that case, I retract what I just said. As for the selection, I will leave it to Your Majesty to decide."

The old fox was incredibly slippery; after a feint, he immediately retreated.

However, he brought up the task of accepting disaster-stricken people in the capital.

Moreover, he initially recommended Tu Chengyu, the youngest of the five princes in the court, even though his reasons were quite valid.

However, everyone believed that all five princes could be recommended.

This may be exactly what the old fox wanted to achieve.

Even more problematic was that, whether the emperor didn't understand the Grand Secretary's intentions or was feigning ignorance, he asked at this moment:

"My esteemed ministers, do any of you have anyone to recommend?"

As soon as the emperor finished speaking, Zhao Hanquan, who had originally come out to impeach the Grand Secretary, immediately took advantage of his position outside and said:

"Your Majesty, I have someone I would like to recommend."

"Who is it?" the emperor asked directly.

Zhao Hanquan immediately replied, "Your Majesty, the person I recommend is Prince Xing."

Xing Wang is Tu Chengyu's second brother.

Judging from what happened in the court today, this Zhao Hanquan is a subordinate of the Vice Minister Tang.

Since the second-in-command and the second-in-command are now working together, Zhao Hanquan's recommendation of the second-in-command is not unexpected for Tu Chengyu.

Upon hearing this, the emperor asked, "You recommend Prince Xing, but do you have any reasons for doing so?"

Tu Chengyu felt that today's emperor seemed to be acting somewhat abnormally.

Unlike usual, when faced with the conflict between the Tu Chengyu brothers, he did not make a quick decision and quell their struggle with a few words.

Instead, it's like he's trying to smooth things over. Isn't he afraid that doing so will only make the brothers fight even more fiercely?

Upon hearing that the emperor had not rejected his proposal, Zhao Hanquan immediately said:
"Your Majesty, what I think is exactly what Grand Secretary Shen said. The Crown Prince is the foundation of the country, so how can he easily step forward to do such a thing?"

I agree with what King Su said. King Su is young and probably cannot handle such an important matter well.

Therefore, I thought of His Highness Prince Xing. Firstly, Prince Xing has come of age and it is time for him to step out and take charge.
Secondly, unlike the Crown Prince, Prince Xing was not as busy and was able to devote himself entirely to this matter.

This guy is a master of opportunism.

He could directly use Tu Chengyu and the Prime Minister's words to his own advantage, achieving the effect of using their own words against them.

And this guy was just now fiercely impeaching the Prime Minister, but now he agrees with what the Prime Minister said.

The emperor did not immediately give a decision regarding his words, but instead continued to ask:
"Anyone else would like to recommend someone?"

The second prince's men stepped forward, and naturally, the prince's men, as his rivals, were not to be outdone.

Immediately, someone stepped forward and recommended the Crown Prince.

The reasons he gave were largely the same as those Tu Chengyu used when recommending the crown prince.

Of course, he also had a different perspective.

"Your Majesty, as the Crown Prince, he has very few opportunities to leave the capital to handle official business, so he will not have many opportunities to learn about grassroots government affairs."

Now there is such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that the Crown Prince can access things at the grassroots level without leaving the capital.

For the sake of the Crown Prince, I believe it is best to let him accept this matter.

As for others' concerns, the Crown Prince is busy learning court affairs from His Majesty and has no time to deal with the refugees.

Your Majesty need not worry. With all these civil and military officials here, the Crown Prince only needs to direct us ministers to do our work.

After this person finished speaking, the emperor still did not express his opinion and continued to have others report.

So, in the court that followed, one official after another stepped forward to recommend their chosen candidates.

Because the previous recommendations were all princes, the subsequent recommendations also did not break this pattern, and one after another, they were all princes.

The most recommended candidates are the Crown Prince and the Second Prince, while the Third and Fourth Princes also receive some recommendations.

The strangest thing is that Tu Chengyu, who was nominated the earliest, only had one person recommending him in this round.

And the person who made the recommendation was Jia Zheng, an official with no real influence.

Now, the number of candidates has increased from three to five, which has also led to many arguments among the court officials.

Faced with this situation, the emperor remained calmly seated on his throne, seemingly enjoying the argument.

Finally, when everyone had finished arguing and gradually quieted down, the emperor spoke.

At this point, the emperor still hadn't chosen anyone, but instead said to the crown prince:

"Your Highness, what are your thoughts on this matter?"

Hearing the emperor's words, everyone wanted to know what the crown prince, the person directly involved, would think.

The Crown Prince said, “Your Majesty, I believe that anyone can be in charge. The only thing to consider is how to properly settle the refugees.”

Upon hearing this, the emperor continued, "Is that really what you think?"

The crown prince didn't understand why the emperor would ask such a question. Could it be that his answer was wrong?

However, since the words had already been spoken, and the crown prince believed his answer was correct, he said:
"Your Majesty, that is exactly what I think."

After listening to the answer, he nodded slightly and said:
"Since that's what you think, then I'll leave the matter of resettling the refugees to you."

No one expected that after all the arguing and fighting, they still couldn't reach a conclusion.

In the end, however, the Crown Prince snatched it away with a single, high-sounding remark.

In this light, it seems the emperor ultimately favored the crown prince. As for letting others contend for the crown prince, it was probably because the emperor wanted to see what choices his court officials would make.

The crown prince hadn't expected to get the job so easily, and quickly said:
"Your Majesty, I thank you for your trust. I will do my utmost to settle the refugees."

The emperor said noncommittally, "If you do your job well, I will be watching. Also, the four of you, including the second son, will go with you to do things and run errands for you."

There are only five princes in the court now. The emperor said that the other four should also go, which means that these brothers should work together.

In this way, all the candidates we just recommended are now included.

I don't know if this is the emperor trying to smooth things over, or if he wants to give everyone a chance to learn from this experience.

Anyway, Tu Chengyu felt that getting his brothers together, he didn't know how things would turn out, but the process would definitely be very exciting.

As for the crown prince, he hadn't even had time to rejoice at securing the position when the emperor suddenly pulled this stunt.

This made the crown prince feel that it made no difference whether he won or not. However, the emperor had already made many decisions, and the crown prince had no way to object.

He could only reply, "Your Majesty, I understand. I will make sure my brothers do their jobs well."

Once this matter is settled, all the events that took place in the court today will be resolved.

Then, the emperor summoned several high-ranking officials from the Council of State Affairs, as well as the heads of various ministries, to another place to continue discussing matters, while the rest of the officials returned to their respective offices after court.

After exchanging a few words, Tu Chengyu and his brothers prepared to leave.

Because he had to attend court today, Tu Chengyu got up early. So he planned to go back and catch up on his sleep now.

But before he could leave, the Crown Prince called him back and asked Tu Chengyu to leave the palace with him to discuss matters at the Crown Prince's residence.

Tu Chengyu thought about what happened in the court today, and there were too many things he didn't understand.

In addition, he felt that there were some things he should say to the Crown Prince.

So he didn't refuse and followed the Crown Prince to leave the palace.

Due to palace regulations, the two brothers walked the distance from the Hall of Supreme Harmony to the Meridian Gate.

But before they reached the Meridian Gate, they heard someone shouting behind them:

"Your Highness the Crown Prince, Your Highness the Crown Prince."

Although the sound was soft, it was loud enough for the Tu brothers to hear.

Upon hearing this, the two stopped and turned around, only to see Xia Shouzhong running towards them, panting heavily.

This favorite of the emperor was always calm and composed; he had never seen him like this before.

The fact that he ran over here instead of sending a mere eunuch suggests that he has something important to say.

Upon seeing this, the crown prince quickly took a few steps back.

As for Tu Chengyu, he wisely stood still, not wanting to get involved.

The Crown Prince and Xia Shouzhong met up about four or five zhang away from Tu Chengyu.

Out of the corner of his eye, Tu Chengyu saw Xia Shouzhong take something out of his sleeve and hand it to the Crown Prince.

The prince took the item, asked a couple of questions, and then put it into his sleeve.

At this moment, some of the officials who had just finished court had not gone far, and even the second prince had just reached the side gate next to the Meridian Gate.

They all witnessed Xia Shouzhong secretly passing something to the Crown Prince. At that moment, everyone was probably just like Tu Chengyu, desperately trying to guess what it was.

The prince took the things, turned around, and walked back.

When he reached Tu Chengyu, he simply said, "Let's go."

Since the Crown Prince didn't want to say what Xia Shouzhong had given him, Tu Chengyu didn't ask.

Upon seeing this, the officials, who had been looking on with curiosity, all quickened their pace and left.

Tu Chengyu followed the Crown Prince out of the palace and then returned to the Crown Prince's residence together.

Returning to the study where we met yesterday, I stepped inside.

The Crown Prince closed the study door and then took out a square, yellow-wrapped object from his sleeve. This must be what Xia Shouzhong had just given him.

Seeing the Crown Prince's actions, Tu Chengyu realized that the Crown Prince didn't want him to know, but rather he didn't want the curious officials to know.

Therefore, Tu Chengyu stopped worrying and asked directly, "Big brother, what is this?"

Upon hearing this, the Crown Prince said, "Xia Shouzhong said that this is a book that Father Emperor asked him to deliver to us?"

"A book?" Tu Chengyu was filled with doubt.

Why would the Emperor send a book to the Crown Prince at this time? Did the Emperor feel that the Crown Prince was not well-read?
Or is there some other meaning behind it?

So Tu Chengyu then asked, "What book did Father Emperor give you?"

Different books can have very different meanings.

Upon hearing this, the Crown Prince shook his head and said, "Xia Shouzhong said he didn't know either, and told me to open it and see for myself."

After saying that, the prince quickly unwrapped the yellow cloth covering the outside, revealing the books inside.

The books consist of only two thin volumes, and are not rare or unusual copies; they are just two very common books.

One copy of Mencius, one copy of Xunzi.

These are all common books in the study, and books that the Crown Prince had already read long ago.

Tu Chengyu estimated that these two books must also exist in the Crown Prince's residence.

So why did the emperor send these two books to the crown prince?

Tu Chengyu couldn't figure out the reason for a moment, and judging from the Crown Prince's expression, he seemed a little confused as well.

Tu Chengyu didn't understand what was wrong with the Emperor, even though in Tu Chengyu's mind, his father was a cunning person.

However, when it comes to their children, they generally speak their minds and punish them without hesitation if they do something wrong.

How did things turn out like this? Why can't he just say things properly instead of resorting to this method that makes people guess what he's thinking?

After thinking for a while, Tu Chengyu asked the Crown Prince, "Brother, what do you think Father meant by sending these two books over?"

The crown prince shook his head and said, "I'm also completely confused. Maybe my father thinks I haven't been reading enough lately and wants me to read more."

If that were truly the case, the Emperor would have said it outright, unlike today where he wrapped the book up and had Xia Shouzhong deliver it privately.

There must be a deeper meaning behind this, and judging from the timing of the book delivery, it is very likely related to what happened in the court today.

Upon thinking of this, Tu Chengyu immediately realized that the emperor in court today seemed different from before.

Tu Chengyu clearly sensed that the emperor was no longer as biased towards the crown prince as before.

Moreover, the question posed to the Crown Prince at the end seemed to be a warning to him.

Thinking of this, Tu Chengyu asked cautiously, "Brother, during the time I was away from the capital, did you do anything that displeased Father?"

Upon hearing this, the Crown Prince turned his head sharply, his brows furrowed as he looked at Tu Chengyu with a serious expression on his face.

Just as Tu Chengyu thought he had asked the wrong question and was about to explain,

The Crown Prince said in a deep voice, "You noticed it too?"

Tu Chengyu nodded. Seeing this, the Crown Prince's serious expression turned dejected, and he sighed and said:
"After you returned to the capital, you only saw Father Emperor in court today. You noticed it in such a short time. It seems that Father Emperor is really dissatisfied with me."

This statement reveals that the Crown Prince had already discovered the situation, but he was still not certain.

This suggests that the Crown Prince has not yet figured out what he did that displeased the Emperor.

This is the worst-case scenario.

(End of this chapter)