The Succession Struggle in the Dream of the Red Chamber

Chapter 197 Is there no kinship left in the royal family?
That bastard Geng Huchen has caused so much trouble in such a short time.

The Crown Prince did not take immediate action, and for some unknown reason, the Emperor did not help the Crown Prince either.

One of them may have been kept in the dark, while the other may have had other concerns.

However, what angered Tu Chengyu was that the Marquis of Changping and his family remained unmoved.

It's said that Old Master Geng was a good manager of his household and a good father, so how could he be so irresponsible towards his grandson?

Or perhaps it's because the Geng family thinks that now that they've latched onto the Crown Prince, they can stop being so cautious, act recklessly, and do whatever they want just because of the Crown Prince's name.

Aren't they afraid that their reckless actions will cause trouble for the Crown Prince?

You have to understand, the Crown Prince is still just the Crown Prince, and he has two huge mountains weighing on his head.

If things go wrong, even the crown prince might lose his position.

The Geng family and the Crown Prince are bound by marriage; their fates are intertwined. How could they cause trouble for the Crown Prince like this?

Therefore, Tu Chengyu asked angrily, "After the incident, why didn't Lord Geng come out to discipline his grandson?"

Now, Jia Jing's face was full of surprise, and he asked uncertainly:

"Your Highness, when you were in Jiangnan, did you not pay any attention to news from the capital?"

When Jia Jing suddenly asked him this question, Tu Chengyu didn't know how to answer for a moment.

When he was in Jiangnan, he indeed did not keep track of news from the capital.

At the time, Tu Chengyu had no idea that such a big change would happen in the capital and so many things would happen in the six months he was away from Beijing.

Moreover, he spent most of his trip to Jiangnan traveling by boat, and since he did not want to contact local officials along the way, he had no way to receive news from the capital.

Furthermore, he believed that with his current status as a prince, even if he paid attention to news from the capital, it wouldn't be of much use.

Therefore, he did not deliberately inquire about news from the capital.

The few bits of information he initially knew came from conversations with Lin Ruhai after he arrived in Jiangnan.

Thinking of all this, Tu Chengyu said to Jia Jing, "I have indeed not been concerned about the news from the capital, but what does that have to do with the questions I asked?"

Jia Jing said with a sense of helplessness, "Your Highness, Marquis Geng of Chengping passed away three months ago."

Tu Chengyu wondered what was going on, but he never expected it to be like this.

It's understandable that Tu Chengyu was unaware of his passing at this point in time.

According to the timeline, when the news of Lord Geng's death reached Jiangnan, Tu Chengyu was on his way back by boat, so of course he wouldn't have heard it.

At the same time, Tu Chengyu also realized that it wasn't the Geng family that had become arrogant after marrying the Crown Prince.

Rather, it was because the strict and disciplined Lord Geng had passed away. Without him to keep order at home, these unworthy descendants of the Geng family started to make a fool of themselves.

This made Tu Chengyu even more worried about the Crown Prince.

It's only been a short time since Lord Geng passed away, and the Geng family has already stirred up such a big trouble.

If this continues, they don't know what kind of trouble they'll cause.

Tu Chengyu suddenly realized that simply dealing with these matters might not be very effective.

To help the Crown Prince resolve all his troubles once and for all, we must address the root of the problem.

Otherwise, the Geng family will become like my troublemaking uncle, who will cause a lot of trouble again at any time.

Who knows how badly the Crown Prince will be dragged down by them in the future?

However, before taking any action, Tu Chengyu felt that he should investigate the matter himself.

Although Jia Jing's words didn't seem untrue, it was a matter concerning the Crown Prince, so caution was advised.

Thinking of this, Tu Chengyu asked, "Now that the old Marquis is gone, who is in charge of the Geng family now?"

Jia Jing said, "Your Highness, it is Geng Jiashan, the Crown Princess's biological father. Because of the Crown Prince, His Majesty specially decreed that the title of Marquis of Changping was not downgraded and he is still the Marquis of Changping."

From this perspective, the Emperor still takes good care of the Crown Prince.

Generally speaking, all noble titles in the dynasty will not be demoted unless specifically permitted by the reigning emperor.

The other titles were inherited one rank lower with each generation, retaining only the social standing at the time of the title conferment.

In other words, many so-called noble families, despite their prestigious lineage, may actually only hold the title of a general.

This is the current situation of the two Jia family mansions.

One advantage of this is that in the later stages of a dynasty, there won't be so many powerful noble families who need the court to support them.

Moreover, many nobles would desperately accumulate merits in order to keep their titles from being demoted.

Every advantage has its disadvantages.

Continuously demoting the titles of nobles would cause some noble families to become alienated from the royal family, or simply give up and become useless.

The most troublesome thing is that some people who want to keep their titles but don't want to accumulate merits at the border will try every means to take shortcuts.

And the most effective way for them to achieve this was through meritorious service.

Therefore, from the beginning of the dynasty to the present, the involvement of nobles can be seen in every succession to the throne.

Last year, the former crown prince rebelled, and many nobles were implicated, including almost half of the eight great dukes.

If the Jia family hadn't finally come to their senses and fled beforehand, their two mansions might not even exist today.

All of these things flashed through Tu Chengyu's mind.

His thoughts returned to the topic he had just discussed.

"So, this Geng Huchen is the son of the current Marquis of Changping?"

Jia Jing nodded and said, "He is the eldest son of the Marquis of Changping and also the elder brother of the Crown Princess."

Tu Chengyu knew that the Crown Princess was the eldest daughter of the Geng family, so Geng Huchen should be the eldest son and grandson of the Geng family.

For someone of such status to do such a thing, it seems that the upbringing of the Marquis of Changping may not be as good as rumored.

Tu Chengyu didn't know whether the problem lay with the deceased old Marquis or with the current Marquis of Changping.

Tu Chengyu hopes it's the former, but based on past experience, it's more likely to be the latter.

So Tu Chengyu tentatively asked, "Now that Geng Jiashan is in charge, his son is ruining the Crown Prince's reputation outside, and he remains indifferent?"

Jia Jing said, "I have no idea about that. Perhaps it's because the old Marquis has passed away and the Geng family is busy with his funeral arrangements, so they don't have time to pay attention to Geng Huchen."

That makes it quite possible.

Geng Huchen may have run away and acted recklessly because he was unsupervised at home.

If that's the case, after Tu Chengyu investigates and reports to the Crown Prince, he should also find an opportunity to go to the Geng family and give them a warning, so that they will be more careful in restraining this scoundrel.

Having made up his mind, Tu Chengyu said to Jia Jing:

"I will investigate Geng Huchen's matter, but you must also send someone to keep an eye on him to prevent him from doing anything outrageous again." "Your Highness, rest assured, I will have Jia Rong personally keep an eye on this matter."

Jia Jing's willingness to have his own grandson do this showed that he took the matter seriously. Tu Chengyu was quite satisfied after hearing this.

That concludes the discussion of this matter.

Next, Jia Jing gave Tu Chengyu a brief account of the other events that had occurred in the capital.

Although there were some things among these that Tu Chengyu should pay attention to, he didn't take the Crown Prince's matter to heart because it was in his way.

He simply asked Jia Jing to keep an eye out for him and to send someone to inform him as soon as there was any news.

Although neither of them explicitly stated anything during today's meeting.

But everyone knew in their hearts that the Jia family had completely sided with Tu Chengyu.

Actually, the Jia family had been doing this for a long time.

However, Tu Chengyu hadn't thought it through before, and neither of them had made it clear to each other.

However, after a series of events, Jia Jing took the initiative to provide information to Tu Chengyu today.

Tu Chengyu felt that it was actually quite good to have someone like that doing things for him outside.

Therefore, Tu Chengyu's willingness to ask Jia Jing to do things for him means that he has accepted their offer.

Jia Jing understood Tu Chengyu's meaning, so after the conversation ended, he disregarded the taboo and said some things to Tu Chengyu that he wouldn't normally say.

"Your Highness, what I am about to say may be unpleasant to hear, but please listen carefully. From now on, when you are facing the Crown Prince, you cannot be as casual as before."

Tu Chengyu found the words somewhat familiar, and after thinking about it carefully, he remembered that Quan Wenwei seemed to have said something similar to him before.

Quan Wenwei meant that although the crown prince was the elder brother, he was also half a monarch.

When facing someone, we should show them more respect. Presumably, that's what Jia Jing meant.

While this statement may seem to have a hidden meaning in sowing discord within the royal family, it also reveals their concern for them.

Tu Chengyu did not stop Quan Wenwei from speaking at the time, nor did he blame him afterwards.

So when Jia Jing said the same thing today, Tu Chengyu naturally had no reason to stop him.

However, since he knew what Jia Jing was going to say, Tu Chengyu didn't interrupt and waited quietly for him to continue.

After Jia Jing saw that Tu Chengyu sat there without saying a word after he said those words, Jia Jing realized that Tu Chengyu was sitting there without saying a word.

I felt a little uneasy, but since I had already said it, it was too late to back down now.

So Jia Jing steeled himself and, regardless of Tu Chengyu's attitude, continued the previous topic.

"Your Highness should be well aware that the Crown Prince's status is extraordinary, and he will become the ruler of the country in the future. Therefore, Your Highness should not be too casual when interacting with the Crown Prince, otherwise, if you get used to it, you might make a mistake at any time."

Sure enough, what Jia Jing said was almost identical to what Quan Wenwei had said.

This shows that everyone believed that one should be careful when dealing with the Crown Prince.

Tu Chengyu used to care about this, assuming that because of his special relationship with the Crown Prince, even if he was casual with the Crown Prince, the things they were worried about wouldn't happen.

However, upon returning from Jiangnan this time, Tu Chengyu discovered that the Crown Prince had undergone such a significant change in just six months.

Therefore, Tu Chengyu was not entirely confident that the Crown Prince would be as close to him as before.

Therefore, Jia Jing's reminder at this time was quite timely.

Although he agreed with Jia Jing's view, Tu Chengyu did not express his approval.

Faced with this situation, Jia Jing could only bite the bullet and continue speaking:
"Your Highness and the Crown Prince are siblings from the same mother. In the past, the Crown Prince would have relied heavily on Your Highness. But now, Prince Xing has emerged and is clearly vying for the throne with the Crown Prince."

Under such circumstances, the Crown Prince will inevitably be wary of all the princes, especially Your Highness. You must know that in this world, Your Highness is far more qualified than Prince Xing to contend for the throne.

The first part of Jia Jing's words was the same as what Quan Wenwei had said, which Tu Chengyu had also anticipated.

However, what happened next caught Tu Chengyu somewhat off guard.

Previously, Tu Chengyu had always believed that his relationship with the Crown Prince would not threaten the Crown Prince's position at all.

He reasoned that he and the Crown Prince were on equal footing in every respect.

The crown prince was older than him and also held the title of crown prince.

In this situation, no one would abandon their legitimate status as the Crown Prince to support Tu Chengyu, the Prince.

Therefore, as long as the Crown Prince himself does not make any mistakes, and Tu Chengyu does not have the intention to seize the throne, he will never have a chance.

This was what Tu Chengyu used to believe.

But as luck would have it, the crown prince made a mistake at that very moment.

The second son also saw this opportunity and jumped out to compete for it.

In this way, even if Tu Chengyu himself did not have the intention of seizing the throne.

But what the Crown Prince is thinking is anyone's guess.

After all, legally speaking, Tu Chengyu is the second in line to the throne.

If something happens to the crown prince, he will be the most likely successor.

Given this situation, it's highly unlikely that you could prevent the Crown Prince from being on guard against Tu Chengyu.

Thinking about this, Tu Chengyu already understood that his relationship with the Crown Prince would definitely not be as harmonious as it was now.

Deep down, Tu Chengyu never intended to compete with the Crown Prince for the throne.

They had no intention of competing with the Crown Prince in the future.

Therefore, Tu Chengyu could only try to prevent his relationship with the Crown Prince from deteriorating.

So he asked Jia Jing, "Do you have any way to let the Crown Prince know that I have no intention of competing with him for the mansion?"

Jia Jing asked, "Is Your Highness trying to show the Crown Prince that you are not going to focus your attention on him?"

Hearing this, Tu Chengyu knew that Jia Jing had misunderstood, so he said:

"I have no intention of competing with you, so there is no need to deceive the Crown Prince. It is enough to let the Crown Prince know my true feelings."

Whether Jia Jing understood Tu Chengyu's meaning or not, after Tu Chengyu finished speaking, he replied without thinking:

"If you want the Crown Prince to understand that the Prince has no intention of seizing the throne, you only need to do two things."

Firstly, he would not form factions in court, nor would he concern himself with court affairs. He would only aspire to be a carefree prince, and in this way, the crown prince would understand the prince's intentions.

The first point Jia Jing made made Tu Chengyu somewhat unwilling.

Back in Jiangnan, Tu Chengyu was focused on using his identity as a transmigrator to do as much as possible.

What's the point of just pretending to be dead and not doing anything?

(End of this chapter)