The Succession Struggle in the Dream of the Red Chamber

Chapter 198 Baoyu's Obsession with Lin Daiyu

Although Tu Chengyu was unwilling, he did not show it immediately, but waited for Jia Jing to continue.

Jia Jing, oblivious to his presence, continued:

"Secondly, as I just mentioned, when Your Highness is with the Crown Prince, you should treat him as half a monarch. Only in this way can you barely prevent the Crown Prince from becoming suspicious."

Tu Chengyu was speechless after hearing this.

Only by doing all this could they barely prevent the Crown Prince from becoming suspicious. This shows how little they thought of the Crown Prince, believing him to be someone who doubted everything.

If Jia Jing knew what Tu Chengyu was thinking, he would probably cry foul.

This is not because Jia Jing thought the Crown Prince was a narrow-minded person, but rather a reflection of the history of the struggle for the throne throughout the dynasties.

Let everyone know that in the royal family, no matter how close the relationship, they will fight to the death for the throne.

In short, there is no kinship in the royal family.

In the royal family, a veritable melting pot, you either fight to the death for a chance at anything.

Either you just lie down and let others take whatever they want from you.

The worst thing you can do is try to use family ties to seek wealth and honor in your later years; this is the most risky approach.

But Tu Chengyu has now chosen this path.

Perhaps Jia Jing saw through Tu Chengyu's unreliable choice, which is why he risked offending Tu Chengyu by saying these taboo words.

Although Tu Chengyu disagreed with Jia Jing's suggestion, he didn't say it aloud.

He only addressed the first suggestion, saying, "I am still so young, and I don't want to be a lazy royal prince who does nothing but play all day long."

Upon hearing Tu Chengyu's words, Jia Jing showed no surprise whatsoever.

He asked earnestly, "Does Your Highness intend to go out and do some work?"

Tu Chengyu nodded and said, "I do want to do something, but not to compete for credit or anything like that. It's mainly for the sake of the court and the people. In that case, what should I do?"

Jia Jing didn't know if Tu Chengyu was just spouting slogans or if he genuinely believed it. However, since Tu Chengyu had asked him, he could only analyze it according to Tu Chengyu's explanation.

Jia Jing thought for a moment and said, "If Your Highness only wants to get things done but doesn't want to arouse the Crown Prince's suspicion, I do have some ideas."

Tu Chengyu nodded, signaling Jia Jing to continue.

Upon seeing this, Jia Jing continued, "Your Highness, if you wish to do something in the future, do only practical things and do not seek empty fame. In fact, when necessary, you should even deliberately do things that offend people."

"Are you trying to make me deliberately bear a bad reputation?"

Upon hearing Tu Chengyu's words, Jia Jing assumed that Tu Chengyu did not want to offend anyone and thus bear unnecessary bad reputation.

So he tried his best to persuade him: "Your Highness, you don't need to worry. With your status, even if you offend someone, at most your reputation will be damaged, and no one will dare to look down on you because of it."

But Your Highness, you can use this method to reassure the Crown Prince. Why not do it?

Tu Chengyu realized that Jia Jing had misunderstood him and spoke up to explain:
"I don't disagree with your suggestion, but I'm thinking about how to do it. We can't do all sorts of evil things and end up making myself a villain."

Upon hearing that Tu Chengyu was worried about this issue, Jia Jing quickly replied:
"Your Highness is indeed very thoughtful. However, since Your Highness has considered this point, you will surely be more measured in your actions in the future."

Tu Chengyu strongly agrees with this point.

Even if I don't say that I am an adult at heart, I will definitely have some considerations about whether or not I can do certain things.

Even with someone as cautious as Quan Wenwei around, he wouldn't just stand by and watch Tu Chengyu make a mistake.

Moreover, judging from the current situation, Jia Jing is indeed a useful person.

This old fox has now entrusted the lives of hundreds of people from their two prefectures to him, so naturally he won't let himself take any risks.

Overall, Jia Jing's suggestion is quite feasible.

Moreover, there is an immediate situation that can effectively test this suggestion.

This matter is the task that the Crown Prince has just received: to settle the people who are about to flee.

This task meant that Tu Chengyu and the second son were also assigned by the Emperor to serve under the Crown Prince.

Tu Chengyu could take advantage of this opportunity to practice a method that could get things done without arousing the Crown Prince's suspicion.

However, in order to do things better, Tu Chengyu still told Jia Jing about the matter in detail to see if he had any good suggestions.

Actually, even without Tu Chengyu bringing it up, Jia Jing probably already knew about it.

After all, Jia Zheng, as a court official, participated in the morning court session this morning.

Given the Jia family's current focus on Tu Chengyu, Jia Zheng would definitely inform Jia Jing of such important news.

Sure enough, after Tu Chengyu finished speaking, Jia Jing said:
"I have also heard about this matter. Your Highness's desire to put my suggestion into practice in this matter is indeed a good opportunity."

Your Highness should know that when such disasters occur, they are a devastating catastrophe for ordinary people, but for some, they are a rare opportunity to make a fortune.

Especially in places like the capital, where nobles and officials are numerous and their relationships are complex and intertwined, corruption is most likely to occur.

The Crown Prince and Prince Xing must know about this, but for various reasons, they won't bring it up openly. In fact, they might even turn a blind eye in order to win over their subordinates.

The prince can take this opportunity to subtly punish these corrupt officials. He can then do the dirty work himself and leave the good reputation to the crown prince.

In this way, we can both prevent rampant corruption, help the Crown Prince with the task of resettling the people, and let the Crown Prince know the Prince's thoughts.

Jia Jing sat not far from Tu Chengyu and spoke at a leisurely pace, explaining the whole matter thoroughly.

Based on his own thoughts, Tu Chengyu knew what he should do in resettling the refugees.

However, the thought that the two of them had spent so much time discussing things, only to find out that their goal was to deal with the Crown Prince, made Tu Chengyu less happy.

Seeing Tu Chengyu frowning and remaining silent, Jia Jing didn't know what to say and could only stay silent with Tu Chengyu.

……

While Tu Chengyu and Jia Jing were speechless, Lin Daiyu was also in a dilemma in the garden of the Jia family's backyard.

Lin Daiyu sent Xueyan to find Tu Chengyu because she had something to say to him.

So when she heard that Tu Chengyu had come to the Jia family mansion, she sat in the courtyard, waiting for Tu Chengyu to send someone to summon her.

However, Lin Daiyu waited for a long time but Tu Chengyu did not arrive. She sent Xueyan to inquire and learned that Tu Chengyu was being talked to by his uncles.

Lin Daiyu also knew that their conversation at this time must be about something important.

So she wasn't in a hurry, and even thought she should take this opportunity to see Jia Tanchun, who had returned to the Jia family mansion. After all, the two of them had been playing together for several months, and their relationship was much deeper than that of the people in the Jia family mansion now.

Unfortunately, Jia Tanchun had finally returned from the palace, and with all the elders around to pay their respects, she had no time to play with Lin Daiyu. So in the end, Lin Daiyu was still waiting alone in the courtyard.

If it were just that simple, Daiyu could have stayed put, but at this very moment, someone who gave Daiyu a headache appeared again.

Just as Daiyu was passing the time with a book, Zijuan, the maid who had just been assigned to Daiyu by Grandmother Jia, rushed in from outside the door.

Although Zijuan was a maid who grew up in the Jia family, she had only been assigned to serve Lin Daiyu for a few days.

However, the two of them got along remarkably well, and within a few days, they were as close as sisters.

Zijuan naturally became more relaxed in front of Lin Daiyu.

She rushed in, ignoring Lin Daiyu's surprised expression, and immediately said:

"Miss, something terrible has happened! That little devil is here again!"

The "mischievous devil" being referred to is none other than Jia Baoyu, the precious darling of the Jia family and the apple of the old lady's eye.

The reason Lin Daiyu called Jia Baoyu a "mischievous devil" was because after she came to the Jia family, she heard a series of stories about Jia Baoyu, and after spending the last few days with him, she said it in private when teasing her maid.

Unexpectedly, several maids felt that this nickname was particularly suitable for Jia Baoyu, so they called him that in private.

Upon hearing Tan Chun's words, Lin Daiyu said in surprise, "Isn't he at his maternal grandmother's place, waiting to see San Ya Tou? Why is he here?"

Upon hearing this, Zijuan said, "I don't know what happened either. I was waiting for the Prince's news at the moon gate in the backyard when I turned around and saw Master Bao leading Miss Xiren towards us. It looked like he was coming to our place. I was afraid that we wouldn't know he was coming, so I ran over to tell you."

Upon hearing this, Lin Daiyu's eyebrows almost stood up straight, clearly indicating her dissatisfaction with Jia Baoyu's arrival.

Seeing that Lin Daiyu was frowning and not speaking, Zijuan asked anxiously:

"Girl, what should we do? Should I go and stop him?"

A few days earlier, Zijuan might not have been able to stop Jia Baoyu, but today Prince Su was coming to meet the young lady, and she couldn't let Baoyu ruin today's events if her spelling didn't satisfy the old lady.

Although Lin Daiyu was displeased, she knew she couldn't just keep Jia Baoyu outside like that.

Otherwise, given Jia Baoyu's temperament, he would have made a scene on the spot.

This would not only displease the Dowager Empress, but also put Prince Su in a difficult position.

Thinking of this, Lin Daiyu said to Zijuan:
"There's no need to stop him. If he comes, just welcome him in normally."

Although Zijuan was extremely reluctant for Baoyu to come in at this time, she still obediently went outside the courtyard to greet him.

After Zijuan left, Lin Daiyu frowned even more deeply, feeling utterly helpless.

Although we've only known each other for a few days, I'm already somewhat annoyed by this cousin who's about the same age as me.

From the very first day I arrived here, this cousin started smashing jade and making a scene right in front of me.

Despite being exhausted from the long journey, she came over and kept talking to me.

He kept asking himself if he had read any books, what books he had read, and whether he could compose poems.

Of course, Lin Daiyu also thought that this cousin was an ambitious person who loved reading.

Unexpectedly, in the following days, not only did I not see this cousin go to school, but I also saw him hanging out with his sisters every day.

Later, Daiyu learned from Zijuan that this cousin was someone who didn't like reading the Four Books and Five Classics and didn't study for a career in government.

The books I read were mostly unofficial histories, anecdotes, and strange tales.

However, Lin Daiyu didn't really care whether others were ambitious or what books they liked to read.

After all, she was only visiting relatives and staying temporarily at the Jia family mansion, so she wouldn't concern herself with such trivial matters.

But to Lin Daiyu's surprise, this cousin would come over every day with some idle books and pester her to talk.

Although they are both young, it is not yet time for them to be open and honest with each other.

But it's really annoying when people come to bother you every day without asking if you want to or not.

What bothered Lin Daiyu even more was that when she visited her maternal grandmother yesterday, she casually mentioned the matter.

She had hoped that her maternal grandmother would keep her cousin from bothering her every day.

But the grandmother either didn't understand the meaning behind her words or pretended not to know.

He kept saying, "You are all siblings, you should play together more often to strengthen your bond."

Since the old lady had said that, what could Lin Daiyu do?

She could only hope that her cousin was just curious about her because she was new there, and that he would stop bothering her after a while.

Just as Lin Daiyu was reflecting on the events that had occurred in the Jia family mansion these past few days, she heard Zijuan's voice ring out from outside the courtyard.

"Young Master Bao, Sister Xiren, you've arrived."

Then, after a moment or two, he said again, "The young lady is in the courtyard."

These two sentences were spoken in a slightly higher tone than usual, clearly intentionally done to remind Lin Daiyu, who was inside the courtyard, that she had arrived.

Upon hearing this, Lin Daiyu stood up and turned to look at the door.

As soon as I looked over, three figures appeared at the doorway.

Walking at the very front was naturally Baoyu, followed half a step behind by Xiren, with Zijuan trailing behind.

When the three of them entered, Lin Daiyu first bowed to Baoyu.

After finishing the ceremony, she looked up and saw that Baoyu had a stern face and a drooping mouth, looking somewhat unhappy.

Lin Daiyu wondered who had offended this troublemaker, so that he was still in such a state when it came to her.

So she turned to Xiren beside her and asked, "What's wrong with my cousin?"

With a smile on her face, Xiren said softly, "Miss Lin, there's no need to worry. Second Master is just feeling bored in the old lady's room and came here to relax."

Xi Ren spoke lightly, but judging from Jia Baoyu's expression, Lin Daiyu felt that things were not as simple as they seemed.

However, Lin Daiyu didn't care about these trivial matters and didn't pursue the matter further.

He simply turned to the side, inviting the two of them to sit down, and asked Zijuan to bring over some tea and snacks.

Throughout this process, Jia Baoyu remained silent, still sulking.

(End of this chapter)