The Succession Struggle in the Dream of the Red Chamber

Chapter 208 Returning to the Palace and Seeing the Emperor Again

The fourth prince had no intention of getting involved in matters concerning the crown prince.

Now that Tu Chengyu has taken on all the responsibilities, the fourth brother naturally has nothing to say.

He readily agreed to whatever Tu Chengyu said.

And so, the two brothers reached an agreement on this matter.

Then the two brothers said a few more words, and then came out of the empty room as if nothing had happened, and casually joined the others.

The others saw that Tu Chengyu and his companion had disappeared for a while before reappearing in front of them.

I assumed they had gone to visit other places and didn't pay much attention.

Only Geng Chunhu and Shen Ye, who were by the Crown Prince's side, glanced at Tu Chengyu several times, seemingly casually.

Although Tu Chengyu noticed something, he didn't care at all and followed the group to visit several places.

Everyone had a great time playing together for most of the day, and then Tu Chengyu led the group of little ones who were so engrossed in their fun back to the palace.

Because he was eager to report to the Emperor what he had discovered in the Fourth Prince's courtyard that day.

After returning to the palace and seeing off the young prince and the others, Tu Chengyu did not go back to his own courtyard, but instead took Xiao Xuanzi to the Imperial Study.

When Tu Chengyu arrived, the emperor was summoning his officials, so he sat in the duty room outside the imperial study and waited, intending to request an audience later.

However, Xia Shouzhong, who was standing at the door of the Imperial Study, had sharp eyes and was able to spot Tu Chengyu's arrival immediately while observing the situation in the Imperial Study.

Just as Tu Chengyu entered the duty room, Xia Shouzhong came running over, beaming, and said:
"Your Highness, are you requesting an audience with His Majesty?"

Having come here, Tu Chengyu naturally did so for the Emperor, and nodded in response.

Upon seeing this, Xia Shouzhong quickly said, "Your Highness, shall I go in and inform them now?"

Tu Chengyu shook his head and said, "Since Father is summoning court officials, let's not go in and disturb him."

Xia Shouzhong also asked a question, and when he heard that Tu Chengyu was not in a hurry to come in, he readily agreed.

"In that case, Your Highness may rest here for a while. I will report to His Majesty after he has finished meeting with the ministers."

Tu Chengyu waved his hand and said, "Okay, go ahead and get busy."

After listening, Xia Shouzhong took his leave and returned to his seat to await the emperor's orders.

Tu Chengyu waited in the duty room for about fifteen minutes when the door to the Imperial Study opened, and an official in a red robe walked out with his head down.

Then Xia Shouzhong ran into the Imperial Study in a few steps.

In the imperial study, the emperor was frowning and deep in thought. After Xia Shouzhong entered, he whispered:
"Your Majesty, Prince Su requests an audience."

The Emperor was preoccupied with his thoughts and didn't hear clearly at first, so he subconsciously asked:

"Who?"

Xia Shouzhong: "Your Majesty, it is Prince Su."

The Emperor then heard clearly and asked, "Weren't they supposed to be having a feast at the Fourth Prince's house today? Why are they here?"

Xia Shouzhong replied, "This servant doesn't know either; I guess he just returned from Prince Yi's residence."

After hearing this, the Emperor thought to himself, "He just returned from outside the palace and came here to request an audience. Could it be that something's wrong?"

He then asked, "What do you think of Prince Su? Did he say what it was about?"

Xia Shouzhong knew that the Emperor was probably worried about Prince Su, so he replied:
"Your Majesty, Prince Su didn't say what it was about, and he didn't seem to be in a hurry."

Hearing this, the emperor was relieved and said, "Then let him in."

After hearing the instructions, Xia Shouzhong turned around and left the Imperial Study, heading to the duty room.

"Your Highness, His Majesty summons you."

Tu Chengyu stood up, walked out of the duty room, and asked the departing official:
"Chief Steward Xia, how is Father Emperor's mood?"

Xia Shouzhong, who had been obediently following Tu Chengyu, was stunned when he suddenly heard this.

Since he came to the palace with the Emperor, he has never heard of anyone daring to inquire about the Emperor's banquets at the entrance of the Imperial Study.

Meeting Prince Su today has certainly broadened my horizons.

Seeing Xia Shouzhong's expression, Tu Chengyu said, "Steward Xia, what's wrong? Why are you spacing out?"

Xia Shouzhong snapped out of his daze and quickly replied:
"Your Highness, why would you ask that?"

Tu Chengyu then said, "I saw that the official who just went out looked dejected. I'm afraid he might have displeased the Emperor. If that's the case, it might not be appropriate for me to go in."

After listening, Xia Shouzhong realized that Prince Su was worried that the emperor was in a bad mood and would take his anger out on him.

Thinking of this, Xia Shouzhong found it somewhat amusing and said:
"This servant observes that His Majesty is in a good mood."

In the short time it took the two of them to exchange a few words, they arrived at the door of the Imperial Study.

Xia Shouzhong pushed open the curtain, and Tu Chengyu strode in.

"Father, your son has arrived."

The Emperor looked at Tu Chengyu, who was bowing before him, and asked:

"You've come to see me, is there something you need?"

Tu Chengyu said, "Father, I do have something to report."

"What's the matter? Tell me."

Upon hearing this, Tu Chengyu did not reply immediately, but instead turned to look at the eunuchs around him.

Upon seeing this, the Emperor knew that there was a private matter to report and that he did not want more people to know, so he waved his hand at Xia Shouzhong.

Seeing this, Xia Shouzhong subtly beckoned to the other two serving eunuchs, and then the third person quietly withdrew.

After they left, the door to the imperial study closed again, and the emperor asked in a deep voice:

"What happened that you're being so careful?"

Tu Chengyu replied, "Father, the matter I need to report is related to the Crown Prince, so I must be careful."

Since this concerns the Crown Prince, we must indeed be careful, and His Majesty understands this very well.

However, when Tu Chengyu mentioned the Crown Prince, the Emperor remained calm and simply said:
"What happened to the Crown Prince?"

Tu Chengyu had not anticipated the Emperor's attitude, so he answered the question with caution.

He said carefully, "Father, I believe someone is deliberately plotting against the Crown Prince."

This was a statement that Tu Chengyu had thought of after much deliberation. He couldn't very well go straight to the Emperor and say that the Crown Prince hadn't properly disciplined his subordinates, allowing them to run amok.

What's the difference between this and running over to badmouth the crown prince?

Putting aside his relationship with the Crown Prince, even the Second Prince shouldn't speak so directly about the Crown Prince's shortcomings.

So Tu Chengyu connected several things and came up with this explanation.

Upon hearing Tu Chengyu say that someone was plotting against the Crown Prince, the Emperor's expression finally changed, and he glared at him, saying:

"What did you say? Who is plotting against the Crown Prince?"

Tu Chengyu then said, "Father, I have not discovered who is plotting against the Crown Prince. I have only discovered that many things have happened around the Crown Prince, and every single one of them is defaming the Crown Prince's reputation. That is why I think someone is plotting against the Crown Prince."

After listening, the Emperor realized that it was just Tu Chengyu's own guess, and said in an annoyed tone:
"You haven't even investigated the matter properly, yet you rushed here to spout nonsense with a flushed face. You're not steady at all."

Tu Chengyu had anticipated the Emperor's reaction and immediately said, "It concerns the Crown Prince, which is why I lost my composure. Please forgive me, Father."

The Emperor was quite satisfied with Tu Chengyu's words, and he nodded, saying:

"Then tell me, what happened that makes you feel that someone is plotting against the Crown Prince?"

After hearing the Emperor's question, Tu Chengyu recounted everything he had heard about the Crown Prince in the past few days.

Upon hearing these matters, the emperor remained calm and composed.

He was just frowning and squinting, seemingly lost in thought.

Seeing the Emperor's expression, Tu Chengyu could only stand quietly in front and wait.

After a long while, the Emperor seemed to have thought about it and then said to Tu Chengyu:
"What you just said does indeed harm the Crown Prince's reputation, but these matters have not yet been investigated and it is not appropriate to draw conclusions now. How about this, you are in charge of investigating the matter of Geng Huchen acting recklessly in the name of the Crown Prince."

"Your son went to investigate?" Tu Chengyu asked in surprise.

If it weren't for what happened at the Fourth Prince's residence today, Tu Chengyu would indeed have planned to investigate these matters privately on his own.

But by the time he decided to report these matters to the Emperor, he had long since abandoned any intention of investigating them himself.

After all, given Tu Chengyu's relationship with the Crown Prince, if Tu Chengyu were to investigate, he would definitely side with the Crown Prince.

In order to uncover the truth, the Emperor will not allow Tu Chengyu to participate in the investigation.

However, the current situation has exceeded Tu Chengyu's expectations.

The Emperor actually allowed Tu Chengyu to participate in the investigation, and even put him in charge of one of the cases.

Could it be that the Emperor doesn't want to know the truth, but only wants to protect the Crown Prince's reputation?

Upon hearing Tu Chengyu's question, the Emperor said:

"What? You don't want to investigate?"

Upon hearing this, Tu Chengyu quickly replied, "How can I refuse what Father has arranged? I will go and investigate right away."

Seeing that Tu Chengyu agreed, the Emperor nodded in satisfaction and said:

"Since you've agreed, then hurry up and leave. I'm still busy."

"Your son takes his leave," Tu Chengyu said, and then left the Imperial Study.

After Tu Chengyu left, Xia Shouzhong returned to the Imperial Study.

The Emperor looked at Xia Shouzhong and said, "Do you know who renovated the Crown Prince's residence and the Fourth Prince's residence?"

Xia Shouzhong immediately replied, "Your Majesty, the renovation of these two residences was arranged by the Ministry of Works, but the actual work was done by people hired by the Geng and Jia families."

Upon hearing this, the Emperor knew that Tu Chengyu was not lying about this matter.

So the Emperor said, "I'm giving you a task. You must secretly send people to investigate whether there are any problems with the renovation of the Crown Prince's residence and the Fourth Prince's residence. Investigate quietly and don't make a fuss."

Xia Shouzhong bowed and said, "This servant will write it down and go arrange it right away."

However, before Xia Shouzhong could act, the Emperor said:

"Don't be in a hurry, I have something else to say."

Upon hearing this, Xia Shouzhong stood still, bowed, and awaited the Emperor's instructions.

Without further ado, the Emperor asked directly, "Has the Crown Prince not yet discovered the despicable acts of those people in his household?"

Xia Shouzhong said, "The people I sent out yesterday reported the news from the Crown Prince's residence. The Crown Prince is still the same as usual and has not discovered the problem with those people."

Upon hearing this, the Emperor sighed slowly and said to Xia Shouzhong:

"What's wrong with the Crown Prince? He used to be quite shrewd, but after establishing his own residence, he's been fooled by his subordinates to this extent that he hasn't even noticed such a small thing."

The Emperor's words seemed to be a monologue, or perhaps a complaint to Xia Shouzhong.

But since it concerns the Crown Prince, the Emperor can say whatever he wants, but if this eunuch gets involved and says a word, it will be a huge problem.

Therefore, Xia Shouzhong wisely refrained from answering the emperor's question.

The Emperor ignored whether Xia Shouzhong replied or not, and continued talking to himself:
"I have already made my stance clear and have also subtly reminded him, but the Crown Prince still hasn't noticed at all. Do you think the Crown Prince's previous cleverness was fake? Once he's away from me, his true colors are revealed?"

These words were even harsher, and Xia Shouzhong wished he could cover his ears when he heard them.

Unfortunately, he couldn't cover his ears, so he could only bend his head even lower.

After grumbling for a while, the emperor seemed to feel a little better.

His expression returned to calm, and he continued to give orders to Xia Shouzhong.

"Continue to send people to keep an eye on the Crown Prince's residence and see what he does next. At the same time, send people to follow Prince Su and see what he does. Just keep an eye on both places and don't disturb them."

"Yes, Your Majesty, this servant will make the arrangements immediately," Xia Shouzhong quickly agreed.

The emperor waved his hand, said nothing, and resumed reading the memorial.

Upon seeing this, Xia Shouzhong quietly left the Imperial Study.

On the other side, Tu Chengyu came out of the Imperial Study and led Xiao Xuanzi back to his own courtyard.

On the way back, Tu Chengyu kept thinking about the question the emperor had asked him.

As he pondered this, he noticed that the Emperor's behavior was somewhat strange when it came to the Crown Prince.

There was no expected worry or concern, nor was there any sign of aversion.

Also, when arranging the investigations into these matters, Tu Chengyu was included.

However, he was only allowed to have the simplest item in Tu Chengyu's residence, and was not allowed to have any involvement with the others.

The more Tu Chengyu thought about it, the more confused he became.

Despite having many doubts, Tu Chengyu showed no intention of stopping his investigation.

As soon as he returned to the courtyard, he carefully considered the direction of his next actions.

Fortunately, he had been thinking about investigating privately, and he already had a vague idea in mind.

Thinking about it at that moment, I quickly found a clue.

So before the palace gates were locked, he had already written several letters and sent them outside the palace.

After attending the fourth prince's housewarming banquet, Tu Chengyu stayed in the palace for a few more days.

After he had arranged everything, he prepared to leave the palace to carry out the task assigned by the emperor.

However, after leaving the palace, he didn't immediately rush off to investigate.

His first priority was to meet with Quan Wenwei.

Since returning to the capital, Tu Chengyu has not seen Quan Wenwei again for various reasons.

Normally, it wouldn't matter if I hadn't seen it before.

However, the current situation is that since returning to Beijing, Tu Chengyu has discovered that too many changes have taken place in the capital.

Therefore, Tu Chengyu really wanted to find Quan Wenwei to talk about the changes in Beijing.

At the same time, he should help me analyze the situation and see how I should deal with these changes.

(End of this chapter)