The Succession Struggle in the Dream of the Red Chamber

Chapter 241 It was all a deception
Tu Chengyu thought for a moment and realized that this person had much bigger plans than what he had said.

If this happened elsewhere, Tu Chengyu probably wouldn't have bothered with it.

But by sheer coincidence, this guy chose to use the guise of disaster victims to commit fraud, so Tu Chengyu had no choice but to intervene.

He not only wanted to manage it, but he wanted to manage it openly. He wanted to let those who were preparing to fight the disaster know that this time things would not be like before.

Thinking of this, Tu Chengyu ignored Huang Zhi's words and directly said to Quan Xu:
"Bring that vase over here."

Upon hearing this, Quan Xu no longer hesitated and walked over in a few steps, reaching out to take the vase from the old man's hand.

The old man with the vase was rather timid, and when he saw Quan Xu coming over, he prepared to hand it over.

But the two burly young men behind him did not intend to call out.

When they saw Quan Xu coming over, they went around to the front of the old man from both sides, preparing to stop him.

Quan Xu was a soldier who had seen blood on the front lines; how could he be intimidated by these two thugs?

Seeing the two men blocking his way, he immediately placed his hand on the hilt of his sword and rebuked them:

"Step aside!"

The two men were so frightened by Quan Xu's reprimand that they took a half step back, but they still stubbornly refused to dodge.

At the same time, their gazes once again fell upon Huang Zhi, who was not far away.

Huang Zhi, the mastermind behind everything today, was now in complete disarray.

He glanced anxiously at Tu Chengyu, then called out to Jia Lian:

"Young Master Jia, I'm just earning a meager living, it's no trouble at all. Please put in a good word for me and ask this gentleman to be lenient."

Even if Jia Lian did know him, he wouldn't dare to plead for him at this point.

Just as Huang Zhi was shouting at Jia Lian, Quan Xu had already become impatient.

At this moment, he didn't say anything more, but directly drew the precious sword from his waist and slashed at the burly young man on the left.

Unfortunately, the two young men had been keeping an eye on Quan Xu, so when Quan Xu swung his knife, they dodged it immediately.

Although the person dodged, they were frightened by Quan Xu's habit of drawing his sword at the slightest provocation.

These people sometimes resort to violence, but it's usually just fists and kicks; the more ruthless ones might use a stick.

Most of the time, they just talk a good game, but when they encounter problems they can't solve, they often resort to asking for help or finding a powerful backer.

It's rare to see someone use a knife like this, especially without any warning, they just started doing it.

This kind of approach was something that even the local thugs and the buyers from the capital had never seen before.

So when they saw Quan Xu draw his knife, there was an uproar.

The bold ones hesitated and stood still, while the timid ones immediately took off running.

Unfortunately, it was too late. The guards who came with Tu Chengyu were already waiting around.

Seeing that they were about to run away, Tu Chengyu shouted:
"Stop them all."

Upon hearing this, the guards around the area all drew their long swords and blocked all their path.

Logically speaking, anyone who can do this kind of business in this place is no saint.

But when they saw the uniform long swords and the swordsmen who obeyed orders without question.

They knew they'd met their match today, and resistance would likely end badly.

As the saying goes, a wise man doesn't suffer a loss in front of him. These people were very good at reading the room, so they all obediently returned to their original positions, and not one of them dared to run away.

Once they had stood still, the portly middle-aged man, trembling with fear, once again spoke on behalf of his group.

"Young master, we were only invited by Huang Zhi to come and see what he is selling. We do not intend to buy it."

So please rest assured, young master, no one here will try to take anything from you. Therefore, please allow us to leave.

Tu Chengyu smiled and said, "No need to rush. Once I've finished my business, I'll let you leave. But you must stay put and not cause any trouble."

The man panicked and quickly said:
"Young master, this is, after all, the capital city, right under the emperor's nose. It would be best not to make things too difficult for us, otherwise the city patrol and the Shuntian Prefecture might arrive at any time."

This person's words were soft yet barbed.

Even an ordinary person, or even a scion of a noble family like Jia Lian, would have to think twice upon hearing these words.

They might actually be prepared to go too far.

Unfortunately, they encountered Tu Chengyu, who, regardless of his status or courage, would not back down here.

Therefore, Tu Chengyu didn't care about his words at all and said directly:

"You all stay put and don't talk nonsense anymore, or I won't be polite to you."

Circumstances dictate actions. Seeing Tu Chengyu's firm stance, the portly middle-aged man gave up on speaking to Tu Chengyu and stepped back into the crowd to mutter to himself.

Having witnessed the entire process, Huang Zhi, seeing Tu Chengyu's actions, had completely given up hope.

He no longer dared to hope that he could get away with it. His only thought was to find out Tu Chengyu's identity so that his master could find a solution.

Just as Tu Chengyu was speaking, Quan Xu had already used his knife to force back the two burly young men and took the vase from the old man's hand.

With Tu Chengyu's discerning eye, he couldn't distinguish between real and fake vases.

So he directly asked Quan Wenwei to check as well.

"Mr. Quan, you still need to take a look at the vase."

Upon hearing this, Quan Wenwei casually took the vase from Quan Xu's hand and began to examine it seriously.

But after looking at it for a while, he ran up to Tu Chengyu and whispered:
"Upon hearing this, the students were also unsure about the vase."

If you can't see clearly, it means you're not confident.

Hearing this, Tu Chengyu was both amused and exasperated. He had brought people here to crack down on scammers, but he couldn't even tell if the stolen goods were real or fake. What kind of situation was this?

However, Tu Chengyu didn't say anything about Quan Wenwei's inability to see through the vase's authenticity, after all, it wasn't Quan Wenwei's forte.

However, we cannot give up on things just because of this.

In that case, what Tu Chengyu is doing now will not only be without merit, but may also become the subject of his impeachment.

It seems we need to find a way to expose these scammers.

After thinking for a long time, Tu Chengyu actually came up with a feasible solution.

He whispered a few words to Quan Wenwei, and the two were able to begin the rest of the performance.

Tu Chengyu first took the vase with a blank expression, casually looked at it in his hand, and then asked a question for no apparent reason.

"Is there really a problem?"

Quan Wenwei nodded in agreement:
"There really is a problem."

The two were talking quietly, but enough for those nearby to hear.

Sure enough, as soon as Tu Chengyu and his companion finished speaking, those who had overheard them began to whisper among themselves.

"There's something wrong with this." "People have noticed it; there's something wrong with the vase."

While these words were spreading, Tu Chengyu slammed down the vase in his hand, looked at the old man in the center of the circle, and shouted loudly:
“That old man, yes, you, the old man who took the vase just now, come here to me.”

Tu Chengyu didn't call this old man by name randomly; it was a term he considered carefully.

First of all, this old man was holding a vase the whole time, so he must know a lot.

Secondly, judging from the series of events just now, this old man is rather timid and will be easy to deal with later.

The old man was also somewhat stunned by Tu Chengyu's gaze.

Pointing at himself in fear, he clearly didn't want to come over.

But Tu Chengyu had already spoken, so how could he tolerate Tu's procrastination?

Two guards immediately went over and brought the old man over.

During this process, the women, children, and other children who were originally huddled on the donkey cart all became agitated.

They were all crying and shouting, not letting them take the old man away.

Watching this scene, one can truly feel the worry and concern between real family members.

Do these scammers bring their real family members with them when they come to commit fraud?

Tu Chengyu made random guesses in his mind.

Then I saw the old man being dragged to my front.

Upon arrival, the two guards released their grip, intending for the old man to stand on his own.

Unexpectedly, the old man was so frightened that his legs went weak, and as soon as the guard released him, he knelt down on the ground.

Seeing this, Tu Chengyu could only say to the two guards:
"You two, lift him up together, and stop him from kneeling."

Upon hearing this, the guards lifted the person up again.

Then, Tu Chengyu stared at the old man and said:

"I'm going to ask you some questions now. You must answer truthfully, understand?"

"I know, I know, I will tell you everything I know."

"Good to know. Now, let me ask you, are you really a refugee who fled to the capital? Think carefully before you answer, or you'll be in big trouble if you answer wrong."

Faced with Tu Chengyu's warning, the old man did not hesitate for a moment and said directly:
“Young master, my family is indeed a refugee from Henan Prefecture, and we would never dare to lie about this.”

The old man spoke these words with seriousness and earnestness, and it seemed he had no intention of lying.

Seeing this, Tu Chengyu was also a little unsure.

Could it be that the old man and his group were actually disaster victims, or were they imposters trying to deceive people?

If that's the case, Tu Chengyu will lose face.

Quan Wenwei saw that Tu Chengyu had asked a couple of questions before falling into deep thought, so he quickly took over the conversation and asked questions for him.

"I asked you, 'You said your family are disaster victims. Are those two very strong-looking men also your family members?'"

The old man didn't need to turn around; he only needed to ask Quan Wenwei what he was looking for.

He knew the answer in his heart, but hesitated to speak.

Upon seeing this, Tu Chengyu understood the situation and was also very impressed by Quan Wenwei's keen observation of the housekeeper's point.

He quickly said to Quan Xu, "Take some men over there and detain those two who were trying to stop you."

Quan Xu obeyed the order and started moving again. The old man's eyes lit up when he saw this.

Tu Chengyu knew he had made the right move, and he said to the old man:
"Now you can speak freely, right?"

The old man was still somewhat hesitant, but seeing that Tu Chengyu seemed relatively easy to talk to, he mustered his courage and said:

“Young master, those two young men are just their henchmen. There’s no point in arresting them. They have someone backing them.”

Tu Chengyu pointed to Huang Zhi on the other side and said:
"Is this the person you're referring to behind the scenes?"

The old man shook his head and said, "He's just a gofer. The people behind him are much more powerful. I'm afraid they'll retaliate later."

This old man was clearly terrified of Tu Chengyu just now, but now that he's found Tu Chengyu to be easy to talk to, he dares to negotiate here.

Tu Chengyu didn't tolerate this kind of person at all. He sneered and said:
"You're afraid of their retaliation afterward? Well, let me tell you, if you don't explain things clearly, I can deal with you right now."

However, I can also promise you that if you can explain things clearly, I can guarantee your whole family's safety.

“Young master, I would never dare to deceive you. Please feel free to ask me any questions.”

Whether it was Tu Chengyu's intimidation that worked or the old man's reassessment of Tu Chengyu's abilities, his attitude immediately changed.

However, Tu Chengyu was naturally very happy that he was willing to cooperate.

Then he immediately asked, "You just said you were a refugee fleeing from disaster, and I'll believe you for now. But let me ask you, are Huang Zhi and those two thugs refugees?"

The old man shook his head and said, "They are not disaster victims, but people from the capital."

"If you weren't together, how did you end up together?"

"Young master, this is a long story. My family and I fled from Henan Prefecture. After arriving in the capital, we found that the court had not yet distributed porridge or rice, and the food we brought was not enough."

So he thought of selling his household items to get some money and food to barely make ends meet, while waiting for the imperial court to release grain.

Unexpectedly, the news that I was selling my wares came to the attention of this shopkeeper, Huang Zhi, who came to my door wanting to partner with me in swindling people.

Knowing that this was the land of Tianzhen, where the laws were strict, I initially dared not agree. However, Manager Huang later used his methods to kidnap several members of my family as a threat.

Left with no other choice, this humble citizen cooperated with him, together using fake porcelain to deceive others.

The old man had barely finished speaking when Tu Chengyu, who had asked the question, hadn't even done anything yet.

The gullible customers from the capital who had come to buy things nearby started shouting without a care in the world.

"You bastard surnamed Huang, how dare you sell me something fake? Just wait and see how I deal with you."

"You surnamed Huang, so this is what you were thinking after going to such lengths to invite me here."

"Huang Zhi, Huang Zhi, I thought we had a pretty good relationship, but I never expected you to scheme against me like this. Sigh."

"Hey Huang, I'm asking you, is that bowl you sold me a few days ago real or fake? It was a gift, don't get me into trouble."

This Huang Zhi seems to be quite capable, managing to deceive so many people without being exposed.

If he hadn't been so unlucky as to run into Tu Chengyu today, who knows, this guy might have continued to deceive people.

Tu Chengyu actually admired this guy's methods.

However, for Huang Zhi, the current situation is like falling into the eighteenth level of hell.

He was surrounded by malevolent spirits who were eyeing him with predatory intent, each one wishing they could tear him apart and drink his blood.

If Tu Chengyu hadn't been there, and if there hadn't been a group of guards with knives around, those people probably would have already rushed up and started fighting.

(End of this chapter)