The Succession Struggle in the Dream of the Red Chamber

Chapter 252 Why Instigate Disaster Victims?

Tu Chengyu originally thought that the fights among the disaster victims would be at most a few people arguing and fighting, but he didn't expect to see so many people when he came over.

Moreover, Tu Chengyu had been looking for so long, but he hadn't seen Quan Wenwei and Jia Lian.

Didn't the messenger say that the two had already arrived?
But now is not the time to think about these things; let's separate them first.

Thinking of this, Tu Chengyu said to the guards who had come with him:

"You ride your horses and separate them. If any of them disobey, whip them directly."

The six guards received the order, but did not act immediately. One of them asked:
"Your Highness, what will happen to your safety if we all go? Why don't we let them fight first, and I'll go and call a few more men?"

Tu Chengyu shook his head and said, "My safety is not a problem. Do you think they would dare to lay a hand on me? Besides, it's too late to go back and call for help now."

Since Tu Chengyu said so, the guards naturally had to obey. However, in the end, they left one person to protect Tu Chengyu, while the other five rushed out to do their work.

The reason Tu Chengyu immediately ordered them to enter and separate the people was that he felt the fight was somewhat abnormal.

Logically speaking, the disaster victims who were able to get here must have endured hardships along the way.

Having endured so much hardship along the way, and finally managing to survive in the capital, they must cherish this life immensely.

It's impossible for them to start a fight over something so trivial.

You might say that a fight or argument between one or two families is normal, but a brawl involving so many people is very abnormal.

So Tu Chengyu wanted to take advantage of the fact that they were still fighting, and have his guards rush in to break up the fight, so he could take the opportunity to see what was going on.

Although there were many disaster victims fighting, the five mounted palace guards were not someone they could easily deal with.

Therefore, the disaster victims on the outskirts were quickly isolated.

After they were separated and saw that soldiers had appeared, some of them immediately snapped out of their fighting state, while the more astute ones quickly retreated to the side, squatted down, and covered their heads.

It's good that some people are timid; naturally, there are also those who get carried away and start fighting.

The seven or eight people fighting most fiercely in the very center were naturally putting up a real fight.

When the five guards separated the rest of the people and prepared to disperse them, these people, without distinguishing right from wrong, brandished their wooden sticks and even tried to hit the guards.

Fortunately, the guards were skilled enough to easily deflect their clubs and even rode their horses to disperse them.

Then it took several more lashes to calm them down.

Tu Chengyu had intended to take advantage of the chaos to observe if there was anything suspicious, but from the beginning until now, he had not noticed anything unusual.

This made Tu Chengyu wonder if he was just being paranoid.

With questions in mind, Tu Chengyu wanted to ask the disaster victims some questions. Just then, Quan Wenwei and Jia Lian, who had been nowhere to be seen before, appeared together.

Accompanying the two of them was a troop of soldiers from the Beijing garrison; it turned out that the two of them had gone to fetch reinforcements.

However, Tu Chengyu was somewhat dissatisfied with the fact that the two of them went to fetch reinforcements together.

He asked directly, "Such a serious incident as a fight among disaster victims, why didn't you leave anyone here to watch over it?"

Out of consideration for the two of them, Tu Chengyu spoke rather tactfully.

However, Quan Wenwei could understand what Tu Chengyu meant.

He bowed and replied, "Your Highness, it was my intention not to leave anyone here to watch over things; I do not blame Young Master Jia and the others."

Upon hearing that Quan Wenwei had done it intentionally, which meant he had other intentions, Tu Chengyu's tone softened considerably, and he said:
Why did you deliberately not keep them?

Quan Wenwei replied, "Your Highness, I have inadvertently discovered that there seems to be something strange about this fight."

If someone had been watching at the time, they might not have fought, and this suspicious place might have remained hidden, causing even more trouble later.

Let them fight now, find out what's wrong with it, and avoid trouble later.

Upon hearing this, Tu Chengyu was first taken aback, surprised that Quan Wenwei's words coincided with his own thoughts, and both felt that the fight was somewhat suspicious.

Then came the speechless scene. In order to make the suspicious parts come to light, Quan Wenwei actually let the disaster victims fight. Moreover, he was worried that the disaster victims would not fight, so he also sent Jia Lian and others away to create an environment for them to fight.

Thinking of this, Tu Chengyu said with a hint of helplessness:
"Mr. Quan, now that the fight has started, have you found anything suspicious?"

Quan Wenwei smiled lightly and said, "We have found the suspicious point, and we have also found and caught the person who started the trouble."

"Oh, there are troublemakers here?"

"Yes, Your Highness, this fight among the refugees was actually instigated by someone."

"Then can you find out why they instigated the disaster victims to fight?"

"Your Highness, I haven't had a chance to ask yet, but I already have a general idea in mind. Once I interrogate you here, I'll know the answer."

Upon hearing this, Tu Chengyu nodded and said:
"Since that's the case, interrogate them now. I also want to see what these people are up to."

"It's the prince."

After answering Tu Chengyu's question, Quan Wenwei turned to Jia Lian behind him and said:
"Bring up the person we captured."

The person who was arrested was among the soldiers of the Beijing garrison behind them, so Jia Lian shouted and the person was brought over.

This was a rather burly man, not too short, with a dark face and tattered clothes, he did look somewhat like a disaster victim.

As the man was brought in, some of the disaster victims who had been fighting earlier immediately recognized him.

"Isn't this Brother Zhang? Why was he arrested by the soldiers?"

"Wasn't it said that Brother Zhang was killed by that bastard Wang Gen? How is he still alive?"

After listening to their back-and-forth discussion, one of their rivals immediately shouted:
“We already said that Zhang wasn’t killed by Brother Wang Gen, but you just wouldn’t believe us and kept clamoring to avenge him. Haha, now you’re dumbfounded, aren’t you? He’s not dead at all.”

The one speaking was a young man who had been the fiercest fighter in the fight. His head and face were covered in blood, but his words were quite infuriating.

The other side was somewhat unable to refute what was said.

Because when a living person surnamed Zhang appears, their so-called revenge becomes nothing more than a joke.

At this moment, those who had just been fighting tooth and nail for Zhang were now very upset. One of the young men, unable to contain his anger, stood up and shouted at Zhang:
"Brother Zhang, you told me yourself that Wang Gen and his gang framed you and wanted to kill you to pay for it."
You even said that if you suddenly disappeared one day, it would definitely be Wang Gen and his gang who did it, and that I must avenge you. But now, how can I believe what you say? How can I explain this to the others?

Listening to the young man's hysterical outburst, anyone with a discerning eye could tell that he had been deceived by the man surnamed Zhang.

As expected, despite the young man's loud questioning, his so-called Brother Zhang kept his head down and didn't say a word, which meant he had tacitly agreed.

Looking at Zhang's demeanor, the young man said with a sorrowful expression:

"I've treated you with such respect all this way, but I never expected you to treat me like this."

Tu Chengyu originally thought that even if they were disaster victims, it would take some effort to interrogate them, but he did not expect that before Quan Wenwei could interrogate them, they would tell the truth themselves.

The situation is now quite clear.

This guy surnamed Zhang deceived the people around him, saying that the other side wanted to kill him. Then he secretly hid himself, making the people around him think that he had been killed, so that they would avenge him. This way, he could provoke both sides to fight.

However, there are still a few questions here, namely why the other side also seems determined not to give up.

Logically speaking, they didn't kill the man surnamed Zhang at all. When someone came to their door, they only needed to report it to the squad leader in charge of them. There was no need to take action, let alone so many people doing it together.

Quan Wenwei clearly shared this question. After the two sides finished arguing, he stepped forward and addressed the disaster victims present:
"Are you all done arguing? If you are, then wait patiently for the questions."

After saying this, he turned to his right, to the young man who had spoken earlier among Zhang's group, and asked:

"You said Zhang Cong instigated you to fight, is that the truth?" Zhang Cong is that guy surnamed Zhang.

The young man was already furious about Zhang Cong's betrayal, and now that Quan Wenwei was questioning him, he was naturally very willing to cooperate.

“My lord, everything I have said is true. If you do not believe me, you can ask the people around you.”

Quan Wenwei listened to me, nodded, and said, "I'll believe you for now, but according to you, you and this Zhang Cong have known each other for a long time?"

"Yes, sir. I met him at Tongzhou Wharf. He was all alone at the time and said that his family had all died while fleeing. We felt sorry for him and let him come with us. We never expected him to be this kind of person."

From what the young man said, we learned something about Zhang Cong's situation.

Then, Quan Wenwei turned to his left, to Wang Gen's group, and asked:

"They were instigated by Zhang Cong, but what are you fighting so recklessly for?"

Wang Gen, who was clearly the leader of this group, stood up and said:
"My lord, we are refugees, how could we dare to fight or cause trouble? It's just that Zhang Cong stole my son, and I'm here to demand his return."

Those people on the other side couldn't distinguish right from wrong. Not only did they refuse to hand over Zhang Cong, they also slandered us, saying that we killed Zhang Cong. We couldn't stand it, so we started fighting with them.

And to this day, my son has still not been found. I humbly beg you, sir, to help me find my son.

That makes sense now.

Moreover, it's easy for everyone to guess that Wang Gen's son being stolen was probably Zhang Cong's way of instigating a fight between the two sides.

Hearing this, Quan Wenwei turned around and looked at Zhang Cong, who was being held captive, and asked:

"Zhang Cong, did you hear what he said? Did you abduct his son?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Cong lowered his head and remained silent.

Seeing his nonchalant attitude, Quan Wenwei said to the soldiers behind him:

"Give him a heads-up."

Upon hearing this, the soldier, without saying a word, raised his whip and lashed Zhang Cong's back twice.

With two lashes, Zhang Cong's already tattered clothes tore open instantly, and two bloody welts immediately appeared on his back, showing that the soldier had used a ruthless method.

Zhang Cong, who had been silent, cried out as he was struck by the two whips.

As he gradually stopped shouting, Quan Wenwei said with a cold smile:
"Answer properly, or you'll be in big trouble."

Perhaps stung by the two lashes, Zhang Cong dared not remain silent any longer and said:

"Please calm down, my lord. I will answer your questions properly."

"Hmph, it would have been better if you had been this sensible earlier," Quan Wenwei muttered under his breath, then asked, "How did you answer the question just now?"

Zhang Cong, perhaps having been beaten, had somewhat forgotten the question from earlier. He tried to think for a moment, and just as Quan Wenwei was impatiently waiting for the soldiers to speak again, he finally spoke.

"Your Excellency, it is indeed this humble person who took Wang Gen's son away."

Upon hearing his admission, Quan Wenwei immediately asked, "Why would you abduct someone else's child when you're perfectly fine?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Cong paused for a moment before speaking:
"Your Honor, on our journey of fleeing, my entire family died of illness and starvation, and my poor son was about the same age as Wang Gen's son."

Therefore, whenever I saw Wang Gen's son, I always regarded him as my own. Later, blinded by greed, I decided to secretly take Wang Gen's son away and raise him as my own.

It was a somewhat sad story, and after hearing it, those present were at a loss for words.

Some of those who shared similar experiences with Zhang Cong were moved to tears.

Of course, this certainly doesn't include Wang Gen, who lost his child.

He angrily pointed at Zhang Cong and cursed:

"Your family is gone, your son is gone, but what about my son? Why did he have to suffer like this? You've lost family members, you're heartbroken and grieving."
But among the refugees here, who hasn't lost family members? Yet, who is like you, unable to bear seeing others doing well while you're suffering, and trying every means to make others miserable?

In my opinion, you deserved to have your entire family wiped out. It's because God couldn't stand your heartless nature that He made you childless.

Wang Gen transformed his grief into boundless hatred, uttering all sorts of vicious words.

Zhang Cong was so humiliated by the criticism that he couldn't even lift his head, clearly indicating that he didn't really agree with what he had done.

Quan Wenwei was also very understanding, waiting until Wang Gen finished scolding before asking again:
"Zhang Cong, let me ask you this: since you abducted Wang Gen's son, where did you put him?"

Everyone was concerned about this issue, especially Wang Gen, who had just been cursing; he was practically straining to hear it.

But one sentence from Zhang Cong drove him into madness once again.

"I hid him in the woods to the south, but so much time has passed that I don't know if he's still alive."

(End of this chapter)