The Succession Struggle in the Dream of the Red Chamber

Chapter 254 The Re-interrogation Has Hidden Secrets

To find out if Zhang Cong was really threatened as Quan Wenwei guessed, it's actually quite simple: just ask him directly.

So Tu Chengyu and Quan Wenwei discussed it briefly, and then Tu quietly slipped into the tent where Zhang Cong was being held.

At this moment, Zhang Cong was like a living dead man who had lost his soul, slumped dejectedly in the corner of the tent, and didn't even notice when Tu Chengyu and Quan Wenwei came in.

Seeing this, Tu Chengyu and the other person exchanged glances, and then Quan Wenwei spoke:
Zhang Cong

Upon hearing this, Zhang Cong slowly raised his head and looked over. When he saw Tu Chengyu and the other person, he muttered something blankly, but his voice was too soft for Tu Chengyu and the other person to hear clearly.

However, the two didn't care what he said, and Quan Wenwei continued speaking to himself:
“Zhang Cong, listen carefully. Standing before you now is the fifth prince of the current dynasty, His Highness Prince Su. Hurry up and pay your respects.”

Quan Wenwei revealed Tu Chengyu's identity from the beginning in order to intimidate him as soon as he made his move.

Sure enough, when Zhang Cong heard that the young man in front of him was the Prince Su of the current dynasty, he immediately snapped out of his dazed state.

"This humble citizen, Zhang Cong, greets Your Highness."

Although he was tied very tightly, he still struggled to perform a deep bow.

After he finished paying his respects, Quan Wenwei continued:
“You are just an ordinary citizen, and by all accounts, you are not worthy of Prince Su’s personal audience. However, Prince Su is kind-hearted and cannot bear to see that innocent child die in vain. That is why he has come to question you, hoping that you can answer truthfully and tell him the whereabouts of the child.”

Upon hearing that Prince Su had come to inquire about the child's whereabouts, a look of struggle appeared on his face, but in the end, he still said:
"Your Highness, please forgive me, I have nothing to say."

Tu Chengyu did not react to his answer, and Quan Wenwei also remained calm.

He just kept asking questions.

"Is it that you have nothing to say, or is there something on your mind that you're afraid to say?"

Upon hearing Quan Wenwei's words, Zhang Cong immediately looked up, his eyes revealing a shocked joy.

But that look vanished in an instant, replaced by a blank expression.

Seeing his reaction, Tu Chengyu and Quan Wenwei were secretly pleased.

Because Quan Wenwei's previous speculation is very likely true.

Seeing this situation, Quan Wenwei continued to intensify his efforts.

“If I’m not mistaken, you didn’t put Wang Gen’s son in the grove at all, did you?”

"My lord, what's the use of saying all this now?"

Quan Wenwei chuckled and said, "Of course saying all this is useful, very useful. Since you didn't hide the child in the grove, it means you hid him somewhere else."

However, the surrounding area was filled with disaster victims, and it was impossible for someone to hide anywhere for so long without being discovered.

So, there's only one possible explanation: you handed the child over to someone else, and your accomplice hid the child, right?

Zhang Cong looked at Quan Wenwei with a surprised expression, unsure of how to respond. He didn't know if Quan Wenwei was right or wrong.

Quan Wenwei ignored whether he answered or not and continued to ask:
"You said earlier that you stole Wang Gen's son so that he would be your son, but the way you look now, you seem to want to die."
I had no intention of raising children at all, so your claim that I stole the child is unfounded.

Since this condition is not met, why are you stubbornly refusing to speak? You should know that if you did speak, your death would be easier.

But you still won't say anything, which makes one wonder if you're hiding something from someone else.

Perhaps because Quan Wenwei had guessed his thoughts, Zhang Cong became a little uneasy, and he twisted the ropes binding him a couple of times.

He added, "I don't understand what you're saying, sir."

Seeing his reaction, Quan Wenwei smiled even more and said:
"No, you know what I'm talking about. You keep saying that all your family members died while fleeing. If that's the case, as a Han Chinese with no ties to you, you should be more open and honest. But you're hesitant and clearly helping others to hide something."

Tell me, why would you help someone do such a heinous thing, and why would you risk your life to cover it up? What is your motive?

Quan Wenwei's words struck Zhang Cong's deepest heart, making him begin to panic.

He said, "My lord, I really don't know anything, please stop talking."

Seeing Zhang Cong's appearance, Quan Wenwei knew that he was about to successfully break through his opponent's defenses.

So he deliberately laughed a few times, and then said:

"So it seems that what I said is true. Then why are you helping others cover it up? Were you being threatened into doing so?"

“…” Zhang Cong chose to remain silent.

Upon seeing this, Quan Wenwei said:

"Even if you don't say it, I can understand. The only thing that could threaten you and make you risk your life is your family."

If I'm not mistaken, have your family members been kidnapped by someone, and are they using this to threaten you into doing these things?

After laying the groundwork for a long time, Quan Wenwei finally unleashed his trump card.

At this point, Zhang Cong's defenses were also breached.

He shook his head and said, "These are all your own wild guesses, not what I said."

Quan Wenwei said, "I was just guessing, but I guessed right, don't you think?"

Then, after a brief pause, Quan Wenwei continued:

"Since your family members have been arrested, you should be trying to rescue them. Why are you helping others cover it up?"

Are you worried that once you confess, those people will find out and harm your family? You can rest assured about that. What you say now will only be heard by me and Prince Su; no third person will hear it.”

Logically speaking, when Quan Wenwei said these words and even got a prince to endorse them, Zhang Cong should have realized what was going on.

But he remained silent, as if he had resigned himself to his fate again.

Seeing this, Quan Wenwei could only add fuel to the fire:

Before you helped them, did those people tell you that as long as you could get things done, they wouldn't hurt your family and would even let you reunite with them?
I'm telling you, they're lying to you. If you don't believe me, when you get to the underworld, you'll find that your family members were there even before you.

Perhaps it was the words "underworld" that provoked Zhang Cong, for he shouted loudly:

“You’ll say that they promised me they wouldn’t make things difficult for my family.”

Instead of being angry, Quan Wenwei was pleased when Zhang Cong roared at him.

He's not afraid of you swearing, he's afraid of you pretending to be dead like you did just now.

As long as you can speak, you can glean some useful information from it.

That angry outburst just now revealed some useful information.

This proves that Quan Wenwei's conjecture was entirely correct.

The full text is available here; let's intensify our attack:
"Since those people can kidnap your family to threaten you, how can you trust their words? Even if they kept their word this time..."

But when the news of your arrest reaches them, they will treat you according to your confession, regardless of whether you have confessed or not. In that case, how can your family be spared? Zhang Cong became agitated again upon hearing Quan Wenwei's words.

He understood what Quan Wenwei was saying and knew that the situation Quan Wenwei described was very likely to happen.

Even at the moment he was arrested, he had considered this possibility.

However, after he was arrested, he was powerless to do anything and could only deceive himself into thinking that those people would keep their promise and not harm his family.

However, his self-deception was ruthlessly exposed by Quan Wenwei at this moment.

So he broke down.

Quan Wenwei, seizing the opportunity, quickly added:

"If you still want to save your family, you'd better tell us what you know as soon as possible, or it will really be too late."

Zhang Cong said in despair, "If I tell you what happened, will you be able to save people?"

"Open your eyes and look. Standing in front of you is Prince Su of the current dynasty. If there is anyone in this world who is willing to save your family and has the ability to do so, it is only Prince Su. So I hope you will not tarnish your reputation and quickly tell the truth."

Quan Wenwei once again brought up the identity of Prince Su, which had some effect on Zhang Cong.

However, he still hesitated and said, "But the one who kidnapped my family was also ordered by a prince. Can you really rescue them?"

Zhang Cong's implication was that the other party was also a prince, and that the prince might not necessarily be afraid of him.

Beyond the surface meaning, the deeper concern is probably that once Prince Su learns that the other party is also a prince, officials will protect each other and won't help him, a commoner.

Tu Chengyu had no way to prove to him that he, the Prince of Su, would not protect officials from each other.

Therefore, he stated directly:

"Things have come to this point, and only if you believe in me will your family have any chance of survival. If you don't believe me, then there is no hope at all."

"I'll give you ten numbers now. If you still don't answer after ten, then you can wait to reunite with your family in the underworld."

One of the reasons Tu Chengyu came here to talk to this guy was to try and save Wang Gen's son.

But most importantly, they wanted to find out who had instigated Zhang Cong to cause trouble among the disaster victims.

The aim is to investigate whether the instigation of disaster victims to cause trouble was unintentional or a deliberate scheme by those involved.
Will this implicate Tu Chengyu?

This is the issue that Tu Chengyu and Quan Wenwei care about most.

So, while Zhang Cong was still hesitating, Tu Chengyu lost his patience.

When Zhang Cong saw that the young Prince Su had suddenly started a countdown, he felt a little flustered.

Finally, before Tu Chengyu could even count to three, he had already made his decision.

"Your Highness, I will tell you everything."

Seeing that he was so sensible, Tu Chengyu stopped talking, nodded to Quan Wenwei, and let him continue asking questions.

So Quan Wenwei continued to ask:
"You just said that it was a prince who kidnapped your family members. Are you lying about that?"

Having made his decision, Zhang Cong appeared very cooperative.

He immediately replied, "Your Excellency, I did not lie."

"It's good that you're not lying. Then let me ask you, do you know this prince's name?"

Upon hearing this question, Tu Chengyu also pricked up his ears, wanting to see which prince had committed such a heinous act.

But Zhang Cong shook his head and said, "This humble subject does not know Your Highness's name. This humble subject has only met a steward from Your Highness's residence."

"Then how can you confirm that it was the Prince's man who abducted your family?"

"It was that steward who said it. He said he was the steward of the Prince's mansion and that everything he did was ordered by the Prince. He also said that the Prince had great power and that even if the matter was reported to the authorities, no one would dare to interfere with the Prince."

Therefore, at first, this humble subject dared not tell Your Highness the truth.

Hearing this, Quan Wenwei was somewhat speechless with anger.

These words sounded like something the manager would say while bluffing.

Perhaps, this steward is using the name of some prince to do these things in private.

Even worse, this steward was not a steward of the Prince's mansion at all; he just made up a title to scare Zhang Cong, this ignorant disaster victim.

Therefore, judging from the current situation, it seems that this so-called prince cannot be found for the time being.

So Quan Wenwei changed the subject and asked again:
Do you know where your family members are being held?

Zhang Cong shook his head and said, "I don't know either. I was stopped by that manager and his men at Tongzhou Wharf. My family was also arrested at that time."

This was not unexpected, because someone had already mentioned that Zhang Cong was found alone at the Tongzhou Wharf.

This shows that the people behind this had a very deep plan, planting their spies even before the disaster victims arrived.

Quan Wenwei then asked the next question: "Since you don't know where your family members are being held, how can you be sure that they are all alive?"

“Every few days, they would bring a family member of the commoner to meet with the commoner. When the commoner saw the family member, he knew that they were still alive.”

Where do you usually want to meet?

"It's in the grove."

How do you confirm the meeting time?

“If they want to see me, they will send an eleven or twelve-year-old child to secretly hand me a note, and I will know when they want to see me.”

"An eleven or twelve-year-old child? What would they look like?"

"They look like children who have fled with us, but I couldn't see their faces clearly."

"So, you usually keep in touch with this child?"

"No, sir, this child is just a messenger. Everything he does is personally instructed by the head steward."

"I see. Then, do you know where that child is?"

"I don't know either, but I've noticed he likes to run towards the moat, so I wonder if he'll be settled here."

The moat, isn't that near the tents?

Upon hearing this, Quan Wenwei quickly turned and ran out of the tent, shouting towards the soldiers standing guard in the distance:
"Arrange for a few people to search along the moat for a child who is eleven or twelve years old. Bring him here immediately when you find him."

Although they didn't know what was wrong with Mr. Quan in front of the prince, the soldiers still obediently went about their business.

(End of this chapter)