The Succession Struggle in the Dream of the Red Chamber

Chapter 256 Bringing Gifts to the Retired Emperor
Hearing Quan Wenwei's mutterings, Tu Chengyu suddenly thought of another possibility and whispered to him:
“Mr. Quan, perhaps it’s not that Wang Gen and the others are special, but rather that there are other people like Zhang Cong. Those people don’t let them go elsewhere in order to prevent Zhang Cong and the others who have been planted from influencing each other.”

Quan Wenwei listened to Tu Chengyu's words and thought about it for a moment.

"What the prince said is not impossible. Moreover, this further proves that their purpose is to target the prince."

"In that case, what should I do?" Now that I know their purpose, I should find a way to deal with it.

Quan Wenwei thought for a moment and said, "Given this situation, Your Highness cannot back down and ignore it, nor can you rashly do what others want. We need to find a way that satisfies both sides."

"Mr. Quan, have you thought of such a solution?"

"The student did come up with an idea."

"Tell me about it."

"It's His Highness. I believe that, given His Highness's favor with the Emperor and the Crown Prince, the person plotting behind the scenes would certainly not dare to directly confront His Highness."

They will definitely find someone of equal status to the prince, so that the prince will confront him, allowing the mastermind to reap the benefits.

Someone of equal status to himself, Tu Chengyu thought for a moment, then whispered:

"Mr. Quan is referring to my second brother. Only he can match my identity, and only my second brother can be of use."

Quan Wenwei nodded and said, "I told Your Highness before that Prince Xing is very likely someone they are using."

"If you want to take advantage of Second Brother, it won't be that easy. Although Second Brother usually doesn't show off, he is a cautious person and won't be easily fooled."

Quan Wenwei shook his head and said:

"If the students are right, they don't need to alarm Prince Xing at all. They just need to devise a plan to have the prince lead his men to seize Prince Xing's property."

Quan Wenwei had already said this to Tu Chengyu once outside the tent, and bringing it up again now only intensifies the seriousness of the matter.

Upon hearing this, Tu Chengyu also became cautious.

Since this involves a struggle between princes, Tu Chengyu couldn't be the one to start trouble.

Therefore, Tu Chengyu asked, "So how should I respond?"

"There are two ways to deal with this. One is to report this matter to the Emperor as soon as possible so that the Emperor can understand the reason behind it. In this way, even if the Prince accidentally falls into someone else's trap, at least there won't be any problems with the Emperor."

"Secondly, we should immediately send people to keep an eye on that manor and find out if it has any connection with Prince Xing."

There are two options. The first is to prepare an escape route for Tu Chengyu.

The second step is to prepare for the next action.

However, Tu Chengyu still had some doubts about the second method. He asked:
"If I find out that the manor is indeed connected to my second brother, how should I deal with it? Should I just let it go?"

Wouldn't that just let the villains get away with it?

Quan Wenwei stroked his beard and said, "I've also thought of that possibility, but this problem can be left to the people keeping watch."

"The people keeping watch? Is there anything special about the people Mr. Quan sent to keep watch?"

Quan Wenwei said with a confident expression:

"Judging from the current situation, Wang Gen and his group will definitely not be able to find the child. When that happens, Your Highness only needs to have someone tell Wang Gen and his group the child's current location."
Judging from Wang Gen and his men's actions, they will inevitably lead men to the manor to demand their release. At that point, the prince only needs to secretly send a few men to keep the situation under control and prevent it from escalating.
This way, firstly, it can alert the enemy and make them reveal their true colors, and secondly, having so many people will be enough to surround the manor.

With so many people around, it won't be so easy for them to move evidence.

"The prince only needs to investigate thoroughly, and then he will have many options."

After hearing Quan Wenwei's answer, it was clear that he had considered it very thoroughly.

Therefore, Tu Chengyu did not think too much about it and planned to handle it according to Quan Wenwei's method.

"Mr. Quan, do as you say. I will go to the palace now to report to my father. The rest is up to you to arrange."

After Tu Chengyu finished speaking, he wanted to leave immediately, but was unexpectedly grabbed by Quan Wenwei.

“Your Highness, please don’t be hasty,” Quan Wenwei said, pointing to Zhang Cong, who was huddled in the corner. “This person hasn’t been dealt with yet.”

Tu Chengyu was taken aback. Hadn't Zhang Cong already confessed? He should wait until things had settled down before dealing with him.

However, Quan Wenwei is not a reckless person; he must have some ulterior motive for saying that.

So Tu Chengyu asked, "Mr. Quan, how do you intend to deal with him?"

Quan Wenwei said, "In order to prevent the criminals from knowing that we have seen through their scheme, and for the safety of the children who were taken away, the students thought of staging a self-inflicted injury with Zhang Cong."

"A self-inflicted injury ploy?" Tu Chengyu didn't understand at first, but after thinking about it, he realized what Wenwei was thinking.

He wanted to frame Zhang Cong as someone who would never confess, so that those who were secretly plotting would have no way of knowing what Tu Chengyu was up to.

This would temporarily confuse the enemy and slow down their actions, giving Tu Chengyu more time to make arrangements.

Having figured this out, Tu Chengyu nodded and said:

"We really need to deal with this guy, otherwise it won't be right."

After he finished speaking, he turned to Zhang Cong and said:
"To save your family, I, the king, will stage a ruse with you. Are you willing?"

Now that things had come to this, Zhang Cong naturally knew that if he wanted to save his family, he had no choice but to cooperate, so he nodded without hesitation.

Seeing that he agreed, Tu Chengyu twisted his neck and shouted towards the outside of the tent:

"Someone is coming."

Not long after he finished speaking, four guards entered the tent.

Tu Chengyu pointed at Zhang Cong and said to the four guards:
“This bastard is so stubborn. Take him away and loosen his bones so he knows what happens when he’s stubborn.”

"Yes, Your Majesty."

The four guards sang "Yes" in unison, then grabbed Zhang Cong and headed outside, clearly wanting to make things easier for Tu Chengyu.

Seeing their posture, Tu Chengyu couldn't help but worry. What if these four guards couldn't stand Zhang Cong's stubbornness and, in order to vent Tu Chengyu's anger, beat him badly?

So, as soon as they stepped out of the tent, Tu Chengyu added a sentence.

"Don't kill or maim him; we'll need to continue interrogating him tomorrow."

Upon hearing this, one of the four guards turned around and replied, "Your Highness, rest assured, I have plenty of ways to teach him a lesson about life and death, and I won't cripple him."

He spoke with such confidence that Tu Chengyu had no idea that there was such a talented person among his bodyguards.

It seems I need to pay more attention to the people around me in the future.

Zhang Cong initially intended to cooperate, and when he was dragged out of the tent, he even tried his best to look scared.

Hearing the guard's words, Zhang Cong was genuinely frightened. At that moment, he really wanted to shout that he didn't want to cooperate anymore.

But considering that he was now under someone else's roof and needed help to save his family, he could only grit his teeth and keep quiet.

Just as Zhang Cong was being whipped outside the tent, Tu Chengyu led his men back to the palace.

However, upon his return, he did not immediately go to see the Emperor, but instead led his men to the Eastern Palace.

The retired emperor, having nothing to do, was strolling in the East Palace garden when he heard Dai Quan say that Tu Chengyu was requesting an audience, which surprised him quite a bit.

"Does Xiao Wu wish to see me?"

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"Why would he come to see me at this hour? In your opinion, what is the purpose of his visit?"

Dai Quan lowered his head and said:
“Prince Su has always acted on a whim, and this servant really couldn’t guess. However, this servant saw that the little eunuch accompanying Prince Su was carrying a huge box, which must be to deliver something to you, Your Majesty.”

Upon hearing this, the retired emperor laughed heartily: "At this hour, sending me something is not so simple."

Although he suspected that Tu Chengyu had ulterior motives, the Emperor Emeritus was still delighted.

"Let him in. I want to see what he's up to."

Not long after Dai Quan left, he brought Tu Chengyu to the East Palace Garden, along with the two eunuchs who were carrying things.

Upon entering the garden, the Emperor Emeritus stood on the path, looked Tu Chengyu up and down a few times, and then said with a smile:
"Little Fifth, have you come to bring me a gift?"

Tu Chengyu naturally knew that his little scheme would be hard to hide from the Emperor Emeritus, so he planned to tell the truth from the very beginning.

"Grandpa, you guessed right. Your grandson has come to bring you something. But these are not gifts; I just thought they were nice, so I brought them to you."

"What do you think is good?" Hearing Tu Chengyu say this, the Emperor Emeritus was also intrigued.

“These are just ordinary trinkets.” With that, Tu Chengyu directed the two eunuchs: “Bring these out and let the Emperor Emeritus take a look.”

There were two boxes or cages, each about 50 or 60 centimeters long and wide, which were covered by blue silk cloth when they came in.

Upon hearing the order, the young eunuch quickly put down both chests at once.

After putting it down, open the blue cloth on the left first.

Then a square food box appeared in front of everyone, and as the blue cloth covering it was opened, the aroma from inside the food box also leaked out.

The retired emperor pointed to the food box and said, "Are you bringing me food?"

Tu Chengyu smiled and said, "Grandpa Emperor guessed correctly. These are all very special dishes that I have found in various parts of the capital recently."
At that time, the grandson thought the food tasted very good, so he thought of finding more to send to his grandfather to try.

Now that we've finally gathered everyone, we'll have someone bring these cooks to Prince An's residence so they can prepare some special food for the Emperor.

Here, Tu Chengyu exaggerated his own contribution.

Of these distinctive dishes, he had indeed tasted some of them himself, but he only learned about most of them after Jia Lian and others recommended them.

However, one thing is certain: when Tu Chengyu tasted these delicacies, his first thought was indeed to present them to the Emperor Emeritus.

That's why Tu Chengyu summoned these cooks to stay temporarily at the Prince An's residence. He wanted to bring these delicious foods to the Emperor Emeritus when he had the chance to enter the palace.

As for the retired emperor, he had been emperor for twenty years, and he had seen all kinds of delicacies.

If nothing unexpected happens, many of the things that Tu Chengyu brought in have already been tasted by the retired emperor.

Even so, the retired emperor was quite pleased to hear Tu Chengyu's words.

As the retired emperor, he valued the sentiment behind the gifts he received even more.

If the sentiment is there, even if the gift is worthless, the Emperor Emeritus will be very happy.

The things that Tu Chengyu prepared with such care were exactly what the Emperor Emeritus valued most.

It should be noted that Tu Chengyu is not the only imperial grandson living outside the palace.

However, so far, the other princes and the crown prince have only come to pay their respects during festivals and have never been seen throughout the year, let alone send tributes to the retired emperor.

Therefore, this comparison highlights Tu Chengyu's uniqueness.

It was precisely because of these things that the Emperor Emeritus looked at the food box brought by Tu Chengyu and said excitedly:

"Since it was personally selected by Xiao Wu, it must be very delicious. Dai Quan, quickly have someone set the food out; I want to savor it properly."

The next sentence was naturally an instruction to Dai Quan to do something.

Dai Quan was also sensible. After hearing the Emperor Emeritus's words, he actually picked up the lunchbox himself and ran to the pavilion not far away to set it up.

While Dai Quan was busy, the Emperor Emeritus looked at the remaining trunk and asked curiously:
What's inside this?

Upon hearing Tu Chengyu ask this, Tu Chengyu said with a smug look on his face:

"Grandpa, this is a wonderful thing. I made it myself. It's a one-of-a-kind treasure in the world."

Seeing Tu Chengyu's boastful manner, the Emperor Emeritus felt that Tu Chengyu was bragging.

However, it eventually aroused the Emperor Emeritus's curiosity.

"Since you speak so highly of it, then open it and let me see this unique treasure."

Upon hearing this, Tu Chengyu raised his head and said to the young eunuch:
"Open it quickly and let Grandpa the Emperor take a look."

The young eunuch was always ready. Upon receiving the order, he ripped open the blue cloth covering the chest, revealing a long, rectangular wooden box.

Then, without waiting for Tu Chengyu's order, he directly opened the latch, opened the lid of the wooden box, and revealed the contents inside.

The retired emperor, curious, came over to the mountain. Looking at the things inside, he couldn't help but ask:
"What is this?"

Seeing that the Emperor Emeritus had indeed not noticed, Tu Chengyu said proudly:

"I heard that Your Majesty has recently taken a liking to fishing, so I am presenting Your Majesty with a fishing rod that I made myself years ago."

"Is this a fishing rod? Why is it so short?"

Tu Chengyu explained, "Grandpa, each section looks very short now because it's disassembled. Once assembled, it will be a very long fishing rod."

P.S.: Just kidding, yesterday Old Cat thought it was his birthday, so he went out and had some fun by himself.

Unexpectedly, my family called this morning to say that today is actually my birthday, and that I had simply remembered the date wrong.

Unfortunately, my family dragged me out for another celebration today.

(End of this chapter)