The Succession Struggle in the Dream of the Red Chamber

Chapter 281 Assassination Attempt at the Manor

This grand performance not only satisfied the royal family, but also boosted the morale of the disaster victims.

Originally, the disaster victims who fled to the capital were all full of complaints and lamentations.

Now, after this incident, the disaster victims realized that they not only had hope for the future, but also felt that the emperor remembered them, and their resentment vanished instantly.

So when Tu Chengyu recruited people to widen the river channel, even more people signed up.

Fortunately, Tu Chengyu has more than just this one job, otherwise it would be really difficult to arrange for so many people who want to work.

This time, in addition to widening the waterway from the ancient alley to the moat, Tu Chengyu also needs to fire bricks.

In this era, bricks were the most important material for building houses, even though Tu Chengyu also had cement.

However, the cement formula he developed was not as strong as that used in modern society, so the main walls still had to be made of bricks.

Fortunately, Tu Chengyu has plenty of manpower, so he can make as many bricks as needed.

The issue of manpower allocation will be handled in the same way as last time.

People were selected from various disaster relief camps, but this time there were more people selected.

After the people were selected, some of them were still led by Su Xuanbao into the city to dig the river.

The other group, led by Jia Lian, went to the foot of West Mountain to fire bricks.

The reason Jia Lian was chosen to lead the team was because he was the one who coordinated the borrowing of these brick factories. He was familiar with the owners of the brick factories, which is why he was chosen to go.

After the team split up, Tu Chengyu first went to the brick factory in Xishan, where he inspected it for two days and made all the necessary arrangements before returning to the camp.

When I returned, the river channel in the south of the city had been widened considerably.

At this moment, Su Xuanbao reported some bad news to Tu Chengyu.

"Your Highness, the river channel has been mostly cleared, but I dare not touch the remaining part. Please make the decision for me."

"Why don't you dare to move?" Tu Chengyu couldn't help but ask.

"Because those places are the villas of various high-ranking officials in the imperial court, and they occupy a part of the river channel."

"Officials of the imperial court? How many families are there?"

"There were seven or eight in total, but they were all officials from various government departments."

Tu Chengyu understood. The family occupying the river channel was too important, and Su Xuanbao dared not mess with them. So they came to seek Tu Chengyu as their backer.

Tu Chengyu thought for a moment and asked, "Have you sent anyone to communicate with those families?"

“I sent someone to ask,” Su Xuanbao said. “They were very easy to talk to at first, saying they would dismantle the area occupying the river in the next two days. But to this day, I haven’t seen them make any move. When I sent someone to ask again, they just ignored us.”

That's just a way of stalling.

"Are all of them like this?" Tu Chengyu asked again.

"That's how it is, just like we agreed on it."

Now, Tu Chengyu understood what those families really meant; basically, they had conspired to act like scoundrels.

They wanted to drag it out until it fizzled out, but Tu Chengyu couldn't wait.

He thought for a moment and said to Su Xuanbao, "Send people over now to inform those families that we will be clearing these places in half an hour. Tell them to move their things away within half an hour. After the time is up, just pretend they don't want these things anymore and we will demolish them directly. Also, have the people who are digging the riverbed get ready and guard these places in advance. When the time comes, start immediately without any delay."

Having received Tu Chengyu's order, Su Xuanbao unconsciously straightened his back considerably, and grinned at Tu Chengyu, saying:
"Your Highness, just watch and see, I'll handle this matter perfectly for you."

Seeing Su Xuanbao's smug look, Tu Chengyu couldn't help but say:

"If you were truly capable, you should have finished this before I returned, so as not to trouble me at all."

Despite Tu Chengyu's words, Su Xuanbao showed no shame whatsoever.

"Your Highness, it's not that I didn't know your plans that I dared not act rashly; otherwise, I would have already ordered it to be torn down."

"Alright, what's the use of saying all this now? Let's get to work."

"It's the prince!" he said, and then ran off in a flash.

Tu Chengyu sat with Quan Wenwei for a while and discussed some issues with him.

After he finished, he still couldn't let go of Su Xuanbao's affairs, so he led his men back to the city.

When Tu Chengyu arrived at this side of the river, the agreed-upon deadline was almost here.

So when he arrived, he saw Su Xuanbao leading a large group of disaster victims to surround several places.

In the area where the largest crowd had gathered, Tu Chengyu saw Su Xuanbao arguing fiercely with several people.

Upon seeing this, Tu Chengyu walked straight over.

When the disaster victims saw Tu Chengyu arrive, they consciously made way for him.

At this moment, Su Xuanbao also saw Tu Chengyu arrive, so he abandoned the few people who looked like butlers and ran over.

"My Lord, why are you here?"

"I was worried, so I came to check on things."

While the two were talking, the stewards also saw Tu Chengyu and hurriedly ran over to greet him.

Then, one of the oldest among them mustered up his courage and said:

"Your Highness, could you please allow this gentleman a few more days so we can clean up the things here before dismantling?"

Tu Chengyu looked at him, then at Su Xuanbao, and suddenly asked:

"Su Xuanbao, didn't you give her time to pack up?"

Su Xuanbao was taken aback, then realized what he meant and said:

"Your Highness, I notified them long ago and gave them two days, but they still haven't made a move."

After Su Xuanbao finished speaking, Tu Chengyu didn't say anything more, but just quietly looked at the group of people.

They knew they were in the wrong, but they still argued:

"Your Highness, this villa belongs to our master. We are just servants, how dare we make decisions on our own? We can only wait for our masters to return before we can make any decisions."

The implication was that their master was not home, and they had no say in the matter, so they hoped Tu Chengyu would give them more time.

If they had said this from the beginning, Tu Chengyu would have thought it was understandable, but two days have already passed.

It's unacceptable that they're using this as an excuse.

Although the capital is large, it's not like a battle could go on for two days without any news, unless their master isn't serving as an official in the capital. Thinking of this, Tu Chengyu asked:
"Among your families, which one doesn't have an official position in the capital?"

Upon hearing this, the group exchanged glances, but none of them offered a reply.

It seems that all of their families are in the capital.

Then, Tu Chengyu asked, "Have any of your family's masters come here these past two days?"

Tu Chengyu didn't believe that several people with different official positions and departments would have the same arrangements for the next two days.

If they are all doing the same thing, then it can be basically confirmed that these companies have agreed to this arrangement.

Faced with Tu Chengyu's questioning, the butlers remained silent once again.

Tu Chengyu had no interest in arguing with these few people, and simply said:
“Go back and tell your masters that I don’t have time to beat around the bush with them. Since the house is encroaching on the river, there’s nothing more to say. If they still have any complaints, let them come to me in person.”

After saying that, Tu Chengyu, disregarding what the other person might think, directly addressed Su Xuanbao:

"Is it time?"

Su Xuanbao immediately replied, "Your Highness, the time has long since come."

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's do it."

Upon hearing this, Su Xuanbao immediately turned around, walked to a high place, and shouted at the top of his lungs:

"The time has come, begin demolishing the house."

The disaster victims, who had been waiting impatiently, cheered upon hearing the order and charged toward their target, brandishing their hoes and picks.

For disaster victims, being able to demolish the government officials' houses was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to vent their anger.

So they put all their effort into it and went up there to demolish it with all their might.

If it hadn't been agreed from the beginning that only those encroaching on the river channel would be demolished, these disaster victims might have even demolished entire houses.

Watching the disaster victims busily demolishing the structures, Tu Chengyu said a few words to Su Xuanbao and then withdrew.

After coming down from the river, Tu Chengyu did not go back, but instead went to the construction site of the ancient alley. The area had been leveled and was now waiting for Wang Yunling to complete the blueprints before construction began on digging the lake.

Tu Chengyu came over intending to just take a look, but to his surprise, he saw Wang Yunling leading a few people around the construction site.

When he saw Tu Chengyu arrive, he quickly ran over to greet him.

Tu Chengyu looked at the rolls of paper in his hand and asked:
"Is the blueprint design complete?"

Wang Yunling smiled and said, "Your Highness, my colleagues and I have come here today to see the site in person and make adjustments as needed."

Tu Chengyu looked at the officials behind him, who must be the colleagues he had designed the project with.

Since they were offering to help, Tu Chengyu nodded amiably and said:
"Now that you have a first draft, bring it out for me to see."

Upon hearing this, Wang Yunling quickly handed over the blueprints in her hand.

After Tu Chengyu took it, he picked out the largest one and opened it. He could tell at a glance that it was the overall design plan for the entire ancient alley.

He looked at it carefully and could roughly figure out how it was laid out.

However, there are still some differences between ancient and modern designs, so Tu Chengyu still couldn't understand some of the details.

Wang Yunling probably noticed the situation, so she came over and explained it to Tu Chengyu.

"Your Highness, as you see, I have arranged the layout of the courtyards and lakes throughout this ancient alley according to your request..."

Wang Yunling spent a full quarter of an hour explaining his design drawings to Tu Chengyu in detail.

When there was something unclear, he would lead Tu Chengyu to the place where the construction was to take place, and draw a rough outline on the spot with a wooden stick to explain it to Tu Chengyu in person.

After his explanation, Tu Chengyu finally fully understood what style of design it was.

This person arranged the ancient alleyway entirely according to the layout of a Jiangnan water town manor.

Building a garden in the Jiangnan style in the capital was not a good choice, because there wasn't enough water.

However, in the ancient alley, because one-third of the area is reserved for water storage, the water problem has also been solved.

What Wang Yunling had to do was to cleverly design these water-retaining lakes and ponds into scenic spots within the garden, so that they could both prevent flooding and be enjoyed for their beauty.

In fact, that's exactly what Wang Yunling did. He divided this one-third area into countless lakes and ponds of varying sizes and shapes.

These lakes and ponds are connected by secret passages and are scattered around the courtyard. The larger ones are suitable for boating, while the smaller ones are suitable for raising fish. It is definitely a beautiful place.

If it were to be built exactly as he designed, Tu Chengyu was certain that this manor in the ancient alley, even if it couldn't compare to the grand gardens of Jiangnan, would still rank among the top in the capital.

Looking at Wang Yunling's drawings, Tu Chengyu was momentarily captivated.

He was impatient and couldn't help but imagine what a magnificent garden Wang Yunling's layout, combined with the modern-style villa he planned to build, would create.

If it causes a sensation in the capital, that would be the least of our worries.

After daydreaming for a while, Tu Chengyu finally came back to his senses.

He returned the blueprints to Wang Yunling and said:

"Your design is excellent. These lakes also have raised sections; we'll proceed according to your design. When do you plan to begin? Let me know in advance so I can allocate manpower accordingly."

Because the ancient alley is located in a low-lying area, even if one-third of the area were used to dig a lake, the excavated soil would not be enough to raise the area, and soil would have to be brought back from outside.

Tu Chengyu had already prepared to use cat ash and slag from the capital to line this place, so all that was needed was to allocate manpower.

Upon hearing this, Wang Yunling immediately said:

"Your Highness, we would like to make some further adjustments to the blueprints, so it may take a couple of days before we need to hire anyone."

"That's fine. Just let me know when you've decided on the specific time." Tu Chengyu didn't intend to interfere too much with their arrangements.

After speaking with Wang Yunling, Tu Chengyu, seeing that it was still early, left the South City again and returned to Quan Wenwei's place.

As soon as Tu Chengyu returned, Quan Wenwei pulled him into the tent and said with a very grim expression:
"Your Highness, I have something important to report to you."

Seeing Quan Wenwei's expression, Tu Chengyu realized something serious might have happened and, taking it seriously, quickly asked:

"what's going on?"

Quan Wenwei leaned close to Tu Chengyu and whispered, "Your Highness, nothing has happened, but I have received news that someone is plotting to assassinate you."

"Assassinate me?" Tu Chengyu was utterly bewildered. "Who would be so bored as to try to assassinate me?"

Tu Chengyu couldn't understand why someone would try to assassinate him in the capital, right under the emperor's nose. Wasn't that just asking for trouble?

(End of this chapter)