The Succession Struggle in the Dream of the Red Chamber

Chapter 293 Eloquent Tongues and Sowing Discord

Wan He was stunned for a long time before Tu Chengyu said something unexpected:
"Prince Su is indeed as rumored; he cannot be underestimated."

Tu Chengyu looked at him and said, "Enough with this nonsense. I'm asking you, since you led a rebellion, how did you end up here?"

Upon hearing Tu Chengyu's question, the man laughed again, but as he laughed, tears began to stream down his face.

He said, "Rebellion? What a ridiculous rebellion."

Seeing him both crying and laughing, Tu Chengyu asked:

"You started the rebellion, so why do you find it laughable?"

Wanhe replied, "Because the so-called rebellion was not something I wanted to do; it was something others forced me to do. What you see as my rebellion is actually a rebellion that others need."

Tu Chengyu pondered for a moment after hearing these words.

He then asked, "Stop with the nonsense. I'm asking you, where did you come from to get up the mountain? I remember every road at the bottom of the mountain was blocked. You shouldn't have been able to escape."

Wanhe replied, "If it were normal, I wouldn't have been able to escape. But someone didn't want to see me get caught, so they secretly let me go."

This also involves other people.

Tu Chengyu, however, had no interest in delving deeper. He asked:

"I only want to ask you where the path to the mountain is; don't bring up anything else that's not necessary."

Wanhe smiled and said, "I won't tell you the route, but I'd really like to tell you who showed me the way. Would you like to hear it, Prince Su?"

After he said that, Tu Chengyu lost interest in asking any further questions.

Because Tu Chengyu could tell from this person's words that something else was going to be involved.

If Tu Chengyu doesn't want to cause trouble, it's best not to listen to his nonsense.

Otherwise, if this guy really reveals a shocking secret, wouldn't Tu Chengyu be implicated?

So Tu Chengyu said, "So, your rebellion is really funny."

After he finished speaking, he ordered his men to lock up and guard the group of people.

Seeing that Tu Chengyu didn't respond, Wan He quickly said:

"Prince Su, don't you want to know why I rebelled at this time?"

"I don't want to," Tu Chengyu said coldly.

Unexpectedly, Wanhe got even more excited upon hearing this.

“Your Highness, I know a lot of things you don’t. If you knew these things, I guarantee you would gain a lot.”

Upon hearing this, Tu Chengyu knew what he was up to. He was simply saying something ambiguous and mixing it with some divisive things, all to make Tu Chengyu look at him differently.

If Tu Chengyu is truly an ambitious person, he might even be interested in what he's saying.

However, Tu Chengyu doesn't care about any of this now; on the contrary, he doesn't want to cause trouble because of it.

So he said, "You'd better shut your mouth. If you keep spouting nonsense here, I'll have someone pluck some wild grass and stuff it into your mouth."

After being rejected again, Wanhe didn't know how to respond, so he naturally shut his mouth.

Just then, Lao Yao came over and said to Tu Chengyu:

"Your Highness, everything is ready here. Shall we head up the mountain now?"

If Tu Chengyu hadn't offended Wan He and his ilk, he would have naturally retreated to the mountain palace for his own safety.

However, Wan He, the commander of the rebel army, was captured by him.

This means that the rebels are now leaderless, so their demise will not be long in coming.

In that case, there shouldn't be any danger down the mountain. Therefore, Tu Chengyu said:

“These people have escaped into the mountains, and the people who are blocking them below probably don’t know yet. So let’s not go to the palace for now, and take these people down the mountain first.”

Hearing Tu Chengyu's words, Lao Yao hesitated for a moment, then said:

"Your Highness, it is quite dangerous down the mountain. It would be best if Your Highness did not go."

After the two battles just now, Tu Chengyu was no longer afraid of these things on the battlefield; on the contrary, he was quite interested in them. So he said:
"The rebels' commanders are all here with me, so what's there to fear about the remaining minor dangers?"

Old Yao couldn't persuade Tu Chengyu otherwise, so he had to go back and make the arrangements.

Gan Ze knew all along that the Prince of Su was a man of principle and would not easily listen to advice, so he did not come to persuade him at all.

Since there were only about twenty people on the other side, and they were all defeated in a very short time, there was nothing to deal with.

Just assign a few people to carry the wounded soldiers from both sides up.

After getting ready, Tu Chengyu's group turned around and headed downhill.

After walking for a while, when they reached the foot of the mountain, they saw soldiers guarding the road entrance at the foot of the mountain.

Judging from his clothes, he seemed to be a soldier of the Imperial Guard.

If they are indeed from the Imperial Guard, then they are very likely sent by the Emperor to guard the road.

However, just to be on the safe side, Tu Chengyu still sent two soldiers to scout ahead.

The two soldiers ran down and soon returned with a middle-aged general.

This man, accompanied by two guards, walked up to Tu Chengyu and bowed deeply.

"This humble officer, Nan Yiping, commander of the Longxiang Guard, greets Your Highness, Prince Su."

This person was actually from the Dragon Guard, an elite force within the Imperial Guard. Unexpectedly, the Emperor himself came to suppress the rebels.

"No need for excessive formalities in the military."

Upon hearing this, Nan Yiping straightened up and said:
"Your Highness, didn't you go to the imperial palace? Why are you here?"

Upon hearing this, Tu Chengyu smiled and said:

"I was originally planning to go back, but seeing that the fighting down the mountain wasn't too intense, I decided to come down and take a look."

This was a reason that Tu Chengyu made up on the spot. As for Wan He and others who were captured, Tu Chengyu didn't mention them at all.

Since Wanhe and his group chose to go up the mountain from here, the person he told them to give them directions was likely a road-guarding team from the vicinity.

Nan Yiping's group is the closest to them, so Tu Chengyu should be careful.

After Nan Yiping stood up, she pointed out the way to Tu Chengyu while casually asking:
"Your Highness, you just came down from up there. Was your journey safe?"

Although he asked casually, Tu Chengyu already had an idea in mind, so after hearing it, he blurted out something random:

"I did not come down from the mountain, but took another route, so the journey was very safe."

As he said this, Tu Chengyu glanced at Nan Yiping, seemingly casually, wanting to see how he would react to his words.

Unfortunately, Nan Yiping's expression remained calm and unchanged after listening to Tu Chengyu's words.

Seeing this, Tu Chengyu was still somewhat wary, but he was already somewhat relieved about Nan Yiping.

So he felt reassured and followed him down the mountain.

However, what Tu Chengyu didn't notice was that Nan Yiping was secretly observing the men behind Tu Chengyu as he walked down the path.

(End of this chapter)