The Succession Struggle in the Dream of the Red Chamber

Chapter 296 Life and death are always unpredictable

(I posted the wrong one yesterday, so I'm posting it here today. I owe you all a chapter, and I'll make up for it with a public post next month.)
The atmosphere on the scene became tense once again. Nan Yiping was naturally aware of this. He first noticed the movement of troops behind Chen Chongli on the other side, and then he saw that Tu Chengyu's side was also on high alert.

Nan Yiping immediately realized that the uncle and nephew had become suspicious of him, so he instinctively wanted to order his men to take action.

But as soon as the thought of giving the order crossed his mind, he immediately dismissed it.

If it were only Tu Chengyu's side, he might still have a chance to escape.

Now that Chen Chongli has so many cavalrymen, there's no way he can escape.

Furthermore, even if Prince Su were present, his soldiers might not necessarily follow him in rebellion.

Moreover, he had some concerns. Even if he escaped from here, what could he do? His wife and family were still in the capital. Wouldn't leaving mean the death of his family?

On the contrary, the fact that he didn't run away means that at most he would lose his own life, but his family wouldn't be implicated.

Therefore, after much deliberation, Nan Yiping ultimately did not issue the order to retaliate.

Both Tu Chengyu and Chen Chongli were on high alert when they saw Nan Yiping making preparations and taking action, just waiting for him to give the order.

Unexpectedly, this guy gave up in the end. Tu Chengyu watched him lower his arm and turn around to look at him calmly, and knew that he would not make any more moves.

However, for safety's sake, Tu Chengyu still waved to Nan Yiping, beckoning him to come over to him.

Upon seeing Tu Chengyu's actions, Nan Yiping threw down his weapon and walked over without hesitation, standing within the circle of guards surrounding Tu Chengyu.

In this way, he would have no chance of escaping Tu Chengyu's control.

Tu Chengyu breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing this. He looked up and nodded to his uncle, putting his mind at ease.

Then he said to Nan Yiping:
"Have your men withdraw and stand aside."

Upon hearing this, Nan Yiping immediately agreed, but then added another sentence.

"Your Highness, all of this was done by this humble servant, and has nothing to do with anyone else."

Tu Chengyu said without even looking at him:

Whether they were involved or not is for others to judge. You don't need to worry about it. The only thing you need to do now is to make sure they don't cause any more problems, otherwise you might have a hard time getting out of this mess.

Upon hearing this, Nan Yiping offered no further explanation and turned to the men under his command, shouting:

"Brothers, Prince Su has ordered that we no longer need to defend this place. We should immediately withdraw and wait to return to camp."

Although the soldiers did not know why their general had suddenly changed his mind, since Nan Yiping had given the order personally and Prince Su was present, they carried it out without hesitation.

Immediately, all the Longxiang Guard soldiers guarding the crossroads stood up, withdrew from the battle formation, and went to the open space to assemble and form ranks.

Seeing this, Tu Chengyu was completely relieved.

He looked at Nan Yiping and said:
"You're quite sensible; you didn't drag so many people down with you and make a mistake."

Upon hearing this, Nan Yiping felt a mix of emotions and was at a loss for words.

Just as he had finished thinking and was about to say something, he heard a guard behind Prince Su shout:
"My lord, be careful."

Upon hearing this, Nan Yiping looked up and saw several of his soldiers rushing out, swords drawn, towards Prince Su.

However, that was nothing compared to what truly terrified Nan Yiping: he saw a man behind these people holding a crossbow, aiming it at the direction of Prince Su.

At this point, Nan Yiping no longer knew what to do.

He instinctively jumped forward, spreading his arms to shield his men, and shouted:
"What are you doing? Stop it, all of you!"

The soldiers, who were usually obedient, were all disobedient at this moment. He drew his knife and charged forward without hesitation.

At the same time, he saw that the person holding the crossbow had already pulled the trigger, and the arrow flew rapidly towards the direction of Prince Su.

Nan Yiping was terrified. He instinctively turned his head in the direction of the arrow and saw a crossbow bolt stuck in the body of a person in full armor, the tail of the arrow trembling violently.

At that moment, Nan Yiping had only one thought in his mind: it was all over, and his whole family was doomed.

He then realized that the person who had been hit by the crossbow bolt was not Prince Su, but the guard beside him.

Old Yao was the one who got hit by the arrow, and he was also the one who shouted for Tu Chengyu to be careful.

It turned out that he was the first to notice the unusual movements of the Dragon Guards, and he was also the first to discover the crossbow bolts.

So after he shouted, he pulled Tu Chengyu into his arms and used his body as a shield to help Tu Chengyu block the arrow.

Tu Chengyu, due to his limited field of vision, hadn't yet clearly seen what had happened.

After the other guards arrived and surrounded him, he stepped out of Lao Yao's arms and saw that Lao Yao was injured.

At this point, Tu Chengyu couldn't care less about anything else and hurriedly asked Lao Yao:

"Old Yao, how are you? Where are you hurt?"

Old Yao forced a smile and said:

"Your Highness, rest assured, it's just an arm injury, it won't kill you."

Upon hearing this, Tu Chengyu still couldn't let it go. He personally circled around and looked again and again, only to find that Lao Yao was indeed only injured in the arm.

Seeing that Lao Yao was not in immediate danger, Tu Chengyu felt relieved and then turned his attention to the battlefield not far away.

He turned his head and saw his own men and his uncle's cavalry surrounding a dozen people as they entered the palace.

Among these people, the one who fought the most fiercely was Nan Yiping.

He had somehow snatched a knife and was now desperately fighting his former subordinates.

After watching, Tu Chengyu realized that his fighting style was a life-or-death move, completely disregarding defense and only attacking. Even when he was slashed, he did not dodge at all, but just swung his knife back.

So not long after, Nan Yiping had cut down several of his former subordinates, but he was in no better shape. He had several deep, bone-revealing wounds all over his body, and most of his body was stained with blood.

Tu Chengyu watched for a short while, and then only a few of the dozen or so people were left.

Upon seeing this, Tu Chengyu quickly shouted:
"Stop killing them all, let a few live."

Upon hearing Tu Chengyu's voice, the attackers on the other side consciously slowed down their attack, preparing to capture the remaining few alive.

However, those few people did not want to be captured alive. As soon as the attack on this side weakened, they seized the opportunity and all committed suicide with their knives.

Upon seeing this, Tu Chengyu's face darkened.

Such a practice of committing suicide at the slightest disagreement is something only those meticulously trained assassins would do.

Tu Chengyu hadn't expected that a mere encounter with a member of the Longxiang Guard would lead to the appearance of over a dozen assassins. He wondered if similar incidents might occur elsewhere. While the whole thing unfolded, the other soldiers of the Longxiang Guard stood bewildered a short distance away, completely at a loss.

They probably couldn't understand how there could be such a person among them who would suddenly assassinate Prince Su.

What surprised them most was that their own general had become the one who was protecting Prince Su the most, and now he looked like he was about to die.

Regardless of what the soldiers of the Dragon Guard think about this matter.

They could not escape the fact that an assassin had appeared in their midst.

So when Tu Chengyu sent people to guard them and confiscate their weapons, they all obediently surrendered their weapons without resistance and cooperated by being searched.

All the soldiers of the Dragon Guard were placed under guard, and all threats here were completely contained.

At this moment, Nan Yiping, who was seriously injured, was carried to Tu Chengyu.

Tu Chengyu looked at the numerous wounds all over his body and didn't know what to say.

This guy was clearly the one who let Wanhe go, so logically he should also be a member of this rebel group.

But in the end, he almost lost his life protecting Tu Chengyu.

Just as Tu Chengyu was at a loss for words with a complicated expression, Nan Yiping spoke up.

"Your Highness, it seems I am not going to live. Please have someone give me a quick death."

Upon hearing this, Tu Chengyu couldn't help but look at the wounds on his body again. He realized that although the wounds were deep and the injuries were severe, they were not fatal.

Tu Chengyu was puzzled, so he looked up at him again.

Upon closer inspection, he noticed that the man's face was contorted in pain, and his complexion had become considerably paler than before.

This state is clearly different from before.

Tu Chengyu immediately realized something and hurriedly shouted:
“Pull his hand out.”

The people surrounding Nan Yiping immediately stepped forward and pulled out Nan Yiping's hand, which was hidden inside his clothes.

When his hand was pulled out, everyone was stunned.

Because in his hand, he was holding a blood-stained dagger.

Following the direction of the dagger, they discovered that blood was rapidly flowing from Nan Yiping's waist, soon forming a large pool on the ground.

Only then did everyone realize that Nan Yiping had just committed suicide.

This guy let Wanhe and the others go, and he's a key witness in the whole affair. Tu Chengyu was even thinking of sending him back to his uncle for interrogation.

Unexpectedly, he committed suicide in a moment of carelessness.

At this moment, Chen Chongli, the eldest uncle, also rushed over from the other side. Seeing the large pool of blood on the ground, his face turned very ugly.

He guessed that Tu Chengyu had the same idea, wanting to bring this person back.

Chen Chongli was filled with disappointment, but he did not stand still.

He quickly bent down and leaned close to Nan Yiping, saying in a deep voice:

"Nan Yiping, I won't ask you anything else. Just tell me whether Wan and those people were released from here, and which direction they escaped from."

It turns out that this is what Chen Chongli was concerned about.

Upon hearing this, Nan Yiping struggled to give a final smile, glanced at Tu Chengyu, then tilted his head and passed away.

Seeing that he died so quickly, Chen Chongli angrily slammed his fist on the ground and cursed:

"You've gotten away with it all, but you've left me with all the problems."

After finishing speaking, he stood up and said to Tu Chengyu:
“Brother Yu, I was originally planning to personally escort you back, but now that this guy means it's probably not going to happen.”

Tu Chengyu had been standing right in front of his uncle, so he naturally heard what his uncle said to Nan Yiping.

So he said directly:
"Uncle, are you looking for Wanhe and the others?"

Upon hearing this, the eldest uncle nodded and said, "Yes, we're looking for these guys. I was originally thinking of asking Nan Yiping if we could find out anything about them, but I didn't expect that this family would commit suicide."

After his uncle finished speaking, Tu Chengyu asked with a smile, "Uncle, are Wan and the others very important?"

The eldest uncle said, "They are indeed very important. These men know the situation of the army in the capital and even the surrounding areas. If they are allowed to escape and run to the Tartars on the other side, it will cause great trouble for the court."

So that's why. No wonder my uncle was so anxious.

Having ascertained the situation, Tu Chengyu stopped delaying and said to Chen Chongli:

"Uncle, don't worry, I've caught that Wanhe you mentioned?"

Upon hearing Tu Chengyu's words, Chen Chongli initially seemed not to understand, but then quickly realized what he meant and said:
"Really? Brother Yu, don't lie to your uncle."

Tu Chengyu laughed and said, "Why would I lie to you, Uncle? Look over there if you don't believe me."

As he spoke, he pointed to the area behind him where the prisoners were. Just then, Wan He looked up, seemingly looking at something.

Therefore, Chen Chongli saw this person clearly.

Upon seeing Wanhe's appearance clearly, Chen Chongli was overjoyed and said to Tu Chengyu:

"Brother Yu, how did you catch this guy?"

Upon hearing this, Tu Chengyu briefly recounted the process of capturing Wan He, and then described what happened after he went down the mountain and encountered Nan Yiping. He also shared his speculations about Nan Yiping with Chen Chongli.

Upon hearing this, Chen Chongli immediately said:

"General Cheng and I also suspected that Nan Yiping had let Wan He and the others go, which is why we came to question him. We originally thought that Wan He had probably escaped far away this time, and it would be very difficult to catch him. We didn't expect that you caught him so easily."

Upon hearing this, Tu Chengyu couldn't help but grin. Indeed, this matter was too much of a coincidence.

Thousands of troops were blocking the way to arrest people at the foot of the mountain, but unexpectedly, the big fish was caught by the outsider himself.

However, Tu Chengyu did not want such credit, so he directly told Chen Chongli:
“Uncle, since we’ve run into them, I’ll leave these people to you to handle.”

Upon hearing this, Chen Chongli said with some surprise:
"You don't intend to present them to His Majesty yourself."

Tu Chengyu shook his head and said, "What's the difference between me delivering it and you delivering it, Uncle? You should deliver it, Uncle. Besides, this guy always talks nonsense. Leaving him here might cause some trouble."

After hearing Tu Chengyu's reasoning, Chen Chongli said:
"In that case, hand him over to me. You and your men should go back to the palace on the mountain."

(End of this chapter)