The Succession Struggle in the Dream of the Red Chamber

Chapter 3 The city is filled with black iron armor

The cool autumn night breeze stirred up a flurry of fallen leaves and also brought the sound of gongs.

The mutinous soldiers finally arrived, and the Prince's Palace sounded the alarm.

At this moment, the gates of the Prince's mansion were completely blocked by a dense mass of Xuan Tie armored soldiers. The Xuan Tie Guards were one of the twelve guards of the imperial city, usually responsible for protecting the outer city, but tonight they had become a mob.

Cheng Changbao stood on a wooden frame inside the palace courtyard wall, only half his head peeking out, and shouted to the Xuan Tie Guards outside:

"Prince An is asking you, which general of the Xuan Tie Guard do you serve under? How dare you arbitrarily besiege Prince An's residence? Do you intend to rebel?"

Cheng Changbao had a strong breath and a loud voice, and all the Xuan Tie Guards at the door could hear him clearly.

Not everyone in the rebel army knew what they were going to do tonight. Most of the ordinary soldiers were just following orders and had no idea that they were besieging Prince An's mansion. Now that they heard about it, there was a commotion in the ranks.

Faced with this situation, the general leading the Xuan Tie Guard had no choice but to come out and loudly answer Cheng Changbao's questions, while also reassuring his soldiers.

"Replying to Prince An, this humble general dares not rebel. This humble general is here on orders to escort Prince An to the palace."

Cheng Changbao continued his questioning: "By whom did you act on my orders? Is there an imperial edict?"

"Your Highness, I am here on the orders of the General of this Guard, and I have a document to mobilize troops."

"Send the documents over, and we'll discuss it further after the Prince has inspected them."

Upon hearing this, the general who had spoken pulled a roll of silk from the sleeve of his armor and sent a soldier to deliver it to the wall next to the gate. The Prince An's residence had also placed a small bamboo basket tied with a rope down there earlier. Once the soldier put the silk into the basket, he quickly pulled it into the courtyard.

Prince An dared not touch anything that was brought in from outside, so he had Xia Shouzhong, who was by his side, take it out and open it.

Prince An, using the lantern's light, carefully examined the items on the silk cloth. After looking at them, he said:

"The notes and seals are correct; it is indeed the Duke of Shan Guo who was involved."

Cheng Changbao asked, "Your Highness, what should we do next?"

Prince An did not answer, but instead asked, "Do you see any signs that the rioting troops outside the gate intend to form ranks and storm the gate?"

Cheng Changbao replied, "According to my observation, although the troops at the gate are arrayed in a strict formation, they show no intention of attacking. It seems that they share the same plan as Your Highness and are intentionally delaying the attack."

Prince An chuckled and said, "As expected of an old general left by the previous generation, he is extremely cautious in his actions. Even I, a lowly Prince An, have to resort to his schemes."

Upon hearing Prince An's words, which sounded both self-deprecating and smug, Xia Shouzhong tactfully flattered him, saying, "No matter how he schemes, it's all within the prince's calculations."

"Hahaha, you little lackey, you sure know how to talk."

While Prince An was plotting against each other in the front yard, the rebel army had unknowingly surrounded the front yard of Prince An's mansion. They had even quietly crept up to the second gate, which everyone thought would take the rebel army some effort to find.

When the alarm bell rang at the Prince's Mansion, Tu Chengyu lay on the roof of the second gatehouse, hiding behind the ridge, and watched the central courtyard by the dim light.

He, like everyone else, initially thought the rebel army would arrive later, but when he couldn't wait to climb onto the roof, he clearly saw several reflections of iron flashing from the direction of the crescent gate in the central courtyard.

It was obvious that the rebel army had already crept up. He didn't know if the guards and servants crouching on the wall were simply negligent or simply couldn't see him. But this wasn't the time to worry about that. Tu Chengyu quietly reminded the people beside him and below the wall to prepare immediately.

After he finished speaking, he turned around and saw a few scattered figures passing through the front of the house in the middle courtyard, heading straight for the second gate.

As they drew closer, Tu Chengyu recognized two familiar faces: the two guards that Prosecutor Yuan had sent to act as lookouts at the Moon Gate of the Intermediate People's Court.

The two men surrounded a burly figure, pointing and gesturing. They didn't seem like enemies, but rather like guides. Moreover, judging from their familiarity with the rebel army, they didn't seem like they had been captured and turned against the rebels; rather, it was as if they had known each other for a long time.

No wonder the rebel army was able to get here so quickly from the maze-like backyard; it turns out there was a traitor among the guards.

Thinking that these two were Yuan Jian's close subordinates, Tu Chengyu suddenly turned around and looked down at the wall. He saw that Yuan Jian had somehow moved closer to Xiao Liu, and the young master's steward Shen Ye was also moving towards Xiao Liu.

Tu Chengyu couldn't immediately discern the two's intentions, nor did he dare to rashly remind Xiao Liu. He could only pretend to be nonchalant and say:
"Little Six, come here, Fifth Brother has something to tell you."

Before Xiao Liu could react, Tu Chengyu had already spoken. Yuan Jian took the initiative, stepping behind Xiao Liu, grabbing him by the back of the neck and pulling him back, while the knife in his other hand was already at Xiao Liu's neck.

Despite Shen Ye's preparations, he was still a step behind Yuan Jian and could only watch helplessly as Xiao Liu was taken into custody by Yuan Jian.

The sudden change was witnessed not only by Tu Chengyu and Shen Ye, but also by the guards on and below the wall.

Apart from the three close guards around Yuan Jian, everyone else was stunned.

Tu Chengyu was furious at this turn of events. He had unwittingly become an accomplice of Yuan Jian, not only sending two guides to the rebel army, but also accidentally letting Xiao Liu fall into the enemy's hands, which could even lead to the rebel army attacking the mansion from here.

At this moment, Tu Chengyu wished he could tear Yuan Jian to pieces. However, he knew very well that the more critical the moment, the more he needed to remain calm.

Tu Chengyu suppressed his anger and asked through gritted teeth, "Prosecutor Yuan, what are you trying to do?"

Yuan Jian escorted Xiao Liu to the corner, where he and the other three guards surrounded Xiao Liu. Hearing Tu Chengyu's question, he replied in a deep voice:
"As long as Fifth Master orders the opening of the second gate of the mansion, I guarantee that Sixth Master will not be harmed in the slightest."

Upon hearing that the second gate was to be opened, Xiao Liu hurriedly shouted, "Fifth Brother, no!"

Tu Chengyu ignored Xiao Liu's words and stared intently at Yuan Jian with a blank expression. Whether it was out of guilt or for some other reason, Yuan Jian was so intimidated by Tu Chengyu's gaze that he dared not look directly at him.

Seeing Yuan Jian's expression, Tu Chengyu felt a little more confident. He chuckled lightly, turned around and sat on the roof tiles of the second gate, his feet resting on the auspicious beast on the roof ridge, and said unhurriedly:

"Prosecutor Yuan, what if I don't open the second gate!"

Yuan Jian said loudly, "Then I'll take your brother with me to the grave. Anyway, I'm just a worthless life. If I can take a dragon's son or grandson with me, it'll be worth it."

"Fool!" Tu Chengyu cursed contemptuously, then turned to the three men next to Yuan Jian and said, "What are you three planning? Do you want to drag a prince down with you?"

These three men clearly didn't want to die so easily. After all, they had risked their lives to rebel, and they were probably thinking about enjoying the fruits of victory after they succeeded. So the three of them remained silent.

Tu Chengyu laughed and said, "It seems you don't want to die. That's easy to handle. As long as you kill Inspector Yuan, I can make the decision to forgive and forget about your past actions."

This blatant attempt to sow discord startled Prosecutor Yuan. He involuntarily glanced at the three people beside him, then said menacingly to Tu Chengyu:
"You think you can pull off tricks that even a child wouldn't believe here? Since we're planning a rebellion, we have no intention of turning back. Besides, your brother is still in our hands, so I doubt you'd dare lay a hand on us."

(End of this chapter)