The Succession Struggle in the Dream of the Red Chamber

Chapter 30 The Emperor Benefits from the Chess Game
Tu Chengyu returned to the West Palace, and before he could even have dinner, he received the emperor's punishment.

"He was confined to his home for three days, and ordered to copy the Classic of Filial Piety twice."

After the eunuch who came to deliver the imperial edict finished speaking, he presented a copy of the Classic of Filial Piety. Several other burly eunuchs stood guard in various parts of the courtyard, clearly to prevent him from escaping.

Tu Chengyu was stunned. His father was actually serious. He had only been cooperating with their performance, so why was he being punished after it was over?

He couldn't believe it and tried to go outside twice, but was stopped by the guarding eunuchs each time.

Okay, now Tu Chengyu is certain that his father is serious.

However, being confined for only three days didn't have much impact on Tu Chengyu. His only regret was that his plan to sneak a peek at the Twelve Beauties after the Jia family women entered the palace the day after tomorrow was ruined.

Although he was confined to his home for the past three days, news was not blocked. Every day, Xiao Xuanzi would go out to inquire and then come back to tell Tu Chengyu.

According to Xiao Xuanzi's inquiries over the past few days, the most talked-about topic in the capital is the Jia family's upcoming marriage.

Previously, there were rumors that Empress Dowager Cixi intended to choose Jia Yuanchun as the Princess of Yixiao, which had already made the Jia family uneasy.

Then, there was news that the emperor originally wanted to marry Jia Yuanchun to the crown prince, but Empress Dowager Cixi interfered and insisted on marrying her to Prince Yixiao. The emperor was filial, so he followed Empress Dowager Cixi's wishes.

Upon hearing this news, the Jia family could no longer remain calm. Even a mischievous child who only knew how to smash jade could clearly distinguish between the Crown Princess and the Princess of Yixiao.

How could the Jia family possibly let such a rare opportunity slip by?

Therefore, all the masters of the two mansions on Ningrong Street, except for Jia She who was guarding his home, mobilized and searched the entire capital for connections, trying to persuade Empress Dowager Cixi to give up her idea.

If a daughter of the Jia family could become the Crown Princess, it would not only benefit the Jia family, but also be very important to other noble families. This would signify that the current emperor still favors and befriends nobles.

Therefore, whenever the Jia family asked for help, all the nobles who could lend a hand stepped forward to assist.

In less than half a day, the first person to enter the palace appeared. It was Prince Yixiao, who was at the center of the discussion. This was the first time he had come out of his residence since the night of the turmoil.

His intervention wasn't necessarily to advocate for the nobles; it was more for his own benefit. After all, he was still embroiled in a larger vortex and didn't want to get involved in another one.

As the only child of the former crown prince, Tu Yanzong was already the focus of attention of all officials. This time, he had to go out because of public opinion, and countless people were secretly watching him.

When those former crown prince's cronies saw how this already frail young man had become even more weak and needed support to walk in such a short time, those who felt even a little gratitude for the former crown prince's kindness couldn't help but secretly shed tears.

Prince Yixiao entered the palace and, once again, persuaded Empress Dowager Cixi to rescind her order, citing his own mourning period and the inconvenience it was to arrange a marriage.

However, when Empress Dowager Cixi saw the even thinner Prince Yixiao, she became even more determined to make the marriage happen. She believed that once the marriage was arranged with the Jia family, given the Jia family's status among the nobles in the capital, Prince Yixiao would have a better life and wouldn't have to live in constant fear as he did now.

Prince Yixiao's persuasion failed, and the true representative of the nobility emerged.

He is Mu Yuanjiang, the current head of the Dongping Prince's Mansion and the younger brother of Empress Dowager Cixi.

As a member of the noble families in the capital, the Prince of Dongping could not bear to see his sister make a mistake, considering the interests of his family and other nobles.

He couldn't understand what his sister was thinking, that she would let Prince Yixiao, the son of the former crown prince, marry into the Jia family, which had considerable influence in the capital garrison. Wasn't this pushing Prince Yixiao into a fire?

Moreover, this move would also ruin the opportunity for the nobles in the capital to befriend the new crown prince. If the Empress Dowager were to ultimately succeed in this matter, the nobles in the capital could not do anything to the Empress Dowager, but they could hold the Prince of Dongping's mansion responsible for it.

Mu Yuanjiang was an experienced and shrewd man who knew how to persuade her. After he thoroughly analyzed the pros and cons, Empress Dowager Cixi finally came to her senses.

But as the Empress Dowager, she had to consider her own reputation, so she didn't say anything and wanted the matter to pass slowly.

Therefore, when Empress Dowager Cixi summoned the matriarch of the Jia family to the palace for a talk, she kept silent about the matter of bestowing a marriage upon her.

The Jia family breathed a sigh of relief at this point.

At this point, any sober person would have already withdrawn and stopped getting involved. However, the Jia family had been planning to send Jia Yuanchun to the palace for a long time, and they had spent a lot of money over the years just to cultivate relationships. It was indeed extremely difficult for them to withdraw now.

Moreover, this is a selection of a crown princess, which is much more cost-effective than sending her to the palace as a maid.

Therefore, after securing Empress Dowager Cixi's support, the Jia family turned their attention to vying for the position of Crown Princess. Seeing this, the nobles believed the situation had taken a turn for the better and joined in to help the Jia family.

However, the emperor, having orchestrated this scheme for so long, was not about to let them succeed so easily.

While Tu Chengyu was listening to Xiao Xuanzi recount these news, the emperor was already making new plans.

The emperor summoned Prince Bei Jing to the palace today for questioning.

The Prince of Beijing was the head of the four princes and held a very high position among the nobles in the capital.

Because of his ancestors' close relationship with the royal family and his great contributions in the founding of the country, his first prince was granted the title of Prince of Beijing by Emperor Taizu. His son inherited the title of Prince of Beijing, which was reduced by one rank. Due to Emperor Taizu's special decree, the title of Prince of Beijing was never reduced, so the title of Prince of Beijing has been passed down to the fifth generation.

The current Prince Shui Rong of Beijing is only fifteen years old. He is a handsome and elegant young man with a refined appearance, a humble nature, graceful manners, and extraordinary bearing. Judging from his appearance, he is of immeasurable nobility.

During the reign of the retired emperor, he valued this young prince highly and often summoned him to the palace to personally instruct him. Even now, the first person the current emperor summons to the palace for questioning is still this prince, demonstrating the royal family's high regard for him.

The Emperor summoned Prince Bei Jing to the palace today, firstly to meet Shui Rong, and secondly to inquire about the opinions outside the palace regarding the Crown Prince's selection of a consort.

Although Prince Bei Jing had a good relationship with the Jia family, he still told the emperor about the events that had happened outside in the past few days when questioned by the emperor.

After hearing this, the emperor said, "I never expected that this matter would cause such a great uproar, disturbing the peace of the nobles and relatives, and causing the Empress Dowager to be so distressed that she couldn't eat these past few days. This is all my fault."

Prince Bei Jing said, "Your Majesty, you must not say such a thing. It is the greed of the nobles that has caused this to happen."

The emperor sighed, "It's no wonder they're in this mess. Who could have predicted that both the Empress Dowager and I would take a liking to this girl? And I didn't inform the Empress Dowager in time, which led to this farce."

Since the Emperor has said this, Prince Bei Jing doesn't know how you will respond.

The emperor continued, "After much thought, I still cannot put the Empress Dowager in a difficult position, nor can I make things difficult for the nobles. Therefore, I would like to ask Prince Bei Jing to do me a favor."

The Prince of Beijing hurriedly said, "Please give your orders, Your Majesty."

The Emperor said, "I would like to ask the Prince to inquire for me whether there are any other noble ladies of good character and appearance who are of marriageable age in the capital, and whether they can be offered to the Crown Prince as his consort."

Although the Prince of Beijing was surprised by the emperor's method, he had no choice but to agree.

As the first nobleman to be summoned since the new emperor's ascension to the throne, Prince Bei Jing's visit to the palace attracted considerable attention from the nobles.

As soon as he left the palace, people from various mansions who wanted to gather information gathered at the Prince of Beijing's residence, and soon the news spread like wildfire that the emperor was going to choose another crown princess from among the nobles.

The Jia family was nearly driven mad by the news, and Jia Yuanchun even went straight to her room, refusing to open the door no one could call.

Unlike the Jia family, most of the other nobles who had previously shared both advancement and retreat with them had fallen into obscurity.

Not only did no one speak up for the Jia family, but several families with daughters of marriageable age, in particular, changed their previous stance and actually supported marrying Jia Yuanchun to Prince Yixiao.

Such remarks, which threatened to plunge the Jia family into a fire pit, immediately met with opposition from the nobles who were close to the Jia family. They argued that as noble families in the capital, they should naturally be united and support each other; how could they possibly harm another family?

Another group of nobles believed that the Crown Princess could be anyone from a noble family in the capital, and did not necessarily have to be Jia Yuanchun.

These nobles, who were originally standing together, were now briefly divided into two factions over the position of Crown Princess.

Tu Chengyu was shocked when he heard the news that Xiao Xuanzi had inquired about. In just a few days, things had developed into this.

He was even more impressed by his father's methods.

Others, unaware of the full story, assumed the emperor was forced to act, and that everything was done to save face for the royal family.

Little did they know that after learning of Empress Dowager Cixi's involvement, the emperor seized the opportunity to set up a scheme, and somehow persuaded the retired emperor to remain neutral.

Empress Dowager Cixi consciously entered the fray, prompting other nobles in the capital to follow suit.

This has led to a rift among the nobles. Although this rift may not last long, they will still band together when faced with other matters.

However, at least for this period of time, they were divided, and this short-term division was very valuable to the newly enthroned emperor.

The emperor took advantage of their division, winning them over from both sides, and also had the position of Crown Princess there.

Ultimately, the emperor obtained half of the newly established Xuan Tie Wei from the nobles, thus beginning to intervene in the capital's military camp.

However, throughout the entire process, the retired emperor, who was the de facto controller of the Beijing garrison, never once expressed his opinion. This seemed to tacitly approve of the emperor's actions, which was one of the reasons why the nobles were unable to contend with the emperor.

Only then did the emperor reach an agreement with the nobles and select a crown princess from other families.

The highly publicized incident of the Crown Prince's selection of a consort finally came to an end in the winter.

During this period, the Jia family members endured immense suffering, becoming the laughingstock of almost everyone else. Jia Yuanchun, in particular, went from being a sure thing to entering the palace as a maid to becoming a taboo subject that no one dared to ask about—a truly dramatic rise and fall.

Even though she was the legitimate daughter of a noble family, she was tormented to the point of near death. If it weren't for the comforting presence of her elders and the constant companionship of her sisters, she wouldn't have perished.

However, before this matter had even passed, more bad news arrived.

It turns out that Jia Min, the youngest daughter of the matriarch of the Jia family and wife of Lin Ruhai, the salt commissioner of Yangzhou, died of illness.

Before the previous troubles had subsided, another heartbreak followed. These successive blows were too much for the elderly matriarch, and overwhelmed with grief, she fell ill and never recovered.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, the Jia family closed their doors to guests under the pretext that the matriarch was recuperating, and temporarily ceased all contact with the outside world.

Only then did the Jia family gradually extricate themselves from this vortex.

(End of this chapter)