The Succession Struggle in the Dream of the Red Chamber

Chapter 41 With an uncle like this, one's mind is not at peace.

Although Tu Chengyu didn't know what his father was going to do, he didn't dare to delay for a moment. He hurriedly exchanged a few words with the Prefect of Shuntian Prefecture and then followed Dong Da to the Jingying Garrison outside the city.

As soon as Tu Chengyu stepped out of the Shuntian Prefecture government office, he felt a tense atmosphere wash over him.

The once bustling streets are now deserted, with hardly a single person to be seen among the people of the capital.

Looking around the streets, all you see are soldiers.

Judging from their robes, most of them were patrol officers from the Imperial Guard in the capital.

In addition to the patrolling soldiers, there were also many yamen runners in black robes and red jackets. They worked together to control all the streets tightly and carefully inspected every passerby.

Their actions made it seem as if the entire city was under martial law.

Tu Chengyu shook his head as he watched. He had expected his father to take the opportunity to make a move, but he hadn't anticipated such a commotion.

There were many soldiers and yamen runners in the inner city, and quite a few in the outer city as well. Moreover, the further you went into the outer city, the more soldiers appeared on the streets.

Not only were there officers from the military patrol, but also from the imperial guards. It seemed that his father had mobilized all the resources he could muster. Tu Chengyu guessed that his father might have gone to his grandfather for help again, otherwise why would the imperial guards have been mobilized so quickly?

Now that the Imperial Guard has been mobilized, the elite troops under it, such as the Imperial Horse Stable, which are capable of both gathering intelligence and arresting and interrogating people, will naturally not be left behind.

Tu Chengyu hadn't walked far when he saw several scenes of the Imperial Horse Administration arresting people.

These thugs, who acted fearless when fighting Tu Chengyu, are now behaving like docile chicks after being captured by the Imperial Horse Administration.

Tu Chengyu continued on his way while admiring these unlucky fellows.

Not long after they started walking, they suddenly heard someone calling their name.

"Brother Yu, Brother Yu".

The person shouted very loudly, and the voice sounded somewhat familiar. Tu Chengyu heard the shout, stopped his horse, and looked in the direction of the sound.

After seeing clearly who was shouting, he couldn't help but frown.

He initially intended to ignore him, but after thinking it over, he felt it wasn't appropriate. So he told Dong Da and the others to wait by the roadside while he led Lao Yao and the others over to investigate.

When Tu Chengyu reached the man, he didn't immediately pay him any attention. Instead, he asked the junior officer from the Imperial Stables who had arrested the man, "Where will these people be sent?"

The young officer in charge of the Imperial Stables, though unaware of who the person before him was, knew of his noble status upon seeing the imperial guards accompanying him.

He dared not be negligent and answered truthfully, "In response to this young master, we were ordered to send the prisoner to the Xuan Tie Guard outside the city."

They were actually sent to the Xuan Tie Guard, not to the Shuntian Prefecture. Tu Chengyu thought to himself that his father probably wanted to use these thugs to warn some of the nobles, but in that case, he couldn't let them take the person away.

Tu Chengyu truthfully said to the young officer of the Imperial Stables, "I am Prince Su. Among the people you have captured, one is an old friend of mine. Therefore, I would like to take him away. Is that alright?"

Upon hearing that the person before him was Prince Su, the young general quickly bowed and greeted him. However, he hesitated somewhat regarding Tu Chengyu's request. He said, "Your Highness, it's not that I'm being rude, but I'm acting on orders from my commander and dare not disobey orders to release prisoners."

Knowing the young general's predicament, Tu Chengyu explained, "When I take this man away, it is not to let him go, but to imprison him in the Shuntian Prefecture. This will not be considered letting him go. Moreover, I can guarantee that if anything happens to this man, I will take full responsibility."

Since the prince had already gone this far, how could the junior officer dare to refuse? So Tu Chengyu took the man away. Once the Imperial Horse Administration men were gone, Tu Chengyu said to the man he had rescued, "Second Uncle, how did you get caught by the Imperial Horse Administration men?"

That's right, the person who was caught by the Imperial Horse Administration and happened to run into Tu Chengyu was Tu Chengyu's second uncle, Chen Chongzhi.

My second uncle said somewhat embarrassedly, "I was just having a few drinks with some friends when these brutes arrested me without asking any questions. No matter how I explained, they wouldn't listen. If it weren't for you, Yu-ge, I don't know where they would have taken me."

Tu Chengyu didn't believe his second uncle's words at all. Not to mention that his second uncle was unreliable, the Imperial Stables were dispatched tonight on imperial orders. Why would they arrest people randomly?

However, Tu Chengyu didn't want to argue with his second uncle about these things. He said to his second uncle, "Today's events are extraordinary. If you get involved, you might lose your head. Although I know you are innocent, I'm afraid you'll cause trouble again if you go out. For your safety, I will send someone to lock you up in the Shuntian Prefecture prison later. Stay there and wait until I return from outside the city, then I will release you."

Upon hearing that he was to be imprisoned, Chen Chongzhi immediately became unhappy and said, "Yu-ge'er, how could you treat your second uncle like this!"

Tu Chengyu didn't give him a chance to say anything more, and waved for two guards to drag the man away. Chen Chongzhi saw that his nephew was determined and knew that things were beyond repair, so he hung his head and stopped struggling, and obediently followed the guards away.

Watching his second uncle walk away, Tu Chengyu sighed, feeling extremely angry. That second uncle of his, really, always coming to cause trouble.

After dealing with this matter, before Tu Chengyu could even mount his horse, Old Yao suddenly walked up to him and said, "Fifth Master, among the people who were arrested with Lord Chen just now, there is one who looks somewhat familiar to me."

Tu Chengyu knew that Lao Yao wouldn't say these things to him for no reason, so he asked, "Do you recognize who that is?"

Old Yao replied, "If I am not mistaken, that person is the one who slipped money to Third Master that day."

After listening, Tu Chengyu knew what Lao Yao was talking about: the incident a while ago when the third brother accepted money from outsiders to send people to the Xuan Tie Guard.

Because of this, the third brother, along with the second and fourth brothers, were also beaten.

Tu Chengyu never expected that the person who gave the money to the third brother would only be caught today.

What's infuriating is that this person actually hung out with his second uncle.

Just to be on the safe side, Tu Chengyu asked Lao Yao again, "Are you sure?"

Old Yao answered very confidently: "This humble servant would not dare to lie."

Upon hearing the affirmative answer, Tu Chengyu stood there, scratching his head in thought. The person who framed the third brother knew his second uncle, which meant the matter was getting complicated, and he couldn't just let it go.

After thinking for a while, Tu Chengyu said to Lao Yao, "Lao Yao, I'm sending you to do something. Are you willing?"

Old Yao replied without hesitation, "Please give your orders, Fifth Master."

Tu Chengyu said, "I intend to send you to the Shuntian Prefecture prison to ask my second uncle about the situation of the person you just mentioned. After you have found out, report back to me outside the city as soon as possible."

Old Yao responded and turned to chase after him.

This sudden turn of events made Tu Chengyu realize that his trip outside the city wasn't as simple as he had imagined. Perhaps while he was setting traps for others, someone else had also set a trap for him, waiting for him to fall in.

Unfortunately, I only had time to discover this, so I couldn't immediately determine whether it was orchestrated or just a coincidence.

We can only take one step at a time.

(End of this chapter)