The Succession Struggle in the Dream of the Red Chamber

Chapter 6 The Struggle for Royal Power Begins Here

Under the waning moon, the boisterous noise gradually subsided.

Inside and outside the front courtyard of Prince An's mansion, corpses were piled up and wounded soldiers were everywhere.

Prince An, who had just repelled the rebels, was in a rage. He stared at the servant who had brought the news and asked, "You said that Xiao Wu was kidnapped by the rebels and Xiao Liu was held hostage by Yuan Jian? What is Shen Ye doing? Why didn't he come and tell us himself?"

The servant said tremblingly, "Your Highness, Steward Shen is trying to rescue Sixth Master."

After hearing this, Prince An cursed, "Now you know to rescue us, you useless piece of trash."

Inside the Temple of Holy Spirits at this moment, the sound of falling leaves can be heard.

The joy of defeating the rebels had vanished completely.

No one expected that the second goal, which should have been the easiest place to defend, would be such a fierce battle.

The two princes sent to boost morale both fell into the hands of the rebels.

Moreover, according to the servants' report, this also involved the Fifth Prince acting on his own initiative and overstepping his authority.

Fortunately, the second gate held firm in the end; otherwise, the consequences would have been unimaginable.

How could Prince An not be angry after such an incident?

Faced with the enraged Prince An, no one in the hall dared to utter a sound. In the end, Cheng Changbao had to bite the bullet and step forward.

He said, "Your Highness, please calm down. This matter is of utmost importance. As for the two princes, I will go and bring them back."

Although Prince An was angry, he did not lose his temper. He said to Cheng Changbao, "You have important matters to attend to and cannot leave. This is a trivial matter, so let the Crown Prince handle it."

Then Prince An said to his son Tu Chengying, "Eldest son, take a few guards and bring them back. Remember, whatever the rebels ask for, just agree to it, but make sure they don't harm Xiao Wu and Xiao Liu."

Although Prince An wished he could beat Xiao Wu right now, he was still worried that the rebels might harm his son.

Prince Tu Chengying, standing behind Prince An, responded upon hearing this and hurriedly left the Fengsheng Hall.

He was extremely anxious when he first heard that Xiao Wu had been captured. If his father hadn't been there, he would have rushed over to rescue him long ago. Now that he had received the order, he naturally didn't want to waste a single moment.

The front yard wasn't very big to begin with, and in just the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Tu Chengying had already led his men to the second gate.

Seeing Shen Ye still trying to persuade Yuan Jian from afar, Tu Chengying was furious. Without saying a word, she went over and kicked Shen Ye to the ground.

When Shen Ye saw that it was the Crown Prince who kicked him, he was afraid, but also felt that most of the burden in his heart was lifted.

When Yuan Jian saw the arrival of the heir apparent Tu Chengying, his face was filled with despair.

He witnessed the failure of the attack at the second gate firsthand, and he had originally hoped that a successful attack elsewhere would give him a chance to survive.

Now that they see the Crown Prince coming, they know that the attack on Prince An's residence has completely failed, and their group will inevitably meet a bad end.

Tu Chengying looked at Prosecutor Yuan and said through gritted teeth, "Prosecutor Yuan, release the Sixth Prince now!"

Yuan Jian tried to stay calm, but didn't know what to say.

Tu Chengying was in a hurry to save Xiao Wu and did not want to argue with Prosecutor Yuan or waste too much time here, so she immediately stated her bottom line.

He said, “My father is merciful. He asked me to tell you that as long as you release Xiao Liu, he will not implicate your parents, wife, and children. So, are you still so stubborn?”

Yuan Jian's greatest hope was that his wife and children would escape unscathed. Now that this had been so easily achieved, he was even starting to have ambitions beyond his current position, secretly thinking that perhaps he could save his own life as well.

Just as he was about to speak, he saw a pair of gloomy eyes.

Yuan Jian felt a sudden tremor in his heart, and he couldn't bring himself to say what he wanted to say.

After thinking it over and over, he could only sigh and throw the knife away.

Yuan Jian bowed his head, and naturally the guards of the Prince's Palace handled the matter.

Tu Chengying pulled Xiao Liu aside to check if he was injured, and asked, "Xiao Liu, were you scared?"

Xiao Liu, Tu Chengqin, is three months younger than Xiao Wu, Tu Chengyu. He is an optimistic and daring person.

Not only was he not afraid, but he also seemed excited. After hearing his elder brother Tu Chengying's words, he said, "Brother, I'm not afraid of them. Fifth Brother said long ago that they wouldn't dare to hurt me. It's a pity that I was captured by that guy Yuan Jian. Otherwise, I could have fought the rebels like Fifth Brother."

Seeing Xiao Liu lively and energetic, Tu Chengying felt much more at ease. He asked, "Xiao Liu, do you know where your fifth brother was taken by the rebel army?"

Xiao Liu said, "I know, I know. Fifth Brother is in the back room behind the second gate. He was just forced to talk by the rebels."

Hearing that Xiao Wu was still talking, which meant that nothing had happened, Tu Chengying was not so worried. She patted Xiao Liu's head and said, "Let's go pick up Xiao Wu."

"Yes," Xiao Liu nodded seriously.

Tu Chengying led Xiao Liu through the already opened second gate to the front of the rear building.

The area was surrounded by a group of soldiers. In front of the soldiers stood two armored men who were talking into the inner room.

Upon noticing the prince's arrival, the two quickly turned around, stepped past the soldiers, and came to pay their respects. "This humble general, Liu Shigui, greets Your Highness."

"This humble general, Zou Liang, greets the Crown Prince."

Tu Chengying waved for the two to stand up straight. He frowned and looked at Liu Shigui, asking, "What are you doing here?"

Liu Shigui immediately replied, "This humble general heard that the Fifth Prince was in danger, so I came to rescue him without permission. I hope the Prince will forgive me."

Tu Chengying stared at Liu Shigui for a long time, and seeing the other party's calm expression, she said, "Hmph, thank you for your trouble."

Whether he didn't understand the prince's sarcasm or pretended not to, Liu Shigui calmly replied, "This humble general dares not; this is merely my duty."

Seeing that Liu Shigui didn't care about his attitude at all, Tu Chengying stopped talking to him, walked past the two men, and called out towards the back room:
"Xiao Wu, how are you now?"

No sooner had the prince finished speaking than Tu Chengyu's voice came from the back room.

"Big brother? What brings you here?"

The prince replied, "My father sent me to rescue you."

"Great, I'll be right out."

As soon as Tu Chengyu finished speaking, everyone around him was stunned. They were racking their brains to find a way to save the person, but the person being saved said very casually that he would be out soon.

Could it be a hoax that they were kidnapped by rebels?
However, many people here saw Tu Chengyu being arrested and held hostage by the rebels while negotiating with outsiders.

Before anyone could come up with a reasonable explanation for these speculations, a small figure appeared at the door of the rear room.

By the light of the surrounding torches, everyone recognized him as the Fifth Prince, Tu Chengyu. Without being coerced by the rebels, he had swaggered out like this.

When "Big Brother" Tu Chengyu saw his older brother, he quickly walked over with a big smile on his face.

"Little Five"

Fifth Brother

The Crown Prince and Xiao Liu happily went to greet him. The three brothers met together, and the Crown Prince did what he had done to Xiao Liu earlier, checking Tu Chengyu over thoroughly. After seeing that he was alright, he asked:
"Weren't you being held hostage by the rebels? How did you manage to escape on your own?"

This was a question that not only the Crown Prince wanted to know, but everyone around him was also eager to hear what Tu Chengyu had to say.

Seeing everyone's curious looks, Tu Chengyu pretended to be innocent and said, "Big brother, they didn't kidnap me, they were protecting me."

Rebels, protecting you? Everyone seemed to have misheard, as if they had misunderstood.

Tu Chengyu initially thought that his fifth brother was frightened by being captured and was talking nonsense. But when he thought that this was his fifth brother, how could he be frightened by mere rebels? There must be a reason why he was saying this.

So he asked, "Why would the rebels protect you?"

Tu Chengyu replied, "Among the reinforcements from our palace, there were bad guys who infiltrated and wanted to take advantage of the chaos to harm me and then frame the rebels. In order to protect themselves, the rebels protected me."

Upon hearing this, everyone present wished they could cover their ears; such things were not to be listened to casually.

Everyone turned their heads in unison, pretending not to hear, except for Liu Shigui who spoke.

"Fifth Prince, be careful with your words. Do not easily believe the rebels' nonsense. The reinforcements came to protect the Prince An's mansion. How could they possibly harm you? As for the rebels' claim that they are protecting you out of fear of being framed, that is all a lie they have fabricated to deceive you. Fifth Prince, think about it. They are rebels, guilty of a capital offense. Why would they be afraid of being framed?"

Tu Chengyu looked at Liu Shigui in front of him and sneered inwardly, but said aloud, "But the rebels say that they rebelled because they were ordered to do so and were forced to. Although they have made a big mistake, the current emperor is merciful and will not hold their wives and children accountable. However, if the imperial grandson is harmed, it will be a crime that will result in the execution of the entire family."

Liu Shigui continued, "How can we believe the words of the rebels? Fifth Prince, you are young, I'm afraid..."

Before Liu Shigui could finish speaking, the Crown Prince interrupted him. "This matter will be decided by Father King; why argue about it here?"

The two people involved in the dispute are, firstly, the son of Prince An; and secondly, Liu Shigui, the nephew of the current Princess Liu of Prince An and the cousin of Tu Chengming, the second son of Prince An.

If their argument gets out, others will think that the sons of Prince An are fighting amongst themselves, which is not only shameful but will also affect Prince An.

Therefore, Crown Prince Tu Chengying stopped them from continuing their argument.

He then asked about something else: "Zou Liang, how are the rebels inside?"

Just as Tu Chengyu and his brother were talking, Zou Liang led his men into the back room, intending to capture these remnants of the rebel army, and they have not yet come out.

When the prince asked the question, Zou Liang naturally could not stay in the room. He ran out in a few steps, cupped his hands and replied, "Your Highness, all the rebel soldiers in the room are dead. After my inspection, I found that they all committed suicide."

Upon hearing this, everyone's gaze once again turned to Tu Chengyu, wanting to know how this ten-year-old fifth prince had managed to get these rebels to commit suicide.

The prince glared around, blocking everyone's gaze, and then said loudly, "A few rebels, they're dead, who cares how they died?"

Upon hearing the prince's words, Zou Liang seemed to realize that he had said too much. He quickly lowered his head and quietly moved away.

These little actions naturally did not escape the Crown Prince's notice, but he did not say anything. He simply asked Zou Liang to take some men to clean up the place, and then took his two younger brothers back.

(End of this chapter)