The Succession Struggle in the Dream of the Red Chamber

Chapter 63 Prince Su Quietly Makes a Scene at the Ministry of Justice

The Ministry of Justice was not far from Tu Chengyu's current courtyard, and they arrived in no time.

When they arrived, they indeed saw Quan Xu leading a group of men escorting a prison cart, arguing with a minor official from the Ministry of Justice.

In order to avoid being recognized by the soldiers and ruining their low-key performance, Tu Chengyu and his group did not enter through the main gate of the Ministry of Justice, but instead planned to enter through the side gate.

Upon reaching the side gate, as agreed, Old Yao handed a card to the gatekeeper and gave him some loose silver. Seeing that the visitor was indeed a distinguished person, the gatekeeper dared not delay and quickly ran inside to deliver the card and inform him of the arrival.

Tu Chengyu waited at the door for a short while before seeing the gatekeeper return, followed by a chubby middle-aged scholar dressed in plain clothes instead of an official robe.

Upon exiting, the man recognized Tu Chengyu and went up to greet him, saying, "Greetings, young master. It is inconvenient for the Minister to come out and greet you, so he asked me to come out and greet you on his behalf."

Tu Chengyu said, "No problem, lead the way."

Led by the portly scholar, Tu Chengyu and his entourage discreetly entered the Ministry of Justice through a side door. They circled around to the back hall, and upon entering, Tu Chengyu saw the spirited old man, Zhao Yongnian, the Minister of Justice.

When the emperor ascended the throne, Tu Chengyu had debated with the censors in front of the ministers, leaving a deep impression on many of them. Therefore, when Tu Chengyu entered, Zhao Yongnian recognized him at a glance as Prince Su.

Zhao Yongnian had heard a lot about this prince who had been causing quite a stir lately, and knew that although the prince was young, he was a difficult person to deal with. He wondered what the prince wanted by suddenly showing up at the Ministry of Justice today and sending a letter to see him.

From the moment Tu Chengyu handed over the invitation and entered through the side door, Zhao Yongnian knew that he was meeting him privately and definitely didn't want too many people to know.

Therefore, Zhao Yongnian sent the fat scholar and the others away at the beginning.

After they left, Zhao Yongnian bowed and greeted His Highness Prince Su.

Tu Chengyu said, "Lord Zhao, you may dispense with the formalities."

Zhao Yongnian asked, "Your Highness, have you come here to instruct me on something?"

Tu Chengyu said, "There is indeed a small matter I would like to ask Lord Zhao for help with."

Zhao Yongnian said, "Your Highness, please speak."

Tu Chengyu said, "As Lord Zhao knows, I have been repeatedly assassinated by traitors in the past few days, which has made me very angry. Today I heard that the traitors have been captured and brought to the Ministry of Justice, so I came to ask Lord Zhao for help."

Zhao Yongnian certainly knew about these things. The emperor had declared martial law in the whole city because of this incident, killed a commander of the Beijing garrison, and wiped out a group of rebels. The people who had been arrested were being handed over in the front yard of the Ministry of Justice.

He said, "Your Highness, please give your orders."

Tu Chengyu then said, "I want to take a few traitors back from the Ministry of Justice and ask them why they tried to assassinate me."

Zhao Yongnian's aged face remained expressionless as he listened to Tu Chengyu's request and said, "Your Highness, this matter is against the law of the land. I beg Your Highness to rescind your order."

Tu Chengyu knew that these old men wouldn't give in so easily, so he said, "Lord Zhao, there's no need to refuse so hastily. I only need to borrow a few rebels for a few days, and I will return them to you in full after a few days."

Zhao Yongnian said, "Your Highness, once a prisoner is in the Ministry of Justice's jail, it's not allowed to borrow him for even a short while, let alone for several nights."

Tu Chengyu asked, "How can I take my men away?"

Zhao Yongnian said, "Unless there is an imperial edict, I have no way to let the prince take the person away."

Tu Chengyu scratched his head in frustration. If he weren't worried about the news leaking, he really wanted to explain to this old man that he wasn't there to cause trouble. This Lord Zhao didn't give Prince Su any face at all, insisting on acting according to the law, and even if the emperor came, he couldn't say anything.

Quan Wenwei, who had been watching from a distance, saw the two frozen in place and quietly approached Tu Chengyu, whispering, "Your Highness, if he won't give it to us, then so be it. Let Quan Xu hand the person over to them, and we'll just take the carriage."

Tu Chengyu asked in confusion, "Only a carriage? Are you staging an empty city ruse?"

Quan Wenwei said, "Your Highness, don't forget, there are still several corpses in the carriage."

Although Tu Chengyu hadn't yet figured out what the corpses could be used for, seeing Quan Wenwei's confidence, he trusted him and said, "Alright, go and make the arrangements."

Quan Wenwei said upon hearing this, "Your Highness, I will make arrangements. You stay here and hold off this Lord Zhao."

Tu Chengyu nodded, and Quan Wenwei quietly left the back room to go find Quan Xu to make new arrangements.

After Quan Wenwei left, Tu Chengyu remained sitting in the lobby, chatting casually with Zhao Yongnian and occasionally mentioning the matter of borrowing people.

Zhao Yongnian assumed that Tu Chengyu had sent someone away to seek an imperial edict from the emperor, so he didn't pay much attention and waited with Tu Chengyu.

But after waiting for a while, instead of the imperial edict he expected, he received the subordinates who had taken over the rebels.

Since Tu Chengyu was inside the hall, Zhao Yongnian went outside to meet his subordinates.

Not long after he left, Lord Zhao, who had been so calm and collected just moments before, stormed back in.

As soon as he entered, he said to Tu Chengyu, "Your Highness, why do you have to play this trick of feigning one thing while secretly doing another with me?"

Tu Chengyu asked in confusion, "What makes you say that, Lord Zhao?"

Zhao Yongnian said, "Your Highness, the men you sent left the prison cart at the Ministry of Justice, but took several carriages with them."

Tu Chengyu said, "What's so strange about that? The carriage isn't for transporting prisoners, so why should it be left in your Ministry of Justice?"

Zhao Yongnian said, "Your Highness, the carriage was not used to transport prisoners, but it contained the leader of the rebels. The so-called rebel leaders they handed over to the Ministry of Justice were all ordinary rebels in disguise. What explanation do you have for this, Your Highness?"

Tu Chengyu sneered, "What does this have to do with me? Handing over the rebels is your Ministry of Justice and the Beijing Garrison's business. If the handover wasn't clear, go find the people in the Beijing Garrison. What do you want me to explain? It's utterly absurd."

After Tu Chengyu finished speaking, he turned and left angrily, leaving Zhao Yongnian speechless with anger.

Watching Tu Chengyu walk away, Zhao Yongnian, who had been angry just now, returned to his calm state, sat back in his seat, and drank tea while thinking about what had just happened.

The fat scholar came in later and walked up to Zhao Yongnian, saying, "Sir, several important prisoners have been taken away. What should we do now?"

Zhao Yongnian sipped his tea, not even looking up, and said, "Aren't all the prisoners put in jail?"

The fat scholar said, "But the yamen runners saw that there were people hiding in the carriages that left, and the shoes they were wearing were the same as those worn by the prisoners who had just been brought in."

Zhao Yongnian looked up at the fat scholar and said, "The prisoners are all in the jail; not a single one has been taken away. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

The fat scholar then realized that he had talked too much today, and nodded repeatedly to show that he understood.

(End of this chapter)