The Succession Struggle in the Dream of the Red Chamber

Chapter 80 Birthday Celebration: Guests Arrive in Full Force

That morning, Tu Chengyu woke up as usual.

After tidying up and having breakfast, I sat in the room waiting.

The reason was that when Xiao Liu left here yesterday afternoon, he had already discussed with him that they would meet up here today and then go to find Lao Er and the others together.

He hadn't waited long when he heard chattering outside.

Then Xiao Liu's figure appeared in his line of sight. At this moment, Xiao Liu was tilting his head and talking to someone.

Curious, Tu Chengyu turned his head slightly and saw two unexpected people.

One was the bouncy little imperial uncle, and the other was Dai Quan, the chief eunuch by the emperor's side.

Although he didn't understand why the two of them would come with Xiao Liu, Tu Chengyu quickly stood up when he saw them come in.

He first greeted the young imperial uncle, then accepted Dai Quan's greetings, before asking his question;
"Little Imperial Uncle, why did you come here so early in the morning?"
When the young prince heard the question, he laughed and said, "Brother Yu, it's because I want to go with you to Brother Zong's residence to play."

Tu Chengyu asked, "Does Grandfather know about this?"

Seeing Dai Quan following along, it was obvious without even asking that the Emperor Emeritus had agreed.

Tu Chengyu asked the question because he saw that the young prince wanted to show off about this matter, so he asked to get him to say more.

Sure enough, upon hearing Tu Chengyu's question, the young imperial uncle said happily;
"Of course Father Emperor agreed. Yesterday afternoon, after I returned from your place, I asked Father Emperor if I could go to Zongge'er's residence to play."

"My father agreed and even got my invitation from my elder brother."

As he spoke, he took his invitation from Dai Quan and showed it off to Tu Chengyu.

Seeing Xiao Liu's disgusted expression, Tu Chengyu knew that the young imperial uncle must have shown off to Xiao Liu earlier.

After the young imperial uncle finished showing off, Tu Chengyu asked Dai Quan, "Chief Steward Dai, are you going along?"

Dai Quan replied, "Reporting to Prince Su, this servant has received the Emperor Emeritus's decree to accompany you and take care of Your Highness."

Hearing that Dai Quan was going to go along, Tu Chengyu breathed a sigh of relief.

The young prince is at an age where he's bound to cause trouble, and it's definitely not going to work if I'm the one watching over him. Plus, there might be some unexpected situations today, so it's even more impossible.

Now that Dai Quan is with him, Tu Chengyu doesn't need to worry. In fact, not only does he not need to worry, but he might even be able to get Dai Quan's help if something happens.

Because Xiao Liu and Xiao Huangshu arrived relatively early, the eunuchs sent to wait for news at the palace gate had not yet returned to report.

Tu Chengyu and his two nephews sat there again, whispering to each other as they waited.

After waiting for about fifteen minutes, Xiao Xing'er came to report that the second brother and the others had arrived at the West Palace Gate and that they should hurry over.

Tu Chengyu and the other two then led their people to meet up.

Tu Chengyu's courtyard was not far from the palace gate, and they arrived in no time.

From afar, they could see the second son and his group of eunuchs chatting casually with their respective attendants.

Tu Chengyu and the others quickly took a few steps forward and greeted him.

As soon as Tu Chengyu and his two companions arrived, all the people who had come from the palace to congratulate Prince Yixiao on his birthday were also present.

Then, led by the second son, the group left the West Palace and arrived outside the palace.

As soon as Tu Chengyu stepped out of the palace gate, he saw two rows of palace guards standing at the entrance, with six sedan chairs placed in front of them.

Because they are attending a formal banquet outside the palace today, they cannot be as casual as usual, so they must travel by sedan chair.

Besides the sedan chair, further away, there were several horse-drawn carriages carrying various gifts.

Apart from the gifts given to Tu Chengyu and his group of six, most of the remaining gifts were prepared by the Emperor Emeritus and Empress Dowager Cixi.

Six people, in six sedan chairs, escorted by their respective guards, made their way to the Prince Yixiao's residence in a grand procession.

Throughout the journey, the others remained safely inside the sedan chair.

Only the young prince and the sixth prince were present. The young prince had grown up in the palace and rarely had the opportunity to see the outside world.

The other one used to have many opportunities to go out and play, but in the past six months he has been confined to the palace and rarely goes out.

So these two people, one at the beginning and one at the end of the line, lifted the sedan curtain as soon as they left the palace gate and shouted loudly at the scenery on the street.

In this capital city, all the princely residences were built within the imperial city, and were even built around the imperial palace.

Therefore, the distance from the palace to the various princely residences was not too far.

Tu Chengyu and his group were in a sedan chair, and they arrived shortly afterward.

At the entrance of the Prince Yixiao's mansion, there were already stewards and people waiting at the gate.

As soon as Tu Chengyu and his entourage stepped off the sedan chair, the steward at the gate recognized them as the princes.

He quickly sent someone to the mansion to report, and then came forward to greet him.

Dealing with people was naturally left to the second son, who was the eldest, while Tu Chengyu took the opportunity to look around the gate of the Prince's Mansion.

Upon looking at him, Tu Chengyu felt quite puzzled.

Today is Prince Yixiao's birthday, but there is not a single festive decoration on the gate of the Prince's Mansion.

It doesn't have to be all decorated with lanterns and colorful banners; at least touch up the red paint on the gate and replace the two white lanterns at the entrance with red ones.

It doesn't look like a royal palace at all now; it looks more like an abandoned ancient temple.

It looks desolate and bleak.

With his questions in mind, Tu Chengyu followed the others and, led by the steward, filed into the Prince Yixiao's residence.

Noticing the difference at the main gate, Tu Chengyu became even more attentive upon entering the mansion. He then discovered that the Prince Yixiao's mansion indeed did not intend to make a big fuss.

The entire palace was very simple and unpretentious.

The current Prince Yixiao Mansion is the former Prince Yong Mansion. It occupies a larger area than Prince An Mansion, but the layout is similar.

They all have a layout of three courtyards (front, middle, and rear) plus a large garden.

Since the guests were members of the imperial family, who were all family members, there weren't many formalities, so Prince Yixiao arranged the banquet in the back garden.

This way, everyone can eat, drink, and have fun.

As they walked and looked around, Tu Chengyu soon followed everyone through the front yard and turned a corner to head towards the garden.

Then they saw Prince Yixiao, accompanied by an old eunuch dressed in a dark blue robe, hurrying forward to greet them.

Upon arriving, Prince Yixiao clasped his hands in greeting and said, "I have just returned from paying my respects at the palace. I was changing my clothes just now and did not come out to greet you in time. Please forgive me, Uncle and my brothers."

The second son stood at the front and said on behalf of everyone, "Brother Yixiao, you flatter us. We are the ones who arrived early."

Then he added, “We are all brothers. It’s enough to have servants to lead the way. Why did Brother Yixiao have to come in person?”

Prince Yixiao said, "I am very happy that you came. What is a few extra steps compared to that?"

After exchanging a few more pleasantries, Prince Yoshikō personally led everyone to the garden.

The garden of Prince Yixiao's Mansion is quite different from that of Prince An's Mansion.

It wasn't built entirely like a garden; instead, a rockery and a small lake served as the boundary, dividing the entire garden into two halves.

A small section is laid out as a normal garden, while the larger part is a large flat area that looks more like a horse training ground.

Such a unique garden naturally attracts everyone's attention.

Seeing the surprised looks on everyone's faces, Prince Yoshikō explained:
“This garden was always like this. After I moved in, I didn’t have the heart to take care of it, so I didn’t touch it.”

This used to be the Yongwang Mansion, since Prince Yixiao said he never touched the garden.

So, the garden being turned into this dilapidated state was the work of Prince Yong. It seems the rumors that Prince Yong liked to wield weapons were not unfounded.

To be able to turn a garden into a horse training ground shows how much they love it.

Prince Yixiao continued, "This place is spacious, so I arranged the banquet here, which is convenient for everyone to enjoy themselves."

Upon hearing Prince Yixiao mention fun activities, the young imperial uncle asked, "Brother Zong, what fun things have you prepared?"

Prince Yixiao replied with a smile, "Little Imperial Uncle, I have prepared a lot."

"There are singers, opera singers, acrobats, and even horseback archers. Which one does the young prince like?"

Hearing that there were so many fun things to do, the young prince, who had never seen the world before, was overjoyed.

He said happily, "I like them all."

His joyful appearance made everyone laugh as well.

As he spoke, Prince Yoshikō led everyone to a high platform next to the artificial hill.

This is a high platform, about one meter high, built of stone blocks, and shaped like a rectangle along the direction of the artificial hill.

On the high platform, there is a large pavilion.

Below the pavilion, along its edge, were a circle of small square tables, each laden with desserts and fruits.

It seems this is where the banquet will be held today.

Upon reaching the high platform, Tu Chengyu looked around.

Standing here, I discovered that I could see both the spacious horse farm and the beautiful garden scenery on the other side; it was simply a wonderful place.

Prince Yoshikō's choice of this venue for the banquet was undoubtedly the best one.

Prince Yixiao invited everyone to sit down at a round table. Before they had exchanged more than a few words, a servant ran in and said that more guests had arrived.

Prince Yoshikō stood up to apologize, and then went out to greet him again.

He went out for a short while and then brought someone in. Everyone saw that it was Prince Shui Rong of Beijing.

Although the Prince of Beijing has a different surname from the royal family, he has always been regarded as a member of the royal family.

Therefore, it was perfectly normal for him to be invited by Prince Yixiao.

After the Prince of Beijing arrived, the number of guests gradually increased.

First it was the Crown Prince of Chungshun, then the Crown Prince of Uichung, and then the Crown Prince of Uimun.

After the three arrived and greeted everyone, they sat down at another table.

After that, some more distant relatives arrived, as well as several imperial sons-in-law from the capital.

In less than half an hour, all the guests for the day had arrived.

Once all the guests had arrived, Prince Yixiao instructed his servants to have the opera troupe perform first, and then prepare to serve the dishes.

The opera troupe was already prepared, and after receiving instructions, they immediately started banging and clanging.

Once the opera started playing on stage, the atmosphere became lively, and a celebratory mood was finally created.

However, Tu Chengyu felt that something was wrong with Prince Yixiao.

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(End of this chapter)