The Succession Struggle in the Dream of the Red Chamber

Chapter 87 Witnessing the Transformation of Life and Death, Attack and Defense

Prince Yixiao was so frightened that he almost dropped the musket in his hand, and frantically tried to pick it up again.

How could Tu Chengyu let such a good opportunity slip by?

He rushed over in a few strides, and before Prince Yixiao could turn his gun back on him, he pounced on him and pinned him to the ground.

Then he reached out with both hands, trying to snatch the musket from Prince Yixiao's hand.

To his surprise, Prince Yixiao, despite his frail health, possessed considerable strength, and the two struggled for a long time without gaining the upper hand.

In the end, it is unclear whether Prince Yixiao ran out of strength or gave up.

Tu Chengyu easily snatched the musket.

Without a musket, Prince Yoshikō gave up all resistance and lay down on the ground, panting heavily.

Tu Chengyu, holding a musket, also sat on the ground.

The two men had been fighting on the ground, and now that the fight was over, they hadn't gotten up.

Because the table blocked their view, people outside the window couldn't see them at all.

The second son anxiously shouted from the window, "Little Five, how are you?"

Not only was the second child anxious, but everyone else was also shouting anxiously.

Besides the shouting, someone was directing the pounding on the door, making a loud clanging sound as they smashed the specially made thick door.

The tide has turned, but Prince Yoshikō still seems unconcerned.

He caught his breath and said, "Why didn't you open the door and let them in?"

Tu Chengyu said, "Our business isn't over yet. Let them in later."

Prince Yixiao said, "What else do we need to do? You've already won. Now you can just take me away to claim credit."

Tu Chengyu shook his head and said, "You'll only be a nuisance, not a credit."

Prince Yoshikō said, "You are smarter than I thought, since you know I am a problem."

"They should all be let in, and I, this troublesome one, should be pushed out."

Tu Chengyu said, "If I push the trouble onto them, they will push the trouble onto others."

"No matter how you push it back and forth, this trouble will eventually fall into Father Emperor's hands. Wouldn't that be just what you want?"

Prince Yoshikō said, "You actually knew my feelings?"

Tu Chengyu said, "What you really want now is for me to hand you over to the Emperor and gamble on how the Emperor will deal with you."

"If the Emperor is unwilling to bear the guilt of killing members of the imperial family, you can continue to eke out a living."

"If the emperor couldn't resist killing you, he could be branded as cruel and heartless."

"No matter what choice you make, you can still outmaneuver the emperor in the end."

"Heh, you keep saying the Emperor is treacherous, but you're even more treacherous than him."

"A person who schemes against others even in death has no right to call others insidious."

Prince Yixiao listened to Tu Chengyu's insults and accusations, but did not refute them. Instead, he said:

Now that you know what I'm thinking, what will you do?

"Pretend you don't know anything and pass this trouble on to the emperor?"

Tu Chengyu did not answer his question, but just looked at him quietly.

Prince Yixiao looked at Tu Chengyu and said, "You don't mean to be a filial son and take over my troubles for the Emperor, do you?"

"Haha, being a filial son to the royal family is no easy task."

He laughed a few times, then suddenly stopped, his expression changing as he said:
"You want to kill me?"

Tu Chengyu still did not answer his question.

Prince Yixiao seemed certain that Tu Chengyu intended to kill him here. He immediately tried to get up, but Tu Chengyu pushed him back down.

Looking at his body, which was as limp as noodles, Tu Chengyu asked:

"You were so energetic just now, how come you're like this now?"

Prince Yixiao did not answer Tu Chengyu's question, but kept his eyes on the table and was still trying to get up.

Tu Chengyu followed his gaze to the table and immediately saw the wooden box on it.

Then he remembered that when Prince Yoshikō first entered the warm room, he took out a pill from this wooden box and ate it.

At the time, Tu Chengyu thought that the pill was for Prince Yixiao to cure his illness, but now it seems that was not the case.

Thinking back to when I met Prince Yixiao earlier today, I noticed that he looked radiant and didn't seem like a patient at all.

Tu Chengyu immediately understood that the pills in the wooden box were not for treating illnesses at all.

Instead, it used something to stimulate bodily functions; to put it bluntly, it's like a stimulant in later generations.

It can stimulate a person's potential in a short period of time, causing a temporary enhancement of the body.

This medicine is very effective, but it also has serious side effects.

Once the effects of the medicine wear off, the person who took it will be like Prince Yixiao now, feeling weak all over and having difficulty even sitting up.

Besides the short-term harm, this drug can also continuously damage the body, and long-term use can lead to physical breakdown.

Thinking of this, Tu Chengyu didn't know how to describe Prince Yixiao.

How could someone so sickly possibly recover if they dared to take such potent medicine?

Tu Chengyu said to Prince Yixiao, "Your strength just now came from the pills?"

When Prince Yoshikō realized he couldn't get the pills, he lay down on the ground again.

Seeing that he didn't answer his question, Tu Chengyu asked a question.

"Did you lure me to the greenhouse today to kill me, or to use me to kill yourself?"

Upon hearing this, Prince Yoshikō said, "So you really want to kill me."

"You are truly a filial son. To avoid putting the emperor in a difficult position, you are willing to bear the infamy of killing members of the imperial family on his behalf?"

"However, I don't think you're just a simple filial son. You're taking the blame for the emperor, and you must be doing it for something else."

"To make the emperor remember your kindness? To prepare for the future struggle for the throne?"

Tu Chengyu said, "Only someone with a dark heart like you would think that everyone does things for personal gain."

"If I were to kill you here, there would be no other reason."

"I killed you simply because you tried to assassinate me time and time again, and I wanted revenge."

Prince Yoshikō said, "Heh, hypocrisy."

Ignoring his sarcasm, Tu Chengyu asked, "You haven't answered my question yet."

"Did you really intend to kill me when you brought me to the greenhouse?"

Prince Yixiao said, "I wish I could tear you to pieces."

Tu Chengyu tossed the musket in his hand and said, "Since you want to kill me so badly, why isn't there a flint in your musket?"

Prince Yoshikō said, "Do you think I'm joking? If someone hadn't sneaked into the greenhouse this morning and taken the flint, would I have been talking so much nonsense to you?"

Seeing that he said that, Tu Chengyu said:

"Since you really intend to kill me, then I'll kill you, and there's nothing more to say."

After saying that, Tu Chengyu picked up the knife from the ground, bent down, and walked towards Prince Yixiao.

Just then, a loud crash was heard, and the greenhouse door was smashed open from the outside.

(End of this chapter)