The Succession Struggle in the Dream of the Red Chamber

Chapter 32 A Game Within a Game: Unfathomable Thoughts

The fourth prince came in with his neck stiff, ignoring all the hints his mother, Consort Zhao, had given him.

The emperor looked at his stubborn son and asked, "Come, do you have anything else to say in your defense? Speak now."

The fourth brother, Tu Chengjun, said, "Father, my second brother and I are not greedy people. The reason we accepted the silver notes was only because the person who gave us the money was my third brother's cousin. How could we refuse in front of my third brother? Besides, I thought he was only giving us a little bit. Who would have thought it was such a large amount? If I had known, I definitely wouldn't have accepted it."

After listening, the emperor said, "You've already said all of that. Is there anything else?"

Tu Chengjun said, "Father, my second and third brothers and I were just deceived. Although we took his money, we did not do anything for him. Why are you so angry? At worst, my third brother and I will go out and return the money to him right now."

After listening, the emperor snorted coldly and said, "Are you so sure that you've all been deceived?"

The emperor emphasized the word "all" heavily, clearly implying that he was referring to something.

Tu Chengjun wasn't stupid. From his father's words and the behavior of the other two earlier, he understood who his father was talking about. He said incredulously, "Father, you must have misunderstood. How could Third Brother possibly harm me?"

That's just the fourth prince's temper. Just now he said that the third prince had dragged him and the second prince down, but now that he hears the emperor talking about the third prince, he's coming out to defend him.

The emperor said, "Of course your third brother wouldn't harm you. He probably thinks he'll share the good fortune with you and take care of you."

At this point, the emperor seemed to remember something else, and suddenly stood up in anger. He grabbed a memorial from the table and threw it at Tu Chengjun's head, slamming his hand on the table and cursing, "In your eyes, your third brother is never wrong, is that it? Then take a look at the good things your third brother has done."

Tu Chengjun hurriedly picked up the memorial, quickly glanced at it, and looked at it with disbelief. He thought he had misread it, so he read it carefully again.

Tu Chengyu watched his fourth brother's expression change so quickly it was almost as fast as those explosive movie stars. He couldn't help but wonder what was written in the memorial that could make his fourth brother's face show so many expressions in an instant.

He crept up behind his fourth brother, craned his neck, and secretly peeked at the contents of the memorial.

After watching it, I also felt incredulous. How could someone as clever as Third Brother make such a mistake?

He actually accepted money to help someone enter the capital camp, and not just any army, but the half of the Xuan Tie Guard that his father had just obtained through trickery.

Moreover, there were quite a few people involved. In just twenty days, from the end of last year to now, he managed to send in ten people.

Tu Chengjun clearly understood how serious the consequences of this matter were, and he hurriedly defended his third brother, saying, "Perhaps someone made a mistake. Third brother wouldn't be so bold."

The emperor said angrily, "I'll make him tell you himself and see if he has the guts."

After saying that, he shouted outside, "Tu Chengzhen, get in here!"

Another son rolled in, but this one looked dejected.

The emperor pointed at the fourth prince and said, "Explain to this fool whether I have wronged you or not."

The third son, Tu Chengzhen, hesitated, as if he had a lot to say, but in the end, he let out a sigh and said, "It was indeed our son who did it."

Upon hearing this, the emperor immediately said, "Did you hear that? He said it himself. Do you still think I'm wronging him?"

Upon hearing this, Tu Chengjun looked up at the third brother, then lowered his head deeply, whether out of sadness or shame, it was unclear.

Even after his two sons pounded their heads in apology, the emperor's anger did not subside; instead, he grew even angrier.

He slammed his fist on the table again and said, “I have gone through countless hardships, scheming day and night, risking the condemnation of the world, and using the title of Crown Prince to acquire this little bit of wealth. For this little bit, do you know what people outside say about me? They say I am a petty person, only knowing how to plot and scheme, lacking any qualities of a ruler. I am not afraid of these external accusations, I am not afraid of what they say, but…”

At this point, the emperor's hands trembled with rage. He grabbed teacups one by one and smashed them on the ground, sending shards of porcelain flying everywhere. The emperor, however, seemed oblivious and continued his tirade:

"However, I never expected that my son would dare to do such a thing for me for such a small amount of silver. If it weren't for Cheng Changbao's keen observation and discovery of the secret, my newly built army would have become a plaything in someone else's hands again."

The emperor flew into a rage, beating the third and fourth princes mercilessly, and then summoned the second prince to give him a similar lecture.

This wasn't the end of it. The emperor felt the punishment wasn't enough and ordered the emperor to continue making the emperor kneel.

Moreover, not only the three who made mistakes, but also the Crown Prince and Tu Chengyu were punished by the Emperor to kneel.

Tu Chengyu felt wronged. This matter had nothing to do with him, and he hadn't done anything wrong recently; he was as well-behaved as a daughter of a wealthy family. Besides, why was he the only one punished among the younger brothers, while Xiao Liu and the others weren't? Tu Chengyu had many grievances to express, but seeing the emperor's eyes, which were almost red with anger, he wisely shut his mouth and slunk over to kneel beside the crown prince.

The Empress looked at the chaotic Imperial Study, then at the Emperor, sighed deeply, and left with the others, leaving the Emperor and his son alone.

After the Empress and the others left, the Emperor took a sip of the tea that Xia Shouzhong had brewed again, then told Xia Shouzhong to leave and drive away the people around the Imperial Study.

As the ruler of a country, it's still too early to tell how well he can govern, but as a father, he is absolutely competent.

The emperor knew very well that educating children should not be about suppression, but about letting them know where they went wrong and how to correct it in the future.

Therefore, even though the emperor's anger had not yet subsided, he managed to suppress it effectively.

He pointed to a row of stools leaning against the corner of the wall and said, "Stop kneeling. Everyone bring one over and sit in front of me."

Upon hearing this, the five brothers all got up to move the base. Tu Chengyu secretly rejoiced; he knew his father wasn't such a heartless person.

After the five of them were seated, the emperor said wearily, "Third son, tell me the details of what happened."

Tu Chengzhen composed himself and slowly said, "Before the Lunar New Year, just after the Laba Festival, my mother asked me to visit my uncle's house to pay my respects. When I arrived, my cousin was entertaining friends. I didn't want to have any interaction with these complete strangers. However, I couldn't resist my cousin's pleading, so I exchanged a few words with them during the meal. During the conversation, one of them mentioned that he had a nephew from the countryside who had recently come to the capital to make a living. Unfortunately, he was honest and simple-minded, and no one wanted him after looking for several places. My cousin said that the Emperor was recruiting soldiers, and this person was just right. He asked me to help see if I could recruit him into the Xuan Tie Guard."

"My son thought that since he was suitable, it would be a good thing to find another good soldier for his father, so he asked them to bring him here. Then my son asked the palace guards to help him examine him and found that he was indeed a soldier. So my son took him to the Xuan Tie Guard and asked General Cheng to take a look. General Cheng also said that he was good and so he was taken into the army."

"A few days after this incident, my cousin gave my son a silver note, saying it was a gift for tea money given to him because of my help. My son didn't think much of it and accepted it. Then a few days later, my cousin came to my son again, saying that another friend of his knew about this and also wanted to send a relative to Xuan Tiewei, and asked my son for help."

"Following the same method as last time, my son checked the men they brought and found they were soldiers. So he wrote a note and told them to report to the Xuan Tie Guard."

"On several later occasions, my son felt that these people were honest, and with his cousin vouching for them, he stopped checking on the people they brought. He just wrote notes and told them to go and report."

As soon as the third brother finished speaking, Tu Chengyu understood. This was a replica of the scams of later generations. They would start with real money, give you a little taste of success, and then, as you slowly became involved and your guard was down, they would seize the opportunity to reap the rewards. By the time you realized what was happening, you were already deeply mired in a quagmire, unable to extricate yourself.

This was a complete scam, but Tu Chengyu heard too many falsehoods in Lao San's words.

He glossed over many crucial pieces of information in a single sentence.

Take, for example, the silver his cousin delivered to the three of them today. You see, this silver was the reward the third brother received for arranging for others to join the Xuan Tie Guard; in other words, it was the third brother's money.

Today, however, the third brother's cousin distributed a portion of the third brother's silver to the other two. This wouldn't have happened without the third brother's instructions.

Moreover, based on Tu Chengyu's understanding of the third brother, if the third brother hadn't realized he'd been set up, he might have shared the silver with the fourth brother, but he would never have shared it with the second brother.

As all the brothers in the family knew, the second son was a very cautious person.

If such a large sum of silver were suddenly handed to him, the second son would never accept it without question. He would either investigate the source of the silver privately or report it to the emperor.

In either case, the third brother's extra income will be exposed.

Therefore, if the third brother hadn't realized he'd been deceived, things wouldn't have turned out this way.

Now, even though the third son knows that the second son might tell the emperor about this, he still has someone deliver the silver to the second son.

Why did he do this? He realized he had been deceived and wanted to use his second brother to expose the scam.

Or perhaps he was already involved in the scam, and now, having learned from elsewhere that the emperor is investigating, he fears being implicated. So he used his second son to expose the matter beforehand, while he himself conveniently pretended to be a victim of the scam.

Or perhaps all of the above guesses are wrong, and the third brother has something deeper in mind?

In any case, according to Tu Chengyu's guess, the third brother was definitely not a simple victim who was deceived by his cousin, as he had just said.

Poor working-class people, spending their nights as bookworms.

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(End of this chapter)