The Succession Struggle in the Dream of the Red Chamber

Chapter 246 Prince Su Makes a Scene at Chunfeng Pavilion

Upon hearing Tu Chengyu's question, the servants of the Jia household quickly replied:

"Your Highness, please forgive me. I didn't notice whether this family had sold their daughter."

Tu Chengyu knew that since he had put forward his idea today, it was understandable that his subordinates had not noticed it.

So he said, "This is not your fault, but go over there now and see if the girl is still there. Once you've seen her clearly, come back and report immediately."

Upon hearing this, the squad leader surnamed Lin quickly excused himself and ran off towards his own territory.

Although he was middle-aged, he was very strong and returned quickly after a short time.

"Are you there?"

"Your Highness, she is no longer here. According to her family, the girl's father took her into the city early this morning."

"Did you sell your daughter?"

"Yes, Your Highness, I have also inquired and found out that their family sold the girl to Chunfeng Pavilion."

As expected, it was sold to a brothel.

Tu Chengyu was immediately annoyed. Why hadn't he thought of that sooner? Otherwise, he could have prevented the girl from being sold.

However, the person was only sent there today, so there's still time to save them.

So he asked everyone:

Does anyone know where this Chunfeng Pavilion is?

Upon hearing this, no one dared to speak for a moment, and seeing that an awkward silence was about to break out, Jia Lian finally mustered the courage to say:

"Your Highness, I know where it is."

Tu Chengyu didn't think much of Jia Lian's words, and simply gave the order:
"Go find a few people who can enter the city, and we'll go to Chunfeng Pavilion to bring them back."

Everyone thought that when Prince Su found out the girl had been sold, he would only be angry for a short while.

Who could have predicted that Prince Su would actually go to a brothel to snatch a girl he had never met before?

He's a prince of the current dynasty, what kind of nonsense is it to snatch someone from a brothel?

Once this matter gets out, the censors in charge will surely be jumping up and down, launching a frenzied impeachment.

Everyone present, upon hearing Prince Su's absurd ideas, wanted to step forward and offer their advice.

But when I think about Prince Su's personality, he always makes his own decisions and once he's made up his mind, it's very difficult to persuade him otherwise.

Therefore, everyone gave up the idea of ​​giving advice. Even Quan Wenwei, who had the most face in front of Prince Su, did not want to give advice directly, but could only persuade him from the side.

"Your Highness, everyone knows that you are compassionate towards these poor and weak women, but you don't need to go in person to save them. It would be just as good to have Jia Lian lead the men there."

At this moment, Jia Lian also tactfully said:
"Your Highness, please leave this matter to me. I guarantee I will bring this girl back safe and sound."

Not only Jia Lian, but also Quan Xu and others were eager to try and make this trip for Tu Chengyu.

Tu Chengyu was quite pleased to see this, but he still shook his head and said:

"This matter must be handled by me personally; your presence alone will be of no use."

Jia Lian thought that Prince Su was questioning their abilities, so he quickly spoke up to prove himself.

“Your Highness, I can sign a military pledge that if I fail to bring the person back, I will be at Your Highness’s mercy.”

Tu Chengyu smiled and said, "It's not that I don't trust you, but I want to resolve this matter once and for all."

Upon hearing this, Quan Wenwei, who was standing to the side, asked thoughtfully:

"Your Highness, are you intentionally trying to escalate this matter?"

Tu Chengyu nodded and said, "Mr. Quan understands me best. This is exactly what I plan to do. Only by making a big fuss can we let all the brothels in the capital know that I will not allow any daughter of a disaster victim to enter a brothel."

Quan Wenwei said worriedly, "But has Your Highness considered that doing this will damage your reputation?"

Tu Chengyu smiled and said, "Mr. Quan knows that I don't care about such empty titles. If I can do a good job, what's the harm in a little reputation?"

Earlier, Quan Wenwei had given Tu Chengyu a suggestion to prevent him from getting involved in the struggle for the throne.

He did this by defaming himself to reassure the crown prince and his other brothers.

Now that the situation has just met the conditions for self-degradation, Quan Wenwei stopped trying to persuade him.

He simply instructed, "Since Your Highness is going in person, safety should be the top priority. Please bring more men with you."

"This king knows."

Now that Tu Chengyu has made his decision, the others can only follow his instructions.

Jia Lian, who was the one named, quickly stepped back to take stock of the personnel.

Old Yao, who had just become the captain, immediately handed over his position to Quan Wenwei and returned to serve as Tu Chengyu's bodyguard.

Quan Xu and Su Xuanbao also wanted to help protect Prince Su, but unfortunately, the Emperor did not allow the people they brought with them to enter the capital, so they could only watch helplessly.

After a short while, Jia Lian had prepared all the necessary personnel. Seeing this, Tu Chengyu didn't linger and led his men into the city.

On his way to Chunfeng Pavilion, Tu Chengyu made a point of asking Jia Lian about the pavilion's situation.

After Jia Lian's introduction, Tu Chengyu learned that Chunfeng Pavilion was actually the largest brothel in the southern part of the city, and one of the most famous brothels in the capital.

The most distinctive feature of Chunfeng Pavilion is that most of the guests it entertains are officials and scholars residing in the southern part of the city; they are all people who study.

This means that the girls at Chunfeng Pavilion don't just know how to please people with their looks, unlike other brothels.

The girls here all undergo careful training and become slightly proficient in music, chess, calligraphy, painting, literature, and poetry.

Of course, as a brothel, they would naturally have everything that other brothels have.

Otherwise, do you really think those officials and scholars went to brothels to discuss poetry and compose lyrics?

Knowing this, Tu Chengyu felt even more at ease, knowing that the girl who had been sold was not in any immediate danger.

Tu Chengyu and his group were already outside the South City, and Chunfeng Pavilion was also in the South City, so it didn't take them long to get here.

Following Jia Lian's directions, they soon arrived at the entrance of Chunfeng Pavilion.

Although brothels are most bustling at night.

However, since this place mainly caters to scholars, there were quite a few people inside by the afternoon.

Upon arriving at the entrance, Tu Chengyu was pondering how to greet the people at the brothel.

Before he could even think it through, two women dressed as servants dragged a thin young man dressed as a scholar out from the side.

The two men dragged the thin young man onto the street, threw him carelessly on the roadside, and then turned and left.

One of the maids even cursed as she walked:
"What a poor wretch! You have no money but still want to mess with Qingqing. If there's a next time, I'll break your legs."

Seeing this, Tu Chengyu was somewhat surprised. Are all brothels this arrogant nowadays? They even dare to lay a hand on scholars like this. Aren't they afraid that other customers will see this, feel ashamed of their own kind, and stop coming to their place?

Just as Tu Chengyu was wondering, the young scholar who had been left by the roadside struggled to sit up and shouted to the departing maid:
"This young master and Miss Qingqing are mutually in love and truly like each other. This young master will definitely raise the money to help Miss Qingqing redeem herself. You should stop making Miss Qingqing entertain guests."

Upon hearing this, it turned out to be a classic tale of a talented scholar and a beautiful woman.

I just don't know if the talented scholar and the beautiful woman in this play are truly sincere.

Before even starting to cause trouble, Tu Chengyu saw this place, which put him in a good mood.

He said to Jia Lian, "Go in and rescue them as soon as possible."

Upon hearing this, Jia Lian immediately took the lead, while Tu Chengyu, Lao Yao, and the others followed behind.

Although Chunfeng Pavilion is called a pavilion, it is actually a very large courtyard.

There are several three-story pavilions in the courtyard, and many other rooms as well.

With such a large store, there would naturally be pimps and brothel owners welcoming customers at the entrance.

As soon as Tu Chengyu and his group approached, one of the pimps recognized Jia Lian.

He quickly stepped forward and smiled obsequiously:

"Young Master Jia, it's been a while since you last visited. The ladies have been missing you terribly."

If Jia Lian were to bring his cronies to the Lotus Wine House and be treated like this, he might feel quite honored.

However, Jia Lian felt somewhat awkward when the person following behind him was Prince Su, instead of his drinking buddies.

He waved his hand impatiently at the pimp and said:
"I have business to attend to today. Summon your head steward."

Those who could work as greeters at the entrance of brothels were all clever young men; reading the customers' expressions was their specialty.

This pimp could naturally sense from Jia Lian's tone that he wasn't there to drink and seduce women.

However, he still asked with a smile:
"Please, Young Master Jia, move inside to rest. I will go and report to the head steward immediately."

Whether or not they could go in wasn't up to Jia Lian, so he turned to Tu Chengyu and asked:

"Fifth Master, would you like to go inside and rest?"

Tu Chengyu turned his head to look at the scene in the courtyard, and pointed to a pavilion not far from the entrance, saying:
"Let's not go inside the building, let's wait over there."

The pimp who struck up a conversation sensed from the beginning that Tu Chengyu had an extraordinary aura.

However, he initially thought that this young man with a youthful face might be a friend of Jia Lian.

However, judging from the conversation just now, he has confirmed that this young master is of much higher status than Jia Lian.

Someone whose status is much higher than that of the eldest grandson of the Rongguo Mansion must be no ordinary person.

Thinking of this, the pimp dared not be negligent.

While having others help lead the person to the pavilion, he personally ran to the backyard, presumably to report to someone.

Tu Chengyu was invited to the pavilion, and before long, he saw the pimp who had just left arrive with a richly dressed, wealthy-looking middle-aged man.

Upon arriving, this person first bowed to Tu Chengyu and Jia Lian, and then said:

"I am Ding Ke, the head steward of Chunfeng Pavilion. May I ask what brings this young master and young master Jia here?"

Upon hearing that this was the head steward, Tu Chengyu nodded to Jia Lian.

So Jia Lian spoke up, saying, "I've come here to inquire about someone."

"Who is it? Young Master Jia, please speak freely, and I will tell you everything I know."

"I would like to ask if you bought a woman from the refugees outside the city today?"

Upon hearing Jia Lian's words, Ding Ke was clearly taken aback. Instead of answering Jia Lian, he looked at the people who had followed him.

Just then, a middle-aged woman behind him stepped forward and whispered something in his ear.

Then, Ding Ke turned to Jia Lian and said:

"Young Master Jia, it is indeed true. What, Young Master Jia, have you also taken a fancy to this woman?"

Jia Lian didn't bother arguing with him about these things and said directly:
"So that you may know, I am currently on a mission for the imperial court, resettling disaster victims outside the south city. The imperial court has decreed that the children of disaster victims must not be sold into brothels. Therefore, I have come here to reclaim this woman, and I hope Steward Ding will cooperate."

Upon hearing Jia Lian's words, Ding Ke and the people behind him all changed their expressions.

"An order from the imperial court? How come we didn't know the imperial court had such an order?"

Jia Lian laughed and said, "Now you know. Since you know, just send the person out."

These words were rather domineering, and Ding Ke's eyebrows furrowed in disapproval.

He suppressed his anger and said in a deep voice, "Young Master Jia's actions are perhaps a bit too domineering. Not to mention that the authenticity of the imperial order that Young Master Jia mentioned is uncertain, even if the order were true, we were unaware of it beforehand. As the saying goes, ignorance is no excuse."

Jia Lian continued with a smile, "I'm not blaming you, I just want you to hand over the person."

How could someone who could afford to run such a large brothel in the capital not have a powerful backer?

Therefore, as the head steward of Chunfeng Pavilion, he dared not easily provoke a noble young master like Jia Lian, but he was not afraid of him either.

If Jia Lian had come to him privately about what happened today, he might have let Jia Lian take the person away out of respect for the Jia family.

But now Jia Lian has brought this up in public, even using an imperial order he's never heard of before.

In that case, Ding Keke wouldn't be able to back down.

Otherwise, if others find out, they'll think Chunfeng Pavilion is some kind of easy place to bully, and they'll all follow suit and take the girls away from here.

You should know that in the capital, there are many sons of noble families like Jia Lian.

If Jia Lian succeeds, there will inevitably be imitators. At that time, will his Chunfeng Pavilion still be able to do business?

Therefore, Ding Ke was determined not to let Jia Lian get what he wanted.

As for offending the Jia family, that's something to be left to their powerful backers to handle; they'll surely manage it well.

So Ding Ke said to Jia Lian:
“Young Master Jia, I’m afraid I can’t comply with your request. The woman you mentioned was bought by Chunfeng Pavilion. There’s a contract in place, so she belongs to Chunfeng Pavilion and no one can take her away.”

Upon hearing this, Jia Lian sneered and said:
"Even with orders from the imperial court, you can't take it away?"

Ding Ke retorted, "Then please have Young Master Jia bring me the imperial edict. If the court truly has such an edict, I will certainly comply."

Tu Chengyu came here with the intention of making a big scene.

At first, he was worried that the people here would be too cautious and wouldn't be able to cause any trouble.

It seems that stirring up trouble is quite easy now.

(End of this chapter)