Chapter Thirteen: Still Need to Brandish the Tiger's Hide

After sending away the unexpected visitor Shi Jingli, Zhang Qianhu showed goodwill toward Bai Yu, saying, “I have already escorted your esteemed father home and arranged for a renowned doctor to examine him. The consultation fees and medicines will be covered by our office.”

Who would have thought that among the laborers who raised elephants, there lurked a man capable of reaching the heavens—Lu Bing, the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, was practically a deity to the current Jinyiwei.

What baffled Zhang Qianhu even more was that this seemingly omnipotent young man appeared mentally unstable! With such connections, yet throwing fits and causing a scene in the courtroom like a madman—what else could he be but crazy? Why not just reveal those heavenly ties early on and avoid all trouble?

Zhang Qianhu went on: “Furthermore, a gag order has been issued to prevent rumors about the Bai family from spreading.” Everything was handled meticulously, leaving Bai Yu with no complaints.

A grave crisis that once threatened life and death was now effortlessly resolved—such was the caprice of power.

Bai Yu inwardly sighed, wishing Lu Bing could hold on a few more years; this tiger skin really was quite useful.

Finally, Zhang Qianhu congratulated him: “Your Bai family is surely destined for promotion. I am genuinely pleased to offer my felicitations here!”

Indeed, he was pleased. This unstable, uncontrollable variable was better sent away sooner rather than later, lest it blow up his own position.

Bai Yu responded with surprise, “Officer, you jest. Who said the Bai family is moving up? Once my father’s injuries heal, he will return to serve at the Elephant Training Institute.”

Zhang Qianhu’s face darkened as he asked, “Why won’t you relocate? What is it about the Elephant Training Institute that keeps you tied here?”

Bai Yu answered matter-of-factly, “Our Bai family has served at the Institute for generations and loves this work dearly. We have no plans to go anywhere else; we intend to put down roots here and continue to shine.”

Zhang Qianhu was speechless...

No doubt about it, Bai Yu was seriously unwell! Others climbed upward, but Bai Yu deliberately chose to flow downward like water.

Bai Yu paid no mind to Zhang Qianhu’s thoughts. After all, a marginal, obscure office had its own merits—it was easier to distance oneself from those in power.

Returning to the crowded courtyard, Bai Yu saw a group of neighbors gathered beneath the elm tree by the gate, whispering among themselves.

As Bai Yu passed by, they all fell silent, clearly having just been discussing the Bai family.

In recent days, from Bai Yu’s sudden departure from home to his father’s injury, arrest, and eventual release, the gossip about the Bai family had been endless, providing plenty of fodder for the neighbors.

Though none knew the full story, it did not stop their lively chatter.

The Bai family had two rooms in the east wing of the front courtyard—the southern room for Bai Yu and the main room for his father.

Bai Yu’s father, crippled in his left leg, lay flat on the kang bench, yet he fiercely turned his head to the wall, showing only the back of his head to Bai Yu.

Bai Yu could not help but complain, “Would it have been so hard to serve steadily? Why resort to embezzlement? Even if you tried, you failed miserably in just a few days and got yourself hurt by the very elephant you starved. What exactly were you after?”

To have starved an elephant into fury and then be mauled by it himself was absurd enough to be a joke.

Bai Yu’s father was utterly humiliated and urgently turned his head to shout, “Who else would I do it for? It’s all to save up quickly and find you a wife!”

Bai Yu wanted to sarcastically say “Thanks,” but thinking of him as his father, he held back.

The atmosphere in the house grew tense, and Bai Yu found himself at a loss for words.

In theory, he should have felt moved by such filial love.

But because of his status, Bai Yu had always found it difficult to connect with his father, never as freely as with others.

Just then, Old Li, the bricklayer from the back room, called from outside the window: “Yu, someone’s here for you at the gate. Claims to be sent by Mr. Shi!”

Taking the chance to escape the tense room, Bai Yu went out. This Mr. Shi was likely Shi Chaobin, Shi Jingli’s elder brother, though Bai Yu did not know why he had suddenly sent someone again.

The envoy said little, simply handing Bai Yu a handwritten letter from Shi Jingli.

The letter stated that an elderly Taoist priest was holding a grand ritual soon and urgently needed a large quantity of green inscriptions, requesting Bai Yu’s assistance in providing several.

Bai Yu immediately understood—this must be Lu Bing testing his skill with the green inscriptions, with Shi Jingli as the intermediary.

Thinking of the risk that Lu Bing might fall from grace by the year’s end, Bai Yu felt a twinge of fear.

He began to consider whether he should tone down his performance this time, acting mediocre to avoid completely catching Lu Bing’s attention.

When Bai Yu returned home, he found two visitors waiting—Wang Taigong from the central courtyard and Yan from the neighboring house, standing by the kang.

Bai Yu harbored little fondness for these two who had once forced him into service and greeted them coldly: “My father is injured and needs rest.”

Wang Taigong replied, “Your father previously accepted three taels of silver from the entire courtyard, promising to serve a year in the Fire Armor unit on their behalf. Now that your father is injured, what do you say, Yu?”

Bai Yu snapped, “My father is seriously hurt—how can he serve? Pressuring us now is utterly unreasonable!”

Wang Taigong countered, “We may understand your family’s plight, but the officials will not sympathize with our courtyard’s difficulties. Besides, your father accepted three taels of silver representing the whole courtyard’s substitute service. If the task cannot be fulfilled, shouldn’t that money be returned?”

Bai Yu looked at his father, who once again turned his head toward the wall, feigning death.

Bai Yu was thoroughly exasperated by such petty nonsense—it felt like wallowing in a mire again.

Asked what he would do, he naturally chose to do nothing.

He neither had the three taels to return nor any desire to serve in that Fire Armor unit.

Reflecting on this, Bai Yu realized that Lu Bing’s protection was still quite useful at this stage, capable of resolving many troublesome problems.

Otherwise, the endless woes of lowly life would continuously drain his energy and block his path upward, trapping him in the mire without hope of progress.

Therefore, when asked to hand over green inscriptions this time, he had to take it seriously and not sever ties with Lu Bing.

Too close invites disrespect; too distant breeds resentment—this was truly a test of delicate maneuvering.

With a plan in mind, Bai Yu told Wang Taigong, “I will give the courtyard an answer within three days!”

Finally dispatching the troublesome neighbors, Bai Yu began to consider his next steps.

First, he needed to present green inscriptions to Lu Bing. He could dictate them but could not write himself, so he had to find a reliable scribe.

Second, he had to start practicing calligraphy—there was no way around it. He could not keep dictating answers at the examination hall forever.