Chapter 38: It Is All About Interests (Part I)

If one still failed to grasp the situation at this point, one would truly be the greatest fool of all.

Yan Hu hesitated for a moment, ignoring the provocative Bai Yu, and spoke only to the Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, Lu Bing: "Commander, surely you can see through such a low-level and crude trick?"

Before Lu Bing could respond, Bai Yu interjected from the side: "And so what if I did?"

The Thousand-Man Commander’s nose was almost crooked with rage. You publicly framed me, and then you say "so what"? How much contempt can you have for a man? Before the Commander could erupt, Bai Yu continued, "You are not qualified to converse with the Commander. Wait for your elders to speak with him!"

This remark choked the Commander instantly, leaving him with a suffocating, pent-up frustration. The method the other party used to frame him today was indeed simple, even extremely crude, yet he had fallen right into the trap! As the saying goes, being inept is the original sin; what point was there in squabbling now over whether Lu Bing had seen through it or not? To put it bluntly, even if Lu Bing were playing the fool, who besides the Emperor could force him to do otherwise?

However, the Commander was not entirely a fool and quickly found another angle. "How can we know that Liu Cunyi isn't just spouting nonsense, fabricating intelligence to escape punishment? He’s even playing to the gallery—he actually brought up the White Lotus Society! And this leader, Cai Shiheng—why have I never even heard of him?"

The most nervous person in the room was actually the Hundred-Man Commander, Qian. With things escalated to this degree, he wondered if he could withstand the fallout or if he would become a sacrificial lamb. He was merely a minor official who had lived a life of clocking in and collecting a monthly salary; why had his days suddenly become so intense?

If the White Lotus Society were involved, the nature of the situation would be entirely different. This underground secret sect was a sensitive existence for the imperial court. Leaving aside their doctrines, the most prominent manifestations of the White Lotus Society were gathering wealth and inciting rebellion, making them a target of absolute prohibition and suppression. Especially in recent years in Shanxi, large numbers of their followers, after being suppressed, had fled beyond the border to defect to the Northern Barbarian leader Altan Khan, becoming guides for the Northern invasions. Therefore, the court’s current attitude toward the White Lotus Society was unprecedentedly severe and oppressive.

Lu Bing looked at Bai Yu with some unease. "Kid, you didn't actually dare to fabricate fake intelligence, did you?" Until now, the court had operated under the belief that in the capital, where official power was strong, there were no organized White Lotus activities.

Bai Yu remained calm, at least on the surface, and replied coolly: "First, regardless of whether the report is true or false, Officer Yan is suspected of silencing witnesses. Second, now that we have a name as a lead, we can mobilize the officers, the City Guard, and the fire brigades to search the entire city. Won't we see the results soon enough?"

Lu Bing considered this for a moment and ordered: "Place the Thousand-Man Commander under house arrest! I am going to the headquarters now to deploy a city-wide search!"

If they didn't investigate after receiving a lead on the White Lotus Society, would they still be the Embroidered Uniform Guard? Even if they couldn't capture this "Cai Shiheng," they could still flush out the snake and disrupt White Lotus activities in the capital.

Watching Lu Bing leave, Commander Qian couldn't help but complain to Bai Yu: "I understand the desire of you young people to make a name for yourselves, but the scheme you orchestrated this time involves too high a level. Bringing down Yan Hu will inevitably implicate the Yan faction, thereby affecting the power struggles within the scholar-official circle. We are just military households of the Embroidered Uniform Guard; why meddle in the affairs of civil officials?"

Bai Yu couldn't easily explain, so he simply said: "You don't understand. I am looking several, perhaps even ten years ahead." If nothing else, he could at least build some goodwill with Xu Jie in advance; wasn't it Xu Jie who was currently working in the shadows to counter the Yan faction? But he couldn't tell anyone this, so Bai Yu kept it to himself.

Commander Qian then asked: "And why did you drag the White Lotus Society into this? Is this intel about their leader, Cai Shiheng, actually accurate?"

Bai Yu sighed: "That’s a long story. Originally, I wanted to frame a certain temple for the source of the doggerel, 'Jiajing, Jiajing, all homes are clean.' Many temples these days double as high-interest lenders; one could find a particularly ruthless one and pin the crime on them. That way, the source of the rhyme would be dealt with, the commoners would be happy not to pay back their debts, and the Emperor, who favors Taoism and opposes Buddhism, would also be satisfied. Everyone would be happy."

Commander Qian: "..." *Officer Bai, your way of thinking is truly like that of a black-hearted, veteran Embroidered Uniform Guard of several decades.*

However, later, when Bai Yu checked his AI assistant for relevant data, he happened to see a piece of information stating that there was a White Lotus leader named Cai Shiheng in the capital during this era, with hundreds of core followers. So, Bai Yu had a flash of inspiration and dragged the politically sensitive White Lotus Society into the mix. If he actually cracked a major White Lotus case, wouldn't he be picking up credit for free? It was a simple task to add on, and there was no reason not to. Anyway, the bigger the hat he put on the Thousand-Man Commander, the better the effect.

But he couldn't explain all this clearly to Commander Qian, so Bai Yu summarized: "In short, as officers, if we do nothing, no one will fear us! We must stir up major cases and establish a formidable reputation to keep people in check! From that perspective, the White Lotus Society is more valuable than a temple that lends money."

Commander Qian extracted the key point: "Who are you trying to scare?"

Bai Yu replied: "For example, Magistrate Song of Wanping County."

Commander Qian was even more puzzled: "Why on earth would you want to scare him? He hasn't offended you, has he?"

Bai Yu said: "Because the county examination is coming up soon. You know I've signed up."

Commander Qian: "..." *Holy cow! Officer Bai, you aren't intentionally stirring up a major White Lotus case just for the sake of a measly county exam, are you?*

If one were to call Officer Bai normal, his behavior and thoughts were chaotic, filled with a logic that normal people could not fathom. Yet, if one were to call him neurotic, he always had clear and definite intentions and goals. In any case, Commander Qian could confirm that his and Bai Yu’s thinking were never on the same wavelength.

On the other side, Lu Bing returned to the headquarters, arranged the city-wide search, and then went back to the West Park. He found Grand Secretary Xu Jie and informed him of everything that had happened.

Xu Jie did not discuss how to handle the Yan faction, nor did he talk about the White Lotus case; instead, he spoke of Bai Yu. "Is this Officer Bai the same one who stirred up trouble in the East Court earlier?"

Lu Bing replied: "Precisely."

Xu Jie remarked: "This man is of humble status, yet he dares to act on his own repeatedly. It seems his nature is uncontrollable. A subordinate with such a personality is likely never to be truly tamed."

One could only say that Officer Bai’s attempt to build goodwill with Xu Jie was purely wishful thinking—a manifestation of naive, "emperor’s golden axe" style delusions. However, Lu Bing certainly wouldn't give up on Bai Yu as a ghostwriter just yet, so he casually replied: "I shall use him for the time being."

Xu Jie said: "A person like this can be used for three to five years at most, otherwise he will slip out of control."

Lu Bing valued Xu Jie’s judgment, so he replied: "Then we shall see in three to five years."

If Bai Yu had heard this, he surely would have laughed aloud. If history hadn't changed, Lu Bing himself would be off the stage within a year; what talk was there of three to five years?