Chapter Fifty: The Light of Justice (Part One)

When Old Man Li spoke to Bai Yu in such a subservient manner just now, everyone took it as a joke.

Though many felt it was understandable when the Li family had fled in a panic to "escape" the Bai family back then, these same people didn't mind laughing at the Li family's misfortune now. Such was human nature.

Yet, none of them expected Bai Yu to address him so familiarly as "Uncle Li" right there on the spot, which made it completely incomprehensible.

Old Man Li had made it crystal clear that his second daughter, Li Caifeng, had already been sent into the Prince Yu's Manor!

In the past, when the Bai family had set their sights on Old Man Li's second daughter, Bai Yu had never shown him any particular respect.

Now that all hopes regarding the second daughter were completely dashed, Bai Yu was suddenly being courteous to Old Man Li, even calling him "Uncle," which frankly seemed quite unhinged.

One could only say that Junior Officer Bai operated on a different dimensional plane than everyone else... While most people lived in a three-dimensional world, Junior Officer Bai lived in a four-dimensional one, equipped with an extra historical timeline.

Since Li Caifeng had managed to enter Prince Yu's Manor through the selection process, it meant the grand momentum of history remained unchanged.

In the eyes of others, Old Man Li was simply an unlucky wretch who had lost his daughter and was about to lose his home as well;

Yet in Bai Yu's eyes, Old Man Li might well be a future imperial father-in-law and the Marquis of Wuqing!

As the saying goes, a cunning rabbit has three burrows, and more friends mean more paths.

Just in case things went south for him in the Brocade Guard, or if he failed the imperial examinations, he could still find a fallback option with the Li family to avoid being ruined and having his entire clan executed.

While the others were still dazed, Bai Yu pressed on with his stance, speaking loudly to Old Man Li:

"During the previous courtyard assembly, when it was proposed to resell the three south-facing rooms to Old Yan's family, I was firmly against it.

"Back then, however, I wasn't certain whether Uncle Li would ever return, so I couldn't see it through to the end."

Old Man Li replied, "We were merely lodging at my apprentice's place for a while, not running for our lives. How could we possibly not come back?"

Bai Yu said with unwavering firmness: "In short, I stand on your side, Uncle Li. I oppose Old Yan's forcible seizure, and I will back you up to the very end!"

Amidst his bewilderment, Old Man Li also felt an unprecedented sense of being valued.

If the Bai boy had been this sensible earlier, marrying into the family might have been worth considering, but it was far too late to say anything now!

The rest of the onlookers grew even more convinced that young Yu had lost his mind. What on earth was he hoping to gain by speaking up so aggressively for Old Man Li?

Unable to stomach Bai Yu's grandiose rhetoric, Mr. Yan stepped forward again to emphasize:

"The courtyard assembly reached a consensus long ago, and I have already paid the money! Don't come here stirring up trouble, you Bai brat!"

***

Bai Yu retorted accusingly: "You're being unreasonable here, Old Yan. Even in a courtyard assembly, there is no logic in arbitrarily reselling someone else's property!"

Mr. Yan shouted with unshakeable confidence: "Let Old Li produce the deed first, and then we can talk about whether this is his property!"

Bai Yu cast a perplexed look at Old Man Li. He had merely jumped out to blindly take a side without knowing the actual details of the matter.

Looking utterly distressed, Old Man Li muttered, "We built the house ourselves back then. How could there be any title deed?"

As it turned out, ten years ago, Altan Khan of the Northern Tatars had breached the Great Wall and raided the outskirts of the capital. Old Man Li, a mason, had fled with his family into the inner city to escape the disaster.

Later on, relying on his own craftsmanship and the help of fellow workers, Old Man Li had used his savings to build three rooms right next to the courtyard gate—which were the present south-facing rooms.

The nature of these rooms was somewhat akin to unauthorized self-constructed buildings of later generations, so they had ended up without any official title deed in the confusion.

Moreover, Old Man Li had been reluctant to pay taxes and fearful of harassment from the yamen, so he never bothered to secure a deed, simply living there continuously.

A fifteen-year-old like Bai Yu genuinely knew nothing of these long-past events.

Old Man Li could only argue desperately: "Although there is no deed, it has been an established fact for all these years, witnessed by all the neighbors. Surely that doesn't count for nothing?"

Mr. Yan countered with an air of absolute righteousness: "The problem is that you, Old Li, had already fled beforehand. That was the consensus of the entire courtyard, which is why those three ownerless, vacant rooms were reallocated!

"If you dare to keep making a fuss, I will report you for evading your corvée labor service as a registered artisan and let the officials deal with you!"

Even Bai Yu had to inwardly marvel that while this Mr. Yan across the way was prone to dirty tricks, his scheming was thorough and far from brainless.

Driven to genuine desperation, Old Man Li turned to the surrounding crowd and pleaded, "I beg you all, for the sake of our neighborly ties over the years, please step forward to testify and speak a word of justice!"

Yet almost everyone remained silent. Mr. Yan was on close terms with Patriarch Wang, the head household of the courtyard, and the two often acted in concert. How could these toiling laborers afford to cross them?

To give the simplest example: what if the officials levied corvée labor again next time and arbitrarily assigned it to their own heads?

Even a household like the Bai family, which subsisted on the imperial grain, had almost been forcibly conscripted last time, let alone common folk like themselves.

Bai Yu was not at all surprised by this silence.

Weren't these just refined, egoistic petty citizens? Having lived through two lifetimes, he had seen plenty of them—wasn't he himself one of them?

Smug with triumph in his heart, Mr. Yan waved a hand at Old Man Li and said, "Off with you, off with you! Even if you take this to court, you won't have sufficiently persuasive testimony or evidence."

Filled with profound grief and indignation, Old Man Li holstered at the top of his lungs, "Old Yan! Do you really have to drive me to my death?"

Mr. Yan responded with a cold sneer and remained silent.

Tears immediately streamed down Old Man Li's weathered face, and he felt like he wanted nothing more than to die.

***

As a mason, how could he possibly not know the sky-high prices of housing in the capital?

First, ignoring good advice had cost him his daughter, and today he was losing the self-constructed home bought with his lifelong savings.

Struck by these successive blows, he truly had no will left to live.

Seeing that the atmosphere was about right, Bai Yu spoke up: "Don't worry, Uncle Li. Who says you don't have a title deed?

"I'll write a slip for you. Take it to the county yamen and look for Master Tian; he will help you issue one."

Anyone who frequently handled matters at the yamen knew that some things were as difficult as scaling the heavens without connections, yet effortless as turning one's palm when connections were present.

Having spent his days cadging paper and ink at the county yamen, Bai Yu had grown familiar with the private secretaries, even if Magistrate Song preferred to ignore him.

At this very moment, Bai Yu's words acted like a ray of light piercing the dark night, leaving Old Man Li almost too stunned to believe it.

Mr. Yan sprang up in alarm and barked, "Bai brat! This matter has nothing to do with you. Stop meddling in other people's business!"

He could read everyone else in the courtyard like an open book, but recently, Bai Yu seemed perpetually shrouded in mist, leaving him feeling deeply uneasy.

Wishing he could smash his head against the ground in remorse, Old Man Li said to Bai Yu with utter regret: "Whether this succeeds or not, I accept this kindness! It was I who was blind back then, and I regret it so deeply!

"You are the only one speaking up for me today. Truly, it is only in times of crisis that one sees true human hearts!"

Old Man Li was indeed filled with bitter regret now. Had he known earlier, he would have readily agreed to Father Bai's marriage proposal, and none of these problems would exist!

Bai Yu could only think: *Old Li, you're overthinking it. Even if you were willing to part with your daughter, I might not necessarily have agreed.*

Yet, searching his own conscience, Bai Yu didn't consider himself a particularly good person either, so he simply said indifferently:

"Whether it works out or not, go down to the county yamen and try your luck. It's useless to keep making a scene here in the courtyard anyway.

"Don't idealize me either; I just couldn't stand the sight of it and decided to help you out on the side."

Left with no other options, Old Man Li clutched Bai Yu's slip of paper and departed in silence.

Though he harbored lingering doubts about whether Bai Yu possessed that kind of clout, that slip of paper was his only remaining hope.