Whoever can strike me hard will be rewarded handsomely.

Ancestral hall...

Qin Ji's expression hardened slightly when he recalled how Bian Yushu had been punished with twenty bamboo sticks for 17 misspelled words and had returned home to request family punishment.

Could this kid feel guilty about his birth mother dying in childbirth, and on his birthday he went to the ancestral hall to kneel as punishment?

The apprentice is simple-minded and honest; he might actually be crying.

Qin Ji hurriedly jumped onto the wall and went through Jiang Jibai's comforting words in his mind.

Soon, two masked men in black sneaked into the Bian residence and arrived outside the ancestral hall.

Bian Dou lifted the roof tiles and saw that only Bian Yushu was in the ancestral hall. He immediately gestured to Qin Ji below.

Qin Ji quietly pushed open the door and looked out to see his cheap apprentice kneeling alone in front of the memorial tablet, looking lonely and desolate.

Thinking of how his cheap apprentice was scolded, slapped, and forced to kneel before the memorial tablet on his birthday, Qin Ji felt a pang of conscience and a surge of pity.

He strode forward, ripped off his mask, and said, "Your mother's departure wasn't your fault. She loved you so much; she certainly wouldn't want you to live with self-blame and guilt forever. If she's watching over you from heaven, seeing you grow up like this, she'll be so happy..."

Qin Ji paused, his eyes meeting those of his shocked apprentice.

The apprentice's eyes widened, his mouth still greasy, and he had a piece of braised pork with alternating layers of fat and lean meat on his chopsticks.

Perhaps finding it hard to believe, Bian Yushu rubbed her eyes, and the braised pork on her chopsticks fell into the bowl.

Qin Ji then noticed a small lacquered wooden table in front of Bian Yushu, which was filled with a sumptuous feast. There was still a small bowl of noodles left in the bowl in front of Bian Yushu, with a half-eaten poached egg lying inside.

He walked over unhurriedly, handed his cheap apprentice a handkerchief, and said indifferently, "Dinner was quite sumptuous."

He had been worried that the kid would be crying and suffering alone in the ancestral hall, but he never expected him to eat in such a place. It was simply outrageous.

Only then did Bian Yushu finally have a sense that the person in front of him was truly His Majesty.

His shock turned to delight, and he seemed to light up, his face beaming with undisguised excitement. He put down his chopsticks, stood up awkwardly, and asked, "Your Majesty, what brings you here?"

Qin Ji said calmly, "Wipe your mouth."

Bian Yushu then realized that she had been somewhat impolite, and somewhat embarrassedly took the handkerchief to wipe her mouth politely.

As if remembering something, his expression changed slightly, and he explained somewhat anxiously, "Your Majesty, it's not what you think. I didn't mean to disrespect our ancestors or our mother, I..."

His birthday has always been celebrated with his family as far back as he can remember.

In addition to the formal lunch banquet, the evening dinner will be held in the ancestral hall.

After closing the ancestral hall door, the family gathered around a small table to eat and celebrate his birthday, chatting casually about everyday matters.

When he discovered that his birth date was different from others, he questioned his father more than once.

His older brother would pat his head and tell him with a smile, "Yushu has grown another year older and healthier. Of course, we can't keep it a secret. We have to make Mother happy too."

The second brother could magically pull out gifts from his sleeves, saying, "Take a look and see if you like them. Isn't my gift more to your liking than Bian Yuheng's and Bian Hongzhen's?"

Dad would give my second brother a sharp tap on the head without hesitation, saying, "You have no manners, you should call me Dad."

Later, when he was a little older, he heard his peers at the clan school gossiping behind his back, saying that he had killed his birth mother, causing his two older brothers to lose their mother and his father to lose his wife.

He was depressed for several days and went to the ancestral hall to secretly shed tears in front of his mother's memorial tablet. Somehow, his two older brothers discovered him.

The brothers turned around and went to the clan school to beat up the gossips. They were then sent to their father by the teacher with bruises and swelling on their faces.

The master earnestly advised, "Now that your career is going smoothly, you must not let the people of your clan think that you are abusing your power and bullying others, or that you are allowing your children to beat up your brothers in the clan. This will spread bad rumors and ruin your reputation."

"Do you think no one in the clan knows about the feasting and drinking you all do in the ancestral hall every year on Yushu's birthday? Be careful not to get impeached."

Even after all these years, Bian Yushu still remembers what her father said back then.

"Yushu is the treasure of our family, the child my wife risked her life to protect. My son is kind and pure; how can we allow them to insult and speak ill of him?"

"If they want to spread rumors, let the censors impeach me. Let them go ahead. I'm the only one in the clan who can uphold its honor. If they want to ruin the future of the entire clan, they can go around making noise all they want. They think they can control me with this? They don't even know who they are, or if they're even worthy of it!"

From then on, Bian Yushu never saw those clansmen who said he had killed his birth mother again in the clan school, and his guilt and depression were soothed by the accumulated comfort and guidance from his father and brothers.

However, he also knew that eating and drinking in the ancestral hall on his mother's death anniversary would probably be hard for others to understand, and might even be seen as unfilial.

Two years ago, my father was sent to a post outside the capital, and my brothers went with him to western Sichuan. Today is my father's birthday, and he probably won't be able to come back in time. My grandmother is also getting old.

Even if he was alone, he wanted to share the joy of growing a year older with his mother. He knew she would be very happy for him, and besides, he had something very important to share with her. Therefore, even though he was alone, he still prepared dinner at the ancestral hall as usual. He never expected His Majesty to come.

He didn't care what others thought, but he didn't want His Majesty to misunderstand him as well.

Qin Ji, who knew this boy well, knew that he would not disrespect his ancestors or be unfilial to his mother.

He just thought it was good this way; it was all the better that his cheap apprentice could see things clearly and wasn't burdened by guilt towards his birth mother.

He observed Bian Yushu's profile, not seeing any faint red finger marks, before reaching out and flicking Bian Yushu's forehead lightly. "I didn't come to find you in the middle of the night to interrogate you."

Bian Yushu instinctively covered her head, looking at Qin Ji in a daze, before recalling the words His Majesty had spoken when he entered the ancestral hall.

Your Majesty... perhaps you came to comfort him because you were afraid he would feel guilty about his mother's passing?

Bian Yushu's eyes lit up, reflecting the flickering candlelight as if a galaxy were flowing within them.

His face was filled with emotion, and he couldn't help but smile broadly, "Teacher..."

Qin Ji could almost see his cheap apprentice's big tail wagging behind him again. A smile crossed his face as he took out a gift he had carefully prepared all afternoon from his pocket. "Yu Shu, happy birthday."

...

I rushed to finish the update at 23:59! I'm amazing!