Whoever can strike me hard will be rewarded handsomely.

Seeing his young disciple's indignant expression, Jiang Jibai chuckled and patted him on the back. "Alright, you're still a patient yourself, but when you heard Xiaozao had finished his punishment, you got out of bed and insisted on coming to see him. Now that you've seen him, why are you making such a face and trying to scare him?"

"You scared Xiaozao so much, she won't dare to get close to you anymore. Let's see who she can cry to now!"

Why are you undermining me?

Qin Ji was a little embarrassed. He hummed twice and shifted his gaze to the couch, where he met Yu Shu's watery eyes.

Those eyes, like grapes, were overflowing with emotion.

Qin Ji coughed lightly, feeling uneasy. "I was just worried that he might act rashly and not know what's important, so I was just reminding him."

Bian Yushu, with his heart set on His Majesty, nodded in agreement, "Brother is right, Xiaozao knows she was wrong."

Seeing that the two of them were actually singing in unison, Jiang Jibai chuckled and shook his head, then gently flicked Bian Yushu's forehead. "I'm speaking up for you."

Bian Yushu rubbed his head, stole a glance at His Majesty, and whispered to Jiang Jibai, "Thank you, sir."

So well-behaved, so incredibly well-behaved.

Who is so lucky to have taken Xiaozao as their apprentice?

Jiang Jibai smiled, but was actually very anxious.

Qin Ji looked Bian Yushu up and down carefully, then lifted his robe and sat down casually on the edge of the bed. He patted the pillow and asked, "How badly are you injured? Let me see."

Bian Yushu's cheeks flushed. "It's not serious. Doctor Liang has already applied some medicine for me."

Doctor Liang glanced sideways at Qin Ji: "Look at his puffy eyes, don't you think it's serious?"

After glancing at Qin Ji, he poked Bian Yushu's forehead with a look of exasperation. "I wonder who it was, crying and sobbing on the bench, that Shang boy couldn't stand it and carried them in. And now they're talking about it so casually?"

Bian Yushu was so embarrassed by what he said that she wished she could disappear into a crack in the ground. Her cheeks were so red they were practically dripping blood. "No, it's not as exaggerated as you make it out to be."

Young Master Bian seemed to have been bewitched by his brother, completely under his control. Doctor Liang couldn't bear to watch any longer, picked up his medicine box, and headed out. "Alright, alright, I won't bother you here anymore. I'm going to check on Shang Jingming. That kid's shoulder wound hasn't healed yet, and he carried you all the way in. I wonder if his arrow wound has reopened."

Upon hearing this, Qin Ji glanced at Doctor Liang, then looked away and focused his gaze on Bian Yushu's face, reiterating, "Lie down, let me examine your injuries."

Bian Yushu's ears turned even redder. She twisted her sleeves, looked at Jiang Daru, then at His Majesty, and whispered, "It's really...it's alright."

Qin Ji remained silent, his gaze sweeping over Bian Yushu's reddened eyelids as he stared at him quietly, his expression utterly unyielding.

Bian Yushu couldn't resist any longer and finally slowly crawled back to her original position, burying her face in her arms, her pointed ears turning as red as pomegranates.

Qin Ji lifted the hem of his robe, just as he hooked up his silk trousers and glanced at the deep purple wound, Bian Yushu shuddered. "Achoo—!"

Jiang Jibai slapped Qin Ji's hand away, pulled the blanket up, tucked the corners in, and wrapped Bian Yushu up tightly. "The doctor has already applied the medicine, why do you still want to see him? It's so cold, and you haven't covered him with the blanket for ages, and you even lifted his clothes. Xiaozao will catch a cold."

Qin Ji: "???"

I only glanced at it, what kind of injustice is this?

Poison Master, your heart is completely biased!

Bian Yushu was wrapped up with only his head showing. Seeing that his master had misunderstood, he quickly explained, "It has nothing to do with my brother. It was because after I was punished, I didn't listen to the servants' advice and lay on the bench to get some fresh air."

Qin Ji thought sadly: Xiao Zao is still on my side...

He stroked his eldest disciple's fluffy head with great satisfaction, then suddenly sensed something was amiss. "Caught in the wind? Not listening to the servants' advice?"

Hearing the Emperor's dangerous tone, Bian Yushu stiffened, shrank further into the quilt, leaving only his eyes showing.

Qin Ji snorted coldly.

This kid's gotten bold; he dared to hide.

Seeing the Emperor's displeased look, Bian Yushu reached out like a snail extending its antennae and gently tugged at Qin Ji's sleeve. "I won't dare to do it again. Please, I won't punish you this time, okay?"

Qin Ji looked down at him, his fingers twitching slightly inside his sleeve, itching to pinch the boy's cheek.

The villain in Jiang Jibai's heart collapsed and could not rise again.

Why is it that none of his disciples beg for mercy in this style?

They're lucky they didn't add fuel to the fire.

After hesitating for a second, Qin Ji simply followed his heart, reached into the blanket, and pinched Bian Yushu's face hard a few times.

Anyway, he's not the Emperor of Da Yin now, but just a study companion. So what if I want to pinch him?

Bian Yushu was pinched until tears welled up in her eyes, but she remained obedient and let His Majesty do as he pleased.

"You did this for me, yet I punished you so severely. Don't you feel wronged?" Qin Ji asked.

"I'm not wronged." Bian Yushu didn't know how many times she had said these three words.

His Majesty always seemed to feel that he was being wronged, but he never felt that way.

He nurtured and taught him. His Majesty was so busy with state affairs that he barely had time to sleep, yet he still always had time to worry about him.

Despite being unwell and having a fever that morning, he still came to visit him, fearing he might be punished too harshly.

He has done nothing to deserve this; he should be grateful, not feeling wronged.

Bian Yushu, emboldened, nuzzled Qin Ji's hand like a cat, "Brother, don't worry, your punishment wasn't severe at all, and it didn't hurt much."

It wasn't heavy at all, compared to Shang Jingming's sixty strokes, Liu Qinghong's one hundred strokes, and his own...

It's not heavy anyway.

Qin Ji teased, "It doesn't hurt much, so why are your eyes swollen from crying?"

Bian Yushu hesitated, then blushed and whispered, "I...I'm a spoiled brat."

If Shang Jingming were here, wouldn't he laugh at him for a year?

"Pfft—" Qin Ji couldn't help but laugh out loud. Even though he was still ill, he couldn't help but feel great.

They're brothers, no wonder they're both so spoiled.

Jiang Jibai chuckled, "You have the nerve to laugh at him? You..." He cried much louder than Jiang Jibai, at least they hadn't heard a thing from the neighboring courtyard.

Before he could finish speaking, Jiang Jibai's mouth was hastily covered by his junior disciple.

Qin Ji glared at Jiang Jibai: "The national system, my national system! If you keep talking nonsense, I'll chop Xiaozao up to silence you!"

My little disciple is so concerned with saving face in front of everyone except him.

Jiang rolled his eyes with a smile and raised his hands in surrender.

Qin Ji loosened his grip slightly, still uneasy, but when he saw that Jiang Jibai showed no intention of continuing, he released his grip completely.

Jiang Jibai leaned close to his ear, lowered his voice, and said in a volume only the two of them could hear, "Don't worry, I'm giving you face. You should also be considerate of Xiaozao; if he keeps laughing like this, he'll want to crawl into a hole, hmm?"

Qin Ji's ears burned at the sound of that soft "hmm," which he heard with great empathy for Bian Yushu's awkward situation.

Looking into Xiaozao's round eyes, Qin Ji mercifully coughed lightly, "It hurts, so it's normal to cry. There's nothing shameful about it."

puff--

This time, Jiang Jibai laughed out loud in his heart: This is what it means to be in the same boat.

Outside, a servant bowed and said, "Young master, someone is outside requesting an audience."

...

Location scouting successful!