Whoever can strike me hard will be rewarded handsomely.

Qin Ji muttered discontentedly, "You're asking a question you already know the answer to."

He emphasized that he was carrying medicine, so how could we not know what he was there for?

Poison Master!

I knew I wouldn't escape the reckoning later.

The young disciples' faces clearly showed their dissatisfaction, and it was obvious that they had nothing nice to say.

What did I just say to him?

Jiang Jibai glanced at his junior disciple, a half-smile playing on his lips: "You're calling me a poison master again?"

After staring at each other for a while, Qin Ji guiltily looked away.

Is this considered cursing?

I am simply stating the facts!

Judging from the little disciple's expression, he had clearly been cursing a lot in his heart, so Jiang Jibai raised his hand and flicked him on the forehead.

Qin Ji didn't move, letting Jiang Jibai flick the ruler. He got up and retrieved the ruler he had snatched and put aside earlier, muttering under his breath, "Debts, debts, debts. Every time we meet, it's to collect debts. Are you running a money exchange? With interest compounding, you'll never be able to pay it all off."

He grumbled and cursed, but his actions were swift and decisive. He shoved the ruler forward and handed it to Jiang Jibai, saying, "Where are you going to lie down?"

Jiang Jibai's gaze fell on the young disciple's face.

The boy lowered his eyes, seemingly unconvinced, but in reality, he exuded an air of docility, as if he had sheathed his sharp teeth and claws.

Jiang Jibai did not take the ruler. Instead, he leaned forward slightly, looked up at the boy, and asked calmly in a rather approachable manner, "Do you know what you did wrong?"

The question was not difficult to answer, and Qin Ji replied without hesitation: "I should not have been rude to others and made fun of Lord Yang while wearing a mask."

"Why do you do this?" Jiang Jibai asked pointedly.

Qin Ji blurted out, "I have a grudge against Lord Yang, and I didn't want you to know, nor did I want you to be caught in the middle..."

Before he could finish speaking, Jiang Jibai interrupted him with a single sentence: "I told you, if it's inconvenient to say something, then keep quiet."

Jiang Jibai raised an eyebrow leisurely. "Are you sure you want to keep lying?"

Qin Ji, like a dead dragon unafraid of boiling water, stared into Jiang Jibai's eyes and said, "That's the truth, no deception."

Jiang Jibai had no intention of going on and on about this issue with his young disciple; he simply asked, "How many times has this been rude?"

Including the previous visit by Yang Xiuyun to the Jiang residence, Qin Ji moved his lips, "The second time."

"How much was you fined last time?"

Qin Ji remembered clearly that he was punished by kneeling against the wall while being held in Jiang Jibai's arms: "Ten times, plus thirty more, for a total of forty times."

Jiang Jibai took the ruler from Qin Ji, stroking its surface meaningfully. "Knowingly committing a violation and repeatedly refusing to change, what should be done?"

Qin Ji didn't even blink. He looked at Jiang Jibai and said in an unusually calm voice, "Double it, eighty."

After muttering "poison master" again, he silently turned around, knelt down with his back to Jiang Jibai, and did so swiftly and decisively.

Jiang Jibai watched the boy's obedient back, his eyes deepening slightly.

He placed the ruler on the boy's shoulder and said calmly, "Looks like you really want to be whipped senseless by your teacher?"

Jiang Jibai was no ordinary person; he could detect anything unusual at the slightest sign of trouble. Qin Ji had anticipated this, so he simply relaxed his body slightly, half-closed his eyes, and said in a calm tone, "Teacher, please grant my request."

Jiang Jibai sighed almost imperceptibly.

The young disciple seemed to have been persuaded and had his attention diverted by his words, and started joking around again, "betraying his master and ancestors," but in reality, he was just suppressing his guilt and self-blame in his heart.

So while they muttered and cursed, they actually accepted the beatings and punishments.

They deliberately lied repeatedly, even doubling the charges of "repeatedly refusing to mend their ways and knowingly committing crimes."

He actively sought harsher punishment, wanting to use pain to offset the overwhelming guilt and self-blame.

Jiang Jibai reached out and grabbed the boy's wrist, turning him around.

He said in a gentle tone, "I believe you were rude to Brother Yang for some reason you didn't want me to know, and that you had no choice but to do so, not because you genuinely wanted to tease him, right?"

Qin Ji knelt on the ground, his eyes lowered, his hands clenched into fists and pressed against his legs, without responding to Jiang Jibai's words.

"Since your rudeness was out of necessity, it doesn't qualify as repeated offenses or deliberate wrongdoing. Because deep down you didn't want to do it, and you knew it was wrong, right?"

"teacher."

Qin Ji called out to him, slowly raised his eyes, and looked into Jiang Jibai's eyes. "You used to teach me that if a person cannot uphold their bottom line and always blames their cowardice and concessions on being forced by circumstances, they will only drift further and further away from their original aspirations."

"The so-called 'having no choice' is just an excuse for my mistakes, isn't it?"

"Why are you trying to find excuses for me and absolve me of responsibility?"

Qin Ji argued vehemently, "Don't abandon your principles as a teacher for my sake."

Jiang Jibai: "..."

This kid remembers everything he said perfectly.

These two things are not of the same nature.

"You were punished because you fooled around with His Majesty at the Mid-Autumn Festival palace banquet, disregarding the proper relationship between ruler and subject and treating state affairs as a game. No matter the reason, you cannot be easily forgiven."

"Your rudeness to Brother Yang has nothing to do with bottom line. I don't know the whole story. If you did it because of work or some other reason, I don't want to make you feel wronged."

The better and more open-minded Jiang Jibai was to him, the more guilty he would feel. Qin Ji's voice was a little hoarse. "Eighty strokes, you can punish me as you please."

This kid was completely unyielding, leaving Jiang Jibai helpless. He patted his stubborn little disciple's head and generously spread his left hand in front of Qin Ji. "Feibai, aren't you still blaming yourself for what happened earlier, feeling guilty with nowhere to vent your feelings, so you wanted to find any reason to punish yourself?"

Qin Ji's gaze inevitably fell on that hand with its distinct knuckles and long, slender fingers. The scarred palm made his breath catch in his throat, and he lowered his eyes in a near-disgraceful manner, unwilling to look.

Jiang Jibai looked at his young disciple's lowered eyes and trembling eyelashes, and said gently, "These eighty strokes of the ruler will only hurt you and make me feel sorry for you; they won't make you feel any better."

Jiang Jibai put down the ruler, handed over the ointment beside him, and said encouragingly, "Instead of hurting yourself, why don't you apply the ointment yourself and do something to make amends? It might be more helpful than you think."

Qin Ji's Adam's apple bobbed, and he asked in a hoarse voice, "Will applying this medicine make it better right away?"

Faced with his young disciple's almost fanciful question, Jiang Jibai smiled gently and said confidently, "You'll feel more comfortable and recover faster."

"Didn't you apply it at the same time when you were applying the medicine to me?"

Jiang Jibai coaxed him, "It's different when your apprentice does it himself; the effect is better."

Qin Ji was tempted, but he was not entirely willing to fall for the poison master's trick of coaxing a child.

Seeing Jiang Jibai looking at him expectantly, he reluctantly took the ointment, picked out a piece with his fingers, held Jiang Jibai's hand, and gently applied the ointment to the most severe ruler mark, his voice low and hoarse: "You just know how to coax me..."

A drop of water landed on Jiang Jibai's palm, carrying a scalding heat.

The heat burned the wound and scalded Jiang Jibai's heart.

He reached out and pressed his young disciple's head onto his shoulder, coaxing him gently, "You applied the medicine yourself, it will be better in two or three days."

"Feibai, don't be sad anymore."

...

First update delivered, isn't it sweet?

Second update at 12:00 AM. Only 570 words left to go, keep it up!