Whoever can strike me hard will be rewarded handsomely.

Despite saying he was going to fetch wine, Fang Yanqing followed Jiang Jibai to the study.

His heart was pounding, but he still had a warm smile on his face.

Fang Yanqing looked around. "Weren't we supposed to be going to get some wine?"

Jiang Jibai glanced at his pretentious second disciple and said indifferently, "Sit."

Now that things had come to this, Fang Yanqing knew that struggling was futile. So he casually moved a stool and sat down by the stove.

Jiang Jibai took out the plaster from the inner room and ordered a servant to bring him a basin of water.

Fang Yanqing glanced at him several times, barely managing to maintain a smile: "Teacher, although... but... I don't deserve to be accused of such a crime, do I?"

The guy who's "cleaning up" hasn't even touched him yet, but he's already made such thorough preparations. How severe is he planning to be punished today?

Jiang Jibai placed the copper basin on a stool to the side, wrung out a cloth, and gently wiped away the jade cream from Fang Yanqing's forehead and cheekbones.

Fang Yanqing then realized she had misunderstood, and hissed softly in pain, "It was just applied, what a waste..."

"Didn't your junior brother give you a bottle?"

Fang Yanqing said with a pained expression, "If you give it to me, it's mine, isn't it? I think this thing is quite useful; it's a pity to waste it..."

Jiang Jibai pressed harder, causing Fang Yanqing's face to change drastically in pain. "I was wrong, I was wrong, be gentle, be gentle."

After wiping all the face cream off his second disciple's face, Jiang Jibai carefully applied medicine to his face: "What's the use of just covering it up without applying medicine?"

Fang Yanqing said to himself, "It's just a little bruise. It will heal naturally in a few days."

Doesn't the ointment cost money?

Of course, getting medicine from the teacher is a different story.

But didn't the teacher used to use strong liquor, medicinal powder, and medicinal oil?

That sour and pungent taste is worse than not eating it at all.

When did you switch to this milder ointment?

After applying the medicine to his second disciple, Jiang Jibai held out his hand to him: "Where's the Jade Complexion Cream?"

Fang Yanqing was stunned for a moment before realizing that the "Jade Complexion Cream" his teacher mentioned was the kind of ointment his junior brother had just given him to cover up bruises. He said hesitantly, "It's okay not to apply it."

"Didn't you say it was to avoid people staring at your face every time you went out?"

That was just an excuse to "get the junior brother out of trouble".

It won't hurt you to be looked at a couple of times. This ointment has special properties, and you might even be able to sell it for a good price.

Having taken the money, Fang Yanqing had no choice but to reluctantly step in and help. Hesitantly, he pulled out a face cream from his sleeve. "No need to apply too much, just enough is fine."

Jiang Jibai remained unmoved, covering the wound on his face with face cream while casually asking, "Where did you get that bag of melon seeds you took out of your bookcase to give me? I didn't see any of that kind of oiled paper used for packaging at the poetry gathering."

Fang Yanqing couldn't sit still any longer. He stood up, his face beaming, "Junior Brother is truly a generous person. He had some tea at the foot of the mountain, and before he could finish his food, he packed it up and gave it to me."

Jiang Jibai nodded. "I just gave you a bag of melon seeds, nothing else?"

Fang Yanqing's alarm bells were ringing at their highest.

If a teacher asks this question, it means they must already have some initial information. Denying it outright will only make things worse for you.

He immediately added, "There's also a packet of pastries."

Jiang Jibai said casually, "What about some snacks? I was just about to have some, how about I buy some from you?"

If the snacks were still available, he would have already gone to retrieve the books from his chest.

how...

Fang Yanqing pinched the few pieces of silver in his sleeve.

The teacher clearly came prepared.

The only people who knew about this were the students who were at the tea stall at the time.

It's obvious who filed the false accusation.

This newly recruited junior apprentice is not only good at tea, but also at being cunning!

He even adhered to the business ethics of "taking money to solve problems for others".

Fang Yanqing was heartbroken: "We've suffered a loss!"

Jiang Jibai asked indifferently, "What did you lose out on?"

Fang Yanqing jolted awake as if from a dream. "Teacher, please let me explain."

"Listen to both sides and you will be enlightened." Jiang Jibai naturally wouldn't condemn his second disciple based on his junior disciple's one-sided account, so he gave him a chance to defend himself. "Speak."

"It's not that I don't want to sell you that bag of pastries, it's just that I've already given it away!"

Fang Yanqing spoke with conviction, “Today at the foot of Mang Mountain, a grandmother and grandson came to the capital to file a complaint. I saw that they were starving and dressed in rags, and I felt sorry for them, so I gave them that bag of snacks.”

The two disciples gave completely different accounts, clearly indicating that they were each hiding something.

The junior disciple is suspected of exaggerating and adding fuel to the fire.

The second disciple, on the other hand, seemed to be downplaying the seriousness of the matter and resorting to sophistry and evasive arguments.

It's possible that Fang Yanqing felt pity for the grandfather and grandson who went to Beijing to file a complaint, but Jiang Jibai believed that contributing effort without money, offering ideas without material goods, and being generous with other people's money was more in line with his style than offering snacks.

Jiang Jibai walked to the antique shelf against the wall, picking through the vases, pulling out a vine that traced a chilling arc in the air.

Fang Yanqing was shocked and quickly added, "That bag of pastries was a gift for them, just a small token. They went to the capital to file a complaint, but going to the Ministry of Justice would likely not yield good results. I gave them a better option: to go to our senior brother. That would greatly increase their chances of clearing their name. I received one tael of silver for that."

Jiang Jibai's eyes narrowed slightly.

The young disciple's explanation was: the pastries sold for one tael of silver.

Jiang Jibai pointed the rattan cane in his hand towards the wall: "Why didn't you say so before?"

Fang Yanqing stared at the rattan cane in the teacher's hand.

Why don't you say so? Don't you have any self-awareness?

My life is over!

Although it had been a long time since he had been punished, Fang Yanqing's legs still went weak just thinking about it.

In order to seek leniency for himself, he obediently followed the instructions and stood against the wall.

...

Second update at 12:00 AM. 520 points short of finishing this post with love! Keep it up!