Whoever can strike me hard will be rewarded handsomely.

Jiang Jibai showed no mercy.

Qin Ji was in so much pain that his vision went black. His old injuries, which had been less painful, flared up again, and he was sobbing that his throat was almost cracking. Every time he was hit, his whole body bounced.

After playing for about twenty strokes, Jiang Jibai stopped, but Qin Ji's crying hadn't stopped. He gripped the back of the stool with one hand and reached for his burning spot with the other, then gasped for breath, "Teacher, my injury from last time hasn't healed yet."

Can't you loosen your grip? I've already apologized to you properly and knelt for half an hour; my attitude was very respectful.

The last time I knelt for that long was when I knelt before my father's spirit tablet. That's giving you enough face, sob sob.

I will be holding a political meeting with my ministers tomorrow afternoon!

Although he knew Jiang Jibai wouldn't let him off so easily, he still had to play the victim, just in case Jiang softened his heart.

Jiang Jibai stopped to give him a lecture, not to listen to him beg for mercy. Seeing his pitiful and spoiled appearance, he gave up on the lecture and decided to punish his spoiled behavior at the same time. He said coldly, "Take your hand away."

Qin Ji's heart skipped a beat when he heard those three cold words, and a chill ran down his spine.

Jiang Daru wasn't buying it. His words had backfired, and the hand that was behind his back flashed back to grab the chair leg.

Today's good fortune is absolutely excessive, he shouldn't stir things up, boohoo.

Sure enough, as soon as he withdrew his hand, Jiang Jibai continued to beat him without saying a word, one blow after another, without any pause.

Qin Ji felt as if he had a volcano on his back, spewing out scalding lava. So, while crying, he tried to calm Jiang Jibai down, saying, "I was wrong, I was wrong, I know I was wrong."

Qin Ji had left a wet claw mark on the bench, and Qin Ji rested his chin on the edge of the bench, cold sweat dripping from his forehead onto the floor tiles.

Qin Ji looked at the two bricks and the sweat dripping on them, and vaguely remembered that Jiang Jibai had two disciples. Given his fighting prowess, the floor tiles of this study must have been soaked in the tears and cold sweat of his two cheap senior brothers, right?

Ouch, it hurts so much! I knew I shouldn't have rushed to see the teacher. I should have waited until my injury healed before coming!

My injury hasn't fully healed, but one slap is worse than two, boohoo.

Jiang Jibai stopped again, looking at his junior disciple who was covered in cold sweat and whose face was streaked with tears. "Fawning and sycophantic, do you still dare to say you had no choice?"

Jiang Jibai had witnessed far too many young people, full of enthusiasm and righteous indignation, who, after entering officialdom, gradually lowered their moral standards, claiming they had no choice but to do so. In the end, they seized the profits of the nation and exploited the people for their own enrichment. Even when their crimes were exposed and they were imprisoned, they all claimed that they had their reasons and were forced into it.

He raised his hand and slapped Qin Ji again as a warning, "If you can't stick to your bottom line and always blame your cowardice and concessions on being forced by circumstances, you will only drift further and further away from your original intention."

"Didn't you say you wanted to benefit all people? Was it just talk?"

Qin Ji's voice was hoarse from crying as he tried to salvage the situation, "But His Majesty ordered me to receive you on his behalf, without specifying what he was going to do. What if he has some important matter he can't tell me?"

Jiang Jibai sneered, "You didn't even know why His Majesty issued such an illogical decree to you, yet you obeyed it completely. What's the difference between that and pandering to the emperor? The result is the same."

"Aren't you afraid of losing your life in a muddle?"

With a sob in his voice, Qin Ji continued to steer the conversation, wanting to know why Jiang Jibai had covered for him back then. "You said before that His Majesty held a Mid-Autumn Festival banquet, indulging in frivolous revelry and pleasure-seeking. Is that true?"

"His Majesty sent me to see you on his behalf, but what has he been doing? Was he out having fun? Did you happen to see him?"

"Even if I'm accused of flattering and fawning, you have to let me know what I'm flattering, so I can die knowing why."

Faced with his young apprentice's protests, Jiang Jibai did not elaborate, but simply stated, "He did something unbecoming and improper."

Not receiving a "clear answer," Qin Ji looked "disappointed," touched the painful spot, and sighed with tears in his eyes, "Then the teacher must be different from me, and must have given His Majesty a good talk."

"Unfortunately, His Majesty did not heed your advice and even had me impersonate him to receive you."