Whoever can strike me hard will be rewarded handsomely.

Jiang Jibai's voice wasn't loud, it could even be described as calm, but the scrutiny in his eyes made Qin Ji's heart skip a beat.

He had no reason to stop it, but he felt compelled to.

This was originally a scheme set up for Zhao Siye and Xie Wumian; if Jiang Jibai were to interfere, the play would be impossible to continue.

This play doesn't necessarily have to be performed. Helping Xie Wumian is just a convenient gesture out of sympathy for each other. But if it means exposing himself, Xie Wumian would rather stay somewhere cool.

The problem is that, in order to avoid causing irreparable damage to the reputation of Zhao Siye and Pei Lian and to keep the matter within a small scope, the so-called arrest and imprisonment was just a pretext. Although the Ministry of Justice had the approval document, it had no record.

Zhao Siye and Pei Lian were indeed, as Shang Jingming had told them, not criminals, but "literary men" assisting in the investigation.

Xie Wumian was just a merchant. Even though he possessed mountains of gold and silver, his influence was very limited. Hearing that such a thorny case might not be something anyone would be willing to deal with, he was worried that no one would be willing to take on him.

Jiang Jibai is different. He is a renowned Confucian scholar with an extraordinary status in the literary world. His influence is far beyond Xie Wumian's. With the help of the Jiang family, if he were to use his connections to do his best, things could escalate significantly.

If it turns out to be a false alarm, wouldn't Jiang Jibai, the scholar who used all his connections to rescue her, become a huge joke?

Qin Ji could not possibly stand idly by and watch such a thing happen, so he could only mentally drag Xie Wumian and the ingredients out and chop them all up again.

He looked into Jiang Jibai's scrutinizing eyes and said firmly, "You cannot interfere in this matter."

Jiang Jibai's scrutiny deepened, and he uttered only two words: "The reason."

"If you want to know the inside story, why go through such roundabout ways? This case was handled by the Five Cities Military Command, and I was also involved..."

Jiang Jibai stopped him, saying, "It is precisely because you are involved that you need to avoid suspicion."

Qin Ji knew that Jiang Jibai couldn't be fooled by those two sentences: "Old Master Zhao is a retired official with high moral character and prestige. It's illogical for him to do something so disrespectful in his later years for such petty gains. That's obvious."

"But such an illogical thing, with the Ministry of Justice issuing a document, the Five Cities Garrison arresting people, and even... the Emperor's secret guards," Jiang Jibai said slowly, gazing at Qin Ji, "is all involved."

It's hard not to speculate that there's more to this than meets the eye, or even... suspect that it was an imperial edict issued by the emperor himself.

Judging from past events, the emperor was not foolish; in fact, he could be described as a wise and capable young ruler. He would not imprison a highly respected retired scholar simply because of a few slanderous words from a petty person.

So what is the real reason?

Qin Ji's hand tightened slightly beneath his sleeve, but he remained composed: "Because Zhao Siye's imprisonment was merely a bait."

"This year, more people passed the imperial examination. His Majesty intends to test the virtues of the scholars, so he used a false question as bait to throw into the pond."

"Some people are tempted by this risk-free and highly profitable 'business' and follow suit, while others want to get rich quick by spending a lot of money to buy exam questions."

"Fourteen candidates were dismissed, and those who imitated the practice of selling exam questions disappeared like frightened birds."

"His Majesty wishes to eradicate all those who sell exam questions, so I recommended someone to him."

"Zhao Siye was highly respected and had served as the Director of the Imperial Academy. He had a keen insight into the style and handwriting characteristics of the imperial examination questions and was able to work with the Five City Garrison to identify handwriting and classify fake questions."

Jiang Jibai's scrutinizing gaze deepened: "You cooperated and ended up in jail?"

"Using Mr. Zhao and Pei Lian as bait can lull the real exam question sellers into a false sense of security."

"Old Mr. Zhao is quite old and is now a guest in a side room of the Five Cities Garrison. As for Pei Lian, he played along and performed a self-inflicted injury ruse to deceive the villains."

Qin Ji watched as Jiang Jibai's eyes gradually turned icy. "I assure you, Mr. Zhao will be safe and sound."

"Absurd." The pen holder was swept off the desk, and the two words, as sharp as ice picks, pierced Qin Ji's ears.

Qin Ji looked up and saw a calm anger in his teacher's eyes.

Qin Ji lowered his gaze, walked to the antique shelf, gritted his teeth, took out a rattan cane from the vase, and presented it to Jiang Jibai, whose face was ashen: "Zhao Siye is over seventy years old, and Pei Lian is not yet twenty. I know that what I did was not honorable, and that I used them. If you want to punish me, I will accept it."

...

I'm too sleepy, I'll add more words tomorrow.

I fell short of my target by about 100, but since I'm updating late today, I'll make it up to you with a double update tomorrow.