Whoever can strike me hard will be rewarded handsomely.

The teacher summoned His Majesty to the study alone; it was clearly not a good thing. Fang Yanqing felt a sense of relief, but his heart was pounding in his throat.

He frantically winked at Shen Jiangliu, signaling him to quickly find an excuse to stop them, and then he himself stood up abruptly: "Teacher..."

Jiang Jibai turned around and looked at his second disciple, who was in a state of panic, waiting for him to continue.

Qin Ji also looked at Fang Yanqing expressionlessly.

Fang Yanqing felt a chill run down his neck from the Emperor's gaze, and secretly glanced at Shen Jiangliu, who was in the same trench as him.

Unexpectedly, Shen Jiangliu calmly drank his tea, showing no intention of making a sound.

Fang Yanqing swallowed a mouthful of blood and forced himself to speak: "Although the venue for the celebration banquet has been chosen, the menu hasn't been finalized yet. There are options for 800 coins, 2 taels of silver, and 5 taels. My senior brother and I argued about it for a long time but couldn't decide. What do you think..."

Jiang Jibai: "As for how much it costs, let Uncle Li take you to withdraw the money. There's no need to be too frugal."

Is this for real?

Upon hearing this, Fang Yanqing's face lit up with joy, but he hesitated, rubbing his hands together, and said, "That's not what I meant. How could I let you spend money on me?"

Seeing this, Qin Ji raised his long eyebrows slightly and said to Jiang Jibai, "Since Second Senior Brother has said so, you should grant his wish and let him pay for it himself."

Before Jiang Jibai could speak, Fang Yanqing quickly slapped his forehead and said, "I misunderstood. It seems that the teacher doesn't want to be distant with the students."

After saying that, he turned his head and whispered to Shen Jiangliu, "800 coins really isn't enough to fill you up. A five-tael banquet would be much better. It would be too embarrassing for us students to do that, Senior Brother, don't you think?"

Qin Ji also took the opportunity to whisper in Jiang Jibai's ear, "In other words, he originally planned to order 800 coins. It seems that your reputation is only worth 4 taels and 2 qian in Second Brother's heart."

Jiang Jibai: "..."

Hearing His Majesty's instigating words and feeling his teacher's gaze on the back of his head, Fang Yanqing closed his eyes with a look of resignation, his face radiating the glory of heroic sacrifice and self-sacrifice.

Just when he thought his teacher would take him to the study to reform him, he kept giving Shen Jiangliu meaningful glances, signaling Shen Jiangliu to run away with His Majesty, but his teacher ignored him completely and took His Majesty away.

Watching the two figures disappear through the study door, a wooden door blocking their view, Fang Yanqing's face was even more ashen than if he himself were about to be punished. He slammed his hand on the table and demanded, "What do you mean? Are you just going to watch me put on a one-man show?"

Shen Jiangliu retorted, "Did all this change anything?"

"If you can't change it, are you just going to do nothing?" Fang Yanqing was furious. His pent-up resentment towards Shen Jiangliu, stemming from learning of His Majesty's identity, finally erupted. Yet, he had to keep his voice low, his speech accelerating: "You've been back in the capital for half a year now. How could you just stand by and watch the relationship between your teacher and His Majesty deteriorate to this point? Don't you know how strong your teacher's martial spirit is? Don't you know how dangerous his situation is? He's practically sitting on a fire!"

"Isn't your mouth supposed to be a spray bottle? Now it's just a decorative accessory when you need it?"

Shen Jiangliu put down his teacup: "I thought you were going to keep these things to yourself for a while longer, but you couldn't hold back anymore?"

Fang Yanqing choked, then retorted sarcastically, "You're quite tolerant, anyway, you're not in the teacher's nine generations of relatives."

As soon as he said that, Fang Yanqing knew he had gone too far and shut his mouth.

He wasn't unaware that they were nothing but ants before imperial power. If His Majesty insisted on doing something, how could Shen Jiangliu possibly dissuade him?

Knowing this was one thing, but the helplessness he felt in the face of imperial power, a feeling of having nowhere to turn or escape, gripped his heart like a giant hand, making him constantly restless.

Shen Jiangliu, who is usually very foul-mouthed, did not "speak eloquently" this time, but calmly looked at Fang Yanqing.

Fang Yanqing realized he had misspoke and pursed his lips: "I shouldn't have said that. Just ignore what I just said."

After a moment of silence, Fang Yanqing added, "You're not someone who's afraid of death, and you care about your teacher no less than I do."

Seeing the look of frustration on Fang Yanqing's face, Shen Jiangliu knew that he had regained some of his composure and slowly said, "When I entered the capital, His Majesty had already become a disciple of my teacher. Given my teacher's temperament..."

Shen Jiangliu didn't finish his sentence, but Fang Yanqing understood the unspoken meaning.

Most of what shouldn't have happened has already happened, and the teacher's entire family name is already on the list of life and death.

"If we can't afford to offend them, can't we at least hide? At worst, the three of us, master and disciples, can simply disappear into the deep mountains and forests. Once we leave the capital, the world is vast. Surely His Majesty wouldn't launch a massive military campaign to search every inch of the land?"

"And what about your ideals? What about your teacher's aspirations? We're going to go deep into the mountains and forests, where the teacher will teach the monkeys and answer their questions, while you're going to go into the mountains to pluck monkey fur to support the villagers and build roads and bridges for them?"

Fang Yanqing's face flushed and paled in turns: "That's just a temporary measure. Once the storm passes, we can simply go into hiding. Teacher, you can still travel around teaching and imparting knowledge. As for me... if I can't earn a salary from the imperial court, can't I travel around doing business like that Xie fellow?"

Shen Jiangliu bluntly exposed him: "Are you cut out for business? You just set up a stall selling tea and peanuts, and you probably wouldn't even give away an extra tea leaf or a single extra peanut. How do you expect to have repeat customers?"

Shen Jiangliu calmly changed his tune: "Oh, I guess we'll still see each other. I'll come back and spit in your face, and call you a miser."

Fang Yanqing: "...You don't need to prove to me that your mouth isn't just an accessory!"

Shen Jiangliu hit the nail on the head: "Besides, do you think a teacher would want to see you give up your ideals and have years of hard work go to waste because of him?"

Fang Yanqing was speechless: "This won't work, that won't work, are you just going to stand by and watch the teacher walk a tightrope? Don't you know how dangerous that is?"

Instead of answering, Shen Jiangliu asked, "Even if you wanted to take the teacher and run away, do you think you could escape?"

Even at this moment, Fang Yanqing had no idea whether any imperial henchmen were secretly watching, whether their conversation with his fellow disciples would be presented to His Majesty, let alone whether they could escape the capital and disappear without a trace.

Fang Yanqing remained silent.

"Besides..."

Fang Yanqing looked at Shen Jiangliu, waiting for his insightful remarks.

Shen Jiangliu gazed at the tightly closed door of the study: "Besides, the current emperor is young and wise, not a cold-blooded person who turns his back on people without remorse. If he wants to punish us, haven't we offended him enough already?"

"Since the teacher has accepted him as a disciple, perhaps we should have more faith in the teacher's judgment."

...

Sorry for the wait, here's the first update. The second update is a make-up and will be a little later.

The double update activity continues! If we reach 1500 words tomorrow, we'll update twice the day after!