Whoever can strike me hard will be rewarded handsomely.

The older people present, except for Jiang Xu, were all familiar with Jiang Jibai's youngest disciple, "Jiang San".

The duel between "Jiang San" and Pei Lian, the young disciple of Zhao Siye, at the Mangshan Poetry Gathering is still vivid in my mind. However, looking at him today, his temperament seems to be slightly different from that day. He has lost some of his scholarly air and gained a few more strands of the noble air of a young master from an aristocratic family.

What they had in common was that one time they wore a veiled hat and the other time their faces were covered by a mask, neither of them revealing their true faces, making them seem very mysterious.

Yu Shanzhang couldn't help but tease Jiang Jibai: "Brother Jiang, is your student's rash still not healed?"

Jiang Jibai gazed at the fish on the plate, its bones carefully removed, and felt a surge of emotions. He turned to his young disciple, who was calmly serving him food, and smiled as he raised his wine cup apologetically, saying, "My disciple is shy and doesn't like to show off. Please forgive him."

After saying this, he voluntarily drank the wine in his glass as an apology, and then put down the empty glass.

Qin Ji smoothly put down the chopsticks used for serving dishes, picked up the wine pot, and poured wine for Jiang Jibai.

Shy?

The usually upright and virtuous scholar Jiang has started to lie through his teeth.

Back at the Mangshan Poetry Gathering, this kid stood up to Pei Lian in front of everyone, showing not a trace of shyness.

It was obvious that they were protecting his apprentice, who refused to show his face and even gave a completely false name.

Master Yu chuckled and returned a toast: "Brother Jiang is so young, yet he has such a filial disciple to serve him. He is truly blessed."

His joke was just a casual remark, but the word "serve" made the hearts of all the young people jump.

Although it was already known that His Majesty was Mr. Jiang's disciple, the shock of seeing the supreme ruler kneeling at the table like an ordinary junior, personally serving Mr. Jiang wine and dishes, was truly astonishing and terrifying.

Fu Xingjian stood there like a wooden stake.

Chen Han hurriedly put down the wine glass she had almost dropped.

Yan Mingli held his breath and stared intently at the dishes in front of him, trying to minimize his presence.

Gu Zhenhe silently put down the chopsticks that were about to break.

Pei Lian picked at the tofu on Zhao Siye's plate with her chopsticks, breaking it into tiny pieces.

Zhao Siye stared at the disfigured tofu in the bowl, glanced at the junior disciple beside him, then at the senior disciple who looked deep in thought, and finally looked suspiciously in the direction of "Jiang San".

This wasn't the first time he'd met Jiang San, but this time he felt an unusually strong sense of familiarity, so strong that it was impossible to ignore.

It's almost as if we've met recently...

Zhao Siye's beard trembled slightly, and he glanced again at the young man wearing a silver-patterned mask who was methodically arranging vegetables for Jiang Jibai.

Their figures are indeed similar, but their voices are a bit deeper, a slight difference that seems almost deliberate...

Is it...

No, that's impossible.

How could the supreme ruler of the land lower himself to such a degree?

What is he thinking?

How could you so disrespect the emperor?

It's such a sin, such a sin.

Zhao Siye composed himself, no longer paying any attention to "Jiang San," fearing that his thoughts would wander and lead him to some outrageous speculations. After all, His Majesty had suddenly chosen him, an old man who had been retired for many years and whose official position was merely Siye of the Imperial Academy, as bait, and had also put his two apprentices through a lot of trouble, not forgetting to use both kindness and severity to expend so much effort on them. The reasons behind this were truly something one dared not ponder too closely.

He couldn't very well ask, "Brother Jiang, how much does your disciple resemble His Majesty?"

Any random young man keeps saying he looks like His Majesty. Does he have a death wish or something?

His old friends at the table probably all thought he had gone mad.

Even if it really is His Majesty, he's wearing a mask; he's "ignorance is no excuse."

Zhao Siye picked up a spoon, scooped up a spoonful of tofu that Pei Lian had shoved into pieces, and could only try to ignore the boy's presence. He chuckled dryly, "It's strange, the dishes my apprentice prepares just don't taste the same as usual."

Jiang Xu also felt that Jiang Jibai's young disciple looked somewhat familiar, but after all, he had been in the countryside for a long time and this was the first time he had met "Bian Yushu". Moreover, he had only been summoned by His Majesty once. Not to mention that Qin Ji was wearing a mask at this time and deliberately lowered his voice.

Jiang Xu was unable to make accurate judgments, so naturally he wouldn't make any overly far-fetched conjectures.

He glanced around at the flustered young people at the table without making a sound, frowning slightly. His brows relaxed a little when he saw Shen Jiangliu.

Seeing that someone had already taken center stage next to his teacher, Shen Jiangliu calmly sat down, looking down at his nose and inwardly, and didn't forget to give the miser a wink.

Fang Yanqing didn't receive the look from the spray bottle spirit. He looked at the emperor, who was serving his teacher in a junior manner, for a while with a complicated expression, then silently put down the wine pot in his hand, lost in thought.

Liu Jijiu looked at Fu Xingjian, who was standing ramrod straight, and asked, "Nephew Fu, what's going on?"

Fu Xingjian naturally remembered His Majesty's instruction to keep it a secret, but he was not good at lying, so he was immediately at a loss for what to do.

What's even more terrifying is that Shen Jiangliu and Fang Yanqing, who were preparing to pour wine for Mr. Jiang, had sat down at some point, leaving him all alone. Moreover, Liu Jijiu's words drew everyone's attention to him.

Two gazes were directed at him: one from Mr. Jiang, the drummer who had a keen eye for detail, and the other from the emperor, who was acting as a dutiful disciple.

Fu Xingjian, who had been upright for over twenty years, was visibly stiff.