Whoever can strike me hard will be rewarded handsomely.

"I won't run." Qin Ji repeated himself when he didn't get a response from Jiang Jibai.

He felt Jiang Jibai's palm raised high, and nervously swallowed, but the slap never came down.

Poison Master, you messed up at the crucial moment. Are you incompetent?

We still have to rely on me.

Do you know how dangerous the situation was?

"The assassin impersonated a member of the Imperial Guard and suddenly attacked. I couldn't care about anything else and rushed to His Majesty's horse with my bare hands. It was just a hair's breadth away from the dagger piercing my heart."

Qin Ji tugged at Jiang Jibai's sleeve and said in a lighthearted tone, "I almost died! It was so thrilling, so exciting, so scary!"

Are you trying to provoke me?

Qin Ji didn't have eyes in the back of his head, so he couldn't see Jiang Jibai's expression, but that didn't stop him from hearing a hint of gritted teeth.

Qin Ji nodded seriously, turned around and hugged Jiang Jibai's waist, grinning from ear to ear, "Go ahead and hit me if you want, you're just taking it out on me, aren't you?"

"I agree... Waaah!"

“Pah!”

A slap, fueled by anger, landed swiftly and decisively.

Qin Ji's smiling face was turned into a crying face by a single blow, and tears spurted out, splashing onto the blue bricks.

I knew this poison master had practiced Iron Palm. My feeling before was right. He couldn't even take one hit. It hurts so much... Waaah!

As if it couldn't feel the pain in his hand, the punishment rained down like a torrential downpour, as if it wanted to fight Qin Ji's buttocks to the death.

Qin Ji lurched forward like a spring, only to be dragged back by Jiang Jibai, who grabbed him by the back of his shirt.

Jiang Jibai held her legs tightly in his grasp, and an iron arm gripped her waist.

Now there's no way to escape.

The powerful, crisp, and loud slaps echoed continuously in the study.

Qin Ji was like a waist drum; with each beat, he would respond with a mournful wail in rhythm.

A place that hurts even when a leaf falls, how could it withstand Jiang Jibai's Iron Palm?

Qin Ji was in tears and had snot running down his face.

No, I don't want this duck anymore.

Giving this duck first is a blessing, giving it last is torture!

Qin Ji jumped up, grabbed Jiang Jibai's arm, and cried, "Teacher, getting angry is bad for your health, calm down..."

Jiang Jibai sneered, pressed him back down, and continued to strike, "Weren't you just stirring things up? Didn't you agree to let your master take his anger out on you? This anger hasn't subsided yet, so please bear with me."

"Take it upon me! You're taking it out on me! I'll chop you up!"

Waaah, it hurts.

"I didn't finish speaking before you started attacking me. I've said it again..."

"I agree... my ass."

The temporary withdrawal of consent was not approved by Jiang Jibai; instead, it was met with several sharp blows and a cold reprimand: "Vulgar language, unbearable to hear, where did you learn that?"

"I was wrong, I was wrong, I'll never do it again." Qin Ji was in so much pain that he ran around wildly, but Jiang Jibai grabbed him and dragged him back to the study room.

Qin Ji had been slapped nearly forty times in total. He sniffled and pulled on Jiang Jibai's sleeve to wipe the tears and snot from his face.

Jiang Jibai settled Qin Ji on the couch, letting him lie on his lap. He then rubbed the wound with the hand that had just caused him pain. Compared to his previous ruthlessness, the rubbing was surprisingly gentle.

Qin Ji, speaking with a thick nasal tone, mumbled, "You practice Iron Palm, don't your hands hurt?"

Jiang Jibai said with amusement, "You've already gone all out to vent your anger on me, what's a little hand pain?"

That's true, it's too good for the poison master.

Qin Ji couldn't help but complain again, "You have quite a temper."

As Jiang Jibai massaged Qin Ji's wounds, he said, "No matter what, I hope you can protect yourself. Whether it's saving the emperor or any other critical moment, you must try your best if there is another way out."

Qin Ji received another light slap from Jiang Jibai. "This time, I want to tell you that risking your life is only a last resort, a last-ditch effort. Even if you manage to come back alive, I will take my anger out on you and punish you severely. Remember that?"

Qin Ji hummed in agreement, and after a long pause, added, "I've got it."

After rubbing the wound, Jiang Jibai brought some medicated oil to apply the medicine.

Qin Ji groaned softly in pain for a while, and just as he came to his senses, he realized that the hand that was applying the ointment had not left his wound.

Qin Ji looked up, puzzled, and saw Jiang Jibai narrow his eyes slightly as if remembering something. "You have a problem with Lord Yang Xiuyun?"

I have a huge problem with him!

exile!

Oh, no, it should be played out loud.

"no comment."

Just four words, yet Jiang Jibai could sense a hint of gritted teeth in them.

Jiang Jibai rubbed Qin Ji's colorful wounds and laughed, scolding, "You're not being honest."

Qin Ji said sullenly, "He keeps complaining to you, and he even caused me to be punished."

The main problem is that he's a ticking time bomb; he'll be released sooner or later.

They never mention their own mistakes, but they are quite vengeful.

Jiang Jibai suppressed the urge to slap his junior disciple a few more times, took a deep breath, and said, "So when he went to ask if you were injured after risking your life to save the emperor, you played dumb with him and were in a hurry to see him off?"

He even claimed that the auspicious omens weren't his doing. Yang Xiuyun, what a tattletale!

Wait, what do you mean by playing Tai Chi? What do you mean by being in a hurry to see the guests off? When did this happen? I haven't heard of it.

In a flash, Qin Ji went through his entire conversation with Bian Yushu in his mind, but to no avail.

Didn't Bian Yushu get along very well with Yang Xiuyun?

He even made tea for Yang Xiuyun, revealing that I would not let Shen Jiangliu suffer injustice. How could this be like what Jiang Jibai said, where he was playing games and rushing to see the guest off?

The news had passed through several hands, and there must be one of them lying through their teeth—the tattletale or his cheap apprentice.

Qin Ji unconditionally favored Bian Yushu.

Not to mention that Bian Yushu is a clever girl and doesn't have the guts to lie to him, even if she did, with Bian Yushu's brain, she would just play coy.

You, Yang Xiuyun, not only did you file false accusations, but you also stirred up trouble out of nothing!

Qin Ji was unaware of the inside story and feared revealing a flaw, so he simply turned the tables and accused Qin Ji of the crime.

"What do you mean by playing tai chi, what do you mean by being in a hurry to see the guest off? You even said I have a problem with Lord Yang, but it's clearly him who has a problem with me!"

"Am I such a rude person? I even kindly hinted to him that His Majesty wouldn't let Shen Jiangliu suffer injustice, and this is how he slanders me in front of you?"

It wasn't that Yang Xiuyun deliberately complained about this matter. It was just that, regarding Shen Jiangliu's killing of the Ning'an Provincial Governor, Yang Xiuyun mentioned that he wanted Bian Yushu to sound out His Majesty's opinion again. He jokingly added, "You, as his teacher, should go and talk to him yourself. I won't do it for you."

Jiang Jibai noticed that his expression was a bit strange, so he asked a few more questions and learned that his friend had apparently been treated coldly by his junior apprentice when he was in Yushan.

Jiang Jibai neither thought his friend would slander his junior disciple for no reason, nor did he think Bian Feibai would act impolitely by speaking in official jargon or dismissing guests when an elder was showing concern. He just felt that there might be some misunderstanding between the two of them.

But the little apprentice's words implied that he really had some issues with Yang Xiuyun, which is why he asked that question.

I wanted to hear Bian Feibai's explanation, not wanting to wrong him, but instead I made him angry.

Qin Ji said indignantly, "Teacher, you don't believe me at all? Are you going to convict me based solely on Lord Yang's one-sided account?"

"You've already punished me once because of Lord Yang, are you going to punish me a second time because of him...?"

Faced with his apprentice's barrage of questions, Jiang Jibai simply reached out and pinched his mouth shut, saying with a headache, "I was just trying to scare you, I didn't mean to punish you."

Qin Ji grunted twice in "dissatisfaction".

Hehe, I dodged a bullet.

"The misunderstanding between you two started when I introduced you to him last time."

Jiang Jibai sighed, "Although I punished you for your rudeness last time, it was also presumptuous of me to introduce you to him without asking your opinion. I apologize to you for that. Please be magnanimous and don't hold it against Lord Yang, okay?"

Qin Ji hummed twice in satisfaction.

Let's see how he performs.

It still needs to be played out loud.

and many more?

Qin Ji's expression changed drastically. He abruptly pulled away from Jiang Jibai's hand that was pinching his mouth, "Ptooey! Teacher, you didn't wash your hands!"

Jiang Jibai: "..."

Jiang Jibai gave him two more whacks before he could wash his hands, and Qin Ji cried out in pain, clutching the dumpling and tears streaming down his face, "Go get some water, I want to wash my face."

Jiang Jibai reluctantly got up to instruct the servants to prepare water, but just as he reached the door, he saw Qin Ji straighten up, stick his head out of the window, and shout, "I'm thirsty, and I want some tea!"

Jiang Jibai looked at the mischievous little disciple, raised his hand to scare him, and immediately shrank back.

Jiang Jibai resignedly turned back to pour tea for the boy.