Madam Ru
Hmm, one of my conjectures is that he knew from the get go he would probably lose to Ling Lan and wanted the excuse to "serve" him for a month, that way he would be around her group and not be as vulnerable to bullying from the other kids...he is a poor commoner with no backing or friends to help him. One of my guesses, hope he doesn't have bad intentions other than survival.