Qin Dynasty: Who offended my frail and sickly minister?

Fifty or sixty days can feel like an eternity to some, an unbearable ordeal; but for others, it's just a blink of an eye, not nearly enough.

The former naturally refers to General Wang and others, who polished their ten wine jars until they shone, and waited anxiously every day, their eyes practically gleaming with greed, wishing they could personally beat the night watchman's drum to hasten the passing of time!

As for the latter...

Li Si must have felt this most deeply.

Zhizunaishiji Temple——

Zhou Wenqing put down his pen, finished annotating the last official document, leaned back, and let out a long sigh of relief.

The sunlight streamed in through the window, falling on the stack of completed files on the desk, gleaming golden and warming the eyes.

He rubbed his stiff wrists, tidied up the things on the table, slowly stood up, and walked out.

"Hey, get the car ready, we're off work!"

Li Yi was already used to the strange and unusual words coming out of his master's mouth. Without even asking, he quickly drove the carriage and turned onto the main road back to the mansion.

Zhou Wenqing rested his chin on his hand, gazing at the street scenes rushing past the car window, and suddenly spoke:

"Ah Yi, has Brother Gu'an returned as well?"

Li Yi, sitting on the carriage shaft, turned his head upon hearing this and replied through the carriage curtain:

"Sir, have you forgotten? Li Tingwei is off duty today."

Oh ~

Zhou Wenqing raised an eyebrow.

Then there'll be a good show to watch when we get back.

As soon as he entered the mansion, without even taking off his official robes, he walked straight to Li Si's room.

As soon as I pushed open the door, a strong medicinal smell hit me, so strong that it was almost tangible and went straight into my nostrils.

"Cough cough cough!"

Zhou Wenqing was choked and took two steps back, waving his hand frantically in front of him, his eyes squinting from the fumes.

"Brother Gu'an, what's the plan today? Are you planning to pickle yourself and save yourself for next spring?"

Amidst the swirling smoke, Li Si's lifeless face slowly emerged from the mist.

"Brother Zicheng..."

He slumped onto the table, sighed weakly, and pointed to various parts of the room:

"See for yourself."

Wenqing then saw the grand scene inside the room.

On the table sat an exquisite Boshan incense burner, but instead of incense, it emitted wisps of medicinal smoke, which filled the entire room with a hazy, misty atmosphere. Anyone who didn't know better would think that a religious ceremony was being performed inside.

Several medicine bowls were piled up beside the bed, some still bearing brown medicine stains, while others were placed upside down with watermarks still clinging to the bottom.

Even on the windowsill were several ceramic jars, their mouths covered with gauze, faintly exuding the aroma of medicinal herbs.

"Wow!" Zhou Wenqing exclaimed in surprise, leaning closer to the Boshan incense burner to look at it from left to right. "I've never seen this incense burner before. It even has a new design? What kind of medicine is it burning? This smell... is strong! After burning this incense, I'm afraid no mosquitoes will dare to come near you."

"You're gloating here!"

Li Si sprang up with a "whoosh," staggered to his side, and grabbed his sleeve.

"It's all because of that Xia Wuqie in your household, and those old men in the Imperial Medical Bureau. Do you know how many bowls of medicine I've drunk today?"

He stretched out one hand, spread his five fingers, and waved them vigorously in front of Zhou Wenqing, as if those five fingers bore a great injustice.

"Five bowls! A whole five bowls!!!"

Li Si's voice was hoarse, and his eyes were red, whether from the smoke or the medicine he was given, it was hard to tell.

"One bowl when I wake up in the morning, one bowl at Chenshi (7-9 AM), one bowl after lunch, another bowl at Shenshi (3-5 PM), and one more bowl before bed! Brother Zicheng, you do the math, isn't that more than I eat rice?!"

He became more and more agitated as he spoke, loosening his grip on Zhou Wenqing's sleeve, turning to point at the medicine bowl beside the bed, his fingers trembling:

"Brother Zicheng, you should do something about them! If this keeps up, they'll chop me up so I can be stewed as medicine!"

"Don't you think they went too far?!"

Zhou Wenqing looked at the stack of bowls beside the bed, which was indeed a magnificent sight. They were of all sizes and heights, and some were still covered with brown medicine stains. At first glance, they really looked like a miniature bowl tower.

...It seems, indeed, that's a bit too much...

But who told you to try and poach someone's star student right in front of them, and actually succeed?!

After several days of "friendly negotiations" between Ji Ming and Ji Qing, a conclusion was finally reached regarding their interests—

Ji Ming wanted to become Li Si's student and study Legalist doctrines; Ji Qing, on the other hand, was more interested in medicine and decided to follow Lü Yiling as his disciple.

Logically, now that the matter was settled, Jiming should have packed up and gone to the Li family to study, but the boy was worried about his younger sister.

Four years old is far too young.

He said that if they had to be separated, he would rather study medicine as well.

What else could Li Si do?

They had no choice but to accept it, letting Jiming stay in the Zhou residence, taking care of his younger sister while learning the law from him.

How could the doctors who had such a promising talent stolen from them be willing to accept it?

Thinking of this, Zhou Wenqing couldn't help but curl the corners of his mouth upwards.

The physicians in the manor were like tigers eyeing the city, taking advantage of Li Si's absence to repeatedly approach Jiming and try to persuade him to "change his mind."

"Jiming, what's so good about studying law? Dealing with all those rules and regulations all day long is so boring! Studying medicine is so much better—practicing medicine to heal the sick and save lives, that's immeasurable merit!"

"Your sister is already studying under Physician Lü. As her older brother, shouldn't you accompany her? It would be so much better if the two of you studied together, supporting each other!"

"That Li Tingwei is always so busy, he doesn't have time to teach you. It's much more practical to learn medicine from us; we can teach you step by step every day!"

These words were repeated over and over again, to the point that Jiming had learned to answer them quickly.

Li Si witnessed this once and was so angry he almost lost his temper.

He simply used the excuse of "rest and recuperation" to stay at the Zhou residence and refused to leave.

Firstly, the plan for the academy needs to be refined, and it would be convenient to discuss official business with Zhou Wenqing here, without having to travel back and forth. Secondly, and most importantly, he would never dare to move until he was certain that Jiming would never change his mind!

Are you kidding me?!

He finally managed to snatch such a promising talent; if these old men took advantage of the situation and stole him away, where would Li Si put his face?

then……

The drawbacks of offending doctors then become apparent.

He's usually alright, but whenever he has a day off, his recuperation plan is always exceptionally...exciting.

With Xia Wuqie as the main physician, other doctors from the prefecture took turns providing services, offering massages one day, medicinal baths the next, acupuncture the day after, and medicinal diets the day after that... with ever-changing and endless variations.

Every time Xia Wuqie delivered medicine to Li Si, his eyes were like knives, as if he wanted to cut a piece of flesh off him.

If it weren't for this guy surnamed Li interfering, he would have already taken in Jiming and Jiqing as his children!

Now look what's happened! After all that trouble, it's been snatched away by Li Si, an outsider. He only got the title of senior brother!

Senior brother! He's not even our master!

Every time Xia Wuqie thinks about this, he gets so angry he almost falls over.

"Uh, this..."

Zhou Wenqing coughed lightly, trying to restore his facial expression to normal—although his trembling lips were hardly convincing.

"Cough cough!" he said dryly, "Brother Gu'an, calm down. If you look at it from a different perspective, it's not actually that bad."

"Look, so many skilled physicians from the Imperial Medical Bureau are treating you. Before, Physician Xia said you were weak, but now your health is getting better and better, isn't it? Your complexion is as healthy as General Wang's!"

"Zicheng!"

Li Si couldn't take it anymore and roared with grief and indignation, "You're still on their side?!"

"Really? I don't think so~"

Zhou Wenqing's gaze flickered for a moment before settling on the old tree outside the window, as if the tree had suddenly blossomed.

He would never say that watching Li Si's antics every day in his spare time made him feel much healthier.

And it's "painless and healthy"!

How good.

Seeing his appearance, Li Si gritted his teeth and angrily accused him:

"Why are you looking around like that? Are you feeling guilty?!"

"No, no, no." Zhou Wenqing quickly averted his gaze, spreading his hands innocently. "Do you think I'm that kind of person?"

Li Si: "You are."

Zhou Wenqing choked for a moment.

Okay, it seems there's really no way to refute that.

He cleared his throat and decided to change the subject.

"Alright, alright, Brother Gu'an, let's get down to business." He sat down to the side. "Actually, I think Jiming's ambition is quite firm and he won't change easily. Those doctors in the prefecture have talked themselves hoarse, but they can't sway him in the slightest. Rather than being smoked like a piece of dried meat here, you might as well go back with peace of mind."

Li Si looked at him suspiciously: "Really?"

"Of course it's true." Zhou Wenqing said sincerely. "I know that kid. Once he's made up his mind, nothing can change it. You can rest assured."

Li Si's expression visibly relaxed a little, and Zhou Wenqing seized the opportunity to deliver another blow:

"And you should know that there are only five days left until the King's birthday banquet. Instead of going back to your own residence to prepare, what kind of behavior is it to be loitering in my house like this?"

Five days?!