Qin Dynasty: Who offended my frail and sickly minister?

Fortunately, they had only been traveling for half a day and were not too far from Xianyang. Although the post station was not small, it was impossible for a delegation of more than 300 people to stay there. However, if they just wanted to find a place to sit down and have a meal, they could manage to get by.

The group took turns eating in pairs, in an orderly manner, and each person performed their duties. It must be said that the delegation personally selected by the King was impeccably professional.

This meal was likely the last one on the trip where everyone could sit down properly and eat hot soup and dishes, and everyone knew that, so they cherished it all the more.

For the next few days, we'll probably have to eat dry rations with cold water and just get by with lunch. If we're lucky, we might find a small inn to pitch our tents when it gets dark; if we're unlucky, we'll have to find a sheltered spot to set up camp, and even boiling a kettle of hot water will be a luxury.

Zhou Wenqing sighed with emotion and ordered his men to put several wooden tables together in the main hall, so that everyone could sit around them as they pleased, regardless of their status.

Despite saying that, his own table was subtly surrounded by the guards in the very center. There were only five people at the table: Zhou Wenqing himself, Fusu, Han Fei, Li Yi, and... Xia Wuqie, who followed closely behind with his medicine box.

Yes, how could Zhou Wenqing travel without a medical team? Four physicians from the prefecture, led by Xia Wuqie, came along.

Since it was a post station, the conditions were limited, so the food was naturally simple—this was the result of advance preparation. Several dishes were piled up in rough earthenware bowls, looking rather unappetizing.

Xia Wuqie sat upright next to Zhou Wenqing, holding a silver needle in his hand. He poked at each plate, smelled it, looked at it, and nodded slightly after examining one plate before moving on to the next. His focused expression made it seem as if he were not examining food but rather conducting a consultation in the Imperial Medical Bureau.

Zhou Wenqing's originally hungry internal organs were disturbed by this solemn poison testing ceremony, and coupled with the grayish food on the table, he instantly lost all interest.

He watched as the silver needle stirred in the soup, then pulled it out, examined it against the light, and then inserted it into another dish—the whole process was smooth and meticulous, making his eyelids twitch.

"...Physician Xia," Zhou Wenqing finally couldn't help but speak, "the food prepared at the Daqin Post Station was kept under random supervision; surely it couldn't have been poisoned?"

Xia Wuqie didn't even raise his head, steadily inserting the silver needle into the plate, his tone calm: "Sir, you are mistaken. We must be careful after all, especially since it is because of this post station that everyone knows that no matter which way we go, we will definitely rest here at noon - so we must be even more cautious."

"The journey to Qi is long and arduous. You bear a heavy responsibility, and you must take care of your diet and daily life. His Majesty gave you these instructions before you left, and I will do my best without the slightest negligence."

He paused, then continued examining the plate with his hands, adding another sentence:

"If there are no unforeseen circumstances, that would be the best; however, your health... is ultimately a bit frail. Therefore, if you have any health problems, I hope you will not hide them and avoid seeking medical treatment. Only in this way can I live up to Your Majesty's trust."

Zhou Wenqing's lips twitched as he listened.

Although I know I am physically weak, is it a bit too much to be so certain that something bad will happen?

And most importantly—

Is he trying to intimidate me by using his power?

is not it? !

Zhou Wenqing stared at Xia Wuqie's serious face, and for a moment he seemed to see the shadow of Lü Yiling.

The look in their eyes, the tone of their voice, the unwavering certainty that "you must listen to the doctor"—they were practically identical.

As expected of master and disciple, Xia Wuqie is becoming more and more like Physician Lü.

Zhou Wenqing sighed silently to himself, suddenly feeling a pang of nostalgia for the young, inexperienced physician who had just entered the Zhou family mansion.

The "new capital doctor" who could only feel wronged, hesitant to speak, and sullen as he refused to take her pulse for "ten thousand reasons".

Of course, it would have been even better if he hadn't complained to his master and the king when he was young and inexperienced.

Zhou Wenqing stared at Xia Wuqie with resentful eyes, trying to change him back with his gaze.

Xia Wuqie remained unmoved, as if an invisible barrier surrounded him, blocking the two burning gazes.

Are you kidding me?

Before his departure, the king and his mentor gave him repeated admonitions and instructions, as if they wanted to open his skull and pour in his medical experience and how to deal with his husband's lack of cooperation. In addition, there was that "devilish" training. Was it all for nothing?

God knows how disheveled he looked, dazed and unsteady on his feet, when he left the Imperial Medical Bureau those days.

If I were to show weakness so easily, wouldn't I be letting down the person I was who was so exhausted that I almost collapsed?

Xia Wuqie remained expressionless, steadily inserting the silver needle into the last dish, gently stirring it, then pulling it out. He examined it closely against the light for a moment before putting it back into his pouch and speaking calmly:

"Alright, everyone, it's time to eat."

Zhou Wenqing had no choice but to give in and had to pick up his chopsticks as instructed, turning his grief and anger into a desire to eat.

Just then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw Li Yi swiftly move one of the rough pottery bowls to the furthest point from him—

The movements were so swift and skillful that Zhou Wenqing would not have noticed them at all if he hadn't been sitting right next to him.

Strange, why is Li Yi the first to "take a bite"?

"Ah Yi," Zhou Wenqing put down his chopsticks, squinted, and turned his head to look at him, "What are you hiding?"

Li remained calm and collected, picking up a piece of boiled bean leaves from the dish in front of him and placing it steadily into Zhou Wenqing's plate, serving him food with fluid movements that showed no sign of anything amiss.

"Sir, you've misjudged." His voice was calm, even somewhat earnest. "I was worried that Mr. Han was sitting too far away to reach these dishes, so I moved them a little for him. I didn't hide anything."

Zhou Wenqing narrowed his eyes slightly, his gaze sweeping over Li Yi's face before returning to the dish.

His mental fortitude is impressive. If it weren't for these bean leaves, he almost would have believed it.

"Is that so?" Zhou Wenqing said slowly, "But Ayi, I've never been a big fan of this. If you weren't hiding it, what are you feeling guilty about?"

When he was recovering from his injury, refined salt had not yet been produced, and he ate too much of it, so much so that later, even when salt was available for seasoning, he refused to touch bean leaves again.

Although he never revealed this, Ah Yi knew it best. Putting aside everything else, if there were any other dishes on the table, Ah Yi would never put this on his plate.

A crack finally appeared in Li Yi's expression.

broken.

He was so focused on his husband's eating habits that he knew he could never like that dish that he was in a hurry to move it away, lest his already poor appetite be further diminished by the sight of it. In his haste to serve the food as a cover-up, he completely overlooked this detail.

There was a moment of silence on the table.

Fusu held the bowl, looked at the teacher, then at Li Yi, and curiously peeked over. When he saw what had been moved, he became even more puzzled.

"So it's just a bowl of oyster sauce? I suppose the post station staff, knowing Mr. Han is coming, worried that the meal would be simple, so they specially prepared this. If Guard Li is worried that Mr. Han can't reach it, they can simply divide it into two dishes."

As he spoke, he stood up and reached out to divide the bowl of sauce.

Zhou Wenqing was taken aback.

Spiced fish?

Ant egg sauce!

Now it was his turn to have a split expression.