Qin Dynasty: Who offended my frail and sickly minister?

Li Si had also been a disciple of Lü Buwei. Ying Zheng slightly raised his gaze and looked at him, his expression implying a question.

Li Qing should know more about this person.

"cough!"

Li Si coughed lightly, and a hint of embarrassment immediately appeared on his face.

Although he was recommended by Lü Buwei and thus caught the king's eye, it would be difficult to get any information about Lü Buwei's retainers from him.

He really didn't know!

At that time, Li Si was single-mindedly focused on his career advancement, his mind filled with fame and fortune. He had long set his sights on the King of Qin and tried every means to finally climb up the ladder through Lü Buwei's introduction.

Now that they were standing before the king, they naturally needed to solidify their political achievements in order to rise step by step. They had no time to pay attention to the various retainers in the prime minister's residence.

Moreover, the fact that Prime Minister Lü had three thousand retainers was no exaggeration; there were simply too many people. As for Wu Kan, no one had ever even heard of him.

He looked around, his eyes darting around, giving off an air of "Don't ask me, I really don't know."

Ying Zheng understood instantly, silently shifting his gaze, but he wasn't particularly dissatisfied.

Tsk! It's because my royal aura is too overwhelming that Minister Li is so single-minded in coming to serve me. I can't blame him for that.

Come to think of it, it's all my fault, hahaha!

Li Si was unaware that his predicament had once again elevated him from "Minister Li" to "My Beloved Minister Li" in the King's eyes, and he was still silently counting the pillars of dissent.

That pillar really is a pillar!

Seeing Li Si's embarrassment, Wei Liao quickly stepped in to defuse the situation: "Your Majesty, please don't blame Li Tingwei. It's just that Wu Kan deliberately kept a low profile, while Li Tingwei's talent and reputation were established long ago, and he was not within the scope of Wu Kan's social circle, so we never met."

"Oh?" Ying Zheng immediately became interested, raised an eyebrow and asked, "Your talent is renowned, yet you're not included in his circle of acquaintances? Tell me about it."

"Yes." Wei Liao nodded and slowly explained: "Wu Kan did not have any outstanding strategies at the time, but he won the appreciation of Lü Buwei with his excellent calligraphy. After entering the Prime Minister's mansion, he served as a copyist, only copying documents and files. He never showed off and was inconspicuous among the three thousand retainers."

"But precisely because of this, he often befriended other scholars who were also mediocre and had been out of favor for a long time. They would gather together to drink wine and compose poems, indulging in refined pursuits and expressing their pent-up frustrations. As a result, he accumulated quite a network of connections."

"Hmm." Li Si nodded silently, realizing that he was indeed not within the scope of Li Si's social circle.

Putting aside everything else, if Li Si were not successful, he would have been scheming and seeking opportunities everywhere, so why would he have the leisure to spend his days drinking and composing poetry?

Do they expect a talent scout to fall from the sky and hit them on the head?

Wei Liao continued, "Later, when Lü Buwei fell from power, most of his retainers were busy distancing themselves from him and seeking other ways to make a living. Only Wu Kan did the opposite. He used the excuse of being implicated in the political situation and feeling disheartened to withdraw from the literati and become an ordinary merchant, living a peaceful and quiet life in the city of Xianyang."

"Now he runs a bookstore in the West City that is neither too big nor too small, and also sells writing materials. His customers are mostly unsuccessful scholars and low-ranking officials. It is not conspicuous, but he can continue to gather information."

Ying Zheng lightly tapped the imperial desk with his fingertips and commented calmly, "He is patient, discreet, and knows how to lie low. It seems that this person does indeed have some ability."

"Your Majesty has keen insight." Wei Liao nodded in agreement: "I have investigated his movements over the past few years and found that he has left almost no evidence. If it weren't for this massacre... cough cough! Searching the entire city and tracing every clue, I'm afraid we wouldn't have been able to find him."

"Having some ability is better," Ying Zheng nodded. "If someone is truly an incompetent fool, it's harder to put on an act."

"Your Majesty is wise." Li Si took over the conversation, a glint of light flashing in his eyes: "This man appears to be low-key and patient, but in reality he is ambitious and eager to find an opportunity to make a great contribution. He wants to both show his loyalty and merit to the King of Han and make his fathers proud. Therefore, as soon as the papermaking technology of our Great Qin was invented, he quickly opened a bookstore and started a business selling writing brushes and ink. In my opinion, he was clearly after the papermaking technology from the very beginning."

He paused, then looked at Wei Liao, "But the Craftsman's Workshop is under Wei Liao's meticulous protection, and its defenses are extremely tight. How could we allow him to find even the slightest loophole?"

Wei Liao stroked his beard and gladly accepted his veiled praise.

Turning his gaze back to Ying Zheng, Li Si smiled confidently and said slowly:

"The situation is different now. We can relax our guard against the Craftsmen's Mansion and deliberately leave some loopholes. They will definitely be unable to hold back and take the bait."

He picked up the cup of strong tea, took a sip, squinted slightly from the bitterness, but then looked on with a look of lingering enjoyment, and began to speak:

"Once Wu Kan has successfully stolen the secrets, we will send troops to pursue him in a grand manner, making a huge show of it, but we will deliberately give him a chance to escape each time, so that he can escape back to South Korea in great danger and in a sorry state."

"At that time, he will only be complacent, thinking that he has achieved great success through years of forbearance, planning and scheming. He will never know that from beginning to end, this was a game we carefully tailored for him. He was just a pawn who obediently walked into the trap."

"By the time when the Qin army conquered the Han state, the state collapsed, and the dynasty vanished, even if he suddenly realized his mistake and regretted it, it would be too late."

"Hahaha, excellent!" Ying Zheng laughed loudly, nodded in satisfaction, and looked at the two men. "Since your plan is so well-thought-out, my dear ministers, go ahead and do it. I will wait here for you to succeed. I will not hesitate to reward you with higher ranks and generous titles."

In the past, Li Si might have been excited about promotions, titles, and rewards of gold and silver, but now…

Having taken the bigger pie in the sky that Zhou Wenqing had promised, it really didn't stir up the slightest ripple.

Wei Liao also reacted indifferently, only expressing his gratitude with Li Si according to etiquette.

Ying Zheng glanced at them, a slight smile playing on his lips, and added in a low voice, "By the way, I will have the historians record today's events in detail. I'm sure the names of you three ministers will be remembered for the foolishness of the six states and the fall of Han."

In an instant, Ying Zheng was almost blinded by the burning intensity in Li Si's eyes, which was brighter than a hungry wolf seeing meat in the dead of night, almost glowing green!

Even Wei Liao's voice, which was expressing gratitude, became more earnest and louder, and his breathing gradually became heavier.

It must be said that the allure of being remembered in history is something no one can resist.

Li Si couldn't help but reflect on whether his previous actions had been inappropriate, while his eyes darted around, trying to figure out which corner of the hall the historian was hiding in—he couldn't see him!

He subconsciously raised his hand to straighten his robe sleeves, adopting the most dignified posture, afraid of leaving an imperfect image record at this crucial moment, and his heart was itching with anticipation.

Li Si wished he could rush up and write the record for the historian, but of course that was impossible. However, it would be good to let him see it in advance!

Thinking this through, Li Si decisively spoke up:

"Your Majesty..."

"no."

Ying Zheng didn't even bother to listen to the second half of the sentence and directly cut it off and refused.

Li Si: "..."

Li Si's eyes were filled with resentment. Sometimes, he really hated that he and his ministers were too in sync!

If Yue Fei, a thousand years later, knew this, he would probably be so angry that he would jump out with his spear and give him a good whack.

With the business concluded, Li Si and Wei Liao were about to rise and take their leave when a secret guard suddenly entered the hall without being announced. He knelt before the imperial desk, holding a secret report aloft with both hands.

They know this process very well!

It's probably another letter from Zicheng.

So they silently withdrew their retreating steps, their four eyes fixed on the secret report in the king's hand.

Zicheng, surely nothing bad has happened to you again... right?