Qin Dynasty: Who offended my frail and sickly minister?

Yao Jia glanced down at him, then lightly tugged on the reins, causing the horse to turn slightly to the side. The horse took a half-step, symbolically avoiding Song Yun's bow.

He lowered his eyes, still maintaining his arrogant demeanor, and spoke with a cold rebuke:

"I am Zhao Zhen, a staff member under Minister Yao. You are the prefect of Chen County?"

"Yes, yes, it is indeed I, your humble servant. I have met Mr. Zhao." Song Yun bowed and scraped, his face beaming with smiles, but a flash of anger flickered in his heart.

She's just a staff member who relies on powerful figures, yet she dares to put on airs in front of him?

He'll remember this debt. Zhao Zhen, right? If it really comes down to it, he'll kill this guy first!

"How dare you!"

Yao Jia suddenly raised his voice and scolded him, startling him so much that his eyelids twitched, and he almost thought that his acting had been exposed.

"The eldest son is unwell and urgently needs to enter the city to recuperate, yet you repeatedly delay and evade at the city gate, refusing to open it. If his treatment is delayed, can you bear the enormous responsibility?!"

"No, no, no! I wouldn't dare! I would rather die!"

Under this questioning, Song Yun's knees buckled and he knelt down in front of everyone, his body trembling slightly, his voice stammering in panic, showing no trace of the demeanor of a high-ranking official.

"Indeed... the Prefect said that there has been unrest in Chen County recently, and he is afraid that villains might impersonate others and cause chaos in the city. That's why he strictly ordered the guards not to open the gates without orders. He would never dare to neglect the young master in the slightest..."

Yao Jia felt disgusted by this submissive and pathetic demeanor, as if a piece of fat was stuck in his throat, unable to go up or down, making him feel nauseous.

He feared that this was just another good-for-nothing resting on his father's laurels, and he felt disgusted by it, yet he had no choice but to continue acting.

Yao Jia waved his hand impatiently, "Enough nonsense, don't waste time here. Go and bring all the doctors from your city over here right now!"

"Yes, yes, yes! Your humble servant obeys!" Song Yun felt as if he had been granted a pardon. He hurriedly got up from the ground, not even bothering to brush off the dust, and immediately turned around to loudly instruct his attendants:

"Quickly! Summon Prefect Hu Kui immediately and have him gather all the city's physicians—"

"Wait!" Yao Jia suddenly interrupted, frowning.

"As the prefect, mobilizing physicians and ensuring the safety of the young master are your most important duties, and you cannot afford to make the slightest mistake. How can you not personally oversee such an important matter, but instead hand it over to the prefectural assistant Hu Kui? What kind of logic is this? Are you not neglecting the emperor?!"

Song Yun froze, his face paled slightly, his eyes darted around, and he immediately began to stammer, bending even lower, looking utterly timid and helpless.

"Please forgive me, sir... I am of limited talent and learning, and the affairs of the prefecture are numerous and complex. Since taking office, I have relied heavily on Prefect Hu's assistance in managing these matters... However, please rest assured, sir, Prefect Hu is always reliable. Entrusting this matter to him will absolutely not result in any mistakes!"

"Should we entrust this matter to him, or rely on him for everything?" Han Fei, who had been observing coldly for a long time, finally couldn't suppress his disgust and spoke in a cold voice, every word laced with sarcasm, "You, a dignified prefect, might as well just give your position to him!"

Song Yun immediately blushed, lowered his head and bowed, looking ashamed and embarrassed, and forced a dry laugh while agreeing, but in his heart, a cold laugh was surging.

This is exactly the effect I wanted.

The more he appears incompetent and dependent on the prefectural magistrate, the more solid the impression that Hu Kui controls the affairs of the prefecture and undermines the prefectural officials will be. This will make it easier for Hu Kui to shift all the blame onto Hu Kui in the future.

Tsk! It's a pity. That old man was quite comfortable using it. It seems that after these troublemakers leave, we'll have to find replacements as soon as possible.

It must be said that Song Yun is quite adept at disguise and scheming.

He used his "incompetence" as a fig leaf, combined with his appearance, to blatantly display it on his face. This led people to prejudicially assume he was an "incompetent official who failed to supervise properly." As a result, people's attention naturally shifted away from him with disdain and onto the shoulders of the prefectural magistrate, Hu Kui.

But Zhou Wenqing inexplicably felt that something was wrong.

Their investigation has been ongoing, and their intention to clean up the corruption scandal has long been obvious.

Ironically, the prefect Song Yun, who was the most suspicious and had the deepest influence in the whole affair, got away with it so easily, leaving all the responsibility to his subordinates. He just slipped away by looking "stupid".

That's a bit too much of a coincidence.

Zhou Wenqing's eyes flickered slightly, and he immediately made up his mind. He suddenly lowered his head, covered his chest, and coughed violently twice.

"Cough cough! Cough cough!"

The sudden commotion made Yao Jia and Han Fei tense up instantly, and even Lu Yiling, who was standing to the side, immediately turned around and reached out to check his wrist.

Before anyone could get close, Zhou Wenqing had already curled up, burying himself as much as possible in the large brocade robe he wore to keep warm, looking as if he were in excruciating pain, his voice low and laced with the impatience of a young master:

"How long am I supposed to stay here? The city gates are open, what are you waiting for? Enter the city now!"

He frowned, clutching his forehead as if suffering from a splitting headache, and his tone became increasingly arrogant:

"My head is throbbing...it's splitting! I don't care who any of you are, immediately summon a physician to treat me! And this bastard who's blocking my way from suffering outside the city, kill him! If you don't hurry, I'll have my father punish you all!"

This outburst, both urgent and impulsive, revealed the arrogance of "Prince Fusu".

Yao Jia, Han Fei, Zhen Fusu, and Lü Yiling, who were standing to the side, were all instantly shocked, their expressions froze, and their eyes were full of astonishment and confusion.

What's going on here?

Yao Jia could roughly tell that Zhou Wenqing was playing the arrogant and domineering version of Prince Fusu, but why?

Could it be to kill a city guard captain? Although this person is most likely a henchman of that Prefect Hu Kui, it's really not worth risking the eldest son's reputation for benevolence for him!

Unable to grasp the situation, he dared not speak rashly, but instead calmly observed the developments.

If Yao Jia couldn't keep up with the performance, Han Fei was even less able to keep up. He stared blankly at Zhou Wenqing, momentarily stunned.

The two adults were both at a loss, caught off guard by Zhou Wenqing's sudden outburst, unsure of what to do next. Fusu, however—

Although he didn't know why the master was impersonating him, and in such an... exaggerated way, Fusu immediately understood what he should do.

Taking advantage of the darkness, he shrank back, his already inconspicuous figure now completely buried in the crowd.

The next second—

"Thump—!"

The team leader instantly turned pale, his legs went weak, and he collapsed to his knees, desperately kowtowing and begging for mercy, his voice trembling uncontrollably:

"Young Master, spare me! Young Master, spare me! This humble general was merely following the prefect's orders, strictly guarding the city gates and fulfilling his duty. I had no intention of neglecting my duties! This humble general knows his mistake, please, Prefect, save me! This humble general does not want to die!"

Seeing that Zhou Wenqing hadn't even raised his head and was completely buried in his outer robe, he suddenly turned around, crawled a few steps on his knees, and rushed to Song Yun's side, tightly hugging the hem of his robe, crying his heart out.

"Prefect! Prefect, spare my life! I will never dare to do it again! Please spare my worthless life!"