Qin Dynasty: Who offended my frail and sickly minister?

Upon hearing this, Zhou Wenqing keenly noticed that the confident and composed demeanor in Jiang An's eyes during his earlier argument seemed to have been slightly suppressed, and most of it suddenly disappeared.

The room fell silent.

All eyes were fixed on Tang Xin's figure, a mix of emotions including eagerness, doubt, and curiosity.

A sense of urgency, like ants crawling all over everyone's hearts, was palpable.

What unspeakable secret could such an eloquent and persuasive person have?

The incense smoke curled upwards, swirling in the sunlight before dissipating. Yet Jiang An remained silent, seemingly still unable to find the words to express himself.

Yao Jia, however, could no longer sit still.

His fingers unconsciously dug into the edge of the table, as if trying to carve a groove into the wood's grain. He shifted back and forth in the chair, wishing he could rush up to Jiang An, grab him by the collar, and yell...

—Speak up! What's wrong? Tell me! You're driving me crazy!

Having explained the situation early, Yao Jia had already decided that whether the mess he had made could be properly cleaned up depended entirely on this person.

After waiting and waiting, just as Yao Jia was getting impatient and about to jump down to grab Jiang An by the collar to urge him on, Jiang An finally moved.

A resolute glint flashed in the depths of his eyes. He then abruptly raised his head, took a deep breath, and slowly straightened his clothes, smoothing the cuffs along his arms. He then took a half step back, faced the person above him, and bowed deeply.

He bowed deeply, paused for three breaths, and then slowly raised his head, looking directly at Fusu, Yao Jia, and the others, speaking each word clearly and forcefully.

"My lords, Jiang An is guilty. Jiang An... Jiang An has concealed something from you all."

"In our discussion just now, I was able to answer fluently. You all probably think that I have exceptional debating skills and broke the deadlock with my own talent. However, the truth is not so."

"In fact, every word and phrase of my response just now was prepared in advance. I simply memorized the script and recited it in public."

He looked up to meet the astonished gazes of the room and calmly added:

"Jiang An is not very learned and is far from being as eloquent as you all think."

"ah?!"

These words left Zhou Wenqing and his group somewhat bewildered.

Of course, the most impacted were the four who had just taken turns to fight: Fusu, Wang Ben, Zhang Han, and Meng Yi.

What does it mean to prepare a draft in advance, memorize the script, and recite it in public?

Wang Ben's eyes widened. He subconsciously glanced at Zhou Wenqing at the head of the table, then stared intently at Jiang An, his face full of disbelief.

But... we didn't know that beforehand!

Good heavens, so all that effort we four put in, racking our brains, was just improvisation. We didn't even know what we were going to say next.

You, on the other hand, even prepared a script in advance, yet you guessed exactly how we would make our moves, accurately responding to every change, forcing us to retreat step by step and remain speechless.

They practically humiliated us.

Then you say something like, "You're not very knowledgeable and not nearly as eloquent as we thought."

Why don't you just say it outright? No matter how much the four of us brothers try to escape, we can't escape your schemes.

Is this being modest?

Is this definitely not a provocation?!

If you win, you win. Why are you making sarcastic remarks?

Wang Ben, Meng Yi, and Zhang Han's complexions visibly turned bluish-green, their gazes fixed intently on Jiang An.

Even Fusu's eyes flashed with an undisguised disappointment as he stared intently at the person in the hall.

But the other person's eyes were full of seriousness, clearly not a slip of the tongue, but a genuine belief.

The three young generals became an instant sensation.

Enough is enough! There's no need to endure it any longer!

Do you really think we're incapable of wielding a knife after just a verbal argument with you?

You little brat, since you don't understand any social etiquette, today I'll teach you how to be a decent human being!

The three of them raised their hands in unison, slowly rolled up their sleeves, and put on extremely "kind" smiles as they took a step forward together.

This step was filled with murderous intent. Jiang An even felt that the wisps of hair on his forehead were slightly ruffled by the silent ferocity.

What, what's wrong?

His expression was blank, his mind went blank for half a second, and the three of them had already surrounded him in a fan shape.

A chilling aura descended, and Jiang An swore his brain had never worked so fast before. In a flash, he suddenly understood.

He jumped up, waved his hands frantically, and shouted in a panic:

"Wait, wait a minute!"

Jiang An spoke rapidly, as if afraid that a huge fist would land on his eye socket the next second, and blurted out in one breath:

"It was my fault for not expressing myself properly. I had absolutely no intention of belittling or provoking you all! What I meant to say was that the document I used in my response was not written by Jiang An himself, but by someone else behind the scenes!"

"Um?"

The sinister smiles on the faces of the three young men suddenly froze. They looked at each other, then turned to look at Zhou Wenqing on the table.

Zhou Wenqing frowned slightly, a few doubts arising in his heart as well. However, before seeking answers, he took the time to glare fiercely at the three of them.

Trying to get violent right in front of him, what kind of behavior is that!

Wang Ben and the others immediately became obedient, scratching their heads awkwardly, lowering their rolled-up sleeves, returning to their original positions, looking left and right, pretending that nothing had happened.

Jiang An also let out a long sigh of relief, raising his hand to wipe the cold sweat from his forehead with his sleeve.

Thank goodness, we're safe.

Once they calmed down, Zhou Wenqing turned his gaze to Ba Qing, who was sitting upright to the side, his eyes filled with inquiry.

Wasn't the original plan to recommend eloquent debaters? How come there's a "representative" here?

Ba Qing nodded slightly, meeting the gazes of the entire room, confirming that Jiang An's words were true. Her brows furrowed slightly, her expression solemn, and she slowly stood up, about to bow in apology before explaining the whole story.

"thump!"

A dull thud suddenly rang out, abruptly interrupting her movements.

Everyone looked in the direction of the sound and saw Jiang An kneel down on the blue bricks.

Several reversals followed one after another. Before the people in the room could even process what had just been said, this unexpected turn of events caused their minds to go blank, leaving them even more bewildered.

Zhou Wenqing even went so far as to blame Wang Ben and the other two, instinctively turning his head and glaring at them with a hint of reproach:

Look what you little rascals have done! You've scared the man so much his legs are weak!

Wang Ben felt a pang of guilt, shrank his neck, and quickly bent his knees to step forward, reaching out to help Jiang An to her feet.

But Jiang An had already taken the lead, raising his hand to fling open his robe, which had been washed until it was almost white, and laying it flat on the ground. He braced himself against the blue bricks, bowed his head, and lightly tapped his forehead on the ground, his posture respectful yet resolute.

"My lords, I, Jiang An, dare to ask—"

He paused slightly, clenched his teeth, suppressed the emotions surging in his throat, and earnestly spoke each word:

"I humbly request that you all allow Xu Jiang'an to step onto the stage and fight to vindicate my elder sister!"