Qin Dynasty: Who offended my frail and sickly minister?

After walking for a while, the view suddenly opened up.

Under the leaden sky, the thousands of fields that were once as orderly as a chessboard are now covered with a layer of fluffy snow. The crisscrossing lines of the fields are still faintly discernible under the white snow, undulating and extending into the distance.

Occasionally, one can see a few old trees with fallen leaves along the edge of the field, their dark branches supporting a thin layer of snow, as if they had suddenly blossomed with a tree full of pure white flowers.

"Stop the carriage," Zhou Wenqing ordered gently, and the carriage came to a steady stop on a flat, open spot by the roadside.

He pushed open the car door first, and a refreshing and pure chill immediately rushed in, invigorating him. He turned around and stretched his hands into the car.

Hu Hai couldn't wait any longer. He nimbly slipped into the air and tried to jump down before the guards could reach out. Zhou Wenqing caught him steadily and gently placed him on the ground.

The moment the little guy's feet touched the ground, his lively energy, which had been suppressed in the car for so long, was instantly revived. Like a drawn bow, he charged forward with his head down!

"Slow down!" Fusu's reminder had barely left his mouth when Huhai stepped into the fluffy new snow.

The snow fell quickly, and although the surface looked flat, the depth and hardness of the snow varied. He stumbled and with a muffled "plop," he fell straight into the snowdrift without any cushioning, creating a shallow, clearly defined "T"-shaped crater.

The surroundings fell silent instantly.

The guard's hand froze in mid-air, and Fusu and Azhu stared wide-eyed.

In the snow pit, two calves wrapped in thick trousers kicked twice, and then a head covered in glistening snow powder slowly lifted up—eyebrows, eyelashes, nose tip, and even lips were covered with sparkling ice crystals, as if it had just rolled in a jar of icing sugar.

Hu Hai blinked twice, then shook his head. Snowflakes fell softly. He seemed not to have reacted at all. He stood there for two seconds, looked down at the snow pit beneath him, and then looked up at the crowd.

Suddenly, he stuck out the tip of his tongue and quickly licked the snowflake that had gotten on the corner of his mouth, his eyes lighting up instantly:

"It's sweet... Mr. Zhou, it's sweet, the snow is sweet!"

"Snow isn't sweet! You must have secretly eaten honey and it's stuck on your lips!" Zhou Wenqing was both annoyed and amused by his sudden "taste report," and quickly took two steps forward to instruct the guards who were trying not to laugh.

"Quick, pull this silly boy out of the snowdrift! Be careful he doesn't actually put snow in his mouth and get a stomachache!"

A guard, suppressing a laugh, stepped forward and moved with extreme gentleness, as if pulling a radish. He carefully grasped Hu Hai under his armpits and gently lifted the little darling, who was happily playing and still savoring the "sweetness," out of the snow.

Hu Hai dangled his feet in the air and kicked them a couple of times, all the while insisting, "Really! It's cool and a little bit sweet!"

As soon as he was placed on solid ground, his bright black eyes darted around quickly. He ran a few steps, spotted a thicker and fluffier snowdrift nearby, and plunged into it!

This time, having learned from experience, he curled up and rolled around in the snow like a little chubby ball, the hem of his dark fur coat quickly soaking with dark water stains.

"Hahaha, Hu Hai, you, you've turned into a rolling snowball!" Ah Zhu pointed at his gleeful appearance, laughing so hard he almost couldn't stand up straight.

Fusu hurried over and reached out to help him up, his tone full of elder brotherly helplessness and concern: "Don't roll around anymore, look how wet you are! Be careful the cold air gets into your clothes, you'll really catch a cold."

"No way! This snow is so soft and fun, and it's not cold at all!" Hu Hai nimbly twisted his body in the snow, slipped away from Fu Su's hand like an eel, and scrambled to his feet on his own.

As soon as he regained his footing, he rolled his eyes and deliberately stumbled exaggeratedly, letting out a "ouch!" and fell to the other side in a comical manner, splashing up a cloud of snow mist, while laughing so hard that his eyes disappeared from his grin.

Taking advantage of Fusu and Azhu's distraction, he quickly grabbed a handful of snow with each hand and threw it at them without even looking.

"Brother, let's have a snowball fight! It's so much fun!" He sat up abruptly, his little face flushed red from the cold, snowflakes clinging to his hair and eyebrows, but his spirits were even higher as he issued a "challenge" to the most composed Fusu.

Fusu brushed the snow off his sleeves and shook his head at his younger brother's wild excitement: "Don't be silly. Snowballs have no eyes. Be careful not to hit the teacher, and don't step on the ridges."

"I know, I know! I'll stay right here in this open space and promise not to step on the ridges!" Hu Hai replied quickly, and acted even faster.

Before he finished speaking, he had already quickly sculpted a loose snowball, aimed it at Ah Zhu who was eagerly waiting nearby, and said, "Brother Lang, take this! Eat my snowball!"

"Well, well! You dare to ambush me!" Ah Zhu was already itching to get his hands on it. Upon hearing this, he immediately squatted down, hurriedly gathered up a pile of snow, haphazardly rolled it up, and threw it at Hu Hai with all his might.

Unfortunately, his aim was poor. The snowball broke apart in mid-air as soon as it left his hand, scattering into a cloud of snow mist that ended up soaking Ah Zhu's head and face, causing Hu Hai to point at him and burst into laughter again.

Zhou Wenqing stood beside the carriage, watching the three children frolic in the snow in an instant, the restraint he had felt in the carriage earlier completely gone.

He adjusted his sleeves, a gentle smile spreading across his eyes. He didn't speak to stop them, but simply waved slightly to the guards who were quietly approaching, ready to step forward to help at any moment.

"Let them be, just be careful not to bump into anything."

No sooner had Zhou Wenqing finished speaking than Li Yi had already deftly brought over a rattan chair covered in thick fleece from somewhere and placed it steadily behind Zhou Wenqing in a sheltered spot.

Then, he took a large cloth bag off his horse, took out a neatly folded, thick, soft cushion and laid it on the bag. He also took out a small red clay stove, a copper kettle, several ceramic cups, and even a packet of tea carefully sealed in leather.

In just a short while, a "private seat" with a shelter from the wind, a seat, and hot tea was set up for him by the snow-covered field ridge.

Watching his fluid movements, Zhou Wenqing couldn't help but clap his hands in amazement at the seemingly bottomless large cloth bag:

"Great, Ah Yi! This bag of yours must be connected to some general store warehouse. If I ever end up in the middle of nowhere, I don't need to bring anything, just take you with me. I'll never go hungry or cold."

Li Yi was squatting down, poking at the embers in the stove with small iron tongs. Upon hearing this, he paused, abruptly looked up, his brows furrowing instantly as he stared warily at Zhou Wenqing, his voice tense:

"Sir! How could you have ended up in the wilderness? Xianyang City is perfectly fine, and the mansion is perfectly fine. I will absolutely not allow this to happen! Please don't let your imagination run wild!"

Uh... this is because the previous escape left a psychological scar on the person.

Zhou Wenqing touched his nose, waving his hand with a mix of amusement and apology, reassuringly saying, "Just kidding, just kidding, Ah Yi, don't take it seriously."

After saying that, he settled into the cushioned rattan chair, his gaze fixed on the children playing in the snow in the distance, enjoying this stolen half-day of leisure.

"Ah Yi, don't stand there, come and sit down." Zhou Wenqing picked up the package of tea leaves carefully sealed with oil paper, brought it close to his nose to smell, and praised, "This tea is well-chosen, fragrant and mellow, let's try it together."

As he spoke, he picked up another clean ceramic cup and the copper kettle that was already bubbling on the small clay stove, preparing to pour water and brew.

Li Yi was about to bow, but before he could utter the words "This subordinate dares not sit with you, sir," his expression suddenly changed.

His gentle expression vanished in an instant, his eyes sharpening like a hawk's. He abruptly turned his head, his gaze piercing precisely at an abandoned mound of earth, half-covered in snow, about twenty paces to his side and rear.

There was an extremely subtle rustling sound, unlike falling snow.

"Who's there? Show yourself!"

Li Yi gave a low shout, and with a flick of his wrist, the sword at his waist was already half an inch out of its sheath, flashing a cold light in the reflection of the snow.

He moved forward steadily, taking two steps forward silently, his voice lower but carrying a sharp and intimidating pressure:

"Sneaking around like that, if you don't come out soon, I won't be so polite!"

anyone? !

Zhou Wenqing's heart tightened, and he immediately stood up on guard. The guards who were originally scattered around reacted very quickly and silently gathered together, tightly protecting him and the startled children in the middle.

Zhou Wenqing squinted and looked in the direction Li Yi was staring at. Behind the mound of earth, the snow was shaking and rustling, and sure enough, two gray, patched hempen clothes were vaguely visible, as well as... the outline of a small figure huddled and trembling with extreme tension.

His build doesn't look like that of an assassin.

"Go and take a look, be careful." He suppressed his doubts and gave the order in a low voice.

Two guards were ordered to surround the mound, and within a few breaths, they brought out two children from behind the mound.

The two children moved in front of Zhou Wenqing and knelt down in the snow with a "plop".

The older one was a boy, pale and thin. His tattered clothes could barely cover his bony frame, and the sleeves were too short. His bare forearms were blue and purple from the cold wind. He didn't even have a decent pair of shoes; his feet were just haphazardly wrapped with some tattered strips of cloth.

He was using all his strength to hold a girl who looked even smaller, with sparse, yellowish braids, tightly in his arms, preventing her from looking up. He himself was facing Zhou Wenqing, his forehead hitting the snow heavily with a dull thud, pleading incoherently:

"Honorable sir, please spare us! We're so sorry! We're not thieves! We were just passing by... we really were just passing by. We saw... we saw your carriage and the young masters here, and we... we didn't dare to offend you, we didn't dare to go over, so we hid there and waited until you left before we went over... We didn't do anything, we really didn't take anything. Please, sir, have mercy on us!"

As he spoke, he kept kowtowing, his forehead quickly becoming covered in snow and mud, mixed with frozen snot and tears, making him look utterly disheveled. The girl he was protecting was also whimpering in his arms, filled with fear.

Li Yibin remained vigilant, his sharp gaze fixed on the guards who were escorting the two children.

One of the guards nodded slightly, his gaze sweeping around before settling back on the two children, silently conveying the message that there were no other ambushes nearby and that the two children were not carrying any weapons.

Zhou Wenqing's brows furrowed even more. His gaze swept over the boy's bare arms covered in chilblains, then over their ill-fitting shoes, and finally landed on the girl's dry, tangled, and clearly malnourished hair. A look of pity flashed in his eyes.

He tried to keep his tone calm and asked softly, "Who are you? What are you two children doing here in this freezing weather? Where are your parents?"