Qin Dynasty: Who offended my frail and sickly minister?

The boy trembled again at the question, clutching his younger sister even tighter, his head bowed, avoiding Zhou Wenqing's gaze, and answered haltingly:

"Replying to your question, sir... I... I brought my younger sister... to find herbs."

With great difficulty, he turned his head slightly to indicate the tattered little basket on his back, which was barely tied together with a few strips of old cloth whose color was almost indistinguishable and hung crookedly on his shoulder.

The basket was empty, with only a few withered grass roots, frozen black and curled up, lying pitifully at the bottom.

"Father... Father was conscripted by the government the year before last and has never returned... Mother passed away last year, leaving only Grandpa and Grandma at home, with my sister and me."

"But Grandpa fell ill in the fall. He coughed so badly that he couldn't breathe and couldn't move... We've run out of rice, so where would we get the money for medicine..."

He sniffed his nose, which was red from the cold, and his voice grew softer and softer.

"Grandma cried secretly several times, saying... saying that if things continued like this, in order to get medicine for Grandpa, she would have no choice but to... no choice but to sell her younger sister to get some money..."

At this point, the boy suddenly raised his head, and a stubborn flame suddenly ignited in his eyes, which appeared unusually large due to hunger and cold. Although tears and fear still clung to his face, his tone suddenly became agitated:

"I don't want my sister to be sold! I really don't! I went to the city pharmacy and knelt down to beg them. The shopkeeper... he was a kind-hearted man. He told me that recently, for some reason, a number of exceptionally skilled doctors have come to Xianyang City."

"They occasionally exchange medical tips, and some of the doctors use very fine and expensive herbs. Many common herbs are running out quickly, and the pharmacies are currently short of them, so their prices have increased a few cents compared to usual!"

He spoke faster and faster, his breath coming in ragged gasps: "He also said that the rarer the herb, the harder it is to find, the more it grows on steep slopes in the deep mountains, the more its price has skyrocketed. Some... some are even sold out, and it's extremely difficult to find even one. Recently... recently many people have made a living by searching for herbs!"

The boy's voice grew increasingly broken in the cold wind, yet it carried a desperate urgency:

"I thought, what if, just what if my sister and I are lucky enough to find even a tiny bit of something in the snow or in the cracks between the rocks on the back mountain? If we could exchange it for money, we could get medicine for Grandpa, and my sister wouldn't have to... wouldn't have to be sold!"

"Sir, we're really not bad people. We're just... just passing by and wanted to try our luck at the back mountain..."

His words were incoherent, yet they clearly depicted a tragic picture of an impoverished family driven to the brink of despair:

Her father went to war and disappeared without a trace, her mother passed away, her grandfather was bedridden with a serious illness, and her grandmother, in desperation, even considered selling her granddaughter to raise money for medicine...

The boy, who was only about ten years old, gritted his teeth and took on what might be the last glimmer of hope. In this freezing cold, he and his younger sister tried to find the legendary herbal medicine that had risen in price due to the "gathering of doctors" to save their lives.

Zhou Wenqing listened quietly, his brows furrowing deeper with each word, until his eyes revealed a deep sorrow, which finally dissipated into a long sigh in the biting wind.

"Get up, all of you, get up. It was my fault for lingering here, blocking your way, and frightening you."

Zhou Wenqing's voice was unusually gentle as he carefully comforted the two children who were still kneeling in the snow, almost frozen stiff. He stepped forward and reached out to help them up.

The moment his fingers touched the boy's arm, the icy touch made his heart clench. When his gaze swept over the boy's almost bare feet standing in the snow, Zhou Wenqing felt a surge of bitterness rise to his throat.

Without thinking, he reached out to untie the belt of his thick, warm fur coat.

"Wait, sir, use mine!"

Li Yi reacted extremely quickly, stepping forward in a flash and blocking Zhou Wenqing's movement. Before he could finish speaking, he had already deftly taken off his dark outer robe and wrapped it tightly around the two children without saying a word.

The robes were too big for the two children, covering them almost from head to toe, leaving only their two frightened and dirty little faces showing.

The two children were enveloped in this sudden warmth, but their bodies were stiff as puppets, and they dared not move, their eyes filled with fear and helplessness.

The boy stammered anxiously, "No, no... Your Excellency, you mustn't! We're all dirty, covered in mud and snow... Please, please don't get your fine clothes dirty..."

"Don't move." Zhou Wenqing's hand froze in mid-air. Seeing that Li Yi had already moved first, she took the opportunity to help the child wrap the outer robe tighter. "This color is dark, so it won't get dirty. Wrap it up tighter first. Do you feel warmer now?"

The boy was about to kneel down again in fear and trepidation, but Zhou Wenqing forcefully pulled him back.

"Alright, no need to kneel anymore." He pointed to the hem of his robe trailing on the snow. "Lift your feet up and step on the hem of your robe to keep out the cold. Listen to me, I am an important person, just do as I say."

Under his unyielding command, the two children finally hesitantly and cautiously complied, moving their numb feet onto the dry, warm fabric.

Zhou Wenqing finally breathed a slight sigh of relief, then turned to look at Li Yi, who was only wearing an undergarment and standing in the cold wind, and frowned disapprovingly:

"Aren't you cold? Why are you just standing there like an idiot? Go to the car and warm yourself up, or you'll get cold."

"It's alright, sir. I'm quite robust; this bit of cold is nothing to me," Li Yi said respectfully, straightening his back.

Just then, a small figure squeezed next to Zhou Wenqing.

Ah Zhu looked up, his brows furrowed and his eyes red, clearly having overheard the conversation.

He bit his lip, then suddenly reached out and forcefully pulled off an exquisitely embroidered sachet hanging from his waist—a new one Zhou Wenqing had recently given him, filled with herbs to dispel cold and calm the nerves, and the embroidery was exquisite.

He held the sachet in both hands, raised it high, and looked at Zhou Wenqing with eager eyes.

"Sir...I...I want to help them. Can I give this to them so they can exchange it for some money?"

After all, it was a gift from the master, so Ah Zhu couldn't help but feel a little uneasy.

Looking into A-Zhu's clear, bright eyes, filled with compassion and kindness, Zhou Wenqing raised his hand and gently patted A-Zhu's head.

"Silly child, since the master has given it to you, it is yours. Whatever you want to do with it, as long as it comes from a good heart, why would the master disagree?"

"Thank you, sir!" Ah Zhu's eyes lit up instantly. He quickly walked up to the two bewildered children and stuffed the sachet, still warm from his body, into the boy's hand.

"Here, take this... it should be able to get you some money. Go get your grandfather some medicine, and please... please don't sell your sister anymore."

He paused, then leaned closer, lowering his voice to earnestly instruct, "Keep it safe, and don't let anyone see it easily."

Fusu also came over. He was more composed than Azhu. He first looked at the sky and the increasingly dense snowflakes before gently asking the boy who was still somewhat dazed and clutching the sachet:

"What kind of herb are you looking for? Do you know what it looks like, or what its name is?"

The boy looked up, his eyes appearing unusually large on his face, which was blue from the cold. He shook his head blankly, his dry, chapped lips marked with a white bite mark. His voice was low but stubborn: "I... I don't know the name, but at this time, if we can still find some green leaves or stems... that thing will probably be of some use."

"I was thinking... finding one like that can't be wrong."

How can you possibly find valuable medicinal herbs by searching like this?

Fusu sighed softly and pointed to the empty, tattered basket behind the boy: "The snow is getting heavier, and the mountain roads are slippery. You're with your younger sister; it's really not advisable for you to go any deeper into the mountains."

"Why don't you give me what you've gathered today..." His gaze swept over the few pitiful withered grasses at the bottom of the basket. "How about we exchange them for some emergency supplies? It's better than you venturing into the mountains and returning empty-handed."