Qin Dynasty: Who offended my frail and sickly minister?

Zhou Wenqing suddenly stood up, and the hand warmer on his lap was flung away, crashing with a "bang" onto the stone steps of the pavilion. The copper lid rolled a long way, but he didn't even glance at it before turning around and walking out.

"Quickly! Prepare the horses, I need to go to the Jisu Naishi Temple!"

Fusu was startled by the sudden commotion. He paused for a moment before reacting, then took a step and turned back. He bent down to pick up the fallen hand warmer, calling out as he chased after it:

"Sir! Sir! What happened? Please slow down, the road is slippery!"

Zhou Wenqing did not turn around. In the twilight, his newly draped fur coat fluttered in the wind, making him appear even more menacing.

Fusu jogged to catch up, his breath unsteady: "Sir! What's wrong? What happened? I'll go with you!"

Zhou Wenqing paused for a moment.

He didn't turn around, but said very quickly, "Fusu, go back to the palace, you don't need to follow me."

"But--"

"obedient!"

With just those two words left behind, the person had already turned the corner of the palace wall and disappeared into the depths of twilight, leaving only the faint sound of footsteps in the wind, hurried and heavy.

Fusu stood there, clenching his fists, his brows furrowed tightly.

He had never seen the gentleman so out of control. What had happened?

------

The carriage practically lurched forward.

The wheels crunched rapidly over the snow, causing the vehicle to shake violently. Zhou Wenqing braced himself against the side of the vehicle with one hand and pressed the other tightly against his chest.

There was a fire burning there, it had been burning for a long time, and now it was burning right up to their throats.

It must not be tilted.

He closed his eyes, took a deep breath of the cold air in the car, letting the chill flow into his lungs through his trachea, and suppressed the rising anger.

I must not fall at this moment.

Li Si was guarding the Baiwusi area, and there were still people kneeling at a distance.

Without him personally overseeing things at the Jisu Naishi Temple, I'm afraid things are already...

The carriage stopped abruptly, its wheels skidding half an inch on the snow before finally regaining their footing.

"Sir, we've arrived."

Zhou Wenqing pushed open the car door and stepped into the cold wind.

The next second, my heart sank to the bottom.

On the open ground in front of the Jisu Naishi Temple, scattered figures gathered from near and far.

They weren't lined up, nor were they gathered together; they were scattered in twos and threes, here and there, like grass seeds scattered by the wind, or like clumps of withered grass sprouting on the snow.

The snow had fallen on them, accumulating into a thin layer.

Some were shivering from the cold, their shoulder blades twitching, while others had stopped shivering, their eyes staring blankly at the ground, their lips bluish-purple, and they remained motionless.

There was no commotion, no shouting.

They just leaned against each other, curled up, and huddled together—scattered and embedded in the snow, like a few forgotten lumps of mud, or a few withered tree stumps nailed to the ground.

Zhou Wenqing stood by the car, watching these people. The cold wind blew into his collar, but he seemed not to feel it. A wave of dizziness washed over him, and his vision went black for a moment. He squeezed his eyes shut to suppress the dizziness.

Li Yizao dismounted his horse a step earlier and was now protecting him at his side.

His gaze swept over the group of people. He roughly counted them and estimated there were about twenty or thirty of them, men, women, and children, crammed together in the open space like a herd of livestock being driven into the snow.

Then his gaze turned to the temple gate.

Several guards stood on either side of the door, some with their hands in their pockets, others with their arms crossed, looking rather bored.

They ignored the group's presence, not even bothering to glance in their direction, as if they weren't living people at all, but rather piles of snow blown in the wind and getting in their way.

Li Yi gritted his teeth in anger and strode over.

"What happened?"

His voice was low, but his tone was as cold as a knife that had been quenched in ice.

"Who gave you permission to let people squat here? Why didn't anyone inform the Imperial Secretariat?"

The guards clearly recognized Li Yi. The leader immediately dropped his lazy demeanor, bowed, and stepped forward with a look of fear and trepidation on his face.

"Guard Li, it wasn't us who let them go... They didn't cause any trouble, they just knelt far away, which wasn't a problem. They just said they wanted to ask Zhou, the Imperial Secretary. We chased them away, they took a few steps back, and when we turned around, they slowly moved back. We couldn't hit them, and we couldn't scold them away..."

He paused, glanced at the group of people, then quickly looked away. "We dare not make a scene and alert the Imperial Secretary. After all, the Imperial Secretary is still recuperating. It's really not worth it for these lowly people..."

"you--!"

"Alright, Li Yi, no need to waste any more words with them!"

Zhou Wenqing had already passed him and strode towards the group of huddled figures.

He walked up to an old man who was leaning against the corner of the wall, his body slumped over, his eyelids drooping, as if he might slip into the snow at any moment.

Zhou Wenqing grabbed the old man's arm, and the touch was palpable even through the thick sleeves: icy cold and stiff, like holding onto a frozen, withered branch.

The old man struggled to open his eyes, his cloudy pupils darting around, and his lips trembled as he managed to squeeze out a few words:

"Don't go...you can't go...Secretary...firewood..."

"Don't be anxious, old man." Zhou Wenqing helped the old man closer to him, letting the cold body lean on his shoulder, and said in a very soft voice, "I know everything. You go into the Inner History Temple first, and I will listen to what you have to say slowly."

He raised his head, his gaze sweeping over the figures that seemed completely frozen, and his voice deepened: "Go and call the doctors, call several, and have them check on these people."

After a pause, he said:

"Open the door and let them go in to cool off and avoid the wind and snow."

The guards were stunned, not expecting that Zhou Neishi would come in person.

The leader's fearful expression froze for a moment. Remembering his orders, he gritted his teeth, forced a smile, and stepped forward: "Ah, it's Inner Historian Zhou! Opening the door for him is certainly possible, but..."

He glanced back at the group of people and lowered his voice, "These people aren't officials; according to regulations, they're not allowed to enter the temple. It's really difficult for me!"

Zhou Wenqing suddenly turned his eyes and his gaze fell on the guard's face.

The guard felt a chill run down his spine, his smile froze on his lips, and he didn't even dare to back down.

"Difficult to do?"

"Oh!"

"Then don't do it."

Zhou Wenqing withdrew his gaze, looked down at the face that was bluish-purple from the cold, and his voice suddenly turned cold:

"Someone come here."

Li Yi responded almost instantly: "Yes!"

"Tie them up and throw them in the snowmelt to sober them up. No one is allowed to bring them up until I've tallied the casualties!"

The door opened.

It wasn't the guards who opened it—it was someone inside who suddenly pushed the door open, and a man in a blue official robe, holding up the corner of his robe, practically ran down the steps.

"Quick, come in!"

Zhou Wenqing glanced at him, ignored him, turned around, and deliberately raised her voice so that every word could be clearly heard by everyone:

"Come in, all of you. I am Zhou Neishi, the official you are looking for. What do you want to say? Come in and I'll be waiting for you to speak."

The crowd fell silent for a moment.

Those previously blank gazes, as if gently touched by something, slowly began to turn, gradually gathering, and finally landing on the figure inside the door.

Immediately afterwards, one figure after another began to move slowly behind them.

Li Yi quickly directed people to help the huddled figures up one by one and carry them inside.

Several people in official robes came out to greet them. Some looked anxious, gesturing for people to help them inside; others calmly directed people to fetch hot water and blankets; still others stood still, their eyes quickly scanning Zhou Wenqing's face, and then—

He quietly took two steps back and disappeared into the shadow of the colonnade pillars.

Zhou Wenqing didn't look at them.

He simply handed the old man over to the officials who came to greet him, whispered a message saying, "Feed him some hot water first, slowly," then straightened up and glanced at the group of people who were being helped in one after another.

Xia Wuqie and his group arrived quickly. Three or four people rushed in carrying medicine boxes. As soon as they entered, they knelt down in front of the person in the most serious condition, taking their pulse, turning their eyelids, pinching their philtrum, and loosening their clothes—their movements were both urgent and gentle.

Someone was given hot water, coughed a few times, and finally their face wasn't so pale anymore.

Someone had their philtrum pinched, and after a long while, they finally gasped for breath, opened their eyes, looked around blankly, and then closed them again weakly.

One, two, three... The doctors squatted in front of those frozen people, their movements quick and gentle, but some people didn't react no matter how they were handled.

Zhou Wenqing's vision suddenly blurred.

It was very light, as if someone had veiled his eyes with a thin gauze, and the ground beneath his feet seemed to soften, causing him to tilt slightly to the side—

"teacher!"

Li Yi grabbed his arm almost instantly, her heart pounding in her chest.

Zhou Wenqing closed his eyes, steadied himself, and slightly raised his hand.

"fine."

He reached into his sleeve, pulled out the small porcelain bottle, poured out two pills, swallowed them with his saliva, his Adam's apple bobbed, and he looked up at Li Yi.

"Don't worry about me, go help."

"But sir—"

"I'll just sit for a while."

Li Yi dared not upset his master at this moment, nor did he dare to leave. He responded, let go of Zhou Wenqing's hand, and quietly went around to Zhou Wenqing's back. Like a stake driven into the ground, he guarded him without leaving a trace, not moving an inch.

Zhou Wenqing leaned against the pillar next to him and slowly moved to the base of the wall. He sat down and felt a chill in his chest, whether it was the wind blowing in from under the eaves or not.

He watched helplessly as the figures came and went, as well as the people lying on the mats and huddled in the corners of the walls. He watched the beads of sweat on the doctors' foreheads flicker in the lamplight, brightening and dimming, dimming and brightening again.

who is it?

Who is it?!

They actually used these methods on these defenseless civilians!

What do they have? Just a life, a breath, and tattered clothes. And who have they bothered?!

Whatever schemes or tricks you have, come at me! What kind of skill is it to fool them?!

Zhou Wenqing clenched his fists tightly, his knuckles turned white, veins bulged, and his nails dug deep into his palms, causing a sharp pain. But that pain was nothing compared to the burning guilt in his heart.

What burned in that fire was anger, self-blame, and a hatred that wanted to drag out all those behind it.

A fierce glint flashed in his bloodshot eyes.

Don't let him find it, otherwise—

one……

He won't let a single one of them go!