Qin Dynasty: Who offended my frail and sickly minister?

Zhou Wenqing did not move.

He just watched Li Si quietly, his gaze not heavy, but like a soft knife, slowly peeling away that "I'm fine" smiling face.

Li Si felt a little uncomfortable under his gaze, and the smile on his face froze.

"Brother Zicheng? Why are you looking at me like that? Speak up!"

Zhou Wenqing withdrew his gaze, stood up, walked around the desk, went to the door, and called out:

"Someone come here!"

"exist."

It wasn't the usual messenger who came—it was Li Yi.

He peeked out from the next room, holding a pen in one hand and a half-torn bamboo slip rope in the other. His cuffs were stained with the dust of the old bamboo slips, making him look somewhat like someone who had transitioned from martial arts to literature. However, the way he held the pen still seemed to carry a hint of someone who had wielded a knife.

"Did you call for me, sir? What can I do for you?"

That room was a study that Zhou Wenqing had specially set aside for the two children, and Li Yi... was helping out inside.

In fact, it wasn't just Li Si, who had just been promoted, who was busy.

In a year marked by snow disaster, the fact that the people of Qin could still get through the winter more easily than in previous years is thanks to the hard work of officials inside and outside the Bureau of Grain Administration, as well as everyone in the Zhou family, who were so busy that their eyes were practically glowing with greed!

Everyone was doing multiple jobs, yet it still wasn't enough. Zhou Wenqing wished he could dig out all the ants hibernating under the eaves and have them carry a bamboo slip each to move the mountain of files to the desk, so that he could free up some manpower to do other more important things.

Unfortunately, ants can't read.

But Li Yi can read!

As a former secret guard of the King of Qin, Li Yi was far more than just "literate." So Zhou Wenqing decisively recruited Li Yi as well, temporarily assigning him the job of "legal officer."

Just now, Li Yi was in the study next door helping Su and Azhu to reorganize and copy those old bamboo slips so that they could be easily consulted and checked in the future.

Upon hearing the summons, he instinctively peeked out, and upon seeing Li Si, he was momentarily stunned.

What a rare person!

Today, Li Tingwei actually emerged from the study, not from that rocking chair in the warm pavilion of the courtyard.

and so……

Could it be that something serious has happened again?

Zhou Wenqing didn't notice the rapidly changing expression on his guard's face. Upon seeing him, he spoke directly:

"Ah Yi, perfect timing! You're faster on your feet, quickly fetch Physician Xia, I..."

"Sir, are you sick? Where do you feel unwell?!"

"I'm fine..."

Before he could finish speaking, Li Yi had already swept past him, his footsteps creating a gust of wind, disappearing in a few steps, leaving only a distant whisper:

"I'll go fetch Physician Xia right away!"

Zhou Wenqing's hand was still outstretched in mid-air, words stuck in his throat, as he watched helplessly as the figure disappeared around the corner of the courtyard gate.

"...It wasn't me."

He silently withdrew his hand and finished the sentence in front of the empty doorway.

A suppressed laugh came from behind me.

Zhou Wenqing turned his head and met Li Si's face, which was contorted with suppressed laughter.

"Ahem! Well... um..." Li Si cleared his throat, trying to appear serious. "The weather is really nice today, it's truly delightful!"

"It's pretty good."

Zhou Wenqing quietly withdrew his gaze, sighed, walked back to the table, sat down, picked up the cup of tea that had gone cold, and took a sip.

"I hope that when Physician Xia arrives, Brother Gu'an will also be in good health—that would be even better."

Li Si's smile instantly froze on his face.

Li Yi returned quickly, followed by Xia Wuqie. The young physician carried a medicine box on his shoulder, walking hurriedly with beads of sweat on his forehead, clearly having been dragged all the way here.

"Sir! Physician Xia is here! Please let him take a look!"

Before the physician from the Xia family could catch his breath, he rushed forward to Zhou Wenqing, his face tense.

Zhou Wenqing sighed helplessly; he knew this would happen.

"It wasn't me." He raised his chin and pointed to the opposite side. "I'm perfectly fine. The patient is this man. I'll trouble Physician Xia to take a good look at him."

The two were both taken aback and subconsciously turned their gazes to Li Si.

Li Si felt uncomfortable under his gaze and quickly waved his hand:

"No, no, no! I'm not sick! I'm perfectly fine!"

As he spoke, he turned to Xia Wuqie, forcing a smile, "Physician Xia, why don't you go back? I've just been a little busy, I'll be fine after a rest, no need to trouble yourself..."

Did they mistake the patient?

Xia Wuqie didn't move, but glanced at the two men's faces before silently putting down his medicine box and walking up to Li Si.

He placed the pulse pillow on the table and said calmly, "Li Tingwei, please lend a hand."

Li Si: "..."

Are all the people in your Zhou household so stubborn and unwilling to listen to others?

He looked down at the pulse pillow in front of him, then looked up at Xia Wuqie's face, which seemed to say, "I won't leave until you reach out."

Finally, he let out a long sigh and obediently extended his wrist, placing it on the pulse pillow.

"...Okay, okay, I'll take a look."

Xia Wuqie placed three fingers on the ground, lowered his eyes and concentrated for a long time before finally withdrawing his hand.

Li Si immediately straightened his back: "How about that? I told you I was perfectly fine."

"Li Tingwei," Xia Wuqie interrupted him, his tone as calm as if he were stating the day's weather, "when was the last time you slept for two hours straight?"

Li Si's eyes darted around for a moment, then he said vaguely, "This... yesterday? The day before yesterday? Not really..."

"That means more than three days," Xia Wuqie added expressionlessly.

Li Si choked.

Zhou Wenqing raised his eyebrows slightly, his teacup hovering in mid-air.

Xia Wuqie continued, "The pulse is floating, large, and empty, and weak when pressed deeply, which is a sign of deficient yang escaping outwards. This is caused by overwork."

"Fortunately, Li Tingwei has a strong constitution and his health has not been damaged yet. I will prescribe some medicine for him later. He should take it on time, recuperate for a few days, and rest for a few days. Then he will be fine."

Li Si's eyes lit up, and he was about to speak—

"but……"

Xia Wuqie silenced him with a single word, silencing the words he was about to utter.

"If we continue to suffer, the deficiency of Yang will turn into Yin exhaustion and Yang collapse. At that point, it will be impossible to recover with just a few doses of medicine."

"It can't be that bad, can it?" Li Si muttered softly, his eyes instinctively darting to the side. "Actually, I think..."

"Brother Gu'an!"

Zhou Wenqing frowned and interrupted him, placing the teacup on the table. The sound wasn't loud, but it made Li Si subconsciously shut up.

"You told me before that I should take care of my health, so why have you forgotten when it comes to yourself?"

He leaned forward, his gaze fixed on the dark, bluish-green face:

"Taking a few days off from official business won't cause any major problems; the people below aren't incompetent. But if you ruin your health, that would be a huge issue!"

Li Si opened his mouth as if to say something, but Zhou Wenqing stopped him by raising his hand.

"I'll be watching you closely. You'd better write up the medical report and submit it right now, and then you can rest and recuperate for a few days. Otherwise..."

He didn't finish his sentence, but just looked at Li Si with a half-smile. His gaze was gentle, but it sent chills down Li Si's spine.

"...Okay, okay, I understand."

Li Si waved his hand, leaned back in his chair listlessly, and looked like a deflated balloon.

But the ball had only gone halfway when it suddenly bounced up again.

Li Si leaned forward, his eyes sparkling as he stared at Zhou Wenqing, his earlier listlessness completely gone.

"I'll listen to Zicheng. I'll rest then, but that's tomorrow. Brother Zicheng, you've already examined me and made a diagnosis. If you don't tell me why you called me here today, I'm afraid I won't be able to rest properly. Please tell me quickly!"

Zhou Wenqing sighed inwardly as she looked at him like this.

He agreed verbally, but it seems he didn't listen at all.

However, he really couldn't feel at ease if he didn't tell anyone about this king of kings.

He shook his head helplessly and turned to look at Xia Wuqie, who was still standing to the side:

"Very well, it just so happens that Physician Xia is here as well. I have something that I need Physician Xia to take a look at."

As he spoke, he divided the stack of manuscripts that he had moved away earlier, pulled out a stack, pushed it in front of Xia Wuqie, and then looked at Li Si.

"Brother Gu'an, aren't you always complaining that I don't inform you beforehand when I do things?"

He paused, then lightly tapped his finger on the remaining stack of manuscript papers:

"This time, I'm giving you a heads-up."