Qin Dynasty: Who offended my frail and sickly minister?

"Hiss~"

Li Si opened his eyes, a dull ache running down his neck. He blinked blankly, staring at the unfamiliar roof beam above him for a while before his memory gradually returned. He couldn't help but shake his head and chuckle.

"This truly embodies the saying, 'Say it three times in words, and cut it with a single blow in martial arts.'"

He muttered to himself, rubbing the back of his neck. Recalling Li Yi's last innocent smile, he couldn't help but grumble to himself.

Can't we just talk things out reasonably?

He is a high-ranking official in charge of justice, and he is not someone who cannot listen to advice!

...Okay, I probably don't listen much.

But we can't just start hitting it right away!

Li Si made a mental note of Li Yi, thinking that when they met again, he would have to have a good talk with him—they were both surnamed Li, yet he showed no mercy. If word got out, where would that leave his reputation as the Minister of Justice?

He was calculating in his mind when he threw back the covers, his feet barely touching the ground—

"Squeak."

The door was gently pushed open, and a servant poked half his body in. Seeing that he was awake, his face immediately lit up with a smile:

"Li Tingwei is awake. Would you like to wash up? Hot water is ready."

Li Si waved his hand and stretched his stiff neck: "No need. What time is it now?"

"Reporting to the Court of Justice, it is already 3:45 AM."

"Three-quarters of the hour of Chen?"

Does that mean he slept for a whole day and night?

Li Si was taken aback for a moment, then suddenly stood up. "It's so late, where is Brother Zicheng?"

"Zhou, the Imperial Secretary, has not yet returned from court," the servant replied respectfully. "Before leaving, he instructed that if Li Tingwei woke up, he should rest at the mansion first, and he would return after court."

Still not back?

Li Si's eyes lit up, and he lifted his foot to walk out:

"That's perfect! I have other matters to attend to at home, so I won't wait for him. Please tell Brother Zicheng that I'll head back first, and we can meet again another day!"

He had just taken a step—

The servant moved half a step to the side, blocking the doorway perfectly.

Li Si paused, looking at him suspiciously.

"Li Tingwei, don't be angry." The servant still had that respectful smile on his face.

"But my father has one more thing he wants me to convey."

"What did you say?"

"My father said—" the servant cleared his throat, trying to imitate Zhou Wenqing's tone, "Commander Li doesn't need to worry. He has already pleaded illness on your behalf. You don't need to go anywhere today. Just rest well at home. He hopes to see you at home after court, otherwise..."

He paused, then cautiously glanced at Li Si:

"Otherwise, he would have had to personally take the imperial physician to the Li residence to visit them, which would have been quite a grand affair."

Li Si: "..."

Well, being too in sync isn't good either; his little scheme was guessed right away.

If Brother Zicheng were to chase him to our residence and arrest him, then…

"Forget it," Li Si thought with a jolt. He knew better than to ask for a few days off to rest and recuperate, and he would never get another good job from Zi Cheng.

He sighed and waved his hand in exasperation.

"Alright, alright, I understand. Go and bring me some hot water. I'll change and wash up, and then wander around a bit, just staying within the Zhou residence, is that alright?"

"Li Tingwei, please feel free to do as you please." The servant breathed a sigh of relief, his smile becoming more genuine. "I'll go fetch some hot water right away."

The hot water arrived very quickly.

Li Si slowly washed up, changed into the clothes that Zhou Wenqing had sent from the Li residence early in the morning, and adjusted his collar before getting himself ready.

He had slept for a day and a night, so he wasn't sleepy at all.

I'm not the type to stay in bed all the time. After lying here for so long, I feel like my bones are about to melt. Rather than staying cooped up in the room counting the roof beams, I might as well go out for a stroll.

Pushing open the door, the sunlight was already just right, warmly shining down on the corridor, making one feel lazy to the bone.

After being exposed to the sun yesterday, most of the snow has melted, and the air is now filled with a crisp, clean scent.

Li Si walked forward leisurely with his hands behind his back, his pace unhurried, truly embodying the leisurely feeling of a day off.

Where to go?

He thought for a moment, and a slight smile appeared on his lips.

It's been a long time since I "borrowed" any books from Brother Zicheng's study.

Yesterday, he was only focused on sneaking away. Although he had already looked at those blueprints, based on his understanding of Brother Zicheng, the fact that he could produce so many things at once and plan on such a large scale suggests that there must be other tricks up his sleeve.

For example, universities.

Given Brother Zicheng's personality, since he dared to speak out, he must have already planned it out in his mind. He was just waiting for the right time to reveal it all at once. People like him who plan before they act are always like this.

Thinking of this, Li Si's interest in finding treasure intensified, and he quickened his pace.

After turning a corner, suddenly, a series of light footsteps came from ahead.

He looked up and saw two small figures walking hurriedly towards him, one in front of the other, each carrying a box in their arms.

Both of them had their heads down, focused only on getting on their way, and almost brushed past him.

Li Si narrowed his eyes.

These two kids... they look kind of familiar?

He coughed lightly and waved:

"Stop right there, come here."

The two small figures stopped abruptly, looked up, and when they saw it was him, they were first stunned, then looked at each other, and obediently carried the box over.

Li Si lowered his head and examined the object carefully.

The two children were dressed neatly and simply in thick winter clothes, but they still looked rather bare on them.

The boy barely reached his waist, then raised his head and let him look him over with a confident air. His eyes were bright, showing no fear whatsoever, as if he were waiting for his instructions.

The girl was much shorter than him, standing beside her brother with two thin braids hanging down her back. The ends of her hair were slightly yellow, a sign of past mishaps.

When she saw Li Si looking over, she didn't flinch; instead, she smiled at him with her eyes crinkled.

That smile was pure and clean, like the sun after a snowfall.

Li Si was stunned.

These two children...

He frowned slightly, feeling that the face looked familiar, but he couldn't quite place where he had seen it before.

When did two more children of this age appear in the household this week?

As he was pondering this, the boy had already bent down first:

"This humble subject greets Li Tingwei."

The timbre suddenly brought Li Si's memory back.

"It's you!"

He slapped his forehead, suddenly realizing what was going on.

That's the child who testified in the imperial court back then!

It's no wonder he didn't recognize him—the child has changed so much.

Although he was still thin and small, his complexion and energy were completely different from before.

At that time in the imperial court, he was so thin that he was skin and bones, wearing tattered clothes. He knelt in the hall, trembling, his eyes darting around, not daring to even lift his head. It took him a long time to muster the courage to reply.

But now?

His clothes were clean and tidy, he stood straight, and his eyes were bright and clear. He looked at people frankly and openly, without the slightest fear. If it weren't for the fact that his eyebrows and eyes were still there and his voice hadn't changed, he wouldn't have recognized him.

Li Si looked the child up and down, and suddenly smiled.

"Good children, what are you doing here?"

"It's Zhou Neishi!"

When the boy said the words "Zhou Neishi," the barely suppressed gratitude in his voice seemed to overflow from the corners of his eyes and brows.

"After that day, Zhou Neishi was worried that it would be unsafe for us to go back, so he sent someone to bring my grandfather, grandmother, sister and me to the Zhou residence together."

"Now our whole family works at the Zhou family mansion. Grandpa and Grandma help the gardeners with their work. Looking at the flowers and plants in the backyard, Grandpa's health is getting better and better."

As he spoke, he reached out and ruffled the hair of the girl next to him.

"And then there's my sister and me. We help out at the pharmacy, and we've learned to recognize quite a few medicinal herbs. Doctors Xia and Li both praised our good memories and said they'd teach us how to prepare them once we recognize even more!"

Li Si looked at the two smiling faces and slightly curled his lips.

As expected, Brother Zicheng is indeed very meticulous.

Back then, in the imperial court, among the many officials, many remained silent in fear, but this small, thin child stood up and, word by word, exposed all those sordid deeds.

Such a grateful and clever child, bold yet meticulous, was well taken care of by Li Si, who instructed his men to look after him carefully and prevent him from being harmed by those who harbored resentment.

However, the incident later implicated a large number of officials, large and small, and the case files piled up like a mountain. The entire Court of Justice was so busy that he wished he could split himself into eight pieces and use them all at once, so he forgot about it for a while.

Li Si looked at the boy and a thought suddenly struck him.

Intelligent and quick-witted, of good character, speaks logically and reasonably, and acts with courage and wisdom—isn't this exactly the promising talent he had been searching for all along?

Li Si's gaze swept over his face and then landed on the girl standing quietly beside him. He nodded inwardly and lowered his voice slightly.

"Children, what are you doing?"

"Take these medicines back to the warehouse." The boy gestured to the box in his hand.

"Now that you recognize medicinal herbs, Zhou, the Imperial Secretary, must have taught you to read, right?"

The boy shook his head and smiled somewhat embarrassedly:

"We can only recognize the pictures now, not the words yet," he said, then added with bright eyes, "but Zhou Neishi said that he will teach us to read in a while. This is an immense favor, and we must do our best to repay Zhou Neishi!"

Should we send him to school to learn to read in a while?

That won't work!