Qin Dynasty: Who offended my frail and sickly minister?

The man gritted his teeth, stamped his feet, and spat everywhere:

"But those beasts! How dare they push their luck!"

"Oh dear! What happened? Tell me quickly!"

"I heard that the Han envoy didn't give us a friendly look as soon as he entered. Without waiting for a greeting, he sat down rudely and started spouting sarcastic remarks like 'disregarding old friendships' and 'betraying his homeland,' each word more offensive than the last! Zhou, the Prefect, turned pale, but the envoy wouldn't stop there. He got more and more worked up and eventually started pointing his finger at Zhou and cursing him to his face!"

"Snapped!"

The person opposite was so angry that they smashed their bowl on the spot, even more agitated than the storyteller:

"Outrageous! How dare they?! They're beasts, worse than beasts!"

The restaurant erupted in chaos, filled with curses and shouts.

In the corner, a man dressed in coarse brown clothes and speaking with a Chu accent, who looked like a traveling merchant, quietly nudged the arm of the person next to him:

"Hey, why do they say that Zhou Neishi 'betrayed his homeland'? Was he a Han Chinese?"

Before he could finish speaking, a young man carrying books behind him jumped up, his face flushed red.

"So what if he's Korean?!"

He took a step forward, his eyes resolute, and said indignantly:

"When I was studying in the state of Han, I met the Prefect of Zhou once! At that time, he was dressed simply and looked very poor, clearly indicating that he was not valued by the King of Han!"

The young man sneered, glancing around: "Since ancient times, talented people have chosen wise rulers to serve. What's wrong with that? King Han was incompetent and mistreated great talents, yet he forbade them from seeking another wise ruler? What kind of logic is that!"

"Well said!" The crowd cheered.

"Alas, you have no idea," another person lowered his voice and leaned closer mysteriously, "I heard that the King of Han is jealous of talent and narrow-minded, and if he can't keep someone, he'll resort to underhanded tactics..."

He glanced around, lowering his voice even further:

"It's said that whenever a renowned scholar expresses any intention to resign, he secretly poisons them! Look at Zhou Neishi's physique now, is that something he was born with? It's clearly..."

Before he could finish speaking, the people around him all gasped in shock.

"Haha!"

The young scholar slapped his thigh, almost jumping up:

"No wonder! I met Zhou Neishi when I was studying abroad in my early years. He was in good health back then and could even ride a horse and shoot arrows!"

"Such a thing could happen?!"

"Then we mustn't go to Korea, it's too scary."

"This Korean envoy still has the nerve to request an audience with Zhou Neishi? His skin is thicker than a city wall!"

"Hey, hey, you just said that Zhou Neishi was so angry he vomited blood, what happened next? Keep telling the story!"

Then everyone remembered the main topic and urged the person who had spoken earlier to continue.

The man took a sip of water, wiped his mouth, and glared:

"What else can we do? Those Han envoys, relying on their status as envoys, completely disregard my Qin subjects. When Zhou Neishi encounters such scoundrels, there's no way to reason with them! I heard from the neighbors next door that those beasts even smashed the table!"

"A loud crash! The neighbors outside the mansion were startled, let alone Zhou Neishi, who was right there."

When the guards rushed in after hearing the commotion, they saw that Zhou Neishi was pale and swaying, clutching his chest with one hand and pointing at the Han envoys with the other, his lips trembling so that he could not speak.

"Those Han envoys, on the other hand, sat there motionless, even shouting! They said that the Zhou Inner Historian had failed the King's favor and must immediately return to Han with them to present all the good things to the King of Han!"

Someone stamped their foot angrily: "The guards aren't doing anything?"

"How could we ignore it?" the man said, gesturing as he spoke. "The guards immediately pinned him down!"

"Good, well done!"

"Oh dear, so that's how Zhou Neishi got so angry he vomited blood?"

"How could Zhou, the Imperial Secretary, be so magnanimous as to vomit blood from anger?"

The man glared at the speaker, then sighed.

"Zhou Neishi was already startled, feeling a tightness in his chest, but when he turned his head—"

The man lowered his head, his hands trembling, as if picking something up from the ground, and said in a trembling voice:

"He saw his carefully drafted proposal soaking in tea water—it was his hard work! It concerned a vital matter of people's livelihood, how important was it?"

"Huh?" "How could this be?" "This is really..." Everyone exclaimed in disbelief.

"It is said that Zhou Neishi was completely stunned at the time, staring straight at the stack of papers soaked in tea, and the last bit of color in his face disappeared in an instant."

"And then—poof!"

The man slammed his hand on the table, startling everyone around him.

He spat out a mouthful of blood, staining his front shirt completely. The blood splattered on the paper, on the table, and flowed straight down the corner of the table!

"Immediately afterwards, Zhou Neishi swayed, his eyes rolled straight up, and he collapsed as if all his strength had been drained."

He caught his breath, his voice still tinged with anger: "I heard that His Majesty was furious when he found out, and the Imperial Physicians dispatched more than a dozen doctors to take turns treating him. Some were on IV drips of ginseng soup, others were being treated with acupuncture. The room was constantly being filled with people, and it's been almost half a day, but Zhou Neishi still hasn't woken up!"

The man spoke vividly, spitting as he spoke, as if he were actually peering over the wall of the Zhou residence and witnessing it firsthand.

Before he finished speaking, the restaurant erupted in chaos.

"This is outrageous!"

"How could Zhou Neishi, such a good person, have gotten himself into this mess!"

"South Korea demands an explanation from us!"

Upstairs and downstairs, curses rose from all sides, and the crowd was indignant. Peddler and laborer threw down their chopsticks, scholars turned red in the face, merchants whispered among themselves, and even a few low-ranking officials in worn-out robes couldn't help but mutter curses.

This restaurant is no small shop; it has two floors and is packed with people—a mixed bag of all sorts.

The news spread like wildfire, from one person to ten, from ten to a hundred, and in no time, everyone knew about it, and the news only grew stronger.

Meanwhile, the protagonist of the story, who remains "in a coma," is completely unaware of the situation...

He was lying on a rocking chair in the courtyard, swaying back and forth, basking in the sun, sipping fresh tea, looking completely content.

Li Si walked slowly over, holding a stack of papers in his hand, his expression somewhat subtle.

"Brother Zicheng."

"Brother Gu'an is back! Please have a seat."

"How could I have time to sit?" Li Si waved his hands repeatedly, speaking as fast as if he were being chopped with beans.

"I'm swamped right now. I have to deal with those guys who're eyeing the Bureau of Items with green eyes, avoid the two generals, and promote the Small Seal script. I'm just too busy to handle everything, so I'm leaving now..."

"Hey, wait a minute!" Zhou Wenqing quickly called out to him, grabbing his sleeve. "Where are you going? I haven't even drunk the tea I just brewed! Besides, didn't you just come back from court? Let's talk about business first. How's it going in Korea?"

Li Si stumbled from the pull and had to regain his footing. His expression became even more subtle, and his eyes darted to the side.

"Well... it went incredibly smoothly, of course."

Li Si straightened his expression and said, "To dare to harm my court officials is to provoke my dynasty! Next, we will question the State of Han and demand an explanation. Everything is going very smoothly."

He paused, then added:

"Anyway, things are going quite smoothly in the country, so there's no need to worry, but..."

"Just what?" Zhou Wenqing put down his teacup, his gaze fixed on him.

"But..." Li Si glanced at him quickly, then quickly looked away.

"Brother Zicheng, you should stay home for the next couple of days—no, for the next month."

Zhou Wenqing: "???"

His expression immediately turned serious, and he sat up straight, the rocking chair no longer wobbling.

"But what went wrong with the plan? Brother Gu'an, just tell me, I can handle it."

"No, no!" Li Si waved his hands repeatedly, his movements as quick as shaking off water. "Everything is fine, both the plans and state affairs are excellent. It's just..."

He glanced at Zhou Wenqing again, hesitated, and stammered:

"It's just... you might not be doing well."

"Me?" Zhou Wenqing lowered his head, looking himself up and down, then looked up again, his face full of confusion. "What happened to me? Surely I didn't fake illness and get refuted and questioned?"

He thought for a moment, then waved his hand dismissively:

"It's alright, I expected it. Everyone knows I have a heart condition. I took all my medication on the spot. As long as I insist that it was a heart attack, they'll have to suffer in silence."

"No, quite the opposite." Li Si's gaze wandered even further, almost unfocused. "While I haven't exposed him, I'm just... getting a little out of control."

"Um?"

"Brother Zicheng, I assure you with my integrity that the people I sent out absolutely told the truth as you performed that day. It's just that, for some reason, probably some fool, they wrote the word 'blood'..." Li Si coughed lightly, "and then, it got a little... out of control."

Zhou Wenqing breathed a slight sigh of relief, narrowed his eyes, and leaned back.

"Tell me, how badly am I injured?"

"It's... the injury..."

Li Si closed his eyes and gritted his teeth:

"The version circulating outside is—the Korean envoy suddenly flew into a rage and swung a table at you! And you… cough cough!"

He opened his eyes, looked at Zhou Wenqing's face which was gradually freezing, and forced himself to continue:

"In short, Brother Zicheng, even if you go out in a month, remember to have someone carry you. Otherwise, it won't be right."