Qin Dynasty: Who offended my frail and sickly minister?

The guard accepted the order and returned.

A moment later, Zhou Wenqing heard footsteps approaching from afar—not from one person, but from a group of menacing figures.

General Wang stepped forward first, his voice still loud and clear.

"Haha, Zicheng, I heard you were sick. How are you? This old man has come to see you!"

Before Zhou Wenqing could speak, he saw a string of people follow him in—

Wang Ben, Zhang Han, Meng Wu, Meng Tian, ​​and Meng Yi—all of them were present, in a neat and orderly procession, with their families in tow.

Zhou Wenqing: "..."

Is this a hospital visit or a group tour?

Do you charge an entrance fee?

General Wang strode up to him, looked him up and down, and nodded in satisfaction.

"Hmm, you look good. It seems that Physician Lü and the others are indeed highly skilled in medicine."

Zhou Wenqing narrowed his eyes and slowly said, "Yes, it is indeed brilliant."

His gaze swept over Wang Jian's face: "No wonder the old general stood by and gloated, pushing me into the encirclement of the Imperial Medical Bureau. I barely managed to escape, and then the old general showed up?"

Upon hearing this, General Wang's laughter abruptly stopped, and a hint of embarrassment flashed across his face.

He rubbed his hands awkwardly and said with a forced smile:

"What do you mean by gloating? I didn't. This... this is... I had no choice! I was just concerned about Zicheng."

Zhou Wenqing remained silent, only looking at him with a half-smile.

Fusu and Azhu both jolted, exchanged a glance, and silently moved back a little.

They were all too familiar with this expression on the man's face lately—every time it happened like this, someone was bound to be unlucky!

The gentleman had the same expression when we gave them candy!

The two men, as if by unspoken agreement, cast sympathetic glances at General Wang.

General Meng Wu, who was standing nearby, reacted even faster, leaping back half a step to keep a safe distance from General Wang, pointing at him with righteous indignation:

"Well, you old scoundrel! I never imagined you were this kind of person! I'll never forgive you!"

He turned to Zhou Wenqing and patted his chest to express his stance:

"Zicheng! I'm definitely not on his side! You have to believe me, if I had been there, I would never have abandoned you!"

Zhou Wenqing rolled her eyes at him, annoyed, and said quietly:

"Really? I seem to remember that when I called out to General Wang, he even paused for a moment. But General Meng Wu, I didn't even have time to call out to you!"

They ran incredibly fast, like wild leopards, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

Meng Wu's face flushed red, he coughed twice, and his eyes began to dart around:

"Ahem! That day... that day there really was an urgent matter at home that I had to attend to, it was very urgent! I had no choice but to walk a little faster..."

Before he could finish speaking, Meng Yi poked half his head out from behind him and seriously exposed him:

"Father, how could you do this? When did something urgent happen at home? How come I didn't know..."

"Children shouldn't interrupt adults!"

Meng Wu turned around and glared at him fiercely.

Meng Yi pursed his lips and stopped talking, but took two steps back with a stubborn attitude of "I'm cutting ties with this person". He didn't forget to glance at Zhou Wenqing, his eyes clearly saying: Uncle Zhou, you see clearly, I'm not with him!

Fusu stood to the side, unable to resist curving his lips into a smile, but quickly suppressed it.

This father and son are really alike.

"Pfft—"

Meng Tian couldn't help but laugh out loud. The next second, an iron hand landed precisely on the back of his head.

"Hey kid, what are you laughing at?"

Meng Wu glared at him, then angrily shouted, "You brat, what are you laughing at? You have no manners at all! And you little rascals, hurry up and greet the young master!"

With a wave of his hand, he swept the group of young people behind him, who were secretly laughing, into his field of vision.

Fusu's smile froze on his face instantly.

No, don't—!

He subconsciously took a half step back, his eyes filled with resistance: Don't make my presence known at this time!

Fortunately, Fusu's worries were unnecessary. After a series of "perfectly polite" gestures, Zhou Wenqing's attention remained firmly on the two officials.

He leaned back in his chair and slowly began, "Why didn't the two generals bring wine this time, as they usually do?"

Wang Jian and Meng Wu exchanged a glance, their expressions filled with unspeakable bitterness.

What else could it be?

Ever since they drank that fruit wine, all their usual drinks have become tasteless. They haven't had a proper drink in a long time—not because they don't want to, but because they can't bring themselves to drink!

If this continues, the cravings for alcohol in my stomach will rebel!

So here it is?

But that was definitely not how it should be said. Wang Jian waved his hand dismissively, saying matter-of-factly, "I've come to visit you in your illness, how could I bring wine? Zicheng, what kind of person do you take me for!"

Zhou Wenqing raised an eyebrow, his eyes filled with disbelief, and drawled out the last syllable:

"Visiting someone in the hospital?"

"Of course, it's to visit someone in the hospital!" General Wang Jian nodded without any hesitation, waving his hand behind him, "Look, I even brought a gift!"

Wang Ben stepped forward in response, deftly untied the bundle behind him, placed it on the table, and opened it. As soon as the cloth was lifted, several neatly folded silver-gray clumps were revealed inside.

General Wang, instead of taking advantage of the situation, has come to deliver a gift to him today.

Zhou Wenqing curiously leaned over, his gaze falling on that patch of silver-gray.

There were several pieces of leather stacked together. The top piece had a faint sheen in the sunlight, and the silvery-gray down moved with the light, like solidified moonlight being crushed and spread on top.

Wang Jian scooped up the top piece of skin, shook it open, and handed it to Zhou Wenqing with a hint of smugness.

"Look! These are all pelts from Northern Grey Wolves! Hunted in winter, when their fur is at its thickest. The color and the feel of them are priceless! Zicheng, take a look, do you like them?"

As he spoke, he reached into the package, pulled out a second bill, unfolded it, and presented it to Zhou Wenqing.

"How about it? This amount of fabric is enough to make two fur coats for you! I didn't cut any for you, so you can have some fur collars, knee pads, and blankets made from the rest. Use them however you like!"

Zhou Wenqing subconsciously reached out his hand, and his fingers immediately sank into the soft down, feeling warm and solid, as if touching a solidified cloud.

A genuine Northern Wolf! He silently calculated it in his mind.

One, two, three...

Yeah, that's enough for a life sentence.

This is truly torture, the worst possible torture!

Even in modern times, when cloth is a hard currency and cotton is scarce, this kind of leather is extremely precious in winter. Taking out a piece of leather is truly equivalent to throwing away gleaming gold.

"General, this gift is too much." Zhou Wenqing withdrew his hand, looked up at Wang Jian, and his expression became more serious.

"Heavy what?" Wang Jian twitched his beard, grabbed a wolf skin with his large hand, and draped it over Zhou Wenqing's lap. "It's quite light for me!"

The movements were swift and decisive, as if he were covering someone with an ordinary blanket.

Zhou Wenqing was at a loss for words, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

"General, you know that's not what I meant. It's just that this gift is too precious for me to accept."

"What's the big deal?" Wang Jian waved his hand dismissively. "Look at me, and then look at these two kids."

He pointed to himself, then to Wang Ben and Zhang Han, his eyes showing a hint of disdain:

"They're all bigger than wolves, they'd be completely useless against you. These were meant for you anyway!"

He spoke with such conviction, as if it weren't valuable leather at all, but some junk he'd picked up casually.

Zhou Wenqing opened his mouth, as if he wanted to say something.

Wang Jian, however, spoke first, his gaze sweeping over him before he suddenly grinned:

"Besides, I've noticed you like collecting fur coats, haven't you? I've seen you wear them in different colors before—brown, white, yellow, purple—I've seen them all."

He paused, then pulled the silver-gray wolf pelt up even higher:

"Perfect, I'll get you a silver-gray one this time."

Zhou Wenqing was taken aback.

Injustice!

None of his fur coats were bought by himself; brown, white, yellow, purple—they were all gifts from the King! He had no penchant for collecting such things!

He opened his mouth to explain, but Wang Jian didn't give him the chance, waving his hand to interrupt him:

"Alright, alright, look at your skinny frame! Keep it. I don't need it anyway, and it'll just gather dust. It's better for you to use it than for it to be eaten by bugs!"

The tone and expression made it seem as if this wasn't a valuable gift, but rather the disposal of some cumbersome old item.

Seeing his "I'll get angry if you say another word" look, Zhou Wenqing swallowed back the words of refusal that were on the tip of his tongue.

"The old general is so kind, Wenqing has no choice but to accept."

Wang Jian immediately beamed: "That's more like it! Why be so polite with me?"

With a flourish of his hand, he exclaimed confidently, "Once it's tailored, you'll put on this silver-gray fur coat, stand there, and wow, it'll definitely suit you better than any of those red or purple ones!"

"Old General..." Zhou Wenqing shook his head helplessly.

"Oh, right, and this too."

Wang Jian suddenly remembered something, and mysteriously took something out of his pocket and handed it to Zhou Wenqing.

It was a smooth bone pendant with a warm luster, and a leather cord was attached to it.

"You should keep this with you too." Wang Jian leaned forward and lowered his voice. "What's it called? It's called the Wolf Thigh Stone. It was given to me by the soldiers below. They say it's a talisman from the north, and it's quite effective at keeping you safe."

Zhou Wenqing took it. Wolf kneecap stone... that's probably a wolf's kneecap?

"Never mind whether it's useful or not," Wang Jian stroked his beard, his tone unusually serious. "It's good for good luck, anyway, it looks pretty nice. Keep it as a trinket."