Qin Dynasty: Who offended my frail and sickly minister?

It's one thing for a group of adults to enjoy good wine, but why does even Meng Yi, a young boy, enjoy it so much?

This is not good!

Zhou Wenqing silently made a mental note of Meng Wu's actions, but his face remained unmoved. Meeting the expectant gazes of the group, he slowly finished the sentence:

"...There isn't a single drop of fruit wine; you can forget about it."

As soon as he finished speaking, all six faces fell down.

Looking at their expressions, Zhou Wenqing couldn't help but smile.

"but……"

He deliberately dragged out the last syllable.

As soon as he finished speaking, six pairs of eyes lit up again, staring at him with even more fervent anticipation than before.

Zhou Wenqing found it amusing, but remained outwardly composed. He leaned back and slowly began to speak:

"I've prepared gifts for my nephews, and since they're all here, I'll give them to them now."

With so many nephews now, it still feels a little strange to say those terms.

He paused, his gaze sweeping over Wang Ben, Meng Tian, ​​Zhang Han, and Meng Yi, before turning to Li Yi:

"Ah Yi, guard the door and don't let anyone near."

Li Yi responded, turned around and went out to give a few instructions, then quickly returned and stood silently.

Wang Jian and Meng Wu were slightly taken aback by his reaction. Why was he making such a big deal out of a simple gift?

When Zhou Wenqing said, "Let's go to the study together," the two looked at each other, and the playfulness in their eyes gradually disappeared, replaced by a sharp look.

As they walked, their eyes subtly swept over the corridor, the rooftops, and even the old tree, confirming that the Zhou residence was absolutely heavily guarded and that no one was spying on them, before finally settling on Zhou Wenqing's retreating figure as he led the way.

Meng Wu lowered his voice, almost whispering in Wang Jian's ear, and asked:

"Old general, do you think it might be...?"

Wang Jian nodded slightly with a serious expression: "Anyway, judging from Zicheng's attitude, this isn't something a child would play around with."

Even Wang Ben and the others were made a little nervous, holding their breath and following quietly.

The study door was pushed open, and Zhou Wenqing stepped aside to gesture for them to sit down and wait a moment. He then went around behind the desk and bent down to look for something.

This scene looks so familiar!

Meng Wu's heart skipped a beat—he remembered that when Zi Cheng first came to visit the king, it was the same. Then Zi Cheng took out two treasures that could be described as extraordinary.

These guys are really lucky to be treated like this!

His gaze swept over the bewildered children, and he secretly clicked his tongue in amazement, but his face remained taut.

He peeked around through the crack in the door again, then whispered to Li Yi to "keep a close eye on things," before closing the study door tightly behind him.

Meng Wu turned around, his gaze fixed intently on Zhou Wenqing's desk, wishing he could help him search for the documents.

Finally, Zhou Wenqing took out four wooden boxes from the table one by one—large and small, arranged neatly in a row.

He sat down at the table and first smiled and waved to the youngest, Meng Yi.

"Meng Yi, come here."

Meng Yi felt inexplicably nervous from the atmosphere and subconsciously swallowed. Before he could take a step, he felt a kick in the butt.

Caught off guard, he stumbled forward and staggered to Zhou Wenqing's desk, only managing to steady himself by grabbing the table for support.

"Go on, what are you standing there for!" Meng Wu pulled his foot back and glared at him with exasperation.

If Zicheng hadn't specifically asked for you, I would have done it for you. You're just standing there, looking for a kick!

Zhou Wenqing was both amused and exasperated. He quickly stood up and helped Meng Yi up, then turned his head and glared at Meng Wu.

"General Meng Wu, what are you doing? This is for the child, why are you in such a hurry?!"

"I... Hmph, good-for-nothing!" Meng Wu snorted, turned his head away, and said no more.

"Father!" Meng Yi's face turned bright red, whether from the fall or from embarrassment, it was hard to tell.

If Meng Yi is not good enough? Then how many people in this world are good enough?

Zhou Wenqing shook his head helplessly, picked up the leftmost wooden box from the table, handed it to him, and said gently:

"Ignore your father, he's just stubborn. Come on, see if you like this."

Meng Yi glared at his father, a little annoyed, took the box with both hands, and then looked at Zhou Wenqing with a delighted expression:

"Thank you, Uncle Zhou! I like anything you give me. My father has never given me a gift. Uncle Zhou is so kind. You still need a son... but you don't need a disciple?"

Zhou Wenqing's lips twitched.

Don't think I didn't hear you just because you changed your mind so quickly!

No wonder you got kicked, you filial son!

"I don't need it!" he said irritably, holding out his hand. "Do you want it or not? If not, I'll take it!"

"Yes, yes, yes!" Meng Yi quickly clutched the box to his chest, like a mother hen protecting her chicks, and took several steps back until he reached the corner of the wall before carefully opening the box.

He took something out of the box and held it in his palm.

The thing was about the size of a palm, shaped like a flat gourd, and its entire body was bluish-green, translucent like the water in a deep pool.

Meng Yi leaned closer to examine it closely, his eyes widening in disbelief—it was made of glass!

He had seen glass beads and small glass items, but he had never seen such a large glass object, let alone such clear and pure glass!

"Uncle Zhou, this is..."

Zhou Wenqing smiled and stepped forward, gently turning the object over.

Inside the turquoise gourd, a stream of fine sand began to flow down, accompanied by a soft rustling sound, slowly accumulating at the bottom. Through the glass wall, one could vaguely see the sand column falling, but could not make out the shape of each grain of sand. The flowing sand seemed like smoke and mist, like a dream.

"So beautiful!"

Meng Yi stared intently, wishing he could stick his eyeballs into it.

Zhou Wenqing extended a finger, pressed it against his forehead, and gently pushed it back—

"Don't get so close, it's not candy, you can't smell it."

Meng Yi was pushed back a little, but he wasn't annoyed. He still stared at her with bright eyes.

Zhou Wenqing pointed to the markings engraved on the glazed wall and patiently explained:

"This is called an hourglass. When the sand runs out, it takes exactly a quarter of an hour; when it runs out completely, it takes half an hour. It's the same when you turn it upside down; you can turn it over and start counting again."

He spoke casually, but inwardly he sighed silently.

It's a pity that Liuli isn't glass, otherwise the scale could have been even more precise and detailed.

He went to great lengths to make this thing. Although there is now glassmaking technology, the original kiln temperature simply cannot meet the requirements.

With the blast furnace out of reach for the time being, the craftsmen could only raise the chimney and use charcoal instead of firewood for burning. Zhou Wenqing provided the formula, and the proportion of lead ore was reduced again and again. Seven or eight kinds of sand sources were changed, and the quartz sand with the lowest iron content was selected. An appropriate amount of wood ash was added as a clarifying agent. Finally, the slow cooling process was changed to a "rapid cooling" process, and these translucent things were finally fired.

Of course, going to such great lengths wasn't just for the purpose of giving Meng Yi this gift.

Crystal is more valuable than gold!

The Department of All Things is going to use horse-drawn carriages to transport gold cakes again.

"Uncle Zhou, is this really for me?"

Meng Yi suddenly raised his head, took half a step back, moving further away from the hourglass in Zhou Wenqing's hand, and a hint of hesitation appeared in his eyes.

"This...this is too valuable, I can't accept it!"