Qin Dynasty: Who offended my frail and sickly minister?

The sudden, deathly silence around him confirmed his terrible premonition.

Zhou Wenqing's back stiffened slightly, and he straightened up very slowly, raising his eyes haltingly.

Sure enough, four pairs of eyes and eight gazes were fixed on him, strange and subtle.

Li Si's facial expressions changed repeatedly, almost like a Sichuan opera face-changing act.

He glanced at Zhou Wenqing, then at the Great King beside him, his lips parting and closing several times, as if he wanted to say something but hesitated.

This... Could it be that Zicheng did this on purpose, with hidden meaning in his words, and is preparing to do something that will test your heart, but you're just unlucky enough not to be told in advance again?

—It's very possible that this guy is a repeat offender in this area!

But... what if this time it really was just a slip of the tongue or an inappropriate choice of words?

In front of the King, the eldest son, and the two veteran generals, if no one smooths things over, wouldn't they be embarrassed?

You should know that Zicheng has always been the most dignified!

Li Si was so conflicted that his mind was in a knot, and his eyes twitched as he frantically tried to wink at Zhou Wenqing.

—Should I smooth things over or not? Give me a hint!

In contrast, Ying Zheng, who was closer and could hear more clearly, appeared much calmer.

He simply lowered his eyes slightly, looking thoughtful and unfathomable, as if pondering something, slightly lost in thought.

Hmm, what Zhou Aiqing just said seems a bit... strange. Could it be that there is some deeper meaning that I cannot understand?

—No, although I didn't understand, I absolutely cannot show it!

He quickly glanced down at Fusu beside him, a fleeting hint of secret approval flashing in his eyes.

Fortunately, this kid is quick-witted and dares to ask questions; he finally showed some insight at the crucial moment.

Ying Zheng quietly turned his head, his ears twitching slightly, his heart filled with anticipation.

—I want to hear carefully what kind of amazing insights Minister Zhou has to offer this time!

Meng Wu looked puzzled, his gaze shifting back and forth. He first examined Zhou Wenqing, whose expression was stiff, then glanced at Li Si, who was deep in thought, and finally settled on Ying Zheng's face, who had a profound expression.

Why is no one speaking? Could it be that he misheard?

Finally, he turned his gaze to General Wang, who was quietly picking his ear with his little finger.

Their eyes met, and they suddenly realized!

I didn't mishear!

that……

Zicheng must have deliberately used such "inappropriate wording" to divert the king's attention and prevent them from being put in a difficult position, so as to make the king pay less attention to his previous question!

Zicheng is indeed very kind to me. He was willing to lose face himself to help me out of this predicament.

I absolutely cannot stand by and watch Zicheng be misunderstood by others like this!

Then, General Wang's eyes darted around, and he suddenly burst into laughter, his voice booming like a bell.

"Hahaha! You, Zhou Wenqing, how dare you make fun of this old man again!"

He stroked his beard, his expression smug and arrogant, his eyes filled with the certainty of "I've seen through everything," and deliberately raised his voice:

"Do you really think that just because I've fought on the battlefield for years, I, a rough and uncouth warrior, wouldn't be able to see through the flaws in your words, and would foolishly agree with you, just to make a fool of myself and entertain others?"

"Hmph! I won't fall for your tricks!"

After saying that, he turned his gaze to Fusu, who looked completely bewildered beside Zhou Wenqing, patted his chest, and said confidently, "Young Master, you don't need to trouble Zicheng with your question. This old man will answer it for you!"

After he finished speaking, he cleared his throat and said clearly, word by word:

"Building a cart behind closed doors, yet it fits the tracks when it goes out"—this refers to the ancient craftsmen who, even if they worked in seclusion, could still make carts and wheels that fit the tracks when they went out. This is a compliment praising their strict adherence to rules, their exquisite skills, and their adherence to regulations.

"So what the eldest son learned before was not wrong. It was your teacher who was deliberately testing you, and also testing this old man!"

"Oh, I see."

Fusu nodded repeatedly, the fog in his eyes instantly dissipating, revealing a completely enlightened expression.

He shook his head slightly, pondered for a moment, then immediately straightened his posture, tidied his robes, and bowed respectfully to Zhou Wenqing with a humble and sincere attitude.

"Sir, Fusu now fully understands your good intentions. You deliberately used an ancient proverb in reverse just now to test me, to see if I adhere to my principles and maintain my own opinions in my studies, and whether I dare to ask questions when I have doubts, right?"

Is it right?

Looking into Fusu's sincere and earnest eyes, Zhou Wenqing felt a tightness in his throat.

What a load of rubbish!

It was clearly his own confusion between ancient and modern meanings of words, yet in the end, the obedient and studious Fusu conjured up a grand drama in his own mind of "the teacher painstakingly testing him and teaching him according to his aptitude."

A strong sense of guilt over "misleading the youth" welled up in his heart, making his ears burn with shame.

What made his scalp tingle even more was that the king nodded slightly and looked at them with a look of satisfaction and approval.

He seemed completely convinced by this absurd explanation.

The king actually believed it...

Ah, my long-lost conscience, it hurts so much!

The feeling was that he was a heartless teacher with no professional ethics—"unskilled, misleading students, and betraying the complete trust and confidence of the students' parents."

Overwhelmed by guilt, he felt helpless and embarrassed, unsure where to look, wishing he could just vanish on the spot.

A sharp cracking sound rang out.

It turned out to be the folding fan in Zhou Wenqing's hand, which, under his unconscious and relentless rubbing and destruction, could no longer bear the weight.

The sudden, jarring sound instantly drew everyone's attention back to the room.

Li Si's eyelids twitched violently.

He took a deep breath, staring at the fan torn in two, feeling utterly devastated and heartbroken.

My precious jade-ribbed folding fan, waaaaah~

Why am I always the one who gets hurt?!

After that, although he managed to gloss over it by using the excuse that his sect was "unconventional," Zhou Wenqing was still left with a deep psychological scar.

Oh, probably... Li Si too.

In short, from then on, along with the ancient saying "to build a cart behind closed doors and then find it fits the tracks," what was deeply engraved in Zhou Wenqing's mind was that he had to go through all idioms, proverbs, colloquialisms, and even words with four or eight characters in his mind, and carefully consider and confirm them before daring to say them out loud.

It would be far too much of a stretch to expect him to sit down and talk eloquently in this state.

Returning to this moment, facing Yao Jia's surprised and suspicious gaze, Zhou Wenqing smiled slightly.

"Alright, to be honest, Yao and Zhongmou only stepped forward and planned this scheme because of my suggestion. If I were to blame them, wouldn't I be blaming myself first?"

Upon hearing this, Yao Jia paused for a moment, then lowered his eyes, his tightly pursed lips slightly relaxing.

Whether it was his sincere and resounding apology or his ambiguous and deceptive attempts to evade responsibility, no matter how nonchalant he appeared, he was still filled with unease.

After all, Yao Jia was well aware of the potentially fatal consequences of such an oversight.

But at this moment, because of Zhou Wenqing's nonchalant attitude, the tension that had been building up all the way in the carriage finally eased a bit.

A huge weight was lifted off my shoulders...

A hint of emotion flickered in Yao Jia's eyes. He swallowed hard, as if he wanted to say something, but it turned into a soft sigh.

He shook his head and looked at Zhou Wenqing: "Zicheng, I—"

Zhou Wenqing raised his hand, his expression gentle, and said, "Alright, there's no need to say more between us. The most important thing now is how to patch up this loophole."

Yao Jia paused for a moment, then nodded slightly without saying anything more.

Yes, the most important thing right now is how to plug this loophole.

The hasty approach he had previously suggested was clearly not going to work. He frowned, head bowed, lost in thought.

Huh? Things have taken an unexpected turn once again!

Fusu, who rushed up to plead for mercy but to no avail, stared blankly for a while, then looked left at Yao Jia, whose face was solemn, and right at his own master's still calm face.

Suddenly, a thought struck him, and he blurted out, "Sir, you don't necessarily already have a solution, do you?"

Is there a solution?

Yao Jia suddenly raised his head.

Zhou Wenqing smiled faintly, but did not answer directly. Instead, he raised the folding fan beside him and pointed in the direction of the door.

"Judging by the time, my guests should be arriving soon. Fusu, go and check if Wang Ben and the others have returned."