Qin Dynasty: Who offended my frail and sickly minister?

Zhou Wenqing slowly withdrew his gaze from the three young soldiers and returned it to Ba Qing, his tone softening slightly.

"Please forgive these young lads, Madam Qing. They are young and inexperienced and spoke without thinking. I will certainly discipline them properly in the future. I trust Madam's words."

"only……"

He paused briefly, his gaze sweeping over the restless Jiang An beside him before returning to Ba Qing's face. His tone was calm, yet carried an undeniable probing.

"It seems that there are still some hidden stories between Madam and Mr. Jiang, which have not been fully revealed."

Upon hearing this, Jiang An, who was sitting at the table, suddenly stiffened. Almost out of instinct, he immediately stood up and spoke, urgently refuting the statement.

"Your Excellency is wise. From beginning to end, everything that happened today was done by An alone. In order to clear my sister's name, I humbly request Madam Qing's help in making an introduction. An is willing..."

"Alright, Jiang An." Ba Qing sighed softly, shaking her head to interrupt him, "There's no need to cover for me anymore."

She looked up and met Zhou Wenqing's calm gaze, her fingers unconsciously clenching slightly inside her sleeve, before lowering her eyes and remaining silent for a moment.

"...Sir, you have discerning eyes."

Ba Qing looked up again, almost sighing in admiration. Then, her calm demeanor quietly faded, leaving a faint bitterness and guilt in her eyes.

"That's right. Jiang An only told the second half of yesterday's events. The difference is that when I first came to visit, the first person I met was not Jiang Ning, but Jiang An."

Jiang An's face suddenly turned pale.

Ba Qing continued frankly: "Yesterday was a well-planned scheme. Jiang An cooperated to keep Jiang Ning in the dark. He first used the excuse of worrying and complaining to gradually guide her step by step, until he extracted the whole set of strategies from her. Jiang An then memorized them and now he is standing in front of you to repeat them."

At this point, she let out a long, slow breath, finally releasing the burden that had been weighing on her heart for so long.

She slowly rose, her robes brushing lightly against the mat beneath her, and bowed respectfully to Zhou Wenqing and everyone present, her posture humble and courteous.

"Young Master, Mr. Zhou, and all of you, it was Qing who had his own selfish motives. Seeing that you were all short of talent on the battlefield, he wanted to take this opportunity to help his friend seize a chance. That's why he set up this scheme overnight."

"I have failed your trust with my actions, and I am deeply ashamed. I am willing to accept any punishment without complaint."

He paused slightly, but his bowing posture remained unchanged. Ba Qing's earnest voice rang out again, full of solemn entrustment.

"I hope you will carefully consider Jiang An. What I said earlier—that if we only seek to resolve the predicament three days from now, he is enough—is not an empty statement. He is indeed the best choice. I would never dare to jeopardize the overall situation or harm the great cause of the Qin state based on my own personal feelings."

Sure enough, that makes much more sense.

Ba Qing was the mastermind.

Zhou Wenqing stroked the fan ribs thoughtfully and gently closed the fan.

No wonder Ba Qing repeatedly declined yesterday, refusing to bring the candidate to the public in advance.

It turns out that he deliberately set aside a night for Jiang An to memorize, ponder, and digest—he probably didn't get a good night's sleep.

As expected of Ba Qing!

He assessed the situation, acted accordingly, and responded so quickly that even he was momentarily fooled.

It seems that when she took the initiative to sit down and reorganize the case files and rosters for everyone yesterday, she already had a plan in mind, secretly plotting how to take advantage of the situation to bring out Jiang Ning and her brother.

Even if she didn't ask directly, she would find a way to reveal that she had a more suitable person to break the deadlock than those listed in the dossier.

On the contrary, I inadvertently gave her a way out, saving her a lot of trouble.

Zhou Wenqing felt a pang of emotion, but he didn't show it on his face. He simply got up from his seat, walked around the table, and went to Ba Qing.

He bent down, stretched out his arm, and gently supported her elbow.

"Madam Qing, please rise quickly."

Ba Qing was slightly taken aback. She straightened up with his help, but still kept her head slightly lowered, as if she was too embarrassed to look Zhou Wenqing in the eye.

Zhou Wenqing didn't rush to let go. Instead, he waited until she was steady before withdrawing his arm, taking half a step back, and speaking calmly:

"Yesterday, we were the ones who proactively requested Madam to recommend a candidate. Moreover, Madam had already stated beforehand that the person she recommended had some special characteristics and left the responsibility of consideration to us. Given this, what crime has Madam committed?"

"Moreover, that box of files was meticulously sorted out for us by Madam. Without her painstaking efforts, Wenqing would probably be in a state of panic right now, not even knowing where to start to break the deadlock in the debate three days from now."

"As for the lady's selfish motives in helping her friend—"

He deliberately dragged out the last beat of his sentence, his eyes carrying a hint of teasing, but his tone was exceptionally sincere:

"On the contrary, Wenqing hopes that Madam would have more of these kinds of 'selfish' intentions. Then why should I, Zhou Wenqing, travel thousands of miles to Qi? I can just sit at home and wait for talented people to come to me. Wouldn't that be wonderful?"

"Hahahaha! Zicheng is always so lazy." Yao Jia also stood up, laughing and agreeing, "But you're right, the more of this kind of selfless dedication to the public good, the better!"

He walked to Ba Qing's side and looked him into the eyes, then said earnestly:

"Madam, Zicheng is right. Please don't blame yourself, otherwise wouldn't we be seen as ungrateful and treacherous villains?"

He shook his head, feigning distress, and frowned, saying, "If this kind of reputation gets out, how will I, Yao, ever be able to travel as an envoy to other countries again?"

Ba Qing finally couldn't help but smile slightly, and the heaviness pressing on her heart eased a little.

She lowered her head, her voice tinged with emotion: "With such leniency from you two gentlemen, I am even more at a loss for what to do."

"Let's not think about that for now," Yao Jia waved his hand. "Time is of the essence. Let's talk about Jiang An first, shall we?"

Everyone took their seats, and their eyes once again fell on Jiang An.

Jiang An is a promising talent.

But compared to his sister, he is clearly still a step behind.

Should we let him ascend the altar?

Yao Jia pondered for a moment, then looked at Jiang An and said, "It seems that the biggest problem right now is you, kid. When you actually get on the forum, will you be able to use your older sister's skills to hold your own?"

"I can do it!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Jiang An's back tensed up abruptly, and without the slightest hesitation, he loudly declared his stance.

"I have thoroughly mastered the winning strategy devised by my elder sister. I have repeatedly refined every aspect of the offense, defense, advance, retreat, response, and rebuttal. As long as I follow my elder sister's strategy, I believe that there will be absolutely no mistakes after I go on stage."

His words were spoken with certainty, but the expressions of the people present were not entirely relaxed.

After all, they already knew that the other party's amazing performance just now was not his own achievement. Now he was speaking with such certainty, and his reliance was entirely on his sister. It was hard not to have doubts in their hearts.

If something goes wrong on the day of the ceremony, whether we can handle it is a question.

...This is a bit tricky.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Wenqing frowned slightly, a hint of helplessness flashing in his eyes.

Is this kid a sister-obsessed person?

She keeps calling me "elder sister," but why doesn't she ever mention her own strengths? After all, since Ba Qing is so determined to protect me, she must have some extraordinary abilities herself.

He raised his hand with a headache and gently pressed his temples.

Ultimately, they were still too young and inexperienced.