Qin Dynasty: Who offended my frail and sickly minister?

"It's all because these kitchen utensils are faulty." Zhou Wenqing forced himself to raise his head, attempting to salvage his reputation.

"My cooking skills are still quite good, but I just didn't have the right ingredients, otherwise I would definitely show you."

"Yes, yes, yes, you're right, young master," Li Yi echoed repeatedly. "So, if you need materials, young master, I'll go out and buy them right away, so you can show off your skills!"

Zhou Wenqing: "..."

"Then... that won't be necessary."

"Of course not!" Li slammed the spoon down. "Just tell me what you need, young master, and I'll find it for you!"

He appeared dignified and righteous, but Zhou Wenqing could clearly see a blatant smile in his eyes.

It was too dazzling. Zhou Wenqing's brow twitched, and his tone immediately rose eight octaves.

"You really shouldn't disbelieve me. If I had all the ingredients, I could definitely make you 108 dishes."

"I believe you, of course I believe you, young master, please don't get angry, please don't get angry!" Li Yi responded repeatedly, but the perfunctory tone was almost overflowing.

Zhou Wenqing felt a tightness in his chest, unable to go up or down. He scooped up another spoonful of the half-salty, slightly bitter meat porridge and put it in his mouth, feeling even more suffocated.

"I'm so angry!" He slammed his hand on the table. "Ah Yi, go! Buy me lots and lots of coarse salt blocks, the more the better! The cheapest coarse salt, watch me turn them into pure white, unblemished salt, and then I'll show you what true 'freshness' is!"

"Is what you say true, young master?"

At this time, the pure white salt, as white as snowflakes, was obtained entirely by luck; it was an absolute luxury, and even royalty and nobility could not afford it. If the young master could refine coarse salt into refined salt…

Li Yi's eyes suddenly lit up, and he abruptly stood up, the wooden stool behind him scraping against the ground with a sharp, grating sound, but he didn't care.

"Please wait a moment, sir. I will return immediately and present all the salt blocks!"

Before he finished speaking, he had already strode out the door.

"Hey! Wait... there's no need to be in such a hurry..."

In fact, Zhou Wenqing regretted his words as soon as they left his mouth.

But Li Yi had been waiting for so long, how could he give him any room to back out? In no time, he was nowhere to be seen.

Zhou Wenqing got up and took two steps to catch up, but knowing he couldn't possibly catch up, he spun around in place, hesitated for a while, and then went back.

Forget it, at worst I can just hide and secretly tinker with it so no one can see. I'll just make a little bit, enough for myself to eat. I'll clean up all the traces before I leave. It shouldn't cause any trouble, right?

Xianyang, Zhangtai Palace.

All the eunuchs had been dismissed, leaving only Ying Zheng and Li Si in the hall.

King Ying Zheng of Qin sat upright behind his desk, his posture as straight as a pine tree. The wide sleeves of his dark robe fell to the ground, their subtle patterns shimmering in the candlelight. Before him lay a scroll of silk.

Slightly below the emperor's desk, Li Si also knelt down according to etiquette. Although he was given a seat, his posture remained respectful, his back straight, his hands tucked into his sleeves and placed on his knees, his eyes lowered, only paying attention to the emperor's every subtle movement.

The King of Qin handed the silk scroll to Li Si: "Minister Li, take a look. This Zhou Wenqing... why has he repeatedly tried to escape and delayed coming to see me?"

This secret report was the one that Li Yi had previously submitted. It meticulously analyzed how Zhou Wenqing had repeatedly refused and even tried to escape.

As the King of Qin's secret guard, it was his duty to report, and Li Yi dared not conceal anything. However, a little selfishness was hidden in his neat and meticulous handwriting.

Fearing the king's wrath, he meticulously recorded Zhou Wenqing's every move when he inadvertently mentioned "refined salt," as well as his later denials, and sealed them all in the silk scroll sent to Xianyang.

Li Si accepted the silk with both hands, his gaze quickly sweeping over the secret report on it. He then respectfully returned it, pondered for a moment, and cupped his hands in a gesture of respect, saying:

"Your Majesty, in my humble opinion, this man has probably heard some rumors from the countryside and mistakenly believes that Your Majesty... cough! When you are angry, you are like thunder shaking mountains; when you are calm, you are like a deep abyss frozen in ice."

He paused for a moment, glanced at the King of Qin's expression, and then continued, "In addition, he already felt ashamed, so the more he thought about it, the more afraid he became, which is why he kept fleeing and dared not come to see him."

Upon hearing this, Ying Zheng glanced at him with a half-smile: "So, this Zhou Wenqing is nothing but a coward, utterly unfit to serve Qin?"

"No, no," Li Si quickly waved his hand, a smile playing on his lips. "I find this lad... quite interesting."

"Oh?"

"Your Majesty, please consider this," Li Si said, leaning forward slightly and lowering his voice.

"If he were truly a mediocre and cowardly man, why would Your Majesty need to go to the trouble of sending secret guards to monitor him? And why would he first offer 'garlic extract'? Furthermore, the secret report states that this man mentioned a method for making refined salt. If this is true, this man is indeed extraordinary!"

"However, he denied it casually, but Li Qing seemed quite confident in him."

Ying Zheng glanced at him, his tone revealing neither joy nor anger, but Li Si immediately broke out in a cold sweat.

At this moment, the King of Qin had only just assumed power, but his imposing presence was already unfathomable. He steadied himself before daring to continue:

"Your Majesty, I dare not speak presumptuously. However... the people who delivered the secret report were all elites personally selected by Your Majesty. The fact that he took this casual remark seriously and wrote it down on this short silk scroll without sparing any ink shows that he was convinced. This shows that Zhou Wenqing is indeed no ordinary person."

Ying Zheng remained silent for a moment, then lightly tapped the table with his fingertip.

"What Li Qing said is not without reason."

Li Si finally caught his breath. Seeing the King of Qin's eyebrows twitch slightly, he smiled and continued:

"I think this person is like a mischievous child with a pocketful of novel ideas, but afraid of being caught by adults and tested on his studies. Your Majesty might as well give him some more time."

Ying Zheng gently stroked the silk scroll a few times with his fingertips. After a while, a faint hint of amusement slowly surfaced in his eyes.

"According to your suggestion, I should... allow him to play around for a while longer?"

"Exactly." Li Si smiled and bowed. "No matter how cunning a fox is, it will always have to come out of its den to hunt for food. Now that it has already shown its claws, its tail will inevitably be exposed."

"If he can truly offer the method of salt production, it is clear that he is hiding his talents and perhaps has some concerns. I am willing to go and persuade him personally to recruit talent for Your Majesty."

"Good." He lowered his eyes, his gaze returning to the scroll. "Then, let him hide for a few more days."

The next morning, Zhou Wen washed up, dressed, and went to the front hall, where he saw that breakfast had already been laid out on the table.

At this time, people still followed the old custom of eating two meals a day. Zhou Wenqing usually got up late, and he guessed that he would get up around eight or nine o'clock so that he could catch the mealtime, which was breakfast.

He quickly finished his breakfast, picked up the candied fruit from the plate, slowly walked out the door, stretched in the yard, and looked around.

"That's strange, where did Ah Yi go so early in the morning?"

The courtyard was quiet, without a single person in sight.

Zhou Wenqing shook his head, not in a hurry, and lay down comfortably in the rocking chair, rocking back and forth.

The sunlight felt warm and comforting on my face. I enjoyed a moment of peace and quiet, because soon those little ones would be arriving in droves. Though they would be full of life, finding a moment of tranquility would be difficult.

Just as I was enjoying myself, a muffled thud suddenly came from beside me.

He opened his eyes and glanced over, only to find Li Yi standing beside him at some point, with a bulging sack at his feet, more than half a person's height.

"Ouch! You scared me!" Zhou Wenqing patted his chest. "Where did you come from?"

Li Yi felt somewhat helpless.

Afraid of disturbing the young master, he had already made his footsteps as light as possible, and even when putting down the sack, he deliberately controlled the sound, making it neither too loud nor too soft.

The young master's eyes told him that he was clearly not frightened, but his words and actions deliberately pretended to be frightened, which made him feel uneasy.

Who's scaring whom here?!

But this helplessness was quickly replaced by excitement. He patted the heavy bag, his eyes shining:

"Young master, I've brought you the coarse salt you requested!"

"So fast?" Zhou Wenqing frowned in surprise. "This whole bag...is it?"

"That's all!" Li Yihao slapped the sack again angrily, dust billowing up in the morning light. "Young master, is this enough? If not, I'll go ask for... go buy some more."