The Qin Residence.

A horse carriage stopped outside. Before it had even come to a complete halt, a small child could be seen poking out from inside, elbows propped on the board, stretching out his short little legs and slowly lowering himself down until his toes touched the ground. Then his whole body shrank down and he ran toward the Qin residence like an unbridled wild horse.

The two young servants at the gate were bewildered.

Where did this little child come from?

He was quite adorable though.

“Hey, hey, hey, whose child is this? Why are you running here?” The servant stopped him, blocking him outside the gate.

“Let me go, I want to go in.”

“You cannot.”

“Let go.”

The child kicked his short little legs, trying his hardest to rush inside, but his frame was too small and he was held firmly in place.

The servant gently grasped his little arm. “This is the Qin residence. Unauthorized persons cannot enter randomly. Whose child are you? Why did you run here? Where are the adults? Where are they?”

Just as he finished speaking—

“Oh my, young master! How did you slip down so quickly?” The coachman jogged over and pulled his young master to his side, gently reminding him, “Young master, we must understand propriety and cannot barge in recklessly.”

The little fellow pouted, his round eyes rolling about, looking somewhat aggrieved.

He lowered his head. “I wasn’t barging in. This is Uncle Qin’s residence. Father said Uncle Qin is one of our own, so I…”

Before he could finish speaking—

A stern voice came from the carriage behind them.

“Hold your tongue. Don’t speak nonsense.”

Looking toward the sound, they saw Minister Qi from the Office of Transmission emerge from the carriage. He strode over quickly, pulled the child to his side, and instructed him, “When did Father teach you to speak carelessly? It’s one thing at home, but today you’re still speaking without restraint in public. Do you think you haven’t received enough beatings with the paddle?”

The little fellow pursed his lips, tears welling up. “Father, I was wrong.”

His voice was soft and childish.

“Remember this—no more nonsense.”

“Yes.” He nodded heavily.

This Minister Qi was an extremely cautious person. What officials most feared was private communication and contact. If he said that he and Qin Shiyu were family, and this reached the ears of some minister and then the emperor’s ears, he would likely face numerous troubles.

Afterward, he said to the two servants, “This child doesn’t understand. You must not spread what he said just now.”

The two servants quickly replied, “Yes, our master has also instructed us not to speak carelessly.”

“Good.”

“Minister Qi is here to see our master, yes? Master is currently in the study. Minister Qi, please come inside.”

“Thank you for your trouble.”

The servant led the way, while Minister Qi pulled his son along behind him and took a seat in the main hall.

Tea was served.

“Please wait a moment, sir. I’ll go announce your arrival.”

“No rush.”

The servant went to the study and reported to the inside, “Master, Minister Qi has arrived.”

Inside, Qin Shiyu was copying the laws of the Great Lin. He had been writing for a long time and had no idea how many copies he’d made. He simply treated it as calligraphy practice.

Hearing that Minister Qi had come, he stopped his brush.

“Which Minister Qi?”

“Minister Qi from the Office of Transmission.”

“Tell him to wait a bit longer.”

“Yes.”

The servant left.

Qin Shiyu was unhurried. He finished writing the remaining few lines of law before putting down his brush. The copied texts piled full on the desk—who knew how many sheets there were? He was too lazy to count them. He simply organized them all together and set them aside.

Then he took out a sheet of memorial paper and spread it on the desk surface.

He lifted his brush and began writing on it.

Soon, the white paper was densely covered with elegant and forceful handwriting. After the final character was written, he folded the memorial paper and tucked it into his sleeve before finally leaving the study and heading toward the main hall.

Before he even entered, he could hear the sound of a child’s cheerful laughter from inside.

Light and joyful.

When Qin Shiyu arrived, he saw Minister Qi sitting properly and drinking tea, while his son Qi Li was running back and forth in the main hall, making some kind of commotion. His short little legs were quite nimble. Upon seeing him arrive, the boy immediately rushed over and hugged his legs.

Looking up, he called out, “Uncle Qin.”

Old Qin was over fifty years old, so calling him grandfather would have been more appropriate, but Minister Qi had taught him to call him uncle, saying that seniority could not be confused.

Qin Shiyu looked down with a kind smile and patted the little fellow’s head, asking.

“Has Li’er been good?”

“Li’er has been very good. Uncle Qin hasn’t come to see Li’er recently, so Father brought me to see you today. But the people at the gate didn’t recognize me.”

“Then from now on, have your father bring you a few more times.”

“Okay.”

“Last time, Uncle promised you that if you were obedient, I’d give you the brush holder you liked. Naturally I won’t go back on my word. Just today I obtained a crystal-clear brush holder. When you return later, I’ll have someone pack it in a box and give it to you.”

“Thank you, Uncle Qin.”

Qi Li jumped up and down happily.

Children are wonderful—they have no worries!

Afterward, Minister Qi had someone take his precious son away.

“Coming to disturb Minister Qin so late, I hope you don’t mind.”

Qin Shiyu sat down and sighed. “How could it be a disturbance? At this time, everyone is keeping their distance from me. Yet Minister Qi doesn’t avoid suspicion and even brought Li’er along.”

“This time, such an incident occurred—Minister Qin, you were indeed careless.”

“I blame my negligence.”

Minister Qi furrowed his brow. “Now that the court officials are being replaced, His Majesty has his intentions. We can only be cautious. One misstep, and this fire might spread to us.”

Qin Shiyu said worriedly, “That’s why Minister Qi must be extra careful. After all, you entered the Office of Transmission through Prince Rong’s recommendation. In name, you are Prince Rong’s man.”

“Precisely because of this, I act with extreme caution. Fortunately, I haven’t done anything wrong, so His Majesty cannot touch me. I can still sit in this position of Director of the Office of Transmission for a while. At worst, if things really go south, I’ll just be demoted back to my hometown and properly serve as a county magistrate—that would be fine too.” Minister Qi had an indifferent air about him, then sighed sorrowfully. “It’s just pitiful for Minister Yu of the Court of Judicial Review. How could a skeleton be dug out from within the walls of his room for no reason? This crime is quite serious. Three days have passed, and he still refuses to confess. He also says he doesn’t know why there was a skeleton in the walls of his room. Since ancient times, the stubborn suffer greatly—he must have endured much suffering in prison.”

Qin Shiyu’s hand on the tea table slowly curled into a fist. He said, “Whether Minister Yu confesses or not, just considering his relationship with Prince Rong, His Majesty will not spare him. After all, to secure his throne, he cannot allow court officials to harbor divided loyalties. Emperors have always been like this since ancient times.”

“So Minister Qin truly won’t intervene in Minister Yu’s matter?”

“You came tonight probably wanting to ask my opinion, yes?”

“Can’t hide anything from you.” Minister Qi was direct. “His Majesty has dismissed officials one after another, which has already caused much dissatisfaction among many people. While it’s true that keeping officials he trusts by his side isn’t wrong, things taken to extremes reverse themselves! When the court is in turmoil, how can the realm be at peace? Now, the only one who can speak up is you, Minister Qin. If Minister Qin could offer a few words of counsel, perhaps His Majesty would listen.”

Qin Shiyu shook his head. “The current emperor is no longer the emperor of before. He only trusts himself. How would he listen to me?” He paused briefly. “Minister Qi, could you do me a favor?”

“As long as I’m able.”

Qin Shiyu stood up and took from his sleeve the memorial he had just written in the study, handing it over.

Minister Qi: “…”

“His Majesty is suspicious. Since that’s the case, what I can do is put His Majesty’s mind at ease.”

Uh!

Minister Qi was astonished, holding the memorial in his hands. “Minister Qin intends to…”