Liyue Harbor.
When Su Xuan found Lumine and Paimon, the two were seated at Third-Round Knockout, listening to storytelling.
Lumine immediately stood, pulling her chair aside and offering it like a restaurant server greeting a VIP:
"Boss — please, sit."
Su Xuan: "…"
He reached out and patted her lightly on the shoulder.
"Sharp awareness. Good initiative. Commendable."
"Pfft—" Lumine couldn't help laughing, then slid over another chair to sit beside him.
"Boss, did you eat yet? If not, I'll order more."
"Alright." Su Xuan nodded.
Lumine darted off to place an order, then returned and sat close — without asking where he had been or what he had done. Instead, she simply relayed what happened when they met Ningguang.
"We thought she was just… rich. But after listening to the storyteller talk about her… she's basically the emperor of Liyue."
Paimon, full of admiration, switched into the storyteller's dramatic tone:
"With a mere thought, she shakes rivers and mountains; all under heaven knows her as the Tianquan, highest in authority!"
"She's too incredible. She can tear a scrap of paper and merchants will fight for it. No wonder she dares let the Jade Chamber float over Liyue Harbor—just overlooking her wealth like it's normal."
Yet because Ningguang was such a towering existence, it only made Su Xuan's position feel even more detached from mortals — the kind of height even the Tianquan must approach carefully.
"Boss, tea or wine?" Lumine asked sweetly.
"Tea."
"Right away!" Lumine poured instantly, fully in her "first employee" mode.
As Su Xuan lifted the cup, Lumine's diary copy surfaced automatically.
[Just returned to Liyue Harbor and Lumine immediately reported her encounter with Ningguang.]
[Ningguang is indeed a woman of consideration.]
[A mansion in Yujing Terrace, 10 million Mora for daily expenses…]
[She's even sourcing floating stones to rebuild a Jade Chamber foundation for me.]
[She really went all-out.]
At the Yanshang Teahouse, Yelan paused mid-step.
"Heh. Truly her style."
"She couldn't meet him directly, so she embedded herself into Lumine and Paimon's shadow instead? Elegant. Efficient."
In her eyes, Ningguang's move was perfectly executed.
Su Xuan had said it many times in the diary:
He knew everyone who approached him came with intentions — yet he never rejected them.
If one dared to offer sincerity, he did not mind fulfilling what they sought.
The network of diary holders buzzed.
Even other Liyue women felt overwhelmed.
Yujing Terrace!
The most prestigious district — its land was not bought with Mora, but status.
The Jade Chamber?
That wasn't even a construction — that was a symbol.
And she still added 10 million Mora casually afterward.
Far away in Jueyun Karst, Cloud Retainer stiffened mid-perch.
"So the Tianquan goes so far merely to curry favor with Su Xuan… could she intend to use him against the Archon?"
The Rite of Descension approached — and Rex Lapis only revealed himself once per year.
Her unease stirred.
The diary continued:
[Speaking of Ningguang.]
[Among mortals, she is not young.]
Ningguang: "?"
…Excuse me?
Is this man calling her a leftover woman in front of the entire Teyvat network?
But Su Xuan continued:
[She grew up poor — selling fish to survive.]
[Yes. The Tianquan of Liyue was once a barefoot fish seller.]
[If she didn't sell enough in the morning, she starved at noon.]
[If she couldn't afford shoes, she walked from Yaoguang Shoal to the South Wharf barefoot.]
[Her ambition was forged from hunger, reality, and necessity — not comfort.]
The chat fell silent.
Even Paimon stopped chewing.
Even Keqing — who often argued with Ningguang — looked shaken.
This was the definition of starting from zero.
Many had suspected Ningguang was ruthless, mercantile, extreme in ambition.
But this clarity cut deeper:
Ambition is not a flaw.
Ambition built her survival.
Ambition built Liyue's prosperity.
Then—
[And yes — if Ningguang had become a god, perhaps there would be no Ice Queen's tragedy.]
The Fatui Harbinger Rosalyne froze.
Ningguang felt her heart tighten.
Being compared to the Tsaritsa… was not praise.
"Does he think I am dangerous?" Ningguang whispered.
But the next entries struck like thunder:
[People see merchants as greedy.]
[But Ningguang truly cares for Liyue.]
[Even with all her wealth, she never joined schemes to bleed her own people through loans and debt — unlike Pantalone.]
[If she clawed her way to the top, it is because she had a bottom line.]
[And those who rise from nothing always meet a benefactor.]
[In her ascent — that benefactor was surely Morax.]
Cloud Retainer closed her eyes.
"…Yes. That aligns with what I know."
Keqing's expression wavered — pride, conflicted admiration, and something like loss.
Even the outsiders fell silent.
At Third-Round Knockout, Lumine leaned in close.
"Hehe…"
Su Xuan raised an eyebrow. "Why are you this close?"
"Since you told us what happened in Mondstadt and Inazuma… I want to know what would've happened to me in Liyue."
Her eyes sparkled with curiosity — and dread.
Su Xuan's diary continued instantly:
[Of course our poor, unlucky Little Lumine also got chased in Liyue.]
[But this time — she caused it herself.]
Lumine: "???"
[During the Rite of Descension, everyone awaited Morax's divine guidance…]
[Instead — Morax himself fell from the sky.]
The world froze.
Every Liyue native reading the diary shot upright.
"…What?"
[Yes — the Archon died in front of everyone.]
Cloud Retainer's feathers bristled — sheer terror.
But—
[It was a fake death.]
[Morax wished to retreat and allow Liyue to enter an age of mortals — an age of human rule.]
Ningguang's breath caught.
"Human rule…
This year…?"
If Morax stepped back—
Then Liyue would truly be hers to shape.
Her heartbeat quickened.
Her ambitions rose.
Her desire for the Workshop — flared into need.
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