"What was that about?" Kuki Shinobu asked.
"It has nothing to do with us. Yelan and the Millelith have already gone to handle it." Yanfei turned back toward the stack of books on the table.
Then she looked at Shinobu and asked, "How confident are you now?"
"Maybe fifty or sixty percent," Shinobu said after a pause. "The difficulty went up a lot this time, so I'm not very sure anymore."
She looked at the books in front of her and hesitated. "If it had been the old exam, I would've been certain I could pass. But now..."
Yanfei sighed. "I was the one guiding this batch too. I'm honestly worried you still won't make it."
"It's fine. I used to have a really good impression of Ryou. In my eyes, he was a hero who saved Liyue."
"But... I never thought he'd turn out to be this kind of petty man. He abused his authority and deliberately went after us." Shinobu closed the book in her hands.
"I'm the one who dragged you into this, so I've made things difficult for you too. Whether I pass or not, I don't really care anymore. But Sister, don't take it too hard. I'm... a little worried about you."
"What is there to worry about?" Yanfei shook her head.
"You're in a terrible mood right now. One wrong word and you'll blow up."
"That's all because of Ryou. That man..." The moment Yanfei thought of him, she started grinding her teeth again. It took her a while to force the anger back down.
Then she said to Shinobu, "Don't worry too much about me. I'm fine."
Yanfei looked out the window, already deciding that she had to go see Ryou tomorrow. If she managed to catch him with something this time, maybe she could force him to lower the exam difficulty again.
...
Early the next morning, Ryou opened his eyes and found Keqing curled up tightly in his arms, still hugging him in her sleep.
He reached out and gently rubbed her head, about to get up, when something in his arms shifted.
"Mmm... just hold me. Don't go. Sleep a little longer with me." Keqing tightened both arms around him, then suddenly noticed something strange and lifted her head to look at him.
"You can't blame me for that," Ryou said with an awkward laugh. "It's morning. Isn't that normal? Just don't move around so much."
"Hmph." Keqing huffed and shut her eyes again.
But after a while, there was no way she could keep sleeping. In the end, she leaned in and bit him.
"How am I supposed to sleep when you're like this?"
"That's not my fault either." Ryou pulled her tighter into his arms and felt the whole world grow warmer.
"You're still pressing against me." Keqing glared at him, then reached up and pinched his cheek. "What were you thinking about last night?"
"Last night?" Ryou hadn't expected her to still be thinking about that.
"I saw you holding that teacup for ages. If something's bothering you, tell me, alright? I want to help." Keqing leaned closer, but the moment she did, even her voice started trembling a little.
"Keqing." Ryou lowered his voice beside her ear. "I was actually thinking about Shenhe... ow, stop pinching me."
"Will you let me finish? I just wanted to ask Shenhe something. There's no real harm in telling you."
"I heard that the adepti all have special powers, and that they can give certain objects unusual properties."
"Like a pot of tea, for example. It may look ordinary on the outside, but inside, it could actually contain a pocket world."
"Hm? Like ours?" Keqing looked up at him and asked.
"Theirs would probably be much bigger than this one, so I was wondering whether Shenhe might know if Cloud Retainer can do something like that too." Ryou explained it to her.
"This pocket world is already good enough for me. It may not be huge, but it feels warm." Keqing hugged him tighter, and her voice softened.
She lowered her head into his chest, trembling there for quite a while before finally lifting it and kissing him.
"Mmph!" Ryou saw how completely red her face had turned, and that only made things worse.
...
[Ding. Keqing's attractiveness to women has increased by 20%. Current total increase: 50%!]
Ryou looked at the effect in bafflement.
What exactly was he supposed to do with a bonus like that?
He glanced outside and realized the morning was already slipping away, so he leaned in and passed spiritual energy into Keqing to help her recover.
By the time she was fully back to normal, it was already close to noon.
The two of them reappeared at home.
The moment he stepped out, Ryou saw Shenhe sitting in the courtyard with a cup of tea in her hands, seemingly lost in thought.
"Shenhe," Ryou called out.
"What is it?" Shenhe responded.
"You didn't come back last night?" Ryou asked.
"I... had something to do at Ganyu's place, so I didn't come back." Shenhe shook her head.
Thinking of the previous night, she felt disappointed all over again.
She had thought that since Ganyu had lived so long, she would definitely know something about this sort of thing.
Instead, she had turned red the moment Shenhe brought it up.
Shenhe had kept pestering her the whole night and gotten absolutely nowhere.
That was why she had to make the most of this chance instead.
Shenhe looked toward Keqing and felt a flicker of confusion. For some reason, Keqing seemed even prettier than before, and somehow gentler too.
She walked over in a few quick steps.
"You..." Keqing had just started to speak when she saw Shenhe loop an arm around hers.
"Keqing, I'll stay with you today."
"You... alright." Keqing glanced at Ryou. Letting Shenhe stay near him was definitely out of the question, but keeping Shenhe by her side would at least prevent certain things from happening.
So she agreed.
"Shenhe, if you're staying with Keqing, then make sure to protect her. I'm counting on you," Ryou said.
"Alright." Shenhe nodded.
The real reason she wanted to follow Keqing was simple.
She still wanted to ask how babies were made.
"I'm not going to run into any trouble. I have a Vision, and I've trained with the sword too. Most people really aren't stronger than I am." Keqing sounded completely confident as she glanced at Ryou.
"I still have things to arrange. Shenhe, let's go."
"Alright." Shenhe followed Keqing out the door.
As soon as they got outside, Shenhe felt something was off.
A lot of people were looking at the two of them—or rather, they were looking at Keqing.
"I don't like the way these women are looking at you," Shenhe said quietly. "Be careful."
"Huh? N-No way..." Keqing didn't quite know how to react.
Back before she got married, she had often caught men staring at her like that. But after the marriage, that sort of gaze had become much rarer.
She looked around again.
And then she really did start to feel that something was wrong.
Those women's expressions looked strangely familiar.
It was the same look Lumine used to give her husband.
Wait.
Did that mean these women liked... her?
Goosebumps instantly rose all over Keqing's skin.
"Shenhe, let's go. Quickly."
"Alright." Shenhe nodded.
By the time they reached the area near Yujing Terrace, several women had actually started following after them, their eyes burning as they stared.
To Keqing, they looked like wolves circling a lamb.
"What is wrong with them? Why are they looking at me like that? This is terrifying." Keqing patted her chest, then glanced toward a side path.
"Shenhe, let's take the side road. If we don't finish arranging everything today, tomorrow will be a mess when we leave for Mondstadt."
"Alright." Shenhe nodded again.
...
At that same moment, Yanfei was standing inside the Ministry of Civil Affairs.
She had been waiting for Ryou for ages now, from the crack of dawn all the way to noon.
The more she waited, the angrier she got.
What kind of Ministry clerk didn't even show up in the morning? Was this man not planning to come in at all?
The longer she stayed there, the stranger the place felt to her.
It wasn't hot in the Ministry the way it was outside. If anything, it was cool and dim inside.
Zhongli and the other staff were chatting and laughing like nothing in the world could bother them. There wasn't the slightest trace of pressure in the room, and yet their speed at processing work was absurdly fast.
"Yanfei, have some tea." Zhongli poured her a cup.
"Thank you." Yanfei took the cup and had a sip. The tea was wonderfully soothing. "Zhongli, this tea is incredible. It really clears the mind."
"But isn't it a little wasteful to drink something this good so casually?"
"No need to worry about that." Huixin came over with a smile.
"I already heard from Zhongli. Every time Ryou hands out rewards, it's not just Mora. He gives out this tea too. That's one of his specialties."
"Oh? He gives out this tea as rewards too?" Yanfei was genuinely surprised.
Her grandmother loved tea as well. The last time Yanfei got some from Ryou, her grandmother had been delighted with it.
But after things turned ugly between them, Yanfei had felt too embarrassed to ask him again, and even trying to get some through friends later had led nowhere.
Could all of it really have come from Ryou?
But how could he possibly have that much of this special tea?
"If you do your work well, you'll get some too. That part's true enough. I still have quite a bit on my side." Zhongli topped off his own cup, then refilled Yanfei's as well.
Huixin seemed to think of something and turned to Zhongli. "Zhongli, aren't we leaving for Mondstadt tomorrow?"
"Ryou did mention it. We are going to Mondstadt tomorrow, and this time we really ought to settle that whole mess properly."
"Of course, some people will still be left behind to keep watch over the Ministry. Anyone willing to stay definitely won't be short on Mora," Zhongli added.
"I see." Huixin nodded. "If it were me, I'd definitely want to go to Mondstadt."
"Wait." Yanfei stared at them in disbelief. "Your Ministry is going to Mondstadt?"
"That's never happened before. Did Ningguang actually approve that?"
After all, the Ministry of Civil Affairs was responsible for all sorts of affairs throughout Liyue Harbor.
Even if Ryou had made them frighteningly efficient, that still didn't mean a whole group of them could just leave Liyue and head to Mondstadt.
"Well... Ryou should already have arranged everything. We just follow orders." Zhongli glanced at Yanfei and didn't explain any further.
"The Ministry exists to serve the people of Liyue. If all of you just run off like this, that obviously isn't appropriate. I'm going to have a proper talk with Ryou about this." Yanfei rose to her feet, sensing an opening.
"Oh? And who wants to have a proper talk with me?"
Ryou's voice came from behind her.
[End of chapter]
[200 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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