The Jade Chamber.
Back through the portal, Keqing asked about the day's agenda.
"Master Ye Xi, what are we doing today?"
Before Ye Xi could answer, Ningguang smiled and cut in. "Keqing, don't you still have a mountain of work to get through? The land planning near Wangshu Inn, for instance."
"Huh?!"
Keqing blinked. "Didn't we sort all of that out in the meeting? That work was handed off to the Tianxuan Star, the Tianshu Star, and the rest of the Qixing..."
She paused, eyes narrowing. "Hold on — are you trying to get rid of me so you can keep Ye Xi all to yourself?"
With that, she latched onto Ye Xi's arm with the unmistakable air of someone who had absolutely no intention of budging.
Ye Xi didn't know whether to laugh or sigh.
How had these two already started bickering?
He looped an arm around Keqing's waist and gave Ningguang's hand a light squeeze. "Today we're heading to the harbor. I've got something good to show you both."
"It's trade business with Inazuma — a proper matter."
That was enough to settle them both down.
"In any case, let's stop by the Yuehai Pavilion and find Ganyu first."
The suggestion passed unanimously.
They descended the grand hall steps and passed through the main doors.
Keqing suddenly let out a startled yelp. "Huh?!"
"Wh-why are there two more Jade Chambers?!"
She hadn't been able to see outside while they were indoors. Now, stepping out into the open air, the two enormous floating structures loomed into view — and nearly gave her a heart attack.
The three little secretaries caught her up on everything that had happened the night before.
Keqing listened with wide eyes. "But... the materials used to build the Jade Chamber are incredibly rare — don't tell me those were copied too?!"
"This is absolutely outrageous!"
She'd seen Ye Xi copy a car before, but copying the Jade Chamber was on a completely different level of absurd.
Those Mingxia Floating Stones were worth an astronomical fortune!
Ningguang, inwardly quite pleased with herself, gave her wrist a languid little flick — ostensibly brushing back her hair, but really angling her bracelet squarely into Keqing's line of sight.
"Th-that's... a bracelet?"
Keqing felt a pang of envy — though not for the jewelry itself.
She and Ningguang were different that way.
Ningguang dressed with an effortless, commanding elegance, presiding over the Jade Chamber and the Yuehai Pavilion as the living symbol of Liyue's upper echelons.
Keqing, on the other hand, preferred to be out in the field, working at the ground level. Wearing showy accessories would only get in the way.
What she envied was the sentiment — the thought that Ye Xi had put into Ningguang's gift.
She couldn't help wondering: did she rank lower in Ye Xi's heart than Ningguang did?
When she thought about it honestly... that probably made sense. Ningguang was the wealthiest person in Liyue, strikingly beautiful, and impeccably refined. By comparison, what did she herself really have to offer?
She was still spiraling through these thoughts when Ye Xi spoke up beside her. "Oh, right — Keqing."
"The Serenitea Pot is saturated with Adeptal Energy, so everything that lives inside it grows quickly and tastes incredible."
"I had Dehya and the others go hunting and fishing, but I forgot to ask them to catch any shrimp or crab."
"I remember you love Golden Shrimp Balls — why don't we stop by the market later and pick up some live shrimp to raise there?"
"Once they're grown, I'll make you a proper batch of the best Golden Shrimp Balls you've ever had."
"Huh — ?!"
Keqing's heart leaped. She nodded eagerly, almost too fast. "Yes, yes! I'd love that! I didn't realize the Serenitea Pot had that kind of effect!"
Ye Xi's words warmed her all the way through.
Every worry from moments ago evaporated without a trace.
He knows I love Golden Shrimp Balls. He's been thinking about me all along!
The thought surfaced in her mind and filled her with a giddy, almost disbelieving joy.
She glanced back at Ningguang with a newly confident lift to her chin.
Ningguang smiled — an understanding smile. She found herself marveling, not for the first time, at just how attentive Ye Xi was with his wives.
Every single one of them.
....
By now, Liyue Harbor had fully come alive with its daily bustle.
The streets were filled with the clamor of vendors hawking their wares, voices overlapping in every direction.
As on the day before, a Sumeru supply convoy had arrived at Liyue Harbor since the crack of dawn. Fresh fruit flooded the market once again, and people were scrambling to buy — as though terrified it would all be gone before they got their share.
At the mouth of one alley, a few passersby suddenly looked up and froze.
"Good heavens! Look up, everyone — why are there two extra Jade Chambers up there?!"
The shout snapped the surrounding crowd out of their daze, and heads craned upward one by one.
The street erupted.
At this early hour, most people had their eyes fixed eastward on the rising sun — nobody had thought to glance west at the sky above Liyue Harbor.
This discovery sent shockwaves through the crowd.
"Good lord — is that... Lady Ningguang's Jade Chamber?!"
"Impossible! How did it turn into three overnight?!"
"That's insane! A project this massive — how did it just appear out of nowhere?!"
"Am I going cross-eyed?!"
"Last time they rebuilt the Jade Chamber, it took ages! This time there wasn't a whisper of news and two more just materialized out of thin air! Lady Ningguang is truly something else!"
"This is proof of how prosperous Liyue Harbor has become!"
"..."
Word spread like wildfire through the streets, one person telling ten, ten telling a hundred, a wave of amazement rippling outward in every direction.
Zhongli, who had risen early for his morning walk, caught the rumors on the breeze and looked up.
At the sight of the three massive towers floating in the sky, a flicker of surprise crossed his eyes.
He didn't even need to guess. It had to be Ye Xi's doing.
The supply of Mingxia Floating Stone was vanishingly scarce to begin with — large pieces especially so. He knew the numbers better than anyone.
And those two extra Jade Chambers, with all the Floating Stone within them, were entirely beyond what he had accounted for.
Truly remarkable, young friend Ye Xi.
Even as Rex Lapis, he could not begin to fathom where that ore had come from.
...
Yuehai Pavilion.
The Millelith soldiers stationed there, along with the Pavilion's staff, had also spotted the strange sight in the sky above.
Two extra Jade Chambers appearing overnight — that was the kind of thing that shook Liyue Harbor to its foundations.
And yet, not a single person knew what had happened.
The Qixing, the Eight Trades — every last one of them had been kept completely in the dark.
To put it plainly: if Ningguang had secretly been planning an expansion of the Jade Chamber, it would have been impossible for the Qixing and the Eight Trades to have heard nothing.
And yet here they were.
Everyone turned to look at Ganyu.
Ganyu squirmed under the attention.
She was just as astonished as the rest of them, truth be told.
Still, she noticed the Floating Stones descending from the Jade Chamber above, and it only took a moment's thought to realize: Ningguang had come in to work.
She hurried downstairs and made her way to Yujing Terrace.
She had barely reached the bottom when she saw Ningguang and Keqing touching down in the center of the Terrace — and Ye Xi walking alongside them.
The Millelith soldiers all drew a sharp collective breath.
"Wh-what's going on?! Why is Master Ye Xi descending with Lady Ningguang?!"
"Could it be that last night, Lady Ningguang and Master Ye Xi... spent the night together?!"
"One of the brothers on last night's watch mentioned that Lady Ningguang did invite them to stay over at the Jade Chamber!"
"No way... Lady Keqing and Lady Ningguang both can't have..."
"Impossible! Lady Ningguang's standards are impossibly high — there's no way she'd take a fancy to some merchant so easily!"
"Hold on — was there anyone standing guard at the Jade Chamber last night?!"
At that question, the entire group fell silent. Not one man spoke up.
And that silence said everything.
When Ningguang invited a guest up to the Jade Chamber, the Millelith were always posted to keep watch — standard protocol to prevent anything untoward.
That Ye Xi had gone up as a guest was one thing. But he'd stayed the night.
There was absolutely no way that would have happened without the Millelith being stationed to keep guard overnight.
And yet no one here had been.
If every man present had stayed silent...
"Master Ye Xi was a guest at the Jade Chamber last night, and no one was posted to keep watch?!"
"Heavens — it's all over. It's completely over."
"Lady Ningguang deliberately didn't arrange for a guard rotation. That means there's a very real chance that they already..."
"Once this gets out, every wealthy young lord in the harbor is going to fall into despair."
"That's putting it mildly — I've heard that no small number of foreign tycoons have been staying in Liyue Harbor specifically to court Lady Ningguang. They're going to have a complete breakdown."
"I'm honestly envious of Master Ye Xi. Getting on Lady Ningguang's good side means he'll never have to worry about Mora again."
"..."
The Millelith soldiers murmured amongst themselves in hushed voices, all of them careful not to let Ningguang overhear.
...
Meanwhile, on the other side of the Terrace.
"Ganyu, good morning."
Ningguang descended from the Floating Stone and greeted her with a smile — then immediately noticed the pink-clad figure at Ganyu's side.
"You're from Inazuma... Miss Yae Miko, isn't it? What brings you here?"
She had been the one to meet Yae Miko that day.
Once she'd learned the purpose of the visit was to find Ganyu, she had passed the matter off to Ganyu to handle.
What she hadn't anticipated was that this particular guest was still here, having taken up residence at the Yuehai Pavilion.
She couldn't quite understand why Ganyu had allowed it.
This was the political nerve center of Liyue Harbor — classified matters at every turn. Letting a foreigner linger here was far from ideal.
Ganyu could see the concern in Ningguang's expression and quickly stepped forward. "Ningguang, the truth is that Guuji Yae came on the Raiden Shogun's orders, to meet with Master Ye Xi here in Liyue."
"The Raiden Shogun...?"
Ningguang's eyebrows lifted slightly.
She genuinely hadn't seen it coming — that this strikingly beautiful woman before her was actually an envoy dispatched by Inazuma's own divine sovereign.
Hearing Ganyu's explanation, Keqing felt a flicker of unease stir in her chest.
Because Yae Miko was, to put it simply, far too beautiful.
Elegant figure, breathtaking features — and that look in her eyes, that expression she wore, carried a seductive allure so potent that even Keqing, another woman, found it difficult to hold her gaze. Men wouldn't stand a chance.
And most critically of all — Yae Miko was Inazuma's envoy.
What if she tried to take Ye Xi away?
"Tianquan Star, Yuheng Star — lovely to meet you both~"
Yae Miko smiled gracefully and introduced herself. "I am Yae Miko, the Guuji of the Grand Narukami Shrine in Inazuma. It is a pleasure."
As she spoke, she quietly studied Ningguang and Keqing with calm, observant eyes.
As a great fox spirit who had walked this world for over five hundred years, she needed only a single glance to know whether a young woman had remained untouched.
The answer, in both cases, was rather obvious.
Both Keqing and Ningguang had already undergone their... transformation.
And moreover...
She leaned in ever so slightly and took a quiet, subtle breath.
A warm, sweet fragrance drifted to her nose.
That scent told her that both of these lovely young women had only just recently bloomed.
Which meant the most likely culprit walking beside them was Ye Xi.
She had already heard quite a bit about him from Ganyu.
She knew he had a fondness for beautiful women and was surrounded by no shortage of wives.
Even so, she hadn't expected that in the span of just a few short days, he had already won over two of the most prominent beauties in Liyue's Qixing.
The leaders of Liyue Harbor, no less.
Truly impressive.
"Welcome to Liyue Harbor."
"Miss Yae, I hope our cooperation ahead will be a pleasant one!"
"Mm~ but of course~"
Yae Miko nodded with a smile — and caught the faint wariness lurking in Keqing's eyes.
A delightfully wicked idea began to take shape in her mind.
She raised a hand to her lips to conceal a small smile, then in one smooth, unhurried motion, she slipped around behind Ye Xi and leaned close to his ear.
"Master Ye Xi," she murmured, her voice low and warm, "you and I are going to need to have a very thorough discussion about Inazuma affairs~"
"...Hss."
Ye Xi felt a tremor run through him that he couldn't quite suppress.
She was far too close — close enough that the faint scent of cherry blossoms drifting up from the neckline of her collar reached him, warm and soft.
And that voice of hers — that uniquely, dangerously beguiling voice — made his thoughts go pleasantly hazy.
A thorough discussion.
Just how thorough did thorough have to be? The imagination ran wild.
"Huh?!"
Keqing went rigid, staring in disbelief. She hadn't expected Yae Miko to close that distance so suddenly.
It was practically...
It was practically flirting in broad daylight!
"Y-Yae Miko, please conduct yourself with some decorum!"
Keqing declared, red-faced, in her most composed and dignified tone.
"Oh?"
Yae Miko wore a picture of innocent amusement. "Whatever is the Yuheng Star blushing for?"
"I — ahem! There are people all around. Please be mindful of your image!"
Watching Keqing's thoroughly flustered expression, Yae Miko felt a deep, private satisfaction settle over her.
She did so enjoy watching others squirm. It was terribly entertaining.
Then she turned her gaze to Ye Xi.
[Forced Calm]
Ye Xi reined himself back in.
He had to admit — this wretched fox spirit had lived for four or five centuries for good reason. She clearly knew exactly how to get inside a person's head.
That look in her eyes, that lilt in her voice, each little smile and movement — every last detail was calculated to set the imagination running.
Terrifying, frankly.
"Ahem..."
Ye Xi cleared his throat and nodded. "I already had the chance to meet the Raiden Shogun in Sumeru and spoke with her about these matters."
"Since the Guuji has come in person, you're welcome to come along to the harbor with us shortly."
He'd expected Raiden Ei to send someone from the Kanjou Commission, or perhaps a representative from an international merchant guild.
It had not occurred to him that Yae Miko herself would show up.
"The harbor?"
"Certainly, I'll leave the arrangements to you."
Yae Miko agreed with an easy smile, but inwardly she was mildly surprised — that little maneuver just now hadn't landed quite as effectively as she'd hoped.
She had expected Ye Xi to be thoroughly enchanted by her little display.
Knowing he had a weakness for beautiful women, she had planned to use her charms to draw him back to Inazuma.
But judging by how things stood now, it seemed she was going to have to put in rather more effort than anticipated.
.....
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