The scenery from Qunyu Pavilion was excellent, especially given its unique location. It offered a full view of Liyue Harbor, and turning around, one could also see the nearby Tianheng Mountain.
It was said that Lady Ningguang's wish was to expand Qunyu Pavilion to cover all of Teyvat within her lifetime…
Although Aether felt that if it really could be achieved, Qunyu Pavilion would likely cause considerable trouble for the people of Teyvat.
Ningguang had been striving towards this goal. In fact, given the current situation, as long as Qunyu Pavilion didn't encounter any problems, expanding it to cover the entire Liyue Harbor within Ningguang's lifetime should be no issue.
"Miss Stelle."
Just as Aether was engrossed in the scenery, Lady Ningguang's maid found him.
"Lady Ningguang wishes for you to come over."
"Huh? Where's Yelan?" Aether looked at the maid in confusion.
"Lady Yelan has already left."
"That fast?" Aether nodded, indicating he understood.
He had thought Yelan would at least chat with Ningguang for a couple of hours, but he didn't expect her to leave so soon.
Recalling it, Aether couldn't help but feel a little critical of Yelan in his heart. Her audacity was truly too great, daring to do those things with him on Ningguang's territory.
If he hadn't acutely noticed Ningguang's footsteps and quickly separated from Yelan, Ningguang might have caught them red-handed… No, no, nothing had happened between him and Ningguang, so how could it be called catching them red-handed?
But no matter what, if Ningguang had seen them, it would have been an extremely awkward scene that Aether couldn't even bear to imagine.
Sigh, he didn't know if Ningguang had noticed anything amiss yet. Aether felt quite unsettled on his way back.
Reaching the door of Ningguang's reception hall, Aether knocked.
"Come in." Ningguang's voice came from inside the room, and his tone seemed to have no significant change.
Aether hesitated for a moment, then pushed the door open.
He saw Ningguang standing in front of a board in the room, intently looking at something. Even when Aether entered, he didn't shift his gaze.
"Ningguang…"
"Wait a moment." Ningguang raised his hand and said to Aether. After a long while, he took a piece of paper from the board and tore it into pieces.
"Stelle, how is your relationship with Yelan?" Ningguang sat back in his main seat, one hand propping his head, and the other taking out his obviously valuable smoking pipe.
"Uh, it's, it's alright, we're friends." Aether scratched his hair, speaking with a bit of guilt.
He hadn't expected Ningguang to immediately ask him the most crucial question right away.
"Friends, huh… But from what I saw of her attitude towards you, it's not as simple as just wanting to be friends." The smoking pipe in Ningguang's hand twirled, but he didn't seem to intend to light it.
"Huh?" Aether was slightly startled, looking up at Ningguang in surprise.
"Although Yelan and I have a superior-subordinate relationship on the surface, in reality, our relationship is more of a transactional state where we each get what we need." Ningguang slowly sighed, looking at Aether with some worry.
Simply put, he actually couldn't fully control Yelan, and the issues involved were very complex, including Yelan's family background, his own strength, and so on…
Therefore, if he wanted to protect Aether from Yelan, it wouldn't be a simple matter, unless Aether was willing to live in Qunyu Pavilion from then on.
Ningguang now regretted why he had sought Yelan to investigate Aether in the first place.
"In short, you should associate less with him, understand?"
"Un-understood…" Aether nodded blankly.
Ningguang seemed to have misunderstood something. He actually thought Yelan coveted him?
Aether found Ningguang's change somewhat strange. While Ningguang probably couldn't imagine the actual relationship between him and Yelan, Yelan shouldn't have acted too overtly in front of Ningguang, right?
Could it be that he was again affected by his constitution, causing Ningguang to make a wrong judgment…
The more Aether thought about it, the more he felt it was highly possible. But whether Ningguang was overthinking or truly influenced by his constitution, he finally didn't have to worry about his and Yelan's affair being exposed now.
Aether visibly relaxed a lot.
"Alright, let's go eat. It's already this late."
"Okay…"
Liyue Harbor, Port.
Liyue Harbor was bustling once again today for no other reason than the return of the legendary Crux Fleet.
Almost every Liyue person knew the formidable reputation of Da Jie Tou Beidou of the "Crux" Fleet, and loved to chat about him after meals.
Last time, Aether had even heard the storyteller at the tea stall recount Beidou slaying the abyssal beast, "Haishan."
That was one of the most beloved stories among Liyue people, second only to the tales of Rex Lapis.
In addition, Beidou's fleet would also bring back many rare goods and unique business intelligence, which were essential for many merchants in Liyue Harbor.
Of course, not all merchants in Liyue Harbor had the privilege of meeting Beidou.
Especially since Beidou would often be summoned first by Tianquan Star upon his return, and after that, it would be difficult to meet Captain Beidou.
That's why there were those strange storytelling performances at the tea stalls; in reality, many people hadn't really seen Beidou.
"Hmm, it's been a long time, Liyue Harbor." Beidou stood at the port, looking at the busy commercial harbor and couldn't help but stretch, feeling an indescribable emotion.
"Captain Beidou, you're back!" Xiangling seemed to have come specifically to welcome Beidou, and he ran all the way to Beidou's front.
"Did you bring back any new and exotic ingredients this time?"
Well, actually, Xiangling came for this, as Beidou always brought back many strange and wonderful things whenever he returned from a voyage.
"Haha, of course I did. I braved a lightning storm to make a trip to Inazuma; I couldn't possibly come back empty-handed." Beidou was already very familiar with Xiangling's habit of coming to look for ingredients. In fact, every time he went abroad, he would specifically think about procuring some local ingredients to bring back for Xiangling.
"But I still have to go see that woman Ningguang. Let's talk about the ingredients after I get back."
"Ah, speaking of that, Captain Beidou." Xiangling suddenly remembered something, and his face suddenly became a bit bashful.
"Um, I have a friend who's currently working for Lady Ningguang. Could you please check on him when you go?"
"Oh? A friend, working for Ningguang?" Beidou raised an eyebrow, immediately becoming interested.
"Elaborate."
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