Cold fury welled up inside Keqing.
Since when did the Liyue Qixing need to cooperate with the Fatui?
Just thinking of the mess Tartaglia had caused in Liyue Harbor made her blood boil.
Sure, Su Ran had stepped in to stop him in the end— but weren't they all Fatui anyway?
Ningguang… oh, Ningguang!
How could you let yourself be bewitched by a Fatui Harbinger of all people?
Was this still the same calm, unshakable Tianquan she knew?
The more Keqing thought about it, the more she pitied her colleague.
She knew exactly what kind of people the Fatui were— as one of the Qixing, how could Ningguang not?
"Keqing? Did someone offend you? Why do you look so angry?"
Ningguang's voice was soft, but her eyes were sharp; she'd noticed that stormy expression immediately.
"You—you still have the nerve to ask?" Keqing shot back,
"Do you even know what the people of Liyue are saying about you right now?"
She glanced toward Su Ran, who was minding his own business, tinkering with something.
Just what kind of spell does this man have?
Even the Raiden Shogun and Ningguang— two women famed for their iron will and flawless self-control— were both inexplicably drawn to him.
Was he really that charming?
Keqing honestly couldn't see it.
Maybe it was just because he was strong?
"Rumors?" Ningguang smiled faintly.
"Let them talk. People will always gossip.
You can silence their feet and seal their lips— but can you ever control their hearts?"
Of course she'd heard the rumors.
Her three secretaries gossiped about them often enough.
But she'd never cared.
She was a member of the Qixing now, true— but soon, she planned to become a great merchant in the worlds beyond Teyvat.
If she couldn't even stomach a bit of idle talk, how exhausting would her future be?
"But…" Keqing lowered her voice, sneaking a glance at Su Ran, "some people are even saying you've become his woman.
Aren't you going to deny it?"
Ningguang's lips curved in amusement.
"Hmm. Not entirely wrong, actually.
I suppose… I am about to become his woman."
After all, hadn't he promised to be her "benefactor"?
And if she worked for her benefactor— didn't that make her his person?
The wording was deliberately ambiguous, and Ningguang very much enjoyed the way Keqing's face went crimson.
"Y-you—you…!"
Keqing was completely thrown off.
It took her quite a while to regain her composure, and when she did, her expression was complicated.
"As one of the Qixing, are you really planning to betray us?"
Her indignation was almost adorable— so much so that Ningguang couldn't help but tease her a little.
"And why must you call it betrayal?
Who's to say this isn't for Liyue's benefit?"
"Really?"
That made Keqing pause.
For all her temper, she wasn't stupid.
If Ningguang claimed it was for Liyue's sake, then she needed to understand how.
"The heavens beyond the stars," Ningguang explained softly, "are vast—filled with countless worlds like Teyvat.
You and I are both merchants; we know how important it is to have a powerful patron."
She spoke just enough to satisfy Keqing's curiosity, but not enough to reveal too much.
They might both be Qixing—colleagues, yes— but not allies in every sense.
And every merchant knew: some cards should never be shown.
"So you've really chosen him, then?"
Keqing could now see the logic behind it.
Ningguang wasn't the sort to cling to tradition;
she'd once questioned the Geo Archon himself to his face, after all.
If there truly existed a broader world beyond the sky, and the chance to connect with it…
she, too, might be tempted to try.
But the problem was the middleman—a Fatui Harbinger.
Their reputation was simply too foul.
If the Treasure Hoarders were thieves, then the Fatui were bandits.
Thieves made you angry— bandits made you afraid.
"And besides him," Ningguang asked gently, "who else in Teyvat understands the outside world?"
Keqing faltered. She didn't have an answer.
"Can't we do it ourselves?" she tried.
If Liyue was to be self-reliant, shouldn't they take matters into their own hands?
"In the Archon War," Ningguang reminded her, "did the people of Liyue survive by their own strength?
No—they endured under the protection of the Geo Archon."
It wasn't that self-reliance was impossible— but one needed the ability to back it up.
Words alone meant nothing.
"Compared to the merchants out there," Ningguang continued, "even the Fatui seem benevolent.
That's what he told me."
She gestured subtly toward Su Ran.
"Out there among the stars, only the strong can reason with the strong.
And beings like the Geo Archon? There are countless such powers beyond Teyvat."
Keqing had wanted to argue— but that last line left her speechless.
Countless gods…?
How could anyone in Teyvat compete with that?
"But can he really be trusted?" she murmured at last.
"I'm right here, you know," Su Ran said dryly, glancing back at the two of them.
"Mind talking about me a little less while I'm in the room?"
"None of your business," Keqing shot back without missing a beat.
Then she turned back to Ningguang.
"Well?"
"Yes," Ningguang said simply.
Then, with a knowing smile, she took out a small ring.
Inside that ring was Su Ran's entire Teyvat fortune— every asset, every coin, every property he held here.
He had a house in Snezhnaya too, but that one had been built with Fatui funds, so it hardly counted as his own.
Keqing stared at the ring in shock, hands flying to her mouth.
Her thoughts immediately went somewhere else.
Ningguang had made sure of that.
It was, after all, a hint.
A deliberate one.
A way to tell Keqing:
He and I are very close—closer than you could imagine.
If she ever wanted to ride this wave of fortune herself, she'd have to settle for the leftovers.
Using half-truths, subtle misdirection, and that innate grasp of human nature— this was Ningguang's way of doing business.
After all, Keqing might be a colleague… but she still wasn't one of her own.
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