Genshin Impact: I am the Great General of Liyue

"The Seven Stars' enemies have already been lurking in Liyue Harbor. If we don't take action, we will be at a disadvantage. Hiding the Celestial Ancestor's Technique is a necessary move. Only in this way can I turn the tide and use stillness to control movement."

Paimon, who hadn't understood what Ningguang was saying, asked curiously, "Who is this 'enemy' you're talking about?"

Ignoring the silly Paimon, Ningguang turned to Luminous and asked a question.

"Traveler, what do you think?"

Ying's answer was very vague.

"It must be him."

"Hmm? Are you and Ningguang playing a mysterious game?"

Paimon was completely bewildered, his eyes darting back and forth between Ying and Ningguang.

Ningguang, as if seeing the person in Ying's mind, replied, "The correct answer."

Hearing Ningguang's confirmation, Paimon was even more bewildered.

“Hmm—???”

The enemies Ningguang and Ying mentioned are actually quite easy to guess, but Paimon's mind doesn't tend to treat targets marked as friends as enemies.

The answer can be found by process of elimination. The Liyue immortals would never do anything too outrageous to the Liyue people, so they are ruled out. The various magical items Huiyuan presented prove she is indeed from another world, so she is also ruled out. Zhongli, a guest elder of the Hall of Rebirth, has a clear purpose: to properly arrange the farewell ceremony for the Emperor. As for the Traveler himself, his purpose is even clearer: to seek out the Seven Archons and find his blood relatives.

That leaves only the executor of the Fools, the young master, whose motives are unclear. Let's set aside the question of what his purpose was in deliberately inducing the traveler to inform the Immortal Emperor of his murder, and also his mysteriously acquired Unrestricted Talisman.

The only question is why the young master inexplicably invested in Zhongli and organized a funeral that would only result in a loss. The answer is obvious: he wanted to use this opportunity to obtain the remains of the Immortal Ancestor.

Getting back to the main point, after Paimon let out a long "Ugh—", Ningguang couldn't help but chuckle.

"Ha... The scenery outside is beautiful, but the wind is a bit strong at high altitude. Gentlemen, the hall is ready to welcome you. Please come in with me."

With that, Ningguang walked toward the entrance of Qunyu Pavilion, and Ying and Paimeng followed.

Paimon, who had just admired the prosperity and beauty of Liyue Harbor from the deck of the Jade Pavilion after entering the gate, was shocked and flew around wildly when he saw the magnificent room in front of him, which resembled a golden and resplendent heavenly palace.

"Wow! What a huge living room! I've never seen such a luxurious room before..."

Paimon and Yingmei walked down the central spiral staircase to the next floor, and were speechless with shock at the sight of all the luxurious objects in front of them.

Paimon, observing the luxury goods, immediately spotted the small pool at the bottom of the spiral staircase. The pool was decorated with emerald green lights, lotus flowers, lotus leaves, and various kinds of ornamental fish.

Beside the pool, there was a familiar figure—Huiyuan.

"Hey... what's Sister Lingling doing here?"

Upon seeing Paimon's Huiyuan, he waved and walked into the office with Ningguang.

After Huiyuan casually found a place to sit down, Ningguang looked at Yingmei and Paimon and said, "Please make yourselves at home."

Upon hearing this, Paimon began to imagine what it would be like to live in the Jade Pavilion every day.

As he thought about it, Paimon became excited.

"Is it really possible?!"

"I invited you here because I consider you friends. When friends come to visit, the most important thing is for them to have fun."

Ying paid little attention to Huiyuan, who was drinking tea beside her, focusing all her attention on the books around her. As she looked, she noticed a wall covered with paper.

"That place is..."

Paimon followed Ying's gaze and exclaimed in surprise, "Huh? Is this 'the legendary wall'?"

Ningguang also looked over, glancing at Paimon with slight surprise.

"Oh? You're very well-informed."

"Because even the storyteller is saying... many people are looking to buy the paper on the wall, it's quite famous!"

Paimon revealed the source of his information, and Ningguang added, "Because that wall records the secrets of Liyue. Merchants are always passionate about secrets."

Ningguang shifted her gaze to Yingmei and continued, "But Traveler, Liyue's trade secrets mean nothing to you. You're special, and you know that yourself, right? If possible, I'd like to gain your trust. But if you had to choose between me and Keqing, who is more trustworthy..."

Ying thought for a moment and immediately came up with an answer.

(Between Ningguang's reverence for God and Keqing's impiety, Keqing's impiety is more believable.)

Although Ying didn't say it aloud, Ningguang seemed to be able to read minds and guessed the answer Ying was thinking.

"...Haha, you'll choose Keqing, right? I have that kind of intuition. I originally thought that too much rigidity leads to breakage. With her personality, becoming one of the Seven Stars would require me to handle some things behind the scenes. But after she said, 'The era of the immortals is over. If even the Seven Stars of Liyue don't dare to face this fact, what will become of Liyue's future?'...some of my doubts were dispelled quite a bit. Yes, I don't deny that the Emperor's passing seems to be advantageous to the Seven Stars. But for the sake of Liyue, I can't let the rumors of a 'Seven Stars usurping the throne' hold me back from my proper actions."

Looking into Ningguang's sincere eyes, Ying asked a question.

"Are the Fools behind these rumors?"

"Hmm...it seems you've fully understood what I was trying to say since just now. My orders to suppress the news and hide the Celestial's body were twofold: firstly, to temporarily stabilize the situation, and secondly, to prevent...what happened in Mondstadt. The Fatui have already taken far too many covert actions that cross diplomatic lines, taking advantage of the Emperor's death. As the 'Heavenly Authority' responsible to Liyue, I can no longer afford to be elegant in my confrontation. Approving the 'Preparation of the Celestial Sending Ceremony' was merely to buy some buffer time for the Seven Stars to fully take over Liyue..."

As Ningguang finished speaking, Paimon remembered what Zhongli had said and repeated it.

"Hmm... Just as Zhongli said, the Seven Stars provided the ritual venue only so they could use us to achieve their own goals. Oh, right! Speaking of 'achieving goals'... there's one more thing I can say?"

"Please speak freely."

"I heard that guests who give a gift when they meet the guest receive some benefits... Are we eligible?"

When Paimon said those words, Ying panicked.

"Paimon, can't you say something else?!"

Ningguang wasn't angry at Paimon's demand; instead, she laughed magnanimously.

"Haha... It's okay, I like straightforward people."