"Tabibito, you—!" Keqing was furious. She pointed straight at her, then rushed forward and grabbed Ryou's arm.
"You came all the way to my office at the Ministry of Civil Affairs just to make a move on my husband? You've gone too far!"
"T-Tabibito..." Paimon was completely dumbfounded.
Things had blown up so badly that she had no idea what to do anymore.
"This is all your fault!" Tabibito shot back. "If you hadn't kept provoking me, would I have done that?"
"I only came over because I saw him slumped over his desk, completely motionless. He was obviously exhausted and had fallen asleep at work."
Then she glared at Keqing.
"Keqing, do I owe you something? You keep insisting I'm trying to steal your man, right? Fine. Then I really will steal him!"
With that, Tabibito yanked Ryou into her arms.
She pulled too hard, and even Keqing got dragged forward with him.
Bang!
The watermelon hit the floor and burst apart.
"B-Blood... it's blood! Tabibito, y-you killed him!" Paimon covered her face in horror.
"What?!"
People rushed in from outside. The moment they saw the floor covered in red, all of them exploded in anger.
To murder someone inside the Ministry of Civil Affairs—
This was beyond outrageous.
"Protect Keqing-sama!"
"Tabibito, you dare kill Ryou-sama? I'll fight you!"
"Zhongli, don't stop me! That woman is vicious! Ryou-sama was such a good man, and she actually—"
...
Zhongli blocked them all and turned back with a frown.
"Everyone out. This is probably a misunderstanding. Or do none of you want your bonuses anymore?"
"Zhongli, I don't like the way you're saying that! Ryou-sama treated us so well, and now he's nearly died in the middle of jealous scheming and chaos!"
"That's right! We absolutely can't let a vicious woman like this off easy!"
"Move aside! Are you trying to protect her?"
Tabibito's temper flared too. She planted one foot on a chair and snapped, "What do you mean, vicious woman? Ryou was just asleep. What does any of this have to do with me?"
"A-Asleep?"
Everyone looked at each other.
Keqing hurried over, pulled Ryou back into her arms, and checked him over. A moment later, she said in disbelief, "He... really is asleep."
"I told you it was a misunderstanding. Now get out," Zhongli said, and began pushing the Ministry staff out of the office.
The sound of the door shutting woke Ryou up.
His head still felt heavy and foggy. Ryou rubbed at his temples and asked, "What happened?"
"Ryou, are you alright? You scared me half to death."
"Mmm... I'm fine." Ryou rubbed his head again. He quickly guessed what had happened. With five streams of qi active at once, the prolonged drain had pushed his mental energy past its limit.
"Keqing, help me find somewhere to rest. I'm exhausted."
"Alright."
Keqing immediately helped him over to a seat and sat down so she could let him rest in her lap.
"Ryou, how are you feeling? Don't scare me like that..."
"Keqing, I'm just tired." Ryou leaned against her and felt a little more comfortable. The backlash from exhausting his spiritual power had left his head aching.
"That's good. You really frightened me just now." Keqing lowered her voice to a whisper by his ear, afraid of disturbing him.
"I'm fine. There was a watermelon on the desk. You can cut it open and try some."
Ryou pointed toward the table, then looked up and frowned when he didn't see it.
"Did you eat it?"
Keqing shook her head.
"Mmm! It's so sweet!" Paimon was already happily gnawing on a huge slice of watermelon.
"Paimon, why do you eat literally everything you see?" Tabibito grabbed her and glared at her. Paimon's whole face had already gone blissfully silly from how sweet it was.
Luckily, only a third of the watermelon had been ruined. Two-thirds of it were still left.
It was huge to begin with, and after being infused with spiritual energy, the flesh had become especially full and juicy. It was sweet, refreshing, and perfect for cooling off.
Tabibito thought back to what she had just done and immediately felt her face heat up.
But then she remembered what Keqing had said and got angry all over again.
Especially Keqing—jumping to conclusions and accusing her without even asking what happened first.
Fine. If you want to talk like that, then one day I really will steal him from you.
Just wait until you're the one left alone.
Tabibito shot Keqing a hard look.
Of course Keqing noticed.
But she didn't say anything, because she knew she really had misunderstood Tabibito just now.
Still, once she thought back to Tabibito's earlier behavior, her guard went right back up.
This woman really was aiming for her husband.
She absolutely had to stay on guard.
A moment later, Keqing caught a faint fragrance on Ryou.
One note in particular was unmistakably Ningguang's.
Why did Ryou smell like Ningguang?
Had the two of them... done something?
"This is watermelon," Ryou explained. "It's very sweet, just watch out for the seeds when you eat it."
Then he turned and leaned further into Keqing.
"Keqing, hold me a little tighter. My stomach still aches."
"Okay," Keqing said softly.
Ryou slowly closed his eyes again. His mental exhaustion was still severe, and if Tabibito and Keqing hadn't argued loudly enough to wake him up, he would still have been asleep.
When Keqing saw him drift off again, she finally let out a quiet breath of relief. She stroked him gently and just kept watching him.
"T-Tabibito, I still want more..." Paimon stared at the watermelon and whispered at her side.
"Eat, eat, eat—eating is all you ever think about," Tabibito grumbled, glaring at her and covering her mouth before Keqing noticed.
If they stayed any longer, she really didn't know how she was supposed to handle things.
Still, Tabibito had already made up her mind to steal Ryou away one day.
And she still had something she could hold over him.
There was no way she couldn't win.
With that thought in mind, she gave Keqing one last long look, then quietly slipped out with Paimon.
Zhongli noticed that Tabibito had left without taking the watermelon, and that Keqing's full attention was still on Ryou, so he quietly collected the remaining pieces for himself.
Once he stepped outside, he saw the corridor crowded with workers who had gathered because of the earlier commotion.
Zhongli cleared his throat and said, "Ryou has fallen asleep. Keep it down and let him rest properly."
"Oh, got it."
"Don't worry, we'll keep quiet."
Everyone immediately lowered their voices.
Zhongli also noticed several women nearby and felt another headache coming on.
There were more than a few pretty women clinging to him like sticky plasters, always circling around him.
Seeing that, Zhongli simply turned and headed back to Wangsheng Funeral Parlor.
"Consultant, why are you back? Aren't you supposed to be keeping watch at the Ministry of Civil Affairs?"
Hu Tao hurried over. Then she lowered her voice and asked eagerly, "Right, right—I heard Tabibito and Keqing got into a fight at the Ministry over Ryou. Is that true?"
"Hu Tao, don't spread nonsense." Zhongli coughed, then took out the watermelon and set it on the table. "It was all a misunderstanding."
He pointed at it and added, "This is watermelon. No one was paying attention earlier, so I brought it back."
"It looks like blood. That's creepy. Can you even eat that?" Hu Tao looked disgusted.
"Then if the Director won't eat it, I will."
Zhongli cut the watermelon into pieces.
"That won't do. I have to try it myself."
"I want some too. Guoba wants some too!" Xiangling took a piece and fed a bit to Guoba.
Watching several slices vanish at once, Zhongli felt a little pained.
Then he took a bite himself.
The moment he tasted it, his eyes lit up.
"This watermelon is excellent. Very sweet, and very refreshing."
"I want another piece too!" Hu Tao said at once.
"Hu Tao, weren't you just saying it looked like blood?" Xiangling laughed.
"That's none of your business. Since my consultant brought it back, of course I have to support him as the Director." Hu Tao picked up another piece and kept eating.
Zhongli glanced at her, then shook his head.
The group quickly finished the entire thing.
Hu Tao wiped her mouth, still not satisfied.
"Consultant, where did this melon come from? I've never seen one before."
"I'm not sure either." Zhongli thought for a moment. "I found it in Ryou's office. He should know."
Hu Tao's eyes turned crafty.
"Do you think Ryou's not feeling well today? Maybe we should buy some fruit and go visit him."
"I think that's a great idea!" Xiangling's eyes lit up too.
Zhongli looked at the two of them and said dryly, "I think you just want more watermelon."
"Hehe..." Xiangling scratched her head.
"What do you mean? We're concerned about him," Hu Tao said, glaring at Zhongli.
Just then, she saw Tabibito walking in from outside.
"Tabibito? What are you doing here?"
"Zhongli is here too." Tabibito stepped into Wangsheng Funeral Parlor.
"It's the watermelon rind! Hmph... how mean! Zhongli, so you're the one who took the watermelon!" Paimon recognized it instantly and stamped her foot in outrage.
"Ahem." Zhongli coughed awkwardly.
"Paimon." Tabibito shot her a look, then plopped down beside Hu Tao.
"Hu Tao, tell me honestly—wasn't that unfair? I only went to see Ryou because I had business with him, and Keqing immediately accused me of seducing her husband. That's pure slander."
She pointed toward Zhongli.
"Zhongli can vouch for me. The whole thing was just a misunderstanding."
"That's right," Zhongli said with a nod.
"Oh, so it was a misunderstanding." Hu Tao sounded oddly disappointed.
"What kind of reaction is that?" Tabibito glared at her.
"Hehe, nothing, nothing." Hu Tao laughed dryly. "You didn't come here just to complain, did you?"
Tabibito clenched her fists.
"I'm furious, alright? Keqing said I was trying to steal her husband, didn't she?"
She leaned forward and said with complete seriousness, "Well, I've thought it through. Since she insists on saying that, then I really am going to steal Ryou away. Help me come up with a plan."
"Xiangling, you too. Come here."
She turned her head.
"Zhong—"
Pffft!
Before she could finish, Zhongli spat his tea all over the floor.
"People say three ordinary heads are better than one great mind. Well, I've got three helpers here—and one real genius too!"
"With all of you helping me, I'm definitely going to win back the husband who should be mine!"
Hu Tao just stared at her, not even sure what to say.
Zhongli slowly set his teacup down and coughed again.
Wasn't this supposed to be fine once the misunderstanding got cleared up?
Why are you actually trying to steal a married man now?
"I support you, Tabibito!" Xiangling said suddenly.
"Xiangling?" Hu Tao turned to stare at her.
Even Zhongli was caught off guard.
People always say you should never break up a marriage, so why was Xiangling helping her do exactly that?
[End of chapter]
[200 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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