Back in Liyue Harbor, only Ryou and Keqing were in the Ministry of Civil Affairs office.
Ryou pulled Keqing into his arms and held her a little tighter. "Keqing, what was that about? Why did you leave Shenhe with us?"
"Mmph... I didn't decide that lightly." Keqing tilted her head up to look at him.
"My Keqing is beautiful and kindhearted." Ryou smiled as he stroked her cheek. "Don't overthink it. I'll stay by your side forever, alright? Trust me."
"Mhm. I trust you."
Then Keqing thought of something else. "Ryou, how are you planning to arrange things for Shenhe?"
"Arrange things, huh..." Ryou rubbed his chin for a moment, then looked at her. "Do we still have any storefronts in Liyue Harbor?"
"Storefronts?" Keqing asked. "My father did leave a few shops behind. Are you thinking of opening one and putting Shenhe there?"
"More or less. The Ministry of Civil Affairs doesn't need constant watching anymore. With Zhongli there, things should stay steady. Right now, the focus should be making Mora."
"Xingqiu's already gone to Mondstadt. Once things are settled there, I'm planning to open a shop here in Liyue Harbor too. I can put Shenhe there when the time comes."
He pinched Keqing's cheek and smiled. "That way, she won't be following me around all day, and you won't have to play the jealous wife."
"What do you mean? I'm not overthinking anything." Keqing pushed at him, but she looked a little more at ease.
She knew what kind of man Ryou was. That was exactly why some things were so hard not to overthink.
Still, after hearing him say that, she felt much more relieved.
"Then... when I get home, I'll ask my father to take care of it," Keqing said. "But how are things on Xingqiu's side?"
Ryou glanced out the window and shook his head. "I'm not sure yet, but he should've reached Mondstadt by now. If we count the days, we can set out the day after tomorrow."
"By the time we arrive, they should be starting sales there. That Mora can go straight toward the rewards for the Ministry staff."
"And we still owe Uncle five million Mora. That has to be paid back too."
"You really do remember everything," Keqing said with a laugh.
"Of course I do. Even with relatives, I don't like owing too much." Ryou pinched her soft cheek again, then added, "It's been a while since I bought you any clothes. Once we have more Mora, I'll get you some."
"As if I'd want that." Keqing rolled her eyes at him and pinched him back. "Just look at the things you buy. Shrine maiden outfits, nun outfits... what decent person buys stuff like that? And don't start getting ideas."
"That's only because my Keqing is too tempting." Ryou laughed.
"Hmph." Keqing huffed, then brought Shenhe up again. "Anyway, Shenhe's staying at our place tonight, so don't even think about trying anything."
"We could just go into the pocket world." Ryou shot her a look, then leaned in and kissed her.
They were still inside the Ministry office, so he kept it light and didn't go any further.
Even so, Keqing flushed all the way to her ears and looked so embarrassed she could barely meet his eyes.
"I'm ignoring you. I still have things to deal with." Keqing wriggled free from his arms, and before Ryou could react, she hurried out of the office in quick little steps.
Ryou only shook his head as he watched her leave. Then he got up and walked out as well. He still had to meet Lumine that evening.
Just thinking about that made his head ache. He really hadn't expected Lumine to blackmail him over something like this.
Ryou went to Liuli Pavilion and reserved a table. When he came back out, he ran into two familiar faces.
Yanfei and Kuki Shinobu.
They had just come out from inside. The moment they saw Ryou, both of their expressions shifted. It was obvious neither of them thought very highly of him.
Ryou stepped forward and said, "Miss Yanfei, Miss Kuki Shinobu. What a coincidence."
"Who's being friendly with you?" Yanfei snapped the second she saw him. "What are you doing here? Don't tell me you're bringing some girl to Liuli Pavilion for dinner. I'm telling Keqing about this."
Yanfei had never liked him in the first place. He'd had people drag her into the Ministry of Civil Affairs before, and later she found out he had already seen her completely naked.
He'd even had her junior dragged into the Ministry several times, and because of him, Yanfei had ended up meeting Keqing more than once.
"Yanfei, we may have had a few misunderstandings between us, but haven't those already passed?" Ryou frowned at her. "Why are you still clinging to it?"
"Hmph. After the things you did, there's no way I'm just letting it go." Yanfei shot him a glare. "You'd better pray nothing ever falls into my hands, because if it does, I'll send you straight in."
Then she grabbed Shinobu's arm. "Come on, Shinobu. Let's go."
"You..." Ryou pointed at Yanfei, furious. "Fine. If that's how you want to play it, let's see who ends up cleaning who out today."
Ryou immediately headed over to the Millelith, gathered around a dozen of them, and marched straight to Yanfei's legal advisory office with a full escort.
Bang!
"Official inspection from the Ministry of Civil Affairs!" Ryou strode in first.
"Ryou, you..." Yanfei nearly exploded when she saw him show up at her door. Was this man really that petty? She'd only thrown a few words at him back at Liuli Pavilion, and he came storming straight to her office with an entire squad?
"Yanfei, I am a staff member of the Ministry of Civil Affairs." Ryou forced a stern look onto his face. "I've received reports that you've fabricated evidence for clients, and there are rumors that some of your cases have issues."
"So now, place every official document from the last year on the table."
Yanfei glared at him so hard her teeth were practically grinding. "What utter nonsense. That's slander. If you want to inspect us, where's your evidence?"
"If you don't have any, then I'm not letting you investigate us like this."
"Yanfei, you won't even let us inspect the files?" Ryou looked at her, then swept his gaze across the others. "You. Guard the entrance. No one leaves."
"Yes, Ryou-sama!" the Millelith answered at once and moved to carry out the order.
"At first, I was only suspicious." Ryou dropped into a chair and sat back. "Don't force this into something ugly. That won't do you any favors."
Yanfei clenched her fists. She wanted nothing more than to smash this shameless man over the head with her law book.
This was obviously personal.
He was only targeting her because she'd said a few things about him at Liuli Pavilion.
Wait.
Could it be because he actually had something to hide?
Maybe he hadn't booked Liuli Pavilion for dinner with Keqing at all.
Maybe he was meeting another woman there.
I knew it. There's definitely something wrong with this man.
He's cheating.
Hmph. Once I get proof, you're finished.
"Yanfei... what do we do now?" a few people asked nervously.
"Give him everything," Yanfei said coldly with her arms folded. "I refuse to believe he'll find anything."
"O-Okay."
One by one, they carried over the files and stacked them on the table.
Soon the tabletop was covered in case files, packed so densely that there were at least as many as in the Ministry of Civil Affairs—maybe even more.
Even Ryou was surprised.
Yanfei was seriously good at her job.
He picked up one of the case files and started reading.
[Ding. Eyes entering Darkened Mode.]
[Ding. Eyes: Darkened Mode active. You have gained X-ray vision.]
Ryou was instantly overjoyed and seized the chance to slip into the body-parts group chat.
[Ryou: Eyes, nicely done.]
[Eye: Hehe. Naturally.]
[Hand: Come on, Eyes only got X-ray vision because it couldn't see clearly while peeping at girls last night.]
[Ear: Master, I'd like the night off.]
[Ryou: Granted.]
[Eye: Master, I spotted Signora in Liyue Harbor yesterday.]
[Ryou: Signora? She didn't leave Liyue Harbor?]
[Ear: She didn't. She even argued with Zhongli, saying he broke the agreement. And the two of them were even photographed together in a questionable shot.]
[Eye: That's right. I saw Signora stay behind in Liyue Harbor.]
[Hand: Master, I already copped a feel for Signora for you. Damn... she's huge.]
[Heart: Pervert.]
[Kidney: Damn, just hearing that got me worked up.]
[Face: What do you mean you got worked up? The one who got excited was clearly Master. Hand, grope a little more next time. Master likes it.]
[Ryou: ...]
[Hand: Got it, Master! I'll go again tonight. I also touched the Anemo Gnosis. Want me to steal it for you?]
[Ryou: She's still carrying the Anemo Gnosis on her? Interesting. Steal it tonight.]
[Hand: Got it, Master!]
Yanfei was already furious just watching Ryou sit there with a single case file in hand.
If he was going to inspect something, then inspect it properly.
What was the point of staring at one file for so long?
"Ryou, there's nothing wrong with that case," Yanfei snapped. "What exactly are you staring at?"
"I..." Ryou looked up—then sucked in a sharp breath.
With X-ray vision still active, Yanfei was standing there completely naked in front of him.
The moment he thought back to what Eye had seen before, his blood rushed upward, and his nose started to itch.
He hurriedly turned X-ray vision off.
If he kept seeing scenes like that all the time, wasn't that just asking for trouble?
He put the case file down and thought again about Signora still being in Liyue Harbor. After what had happened with the Fatui, the Northland Bank was practically hated by everyone now.
And yet she still dared to stay.
That really did surprise him.
Still, since Hand could steal the Gnosis for him, there was no need to rush.
Ryou swept a glance across the pile of files, tossed the one in his hand back onto the table, and said, "Take all these case files back with us."
"Yes!" several Millelith stepped forward at once.
"Ryou, if you want to inspect them, then inspect them," Yanfei said through gritted teeth. "Why are you taking all the files away?"
"If you've done nothing wrong, then why are you so scared?" Ryou said as he stood up. "And one more thing—you're all coming with me to Yujing Terrace."
With that, he turned and walked out.
"Ryou, you..." Yanfei gripped her law book so tightly she looked ready to crack him over the back of the head with it.
[End of chapter]
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