Keqing stood outside the office, knocking on the door.
She had just gotten word that Ryou had dragged Yanfei's entire law office into the Ministry of Civil Affairs.
She rushed back at once, only to find the office door locked just as she was about to go in.
After knocking for a while, she started to feel that something was off.
Ryou was definitely inside. Shenhe should have already returned with Ganyu by now too.
With the two of them alone in the office... could they be doing something?
The moment a few overly pink images flashed through her mind, Keqing's temper flared. She clenched her fist, lifted her leg, and kicked the door open.
With a loud bang, the door flew inward and slammed hard against the wall.
Keqing strode into the office and saw Ryou sitting behind the desk, rubbing his head. Across from him, Shenhe was leaning back in a chair by the wall, chewing gum without even looking up.
Keqing walked straight over to Ryou and leaned in to sniff him, but she didn't catch any suspicious scent.
Then she looked at him and asked, "Why didn't you open the door just now?"
That only made Ryou angrier. He shot Shenhe a vicious look.
It was all this woman's fault. She had been kissing him and touching him all over. If Keqing hadn't shown up when she did, he definitely would have lost control.
Ningguang at least knew when to stop. She liked teasing him, but she always kept things right at the edge.
Shenhe, on the other hand, was far more reckless.
Once she got going, it felt like she wanted to drag him down and deal with him on the spot.
Maybe it was because she had already seen that future and knew he would marry her one day, even have a child with her. Ever since then, she had been acting without the slightest restraint.
She was almost obsessively fixated on that child.
Fortunately, she didn't know all that much yet. She had only kissed him and touched him. Nothing more had happened in time.
"Keqing, my head was hurting just now, so..." Ryou rubbed his forehead and answered weakly.
"Your head hurt?" Keqing's expression changed at once. She remembered what had happened to him a few days ago and immediately thought something had gone wrong again.
She grabbed his arm. "Come on, let's go to Bubu Pharmacy and have Baizhu take a look. The same thing happened before, so we can't just ignore it."
"I'm fine... I just need a little rest. I'll recover slowly." Ryou shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose.
Even with his overall strength boosted to two hundred and forty percent, plus all the bodily enhancement he had stacked on top of that, he still hadn't been able to break free from Shenhe by force.
If he stayed alone with her long enough and she ever caught the right opening, she really might devour him alive.
Ryou glanced sideways toward the window, remembered that he had already booked a room at Liuli Pavilion, and said, "Keqing, don't worry. I'm alright. Right, I made a reservation at Liuli Pavilion for today. Let's go eat there in a bit."
"Alright." Keqing was still worried, but seeing how uncomfortable he looked, she believed him and didn't press any further.
"I'm coming too," Shenhe said.
"You..." Ryou glanced at her, then reluctantly gave in.
The moment he looked at Shenhe, he remembered that soft, smothering pressure when she had pressed herself against him. It had felt gentle and overwhelming at the same time.
She really wasn't heavy at all. When she wrapped herself around him, it had almost felt like a massage, and the faint fragrance on her body only made it worse.
With all of that together, Ryou felt heat rising in him again.
He hurriedly shoved the thought out of his head, turned to Keqing, and asked, "Keqing, how long does it take to get from Liyue to Mondstadt?"
"To Mondstadt?" Keqing rested her chin on her hand and thought for a moment. "About two days, I think. If you go by carriage, you can make it in one. Are you planning to leave today?"
"Today probably won't work. After we eat, let's make a trip to the Jade Chamber. We'll finish arranging everything tomorrow, leave early the day after, and reach Mondstadt by tomorrow night."
"That works." After thinking it over, Keqing nodded.
Not long after, Ryou took Keqing and Shenhe to Liuli Pavilion.
Standing by the window of their private room, Ryou looked down at Feiyun Slope below. The whole area was lively, and quite a few new shops had started opening again. Little by little, the old prosperity was returning.
"What are you looking at?" Keqing asked as she came to stand beside him.
"I was thinking that one day, when we have time, I should take you traveling too. Like the Tabibito..." Ryou suddenly froze.
Only then did he remember that he had asked Lumine to meet him there today so they could talk about Hand, Eye, and all that other mess.
Shenhe had thrown him so badly off balance that he had completely forgotten about it.
And to make things worse, he had brought Shenhe and Keqing with him.
"What is it?" Keqing asked, concern filling her face.
"Nothing." Ryou shook his head, pulled her into his arms, and said, "Once I've trained up a few more people, I'll take all of you traveling."
"Mondstadt's Windrise, Inazuma's Grand Narukami Shrine, Sumeru's Akademiya, Fontaine's Opera Epiclese, Natlan's Stadium of the Sacred Flame... we can go to all of them."
"Mm." Warmth filled Keqing's heart as she leaned her head against his shoulder. "I don't care where we go. As long as you're with me, that's enough."
"Keqing..." Ryou rubbed her head, kissed her forehead, and felt even more guilty toward her.
He told himself that no matter what, he had to treat her well.
After checking the sky outside, he figured Lumine probably wouldn't arrive so soon. He planned to finish dinner early, then find a chance to talk to her alone afterward.
Even if the timing got messy, at least it wouldn't turn into too much trouble.
Shenhe was still manageable.
"Keqing, can I ask you something?" Shenhe looked at her for a while before speaking.
"What is it?" Keqing was in a good mood.
"Do you like children?" Shenhe asked.
"Children?" Keqing smiled and nodded. "Of course I do."
Naturally, she liked children. She had even thought about giving Ryou two someday.
But if she got pregnant, then what would Ryou do?
He was such a good man. If she wasn't around to help him and he had to keep holding himself back all the time, that wouldn't be fair either.
Keqing thought of Ganyu and quietly decided that one way or another, she had to help Ryou win her over too.
Then she remembered how Ganyu seemed to have been avoiding her lately, and her head started to ache.
Truthfully, she had started longing for a child ever since she first met Klee.
She could tell that Ryou liked children very much. He had doted on Klee from the start.
So Keqing wanted to give him two someday—a girl and a boy.
"Then... do you prefer girls or boys?" Shenhe asked.
After a short pause, she looked at Ryou, then back at Keqing.
"And... how exactly do you get pregnant?"
Pfft!
Ryou sprayed a mouthful of tea straight across the table.
So that roundabout mess was really just Shenhe trying to ask how babies were made.
Keqing shot him a glare, her whole face burning hot. She couldn't believe Shenhe had just asked something that embarrassing.
How was she supposed to explain that?
"Keqing?" Shenhe blinked at her.
She truly knew next to nothing about this sort of thing.
Normally, Master only taught her about mechanisms, cultivation, and the practical matters of daily life. Things like this had never come up.
She had occasionally overheard women mention certain things before, but they always said a few strange lines and then burst into laughter for no reason.
She never understood any of it, and she never asked.
Now that she was facing the matter herself, she regretted that.
She knew that in the future, she and Ryou would have a child.
But how?
She had no idea.
Since Keqing had been married to Ryou for so long, Shenhe assumed she must know. That was why she asked.
In Shenhe's mind, once she learned the method, then all she had to do was wait for the right chance, drag Ryou back to Mt. Aocang, keep him there for ten days or half a month, and a child would probably happen.
Master liked children too.
Although Shenhe had only seen one child in that vision, if she worked hard enough, she could probably have several.
Then Master could help raise one. Shenhe could raise one too. Mm... Mountain Shaper could help with one, and Moon Carver could help with another.
As for Xiao... probably not.
Keqing stared at Shenhe's curious face and had no idea how to explain any of this.
In the end, she turned straight to Ryou.
"What are you looking at? You explain it."
"Me?" Ryou said helplessly.
So first you ask my wife how babies are made, and then once you get the answer, you plan to use it on me?
If Keqing ever learned what Shenhe was really thinking, she would probably come at her swinging Lion's Roar.
"How am I even supposed to explain something like that?" Ryou coughed awkwardly, already thinking that under no circumstances could he tell Shenhe the truth.
Shenhe was already bold enough as it was.
Now that she knew she would have a child with him in the future, she was utterly unrestrained whenever she made a move on him.
Sure, it felt good.
But still... being forced like that was a little weird, wasn't it?
"How about this?" Ryou said quickly, shoving the problem elsewhere. "When you have time, ask your Master."
"Master has lived alone for decades. What would she know?" Shenhe shook her head.
But the moment she mentioned Master, she remembered that Cloud Retainer had also appeared in that vision.
The thought that Master might end up together with Ryou in the future made her feel strangely unsettled.
Shenhe looked at Ryou and asked, "Ryou, what do you think of my Master?"
"Cloud Retainer?" Ryou lowered his voice a little. "She's actually soft-hearted beneath the surface. Sharp tongue, soft heart. And there's one more thing..."
He leaned in and whispered, "Cloud Retainer is a bit of a chatterbox. She could talk to anyone until dawn if she got going."
Then he quickly added, "Ahem. Don't repeat that."
"Oh? Is that true?" Keqing hadn't known that. She immediately looked at Shenhe. "Is it?"
"It is." Shenhe nodded.
Back on Mt. Aocang, once Master started talking about things like Ganyu's childhood, she could go on and on forever.
Still, very few people should have known about that.
And Cloud Retainer hadn't spent that much time with Ryou. Besides, every time Master went to Liyue Harbor, Shenhe herself had been right there beside her.
So how had those two gotten tangled up at all?
Shenhe narrowed her eyes at Ryou.
"Ryou... do you like my Master? Outsiders shouldn't know things like that. So how do you?"
[End of chapter]
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