Amid Madame Ping's lingering, elegant zither melody, Su Yu rose and bade farewell to everyone present.
"Your Highness, I'll see you out," Yanfei said with a gentle smile.
"Stay," Su Yu replied. Seeing the obvious haze of intoxication on her face, he declined politely.
"Then… see you tomorrow, Your Highness."
"Mm."
With that, Su Yu departed together with the Mirror Maiden, vanishing from the Serenitea Pot in a blink.
The final note faded.
Madame Ping lightly brushed the strings, lost in memories of the past.
Applause soon followed from her disciples.
"I haven't played in a long time," she said softly. "My fingers have grown a little stiff."
"Granny, that was beautiful!" Xiangling exclaimed.
"When the Snezhnayan Prince left, he even gave you a thumbs-up!"
Madame Ping smiled, then smoothly changed the subject.
"Enough about me. Child—when I was playing, your eyes never once left the Snezhnayan Prince."
Yanfei, her gaze hazy from drink, hurriedly explained,
"I was drunk! I didn't even realize it myself. Staring like that is rude—I know!"
"Come with me."
Madame Ping led Yanfei to a quiet corner.
"Seeing you like that reminded me of my old friend Guizhong.
Once, the adepti and yakshas watched a musical performance with Morax. He was calmly sipping tea… while Guizhong kept sneaking glances at him."
Yanfei had heard those stories before and quickly protested,
"Granny, I'm not Senior Guizhong. I really was just drunk."
"Besides, the Snezhnayan Prince is handsome—what's wrong with looking a little more?"
Madame Ping met her eyes directly.
"Every time you lie, you avoid my gaze."
"Child… your heart has been moved."
Yanfei fell silent.
Her feelings toward Su Yu were complicated.
At first, she had only wanted to bring him to justice.
Now, she found herself wanting to solve cases with him—perhaps even spend time by his side.
After years in the legal world, she disliked powerful elites.
They so often abused authority, crushing the weak. Many of her cases were proof of that.
A prince of Snezhnaya should have been the worst of them all.
Yet after just one day…
She saw his discipline, his respect for law, his tireless learning.
His terrifying powers of observation and deduction.
His vast knowledge, as if nothing in the world was beyond him.
Most of all—his ambition.
The Snezhnayan Prince was like a bottle of aged wine.
The longer one lingered, the easier it was to be intoxicated by him.
"Granny, I'm not moved," Yanfei insisted, biting her lip and shaking her head.
"No man can move me. Emotions are a lawyer's greatest taboo."
Even she couldn't tell whether those words were the alcohol speaking—or her heart denying the truth.
"Child," Madame Ping said solemnly, "you must never fall for him."
Yanfei looked up.
"You're worried I'm not worthy of him? That I'd get hurt? You're overthinking it."
Madame Ping gazed into the distance.
"That's not what I mean."
"You heard it at the table. His goal is to defy the Heavenly Principles."
"He walks a road even Morax never dared to tread."
"The hardest road. The most dangerous. The most hopeless. The loneliest."
"I truly cannot imagine what kind of woman could walk that road to the end with him."
She spoke gently, yet firmly:
"Perhaps such a woman exists—but it is not you."
"…I understand."
"My head's spinning. I'll go rest."
Yanfei gave a perfunctory reply and quietly left.
Yet Madame Ping's words echoed endlessly in her mind—
The hardest. The most dangerous. The loneliest road.
A man like that was terrifying to approach…
and yet, heartbreakingly lonely.
Madame Ping sighed and returned to the table.
Yaoyao and Xiangling chattered endlessly beside her.
"Granny, why don't you usually play the zither? That was the best music I've ever heard!"
"I want to learn! Teach me, please!"
Unable to resist, Madame Ping finally agreed to teach them when time allowed.
"Alright, Yaoyao, it's time for bed.
Xiangling, Wanmin Restaurant is busiest right now—head back early."
After they left, only Tubby remained.
"The Snezhnayan Prince's ideas are dangerous," Tubby said hesitantly.
"He's deliberately pushing us toward this 'True Immortal' path. But if Teyvat really is a cage… then maybe he's right."
"What do you think?"
Madame Ping replied slowly,
"After Yanfei questioned him, he answered everything flawlessly. Our adepti keep few public records, yet he knew Xiao and Ganyu's histories in detail."
"That alone is unsettling."
Tubby frowned.
"I feel like he's using us. What if this so-called True Immortal art is fake?"
"Using us to defy the Heavenly Principles?" Madame Ping scoffed.
"All of us together wouldn't amount to dust before that power."
"That fear is unfounded."
"…I hope I'm wrong," Tubby said.
"We'll know tomorrow," Madame Ping concluded.
She rose.
"I've already summoned the others. It's time to prepare the one hundred billion Mora."
As she spoke, clouds suddenly billowed in the distance.
Five mighty adeptal forms descended into the teapot realm—
Cloud RetainerMountain
ShaperMoon CarverGanyu's elders,
Moonlit Cloud Retainer
Vermillion Reckoning
Liyue's foremost adepti had all arrived.
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