Genshin Impact, all those behind-the-scenes big shots are me

“What Su Chen said is exactly what I mean,” Qin said solemnly. “Lord Gelmay, the reason why Di Huo incited the people is simple and clear. Rather than spending a lot of manpower to suppress them, stabilizing the people’s hearts is the key. If the people are no longer suffering, no matter what Di Huo says, it will be useless.”

“Don’t worry about that.” Gailmar’s lips curled up. “I contacted my friends in Liyue a few days ago and purchased a large amount of food from Liyue at a discounted price. It should be delivered to Mondstadt soon.”

Su Chen stroked his chin, thinking to himself, "Your so-called discounted price, is it really just a 10% or 20% discount?"

However, Qin's expression improved slightly upon hearing that the food supply had been secured.

In fact, Mondstadt and Liyue also have trade relations, with a large amount of food being sent to Mondstadt every month, but it is clearly not enough at the moment, and even if we discuss it with Liyue again, it will take time.

The most urgent task is to stabilize the city's inhabitants.

The meeting ended quickly, and Jean issued a proclamation to appease the rioting citizens of Mondstadt, telling them not to heed the instigation of the fire, and that a large amount of food would soon be distributed.

Qin knew how difficult it would be to get the nobles to provide grain; it would be tantamount to shaking the very foundation of the nobles' interests.

Therefore, we can only temporarily start from other aspects.

As for Su Chen, he had no intention of making a move.

While Di Huo's actions may seem somewhat extreme at present, special problems require special handling. After experiencing this simulation, he has gained a deeper understanding of Mondstadt.

The struggle between the nobles and the subterranean fire has lasted for five hundred years, and now it's time for a resolution.

He wanted to see for himself what the Earth Fire could achieve without his guidance.

...

"teacher."

When Su Chen returned to his residence, Arya, who was cleaning the yard, immediately bowed to him.

"Don't be so nervous." Su Chen smiled slightly. "How is it? Are you satisfied with the room?"

Arya nodded repeatedly.

As Arya walked out of the desolate slum and into this detached house, she felt like she was in a dream.

Even now, she still doesn't understand what Su Chen is going to teach her as his teacher.

"I brought you some books... Can you read?"

Upon entering the room, Su Chen placed the books he had brought back from the library on the coffee table.

"know a little."

"You've studied this before?"

"Yes, my father taught me, but he died in an accident, and my mother raised me until last year..."

Arya lowered her head as she spoke.

Su Chen patted her little head and said softly, "From today onwards, this will be your home."

Arya looked up, a hint of confusion in her bright eyes.

"Teacher...why are you helping me?"

"Because I want to... is that a reason?" Su Chen said with a faint smile. "Alright, don't think too much about it. The following courses won't be easy. In addition to these books, I will also arrange for you to learn other things."

"these are..."

Alchemy from Beginner to Expert

The fundamental theory of elemental reaction mechanisms

Earth Vein Guidance

Arya glanced at it twice, and her eyes felt like they were spinning.

"Teacher..." she said with a pained expression, "These are too difficult, I can't learn them."

"It's okay, I'll teach you."

With the Sage Template, these questions posed no challenge to Su Chen.

Not to mention, the authors of these books had all taken classes under his tutelage, and their papers were all reviewed by Su Chen.

Of course, Su Chen didn't intend to train Arya to be a knowledgeable scholar, but only to give her a basic understanding of some theories. After all, this world is still dominated by elemental forces, and understanding the mechanisms within them is essential for making better use of them.

In addition, Su Chen also plans to teach Arya swordsmanship, which is the essence of the West Wind Swordsmanship from five hundred years ago. So far, there are no more than five people in the entire Mondstadt who can meet his standards in learning this swordsmanship.

The next day, Lisa appeared in the courtyard of Su Chen's residence.

She crossed her arms and looked at Arya, who was engrossed in her book.

"You asked me to help find so many books just for her? What a lucky little one."

"Why does it smell so sour? I didn't hold back when I taught you before," Su Chen chuckled. "What's wrong? Why did you suddenly come here?"

"Qin's situation is not very good right now."

Lisa turned and said seriously.

Yesterday, a meeting was held and Jean issued an announcement. This morning, a knight covered in blood brought back news that a caravan traveling from Liyue to Mondstadt was attacked while passing through Wolfrune, and all their food was stolen!

The news quickly spread among those with ulterior motives, and then the entire city of Mondstadt was thrown into chaos.

Because Qin had personally promised that food would be delivered, she had managed to appease the people. Now that the plan had fallen through, Qin was the first to face questions and inquiries from the public.

“A large number of people have gathered outside the Knights’ headquarters, all demanding an explanation from Qin. I suspect that people from the Earth Fire are secretly stirring things up, otherwise it would be impossible for things to develop so quickly.”

"It would be strange if there wasn't one."

Su Chen was surprised to hear the news and couldn't help but give a thumbs up to Di Huo's actions.

Intercepting supplies, spreading rumors to incite panic, and then jumping out as a savior after things have reached a certain point—this series of actions by Di Huo reminded him of something from five hundred years ago.

"That's quite unexpected." Su Chen stroked his chin. "What about Gelmer?"

Lisa asked, puzzled, "Why are you asking him?"

“You see, if the news of this batch of grain hadn’t been spread, the people of Mondstadt wouldn’t have said anything, and life would have continued as usual. It wasn’t like the whole city was really starving. But Gelma gave everyone hope, and the key point is that this hope was spread by Jean. Now that hope has been shattered, it’s even more painful than not telling them in the first place.”

"You suspect that all of this was orchestrated by Germey? Just to suppress Qin?"

"If that's all there is to it, with the Gunnhild family backing him up, what is a mere Germey?" Su Chen shook his head. "What you see on the surface is often misleading information. Just wait and see. Now that this has happened, there will naturally be beneficiaries who will reap the rewards."

He suddenly thought of someone.

If anyone is most familiar with the operation of the underground fire five hundred years ago, it would undoubtedly be Lady Rosalyn.

As for Gelmer's desire to suppress the harp, his own abilities alone are clearly insufficient. Even if he were to bring in the vice-commander, if the Fools were behind it all, then everything would make sense.

Sure enough, just as the public's questions reached their peak, a large amount of food suddenly appeared in Mondstadt and was distributed to the poor people through the operation of the Earthfire.

Immediately afterwards, the Fools pressured the Knights of Fatalis, offering to help them resolve the dragon plague problem in the name of the people of Mondstadt.

With the Knights' reputation at a low point, the situation would become even more difficult to manage if they rejected the Fatui's proposal, not to mention that Inspector General Germael immediately stepped forward to express his willingness to cooperate with the Fatui to resolve the dragon scourge.

Qin, as the acting leader of the group, found herself in a dilemma.

If she opposes Gelmer, the latter will surely unite with the Fools and use the food issue to pressure her, and may even force her to relinquish her position as commander.

But if they agree, they will be playing right into the hands of the fools.

Once the Fools get involved in the Dragon Plague, then it will be beyond Jean's control.

"I disagree with providing food relief to the people."

Knights Building.

A group symbolizing aristocratic power gathered here at Qin's call.

Since the planned grain supply was lost, they naturally had to find a way to gather more. So Jean suggested that the nobles of Mondstadt contribute some of their grain.

This would both resolve the terrorist attacks launched by the Earthfire under the pretext of "attacking nobles and distributing food" and quell the current riots in Mondstadt.

As expected, when the proposal was put forward, it was immediately opposed by almost everyone.

Andrei scoffed, "Commander Qin, can I interpret this as sacrificing our interests to solve your predicament?"

“This is not just my personal problem,” Jean said in a deep voice. “Gentlemen, you should be aware of the situation in Mondstadt. If this matter is allowed to continue, not only the Knights of Favonius, but everyone here will also be affected.”

"In the end, it was Di Huo who stirred things up behind the scenes, leading to the situation we have today. Commander Qin, I told you long ago that we shouldn't let those guys get away with it, but you wouldn't listen, and look what happened?"

Gelmer shook his head.

"The Inspector General is quite right," Andrei scoffed. "Those damned remnants of the subterranean fire—if it weren't for their instigation, how would those fools dare to openly oppose us? The most urgent task now isn't to offer anything, but to find a way to deal with those bastards. Otherwise, it will be like five hundred years ago, when the great Commander Rustan gave everything for Mondstadt. If it weren't for the subterranean fire, Mondstadt would be far more prosperous than it is now!"

"Now that things have come to this, does Master Jean intend to continue down this wrong path? If you persist in this erroneous direction, we will have to consider whether you have the ability to lead Mondstadt forward... I imagine that the outcry from Mondstadt will only make things more embarrassing for you then?"

As he spoke, a smile appeared in Andrei's eyes. He had already reached an agreement with the other nobles to jointly protect the rights of the nobility.

They were asked to give their precious grain to those ignorant people?

Don't even think about this kind of thing.

...

Chapter 19 The Mastermind: Su Chen [Ninth Update]

The proposal to have the nobles share the grain was naturally rejected. Although Qin had guessed that this was the most likely outcome, she still felt a chill when she saw the faces of all the nobles present who unanimously agreed to the decision.

The term "noble" originally referred to the honors bestowed upon those who had rendered meritorious service in the overthrow of the tyrant by Barbatos.

That represents the noble spirit of protecting Mondstadt.

However, as time has passed, very few people are able to uphold this belief nowadays. Most people simply use their noble status and power to seek personal gain.

Even in the darkest era of aristocratic power, the old aristocracy, led by the Lawrence family, ruled over the entire Mondstadt. The people of Mondstadt living under that era suffered greatly until the Wind God and Vanessa, the original Grand Master of the Knights of Favonius, joined forces and finally dismantled the aristocracy's rule.

Mondstadt today is no longer as dark as it once was.

But as a member of the Gunnhildr family, Jean knew all too well how deep the waters ran in the aristocratic circles.

It should be noted that even Lord Rustan, the guild leader who shone in Mondstadt five hundred years ago, who used ruthless methods to punish the nobles, still failed to completely eradicate this corrupt trend.

"I'm probably in a similar situation to Commander Rustan back then."

Evening, inside the West Wind Church.

Qin sat alone on the bench, looking up as the setting sun shone through the skylight, casting soft light on the dust motes drifting like falling dandelions.

To be honest, she's a bit lost right now.

Is it impossible to even have such a simple wish as to fight to protect Mondstadt?