Genshin Impact: I, the Winter Prince, reign supreme.

Su Yu's gaze was fixed on the curtain not far away.

"Sandonie, you're ordering a puppet to wash my feet? Is this your way of admitting your mistake?"

Upon hearing this, a graceful young woman with brown hair and blue eyes emerged from behind the curtain. She walked up to Su Yu and bowed respectfully.

Her appearance and makeup were exactly the same as the little girl sitting in the palm of the autonomous machine, except that her height was the same as that of a normal human.

This is the biggest secret of Sandonne, the puppet.

Whether it's the self-regulatory agency or that little girl, they are all just her incarnations, her puppets.

Her true form remained hidden behind the dark curtain of the stage.

Apart from the Ice Queen and the Prince, no one knew that this was her true identity.

Chapter 91 Towards the Stars and the Abyss

Disarming the self-regulating mechanism, [Puppet] Sandone lifted her skirt and personally squatted down to carefully wash Su Yu's feet, finally wiping the water stains dry with a clean cloth.

Washing feet was originally the job of the ladies of the Hidden Mirror, but whenever the puppeteer Sandone was not busy, he would take over.

At first, Su Yu was a little uncomfortable, but later Sandone insisted, so Su Yu acquiesced to her behavior, even though it often caused dissatisfaction from the "girl" Columbia.

The two women have always had a strained relationship because of this, and they often engage in verbal battles, attacking each other in various situations.

Later, this matter even reached the Ice Queen.

Therefore, the Empress warned Su Yu not to favor either side.

It seems that the Queen's advice has been effective. At least a year has passed, and the [Puppet] Sandone and the [Girl] Columbia have not had any more intense confrontations.

Because neither woman wanted to embarrass Su Yu in front of the Empress, they restrained themselves considerably.

However, Su Yu viewed Sandone more as a younger sister.

Her personality was quirky and unconventional, making her an oddball among the Fools.

She has a terrible temper but is very focused. She doesn't conform to others and often has her own unique ideas, just like a spoiled younger sister in a big family.

"Your Highness, I was being naughty..."

After wiping Su Yu's feet, [Puppet] Sandoni burst into tears.

She received the order in winter and rushed to Liyue immediately, eager to see Su Yu, and waited for him all night.

As a result, on the first day Su Yu arrived in Liyue, he did not come to meet them, the Fatui Enforcers, but instead took Beidou to the small fishing village, which puzzled her greatly.

In a fit of pique, he decided to leave his post and venture into the wilderness of Liyue to search for ancient ruins and embark on an adventure.

Returning today and going to Su Yu's bathroom to take a shower without permission is her way of expressing her "protest".

However, when she came out of the bathroom, she saw Su Yu sitting upright in a chair, asleep.

In an instant, her eyes filled with tears.

Su Yu summoned them here because he needed their most trusted subordinates to share his burdens, but she "ran away from home" when the prince needed manpower the most, showing no consideration for the overall situation.

Feeling sorry for Su Yu's hard work, and regretting her own willfulness, she brought over a basin of water to wash Su Yu's feet and personally served her to bed.

"Alright, no need to kneel anymore. You've realized your mistake, just correct it next time."

"As ordered."

[Puppet] Sandonne gets up.

"How are things going with the travelers?"

"Catherine reports that the Traveler and his companion Paimon have completed a series of adventurous quests in Mondstadt. The Traveler is progressing very quickly; at first he struggled to defeat slimes, but now he can take down a Hilichurl camp on his own."

"Catherine also said that the strangest thing is that the traveler has been in Mondstadt for less than two months and has already mastered the power of wind element. He can also use wind element combat skills without the help of the Eye of God. His talent and potential are quite amazing."

"Your Highness, should we send someone to arrest him and hand him over to the doctor for research?"

Su Yu immediately rejected her idea.

“The Traveler’s identity is extraordinary. You must secretly assist him, nurture him, and help him. Do you want Dotore to slice him up?”

[Puppet] Sandone chuckled, "Your Highness, the Traveler's physique is special, seemingly like yours, capable of compatibility with multiple elemental forces. It would be excellent for human experiments. The Doctor only needs to inject a tiny bit of the Demon God Residue reagent, and then we can observe his reaction. Perhaps we can find the secret of elemental compatibility."

"The tragedy that happened with those children, Cole, must never be allowed to be experimented on again."

"But I'm very curious about the secrets of travelers."

"You're more curious about what his sister and I talked about, aren't you?"

Su Yu directly pointed out her thoughts.

When Ying arrived in winter, all eleven executive officers of the Fools had met her and naturally knew that the Queen wanted to arrange a marriage between Ying and the Prince.

"Your Highness, what did you discuss?"

Whenever it wasn't in a public setting, [Puppet] Sandone would pester Su Yu with personal questions.

Fortunately, Su Yu was already used to her penchant for exploring secrets and knew how to deal with it.

"At the Wanwenjishe auction the day before yesterday, I bought a giant serpent relic from the Kanria era, which is now yours."

“Really? That’s wonderful!” Sandoni beamed. “Thank you for the gift, Your Highness.”

Su Yu bought the self-regulating mechanism so that she could conduct research on it.

Su Yu then told her the location, and Sandone's eyes lit up. She immediately said, "I'm going there right now. The complete giant serpent ruins, those are real treasures!"

Then she remembered that the prince had not yet assigned any tasks.

"Your Highness, please assign me a task."

"In Liyue, there is a Dust Demon named Gui Zhong, who was once Morax's close friend. She tragically perished in the war between gods and demons, and her death caused Morax to prematurely enter the War of the Gods and Demons. The most dangerous thing is that Morax is unaware of this. Recently, he suddenly announced that he was going into seclusion, and his condition is very unstable. We must be on guard against this."

In the tea room of Wanwen Collection House, Zhongli once used his divine power to test Su Yu's strength.

Little did he know, Su Yu was also testing him.

Su Yu thus confirmed that Zhong Li possessed combat strength ranking among the top three of the Seven Gods, and at the same time, he also noticed something else.

The rich, primordial rock of Zhongli contains an aura of decay and depravity.

That means the wear and tear on the centrifuge has reached a critical level.

Originally, Su Yu intended for [Puppet] Sandone and [Rich Man] Pantalone to cooperate with him in the business war. However, after confirming that Zhongli posed a threat, he changed Sandone's mission.

“Pantarone will cooperate in executing my business war plan, while you will be responsible for monitoring and dealing with Morax. In case of emergency, you may take any measures without consulting me.”

Upon hearing this, Sandoni, the puppet, immediately understood.

"Yes, Your Highness. Are there any other instructions?"

"The Northern Bank will be establishing branches in six other countries. Without the intelligence support of your Adventurers' Guild, Pantarone will find it difficult to complete his mission. You must put aside past grievances, focus on the present and the future, and cooperate sincerely."

"Understood, Your Highness. Towards the stars and the abyss!"

[Puppet] Sandone bowed respectfully to Su Yu with the highest honors of the Adventurers' Guild.

The world only knows that Sandone, the "Puppet," is the executor of the Fools, but few know her other identity: the president of the Adventurers' Guild.

Catherine, the receptionist for adventurers' guilds scattered across various countries, is a bionic doll she created by combining alchemy with that of Kanria.

Chapter 92 Meeting

early morning.

A thin layer of sea fog, as thin as a veil, enveloped Yujingtai.

While most people in Liyue Harbor were still asleep, the Liyue Seven were holding an internal meeting in the brightly lit conference hall of Yujing Terrace.

Ningguang's three personal secretaries, Yuehaiting's secretary Gan Yu, and the main person in charge of the "Eight Gates" all sat at the conference table listening, holding paper and pen in their hands, carefully taking notes on the contents of the meeting.

Ningguang gazed at the gradually brightening sky outside the window, took a deep drag on her pipe, exhaled ring after ring of smoke, and then gracefully walked to the center of the hall and took her seat.

"Colleagues, the Emperor has been in seclusion for several days, which has led to the direct shutdown of the Golden House, making it impossible for Liyue to produce Mora—a first in history. The purpose of this meeting is to gather everyone's wisdom to address this unprecedented challenge. Stabilizing the market is our top priority going forward..."

Everyone took turns speaking and sharing their opinions.

However, due to a lack of experience and knowledge in this area, no one could accurately predict what would happen next, so the plans and measures discussed by everyone seemed rather vague.

After talking for more than half an hour, someone whispered, "If only Prince Zhidong were here," and the room fell silent.

This statement directly expresses the sentiments of many people.

If the Prince of Zhidong were to assume the position of "Regent," with his extensive governing abilities, he would certainly be able to resolve the issues discussed at today's meeting.

Clearly, many people want Ningguang to step forward again to consult with Prince Zhidong, or to invite Prince Zhidong to discuss national policy together.

Ningguang said coldly, "Alright, everyone, put your minds at ease. Prince Zhidong is indeed powerful, but are all of you fools?"

“You are all elites in various industries in Liyue, and you have a clearer understanding of the Liyue market than Prince Winter. Since the Emperor has entrusted Liyue to us, we cannot rely on outsiders. To govern this country, we must rely on ourselves.”

Ningguang believes it is necessary to sound the alarm for them.

"Don't forget, at the banquet in the Jade Pavilion the other day, Prince Zhidong launched a business war against us. Only if we win this business war will he become regent and help us to reform Liyue with all our might. But if we lose the business war, all our wealth will vanish!"

Ningguang's reminder caused the room to fall silent once again.

At this moment, Yuhengxing Keqing asked, "Ningguang, has Prince Zhidong made any moves these past two days?"

Ningguang, who was in charge of intelligence for Liyue, replied, "He went to your residence yesterday, and then went to Wanmin Hall with Beidou."

Seeing that everyone was looking at her, Keqing had no choice but to explain, "You don't need to look at me. I had a private conversation with Prince Zhidong."

Ningguang pressed further: "What personal topic?"

“I invited the prince to my villa to discuss the concept of ‘rule by man.’ In addition, the prince warned me that he could use means such as real estate speculation to overcome my monopoly on the real estate market.”

"Ke Qing, do you think his real estate speculation methods can defeat you?"

"can."

The atmosphere in the room suddenly became oppressive.

Even Keqing believed it would fail, so the industries monopolized by the others might not be able to survive Prince Zhidong's offensive unscathed.

The psychological pressure on the attendees increased significantly.

Especially Tian Shuxing, who was in charge of the catering industry, was sweating profusely and asked anxiously, "Ningguang, quickly tell me about Prince Zhidong's visit to Wanmintang. Is he planning to use Wanmintang to seize control from me?"