He changed Tiwat

"...So what do you mean?"

Ningguang had to admit that she couldn't figure out what Han Fulai was up to.

"One sentence."

Han Fulai once again flashed his "I'm stronger now" smile.

"With just one word, I can make Pantalone lose both Mora and his army!"

Chapter Sixty-Eight: The Civil Servant's Fourth-Tier Tactics [4k]

"You just need to... say one sentence?"

Ningguang spun the pipe in her hand rapidly, seemingly indicating that her thoughts were churning.

Ningguang knew perfectly well that Han Fulai had only received intelligence about the circulation of counterfeit currency in Liyue Harbor yesterday, and that he had only gone to the Jade Pavilion yesterday afternoon to report to her with a bag of counterfeit Mora. Moreover, Han Fulai's report also mentioned that he only began investigating the counterfeit Mora after hearing about this news.

In fact, Han Fulai's "testing the waters"—his request for Yan Fei to investigate Ye Lan—had already yielded results. Yan Fei's actions were already on Ning Guang's desk that very evening. It was precisely for this reason that Ning Guang decided to try and win over Han Fulai during their date today.

Therefore, Ningguang is quite certain that, up to now, Han Fulai has been in contact with Zao Mora for less than a day.

And yet he actually dared to boast that he would solve the problem?

Ningguang discovers that even her reason and emotions can sometimes clash.

Her mind told her that this was unbelievable, but her heart reminded her that she had become accustomed to believing him.

Ningguang's earlier statement to Han Fulai, "You have unlimited potential," was sincere.

Han Fulai had surprised her too many times before, so Ningguang didn't mind experiencing it again—but Han Fulai's words did make her hesitate.

If the miracles Han Fulai had created in the past were still within Ningguang's imagination, then his claim that "I can make the rich lose both Mora and their army with just one sentence" has completely exceeded Ningguang's imagination.

Ningguang considered herself and Pantarone to be old rivals, intimately familiar with Pantarone's abilities and methods. Given enough intelligence, she was even confident she could mimic Pantarone's thought process. Her offer of "I will handle the forgery of Mora" stemmed from this very confidence.

Even she couldn't think of a way to break the deadlock with just one sentence; it was simply wishful thinking!

And that's the source of Han Fulai's confidence in bargaining with her now, isn't it?

Han Fulai maintained his smile: "Lady Ningguang should know very well that I always keep my word. If necessary, I can resolve the counterfeit currency incident in Liyue Harbor tomorrow."

Such confidence only made Ningguang more unable to see through his true intentions.

Ningguang chuckled and shook her head. "Really? I don't believe it. If you don't tell me what 'that sentence' is, I can only assume you're bluffing."

As the saying goes, "Those who praise and criticize are the buyers, those who applaud are the bystanders, and those who complain about the goods are the buyers." In negotiations, lowering the price is the standard practice.

"Bargaining" is essentially a game of strategizing over the other party's bottom line. Whoever tests the other party's bottom line first gains the upper hand in the transaction. As Liyue's most successful businesswoman, Ningguang is naturally an expert in this art.

In Ningguang's mind, Han Fulai had only two ways to respond. One was to avoid the real issue and continue to engage her in verbal sparring, slowly testing each other's limits; the other was to confront her directly, revealing his hand and confronting her head-on to determine the dominant position between them.

It's like Han Fulai and Ningguang playing Texas Hold'em, each with two hole cards face down. Based on the five community cards, Ningguang's two hole cards form a straight flush. This is the second-best hand in Texas Hold'em, second only to the royal flush. Statistically, having such a strong hand almost guarantees a win.

So Ningguang confidently used various techniques to lure Han Fulai into calling and raising, gradually approaching the showdown stage. Just before the showdown, Han Fulai suddenly declared, "I have a royal flush, Ningguang, you're doomed if you don't fold."

Ningguang retorted without backing down, "Go ahead and lay your cards on the table if you dare."

Generally speaking, Han Fulai only has two options: fold or showdown.

But to her surprise, Han Fulai chose a third path:

"Lady Ningguang should trust me. I know very well where your confidence comes from—from the speculation of Luminous Essence to the circulation of counterfeit Mora, you were involved in everything. The things happening in Liyue Harbor right now were also orchestrated by you. I am negotiating with you based on this knowledge."

—He revealed Ningguang's trump card!

This statement is equivalent to Han Fulai suddenly revealing Ningguang's hand clearly before the showdown!

Upon hearing this, even Ningguang, with her exceptional composure, couldn't help but change her expression drastically.

She clenched her fist tightly, and the spinning pipe in her hand stopped instantly.

What Han Fulai said was exactly what Ningguang had done—but how did he know about these things?

Ningguang was quite certain that only two people in the entire Liyue knew what she had done: herself and Yelan.

Even Ye Lan was merely an executor of the plan, only helping Ning Guang spread rumors and other such activities; she was unaware of the full scope of the plan. Even if Han Fulai did various things to Ye Lan in the Qingxupu Ruins and extracted some information, it would be impossible to piece together the truth of the plan.

Han Fulai was not bluffing; he had genuinely seen through his plan!

But how could that be? Han Fulai only learned about the forgery of Mora yesterday, and only today about the luminous marrow, while she had been planning and scheming for this for at least half a month, and she believed she hadn't revealed any trace of it. Or perhaps he had some other means to read people's minds?

Yelan comes from a family of sorcerers, and her elders have a history with the Liyue immortals. They once told Ningguang about a technique called "Dream Travel Through Realms," which is a method used by immortals to separate their souls from their bodies for cultivation. However, this technique can also be used to summon the souls of others in dreams. When the Emperor appeared to her in a dream during the summoning ceremony, he probably used a similar technique.

Han Fulai had a close relationship with the immortals. What if he learned some strange magic from that crane when he went to Mount Aozang, and then attacked his sleeping self...?

The more she thought about it, the more alarmed she became, and she involuntarily took a half step back.

Seeing Ningguang's reaction, Han Fulai knew she had misunderstood and couldn't help but sigh.

"Lord Ningguang, there's no need to be nervous. Actually, it was only after you reminded me to think about the connection between the Radiant Essence and Lord Rouran that I was able to figure these things out."

"Don't forget, although I am the secretary of Moonsea Pavilion, I am also a civil servant of Liyue. The methods used by Lady Ningguang were also taught to me by Lady Ganyu. We civil servants call them 'fourth-tier tactics'."

Han Fulai smiled and spread his hands, adopting an open and honest posture to show that he had no ill intentions.

“Let’s take the circulation of counterfeit Mora in Liyue Harbor as an example. If nothing unexpected happens, counterfeit Mora should have started circulating in Liyue Harbor around the time of the Lantern Festival, and Ningguang discovered this around the time of the Battle of Barchak.”

As Han Fulai said, Ningguang learned of the counterfeit Mora in Liyue Harbor shortly after the Battle of Bacha. At that time, the Seven Stars Conference had concluded, and Ningguang had summoned the artisans of Liyue Harbor, hoping they could forge a new batch of weapons for the Thousand Rock Army. It was around that time that Lao Zhang of Hanfeng Ironworks discovered the existence of the counterfeit Mora while using Mora as a catalyst to forge weapons.

Han Fulai held up one finger.

"Lady Ningguang discovered counterfeit Mora in Liyue Harbor and connected this to the matter of the Radiant Essence roasted goods, so you immediately came up with this plan. So things have entered the first stage, which is—we declare that nothing has happened."

After Lao Zhang discovered this, he immediately reported it to Ningguang. Ningguang's immediate action was to strictly order Lao Zhang to keep it a secret, and then take a batch of new Mora from the warehouse and distribute it to the craftsmen as a catalyst, thus suppressing the matter.

Han Fulai raised his second finger and continued, "Not long after, some merchants in Liyue Harbor must have discovered the existence of counterfeit Mora. Rumors began to spread in Liyue Harbor. I think Lady Ningguang must have heard about the rumors very quickly, but instead of stopping them, she let them spread and even fueled them. At this point, things entered the second stage—we said that something might happen, but we shouldn't take any action."

The rumor initially started circulating in the Chihu Rock area. Near the Chihu Rock bulletin board, there was a communal alchemy station where, like the owner of Chunxiang Kiln, Ying'er, would occasionally use it to concoct perfumes. Some time ago, someone using the alchemy station discovered the existence of counterfeit Mora, and the news spread to a small circle.

The problem is that ordinary people can't distinguish Mora from genuine Mora, so counterfeit Mora is mixed with real Mora in their possession. When using an alchemy table, people simply throw in a handful of Mora, and once the alchemy is successful, they don't care about the strange impurities that appear. At most, they might think that there was a mistake in their operation, so they don't pay much attention to it.

Ningguang also began to pretend nothing was happening while secretly using her influence to make her own plans.

“And now, we are in the third stage.” Han Fulai raised his third finger. “Just as Lady Ningguang said to me and Lady Keqing yesterday in the Qunyu Pavilion—perhaps we should take action, but there is nothing we can do.”

Yesterday, when Ningguang met with Han Fulai and Keqing, she talked about how to deal with the fake Mora, and said this: "Things happened too suddenly... I don't have any good solutions for the time being."

It was around that time that Han Fulai began to have substantial doubts about Ningguang's role in the matter.

He raised his fourth finger.

"If we just stall for a little longer, let things drag on to the fourth stage. Once it's too late, Lady Ningguang will say, 'Perhaps we could have done something back then, but now it's too late.'"

Han Fulai looked directly at Ningguang and slowly said, "At that time, Lady Ningguang could propose a plan to exchange Liyue currency for Mora. You would use the Liyue National Bank as a backing to declare that Liyue Harbor was attacked by counterfeit currency from Winterfell, enter a state of emergency, and then take over all the Mora in Liyue Harbor, right?"

If Ningguang's feeling just now was "shock", then her feeling now is "numbness".

Ningguang gently tapped the pipe in her hand, telling herself to regain her composure and think carefully.

If this were a poker game, and Han Fulai had the ability to see through her hand, why wouldn't he lure her into raising step by step and then just reveal his hand and beat her up? Why would he give himself a chance to fold?

Is it because Han Fulai's cards aren't actually as strong as hers? Does he lack the ability to resolve these issues, so he resorts to this bluffing tactic to trick her into making concessions?

Or perhaps... this is his feeling for her?

In just a few seconds, Ningguang made her decision.

Ningguang glanced at Han Fulai with her beautiful eyes. Her gaze shifted, seemingly expressing both admiration and regret.

"I'm even starting to wonder, what else is there that you don't know?"

Han Fulai placed his hand on his chest, bowed slightly to Ningguang with humility, and said, "Lord Ningguang, can we now have a truly open and honest discussion?"

“Speak freely,” Ningguang said with a smile.

Han Fulai straightened up, his expression serious.

“Then I’ll start from the beginning, from Pantalone’s ‘chain scheme’. If there are any errors or omissions, please fill in the gaps for me, Lady Ningguang.”

Ningguang nodded. "Please."

"Pantarone's arrival in Liyue wasn't just to spy on the secrets of the Golden House. It now seems that Winterland's collection of amber, and Pantarone's theft of the amber from the Flying Cloud Merchant Guild, were both for obtaining the raw materials to manufacture Mora. Due to the Liyue Strategic Materials Embargo Act, Winterland couldn't obtain the raw materials to manufacture Mora after the amber was blocked, so they had no choice but to take the risk during the Lantern Festival."

"He left at least three steps behind in Liyue. The first step was to continue investigating the method of forging the true Mora. I think he must have heard some rumors about the Qingxu Pool ruins, so he had already sent the Fatui to begin investigating the secrets of the Qingxu Pool ruins. That's why the selection of the Celestial Star happened."

Ningguang then added, "With the technology currently available in Winterlands, once they obtain the amber, they can create fake Mora that is indistinguishable from genuine Mora on the surface. However, this kind of Mora lacks the flesh and blood of the Geo Archon and cannot be used as an alchemical catalyst, thus it cannot replace genuine Mora as a precious resource. I think Pantarone's ultimate goal is to make Winterlands replace Liyue as the location of the only mint on the Teyvat continent."

Han Fulai continued, "So Pantarone's second step was to spread counterfeit Mora in Liyue, damaging Liyue's reputation and disrupting its financial order. I guess he had prepared a large amount of counterfeit Mora beforehand, and after he left Liyue Harbor, these counterfeit Mora were put into circulation in Liyue Harbor through the channels of the Northern Bank."

"If Pantarone obtains the secrets of the Qingxu Ruins, he can have Winterland publicly announce that they also possess minting technology while Liyue is affected by counterfeit coins. I believe the economic center of Teyvat will soon shift from Liyue to Winterland."

Ningguang twirled the pipe in her hand, recalling the conversation between Zhiyi and Yusupov that she had heard in the recording.

“I guess Pantalone said something like this: ‘At the darkest moment in Liyue, it happens to be the brightest in winter.’”

Chapter Sixty-Nine...Fool, I was just kidding! [5k5]

Even though the Geo Archon has retired and Liyue is in a state of hidden turmoil, the foundation laid 3,700 years ago has allowed Liyue to remain firmly in the top position of the Teyvat economy.

How can Winterland, ranked second, surpass Liyue, the "big brother" with over three thousand years of history?

In this respect, Pantalone and Shen He may get along very well, because their logic is surprisingly similar—competition is about crushing each other, eliminating the number one, and then I become number one.

"That's right. Both of Pantalone's moves are preparations for replacing Liyue's economic position."

Han Fulai nodded calmly and continued to Ningguang: "The circulation of counterfeit Mora requires a lot of investment and transactions, which takes time. So Pantarone's third step is to buy time. Therefore, he arranged for his men to release the Bazha, so that our attention would be focused on the attack that Liyue Harbor was about to be attacked, while ignoring the unremarkable circulation of Mora."

“The counterfeit money was released after the Lantern Festival, which means that the circulation of counterfeit money should have started around the time of the Lantern Festival.”

“That’s right, I received the message from Beidou during the Lantern Festival and began preparing for the battle against Báchá,” Ningguang interjected. “At that time, we had both the issuance of Liyue currency and preparations for war to handle, so no one had time to pay attention to the situation in the Liyue market. Even though the Northern Bank brought in more reserves than usual, I just assumed they wanted to take advantage of the turmoil in Liyue and didn’t take it seriously. Now that I think about it, the counterfeit currency entered Liyue at that time.”

Han Fulai sighed.

“I was suspicious of the Fatui’s motives for releasing the Brack. The Brack alone cannot destroy Liyue Harbor. Although it is a touchstone for testing Liyue’s current strength, I did not expect that this matter would be related to Mora. Pantarone’s move… in my hometown we call it ‘openly repairing the plank road while secretly crossing the Chencang.’”

Although Ningguang didn't know where "Chencang" was, she easily understood what Han Fulai meant and sighed as well: "Just like during the Lantern Festival, he drew our attention to Qingce Manor and Golden House, and then launched a surprise attack on the General Affairs Department... He has mastered the art of 'feinting to the east while attacking the west'."

"But Lady Ningguang still discovered his plan ahead of time. Lady Ningguang, you were already investigating the secrets of Qingxu Pool and had already discovered that the Fatui were also interested in this ruin. The incidents of counterfeit Mora and the sale of luminous marrow in Liyue Harbor quickly connected everything to you," Han Fulai said.

Ningguang smiled and said, "When facing someone like Pantalone, it's always better to be cautious."

Han Fulai nodded and continued, "The luminous marrow speculation scam was arranged by Pantarone... or by an insider in Liyue Harbor, to facilitate the rapid circulation of counterfeit currency. Even if it wasn't luminous marrow, it could have been Sunset Berry, Rainbow Blossom... as long as the item was suitable for speculation and could prompt the Northern Bank to provide large amounts of loans to Liyue merchants."

“If the Northern Bank uses counterfeit currency for large investments, there will always be clues to be found afterward. But normal loan business is all about ‘counting the money in person and taking no responsibility after leaving the counter.’ Especially for those speculators, who are in urgent need of money, they immediately use the counterfeit currency for transactions as soon as they get their hands on it. After changing hands several times, no one can be sure of the source of the counterfeit currency.”

"Furthermore, it's common knowledge that Liyue is the only mint on the Teyvat continent, and all Mora is produced there. Even if someone keeps the counterfeit coins extracted from the Northern Bank, the Northern Bank can easily turn the tables and claim that those counterfeit coins were produced by the Seven Stars of Liyue!"

“That’s right. As long as the counterfeit money circulates quickly, the Northern Bank is essentially invincible.” Ningguang tapped her pipe lightly. “Since we can’t disclose the Mora production process of the Golden House, we have no way to prove our innocence. Now, we, the Liyue Seven Stars, are in a situation where we can’t clear our names even if we jump into the Biyue River.”

"But I must say, as expected of Lady Ningguang, you devised a countermeasure in the shortest time—using a counter-strategy, leveraging the opponent's strength against them, and using a fake Mora to achieve your own goals." Han Fulai's voice was full of emotion. "If you hadn't invited me to come today, I might still be in the dark."

"Oh?" Ningguang tilted her head, running her fingers through a strand of hair at her temple. "I thought the matter of forging Mora wasn't even mentioned during this date."

“Of course you didn’t mention it, I just happened to notice a detail.” Han Fulai lowered his eyes. “As you probably know, I met with Miss Yanfei yesterday. Miss Yanfei told me that there are two places in Liyue Harbor where merchants have started refusing to accept Mora because of rumors. One is the dock area, and the other is Scarlet Cloud Slope.”

"When you took me to make the 'Liyue Millennium' chess pieces today, we visited 'Starry House'. It was only then that I learned that Starry House is your friend."

“I’ve known Xingxi for a long time. I bought many pieces of jewelry from her, and even the chess pieces for ‘Liyue Millennium’ were made by her. We naturally became familiar with each other over time. Is there anything wrong with that?” Ningguang asked curiously.

"Because Yanfei told me that Boss Xingxi was one of the merchants on Feiyun Slope who refused to accept Mora," Han Fulai said in a deep voice. "I was once asked by Lady Keqing to help get a 'Glassy Crescent Moon' from Mingxingzhai... At that time, Boss Xingxi mistook me for a merchant from out of town. She told me that there was a constant stream of out-of-town merchants who wanted to buy the 'Glassy Crescent Moon,' and the orders were already booked for several months. The rule for ordering was to pay her Mora as a deposit on the spot."

“Other shops refusing Mora can be somewhat justified, but it's inappropriate for Boss Xingxi to refuse Mora. Her ‘Xingxingzhai’ is the most popular shop among out-of-town merchants on Scarlet Cloud Slope. Out-of-town merchants aren't used to using Liyue Coins and always carry Mora with them for transactions. If she refuses Mora from out-of-town merchants, wouldn't she be jeopardizing her own business? Just from hearing rumors, I don't think she would make a decision to only accept Liyue Coins, unless…”

“…Unless it was me, Tianquan Star, who personally revealed it to her, right?” Ningguang sighed. “So from that time on, you suspected that I had already interfered in the forgery of Mora.”

Han Fulai nodded slightly and continued, "Besides that, the rumors I heard at the docks were also quite interesting. I heard three versions of the rumors. One rumor was that the Fatui were manufacturing counterfeit money, which is normal, since the people of Liyue have a strong emotional aversion to the Fatui. The Fatui can be considered the 'source of all evil' in the hearts of the people of Liyue. But the other two rumors are very strange."

"One of the rumors specifically names the captain of Beidou, saying that there are counterfeit Mora in Liyue Harbor, and he speaks with such certainty as if he saw it with his own eyes; while another rumor is even more interesting, directly accusing you—Lord Ningguang—of manufacturing counterfeit money. If I were a member of the Fatui, and I wanted to spread rumors, I would at most say that the Liyue Seven Stars manufactured counterfeit money, without specifying any particular Seven Star. I would prefer to consider this matter as the responsibility of the entire Liyue Seven Stars."

"But from the perspective of debunking rumors, it would be more convenient for the person involved in the rumor to appear and refute it, right? Besides, you did 'warn' Boss Ying'er that if any strange rumors appeared on the street, she would be the first to be suspected. I believe that no rumor can escape your ears, especially those about yourself. There were rumors in Liyue Harbor that 'Lord Ningguang is making counterfeit money,' how could you turn a deaf ear to them?"

Han Fulai looked at Ningguang, who readily admitted to the matter.

“Beidou is someone who never keeps her mouth shut. When she’s drunk, she’ll spill everything… I just kindly reminded her that it would be best to use Liyue Coins for transactions in the future. As for the rumors pointing at me… I had Yelan and the others disguise themselves and spread the news. That way, when the time is right, I can use investigating the rumors as an excuse to attack the Fools.”

As Ningguang spoke, she picked up her pipe and tapped it against her palm. As if by magic, a golden Mora suddenly appeared in her palm.

"Now that we've laid everything out, let me explain this plan of 'using a counter-strategy to our advantage' myself."

“After receiving the sample of the counterfeit currency, I immediately had it authenticated. As you know, only the Alchemy Table and Elemental Vision can be used to distinguish between real and fake.” Ningguang picked up the fake Mora with her fingers and held it up to her eyes. “I don’t know what you were thinking when you discovered the existence of the counterfeit currency, but what I was thinking about was—cost. The cost of authenticating counterfeit currency is too high.”

"The alchemy table is out of the question; it's simply not a reliable method of authentication. Even if I hire someone with a Vision of God to authenticate the Mora, mistakes are inevitable. Counterfeits and genuine coins are often mixed together. Two Mora coins might be easy to distinguish, but what if two are mixed in with twenty thousand Mora coins? Or two hundred are mixed in with two hundred thousand Mora coins? The daily circulation of Mora in Liyue Harbor is in the hundreds of millions. How long would it take us to authenticate them with the naked eye?"

"We don't have the ability to distinguish between genuine and fake products in daily use... so, we just shouldn't use them."

Ningguang clenched her fist, and the fake Mora was gripped in her hand with a "snap".

"So I'm going to replace Mora with Liyue Coins! The 'Liyue Coins - Mora' system was designed for this purpose, so why don't I take this opportunity to fully promote Liyue Coins? Let Mora be the monetary standard and resource, while Liyue Coins become the currency used in daily circulation."