He changed Tiwat

"Your beauty is even more captivating than before," Rou Ran replied.

His gaze swept over Ningguang, it was unclear whether he was referring to Qunyu Pavilion or Ningguang herself, or perhaps both.

"Is that all you have to say?" Ningguang's eyes flickered, her words carrying a hint of dissatisfaction.

Rou Ran sighed softly, "Well, to be honest, the entrance fee to Qunyu Pavilion is more expensive than before. This time, in order to get into the pavilion, I specially picked two stars for Miss Ningguang and presented them to her with both hands."

“It seems the Rouran prince is dissatisfied. Back then, someone said he would pluck the stars from the sky for me.” Ningguang feigned displeasure.

Rouran shook her head. "How dare I? I am willing to accept defeat."

Ten years ago, two young talents in the Liyue business world made a bet. The bet was for one year, with the title of the richest man in Liyue as the stage. Ningguang would challenge for the title, and Rouran would defend it. The loser would unconditionally grant the winner one request.

The Rouran once declared that if he won, Ningguang would become the mistress of the Pearl-Inlaid Boat.

Although Rouran has always reserved a private room on the Pearl-Inlaid Boat for Ningguang, Ningguang has never visited the Pearl-Inlaid Boat in the past ten years, just as Rouran has never set foot on the Jade Pavilion in the past ten years.

The two never interacted privately again after that, and lived like strangers.

Of course, Ningguang knew, and Rouran knew, that the boastful words and the agreed-upon duel were merely means to shake the opponent's resolve.

Rouran once tried to disguise himself as one of the mediocre suitors, just as Ningguang once tried to disguise herself as a vine clinging to a grape trellis.

Now that the winner has been decided, there is no need for pretense.

We're just talking business, nothing more.

"Does the bet from back then still stand?" Ningguang suddenly asked.

She never asked Rouran for the prize she had made back then—because it was neither necessary nor meaningful. If the first-place winner couldn't get the prize, the second-place winner couldn't give it to her either.

But now, this bet seems to have come back to meaning.

Rou Ran smiled and said, "As Miss Ning Guang commands, Rou Ran is willing to be the vanguard."

Ningguang tilted her head and looked at the young man in blue before her. "I didn't expect the Rouran prince to be so trustworthy?"

Rouran still wore that gentle smile: "Liyue is a nation of contracts; a gentleman's word is as good as his bond."

“A gentleman’s word is his bond…” Ningguang lowered her head slightly.

She remembered two months ago by the Luhua Pond, when she had lied to someone, and that person had told her—

“What I want to give you is a bigger business—the business of the fools.”

He later kept his promise, thwarting the Fatui's counterfeit scheme with a single sentence, and propelling her to the pinnacle of prestige. Now, the Northern Bank has begun withdrawing from Liyue.

She remembered his face, the way he looked in the suit she had given him, and what he had said to her—

“Even at this moment, you are still Ningguang, who risked her family to protect Liyue Harbor, and you are my… respected Ningguang sister.”

He also said—

"You may not believe me, but I, Han Fulai, have always treated people with sincerity."

Why does she always think of Xiao Han at times like this?

Was it because this person could remain unmoved by her advances, allowing her to experience the disappointment of being rejected for the first time? Or was it because in her mind, a "gentleman" should be like him?

A wise man can be deceived by his principles, but it is difficult to deceive him by those who do not follow the right path.

So sometimes she can completely fool him, but other times she just can't fool him at all.

Ningguang didn't dwell on her memories for long before speaking again, "What if I ask you for a third star?"

Rouran lowered her head, then suddenly knelt on one knee before Ningguang, repeating the same words once more: "I am willing to be the vanguard, at Miss Ningguang's command."

The letter imitating Tianxuanxing's handwriting, and the design drawings that appeared in Kaiyangxing's mansion, were his "pledge of allegiance." If that wasn't enough, he would add himself to the list.

Ningguang was not surprised by his actions.

When Ye Lan told Ning Guang that Rou Ran had sent someone to the "Rock Tea House," Ning Guang knew that this day would come.

Ningguang smiled faintly, "Young Master Rouran is quite flexible. May I ask what you want from me? Could it be... me?"

Rouran shook her head silently.

“What is that?” Ningguang asked.

"I want to change the chessboard, and stop being a pawn of the gods." Rou Ran looked up and stared directly at Ning Guang.

Ningguang raised his hand, and the gold-inlaid pipe appeared in his hand.

She did not ask Rouran to get up, but simply lit her pipe leisurely. A wisp of smoke brushed across Rouran's face, and Rouran remained submissive, her expression unchanged.

"Do you know what you're saying?" Ningguang asked.

"Of course," Rou Ran answered without hesitation. "To be the Emperor's pawn is to be discarded, but to be Miss Ning Guang's pawn is to be able to put myself in a life-or-death situation."

"Oh?" Ningguang waited for him to continue.

Rou Ran asked calmly, "I know that Miss Ning Guang has been raising an army for a thousand days. Even without my help, with these plans over the past ten years, she can still achieve the supreme position of Tianquan today—but what about after today?"

Ningguang narrowed her eyes slightly, for Rou Ran's words had hit the nail on the head.

Even without Rouran offering their "pledge of allegiance," she was still confident enough to say that she would "take three stars within a month." Including the Silver Plains Hall, Ningguang's pawns were planted in all industries in Liyue—just like Xiangling, the disciple of the Lord of the City of Song, who was determined to eliminate the conflict between Liyue cuisines. People were always surprised to find that their own businesses had intricate connections with Ningguang Merchant Guild.

Saving for a thousand days to use in a single moment has always been Ningguang's forte. "Heaven's authority is supreme" is never just an empty phrase. Laws, intelligence, funds, connections... Ningguang has already firmly grasped these things in her hands. Once she activates them, she will be "second only to one person" in Liyue.

But he was still "second only to one person".

Even though the Emperor is "dead," he still has a "successor."

She had planned for over a decade, yet some people were able to rival her in just six months.

The "infinity" she so desperately sought could be obtained by someone who only needed to make a trip to the ruins.

It would be a lie to say that she felt no resentment.

“Liyue is still the Emperor’s Liyue,” Rouran said softly. “We are all pawns.”

Ningguang silently gripped the pipe in her hand.

Rouran continued speaking.

“According to our ancestors, the Rock King Emperor once signed a contract with our clan known as the ‘Two More and One Promise’. In the name of the ‘God of Contracts’, the Emperor always kept the oath he made with our ancestors during his reign, but now that the Emperor has abdicated, it means that the oath has ended.”

"So what?" Ningguang tapped her pipe. "Even without the Emperor's protection, the power of your Silver Plains Hall is still deeply rooted. I wouldn't dare say I can uproot you completely."

Ningguang was telling the truth. Even if she did her best to eliminate the Silver Plains, she could only suppress them temporarily. Even now, she wouldn't dare say she had a complete grasp of the Salt God's remnants. Over thousands of years, the Salt God's remnants had spread throughout Liyue. Not all of them were engaged in the salt industry; over the years, they had used marriage alliances and other means to deeply penetrate all sectors of commerce and industry, and could potentially wield considerable power at any time.

Perhaps only the emperor, who has lived for six thousand years, dares to say that he truly understands the people of the salt god, apart from the Rouran, the leader of the salt god's descendants.

The same applies to the powerful families on Yujing Terrace. Even the Jiang and Song families, who fell from power before, are like centipedes that die but do not fall down. If they continue to operate for a while, they will eventually rise from the ashes—as long as Liyue is still the Liyue of merchants.

As long as Mora isn't consumed on the alchemy table, it simply flows from one person to another. Capital is the same; it's just a matter of changing the person representing it on the table.

Even if Ningguang were to kill Rouran on the spot, the remnants of the Salt God would simply secretly choose a new representative to succeed him.

“But that Vice Minister Han followed the Emperor into the ‘Salt of the Earth,’ inheriting the legacy of the Salt God, which had been sealed away by the Emperor for thousands of years.” A shadowy glint flashed in Rou Ran’s eyes. “That should have been ours.”

"The Emperor's actions only prove one thing: he has abandoned us and chosen that Vice Minister Han. Or rather, he never considered us as an option. Whether it's the Silver Plains Hall or the remnants of the Salt God, they are merely pawns in the Emperor's hands. Back then, he used us as a model to attract the demon gods' subjects from all over the world to submit to him, and now he sees us as a stepping stone for that successor."

“Since he has obtained the Salt God’s inheritance, shouldn’t you all take him as your master? Is this what you mean by ‘advancement stage’?” Ningguang raised an eyebrow.

Rouran gently shook her head. "No, the 'Salt God' has been gone for thousands of years and no longer exists in this world. Faith is a vague and ethereal concept, and there are very few people who still hope for the return of the Salt God. Even if he obtained some remnants of the Salt God, we could not possibly regard him as the resurrection of Lady Heuria. The Emperor's actions are to use us, the Salt God's people, as sacrifices to pave the way for his successor."

Ningguang rested her chin on her hand, her expression neither agreeing nor disagreeing.

“Go on.”

Rouran continued, "People always think that we, the descendants of the Salt God, amass wealth and enjoy honor with the backing of the Silver Plains Hall, and are envied by everyone. But in reality, we are just the bearers of the dark side of Liyue, discarded pawns that are used and then discarded."

"For example, in Ningguang's eyes, the Pearl Pavilion should be a place where filth and corruption are rampant, but why does the Emperor allow this place to exist? For thousands of years, the Silver Plains Hall has been embezzling countless amounts of money. Ningguang uncovered the corruption of the entire Liyue tax system from a 'Yaoguang Salt Field'. Why does the Emperor turn a blind eye to this? Because everyone has a dark side, and we are the dark side of people's hearts set by the Emperor."

"Merchants all know that 'a horse won't get fat without night grass, and a person won't get rich without windfall gains.' Making small money in business is easy, but making big money is not. Those traveling merchants who run errands between countries, working diligently every day, even if they get blisters on their feet, may not be able to rent a shop in Liyue Harbor. Meanwhile, the high-ranking officials on Jade Capital Terrace don't leave their homes to enjoy flowers and birds, yet they can make a fortune every day. Where does this money come from?"

“Miss Ningguang, you also earned your first pot of gold, so you should understand these principles better than anyone else.”

Ningguang nodded silently.

There are no rules in this world that can make someone rich; if there were, it would be because the rules are not followed. Ningguang understood this principle from a young age.

"With us 'black' people around, your 'gray' people appear 'white'. When we clean a house, we usually gather the dust together and sweep it away all at once—even though we know there will still be dust in the corners, and dust accumulates every moment, it always looks a bit fresher after cleaning."

Rouran gave a self-deprecating laugh.

“He doesn’t interfere with our beliefs, he doesn’t care about our greed, he doesn’t even care if we have rebellious intentions. He just needs us to exist. He just looks down on us from high above the clouds, calmly calculating the timing—to make us disappear at the most opportune time, to make the house look clean, and to make the person who cleans the house look diligent.”

"I am like this, Miss Ningguang, and aren't you the same?"

Ningguang pondered for a moment, then gestured for him to stand up.

Rou Ran stood up and dusted off the dust on her robes. The floor of Qunyu Pavilion was swept daily and was actually very clean, but even the cleanest floor could still make robes dirty.

“How do you know I won’t treat you like the Emperor did?” Ningguang asked.

"I don't know, it's a gamble," Rou Ran said with a smile. "It's just a matter of accepting the consequences."

Ningguang twirled the pipe in her hand.

"I only knew that the Pearl Pavilion was a pleasure boat, but I didn't know that it was also a gambling boat."

"Then I'll add another reason."

Rou Ran reached out and pointed to the "Eye of God" on Ning Guang's waist.

“I know the origin of Ningguang’s ‘Eye of God’, which is different from the rumors circulating in the public – after all, the so-called ‘legends’ were all spread by Ningguang herself.”

A dangerous glint flashed in Ningguang's beautiful eyes for a fleeting moment.

Rouran was still smiling.

Ningguang stared at the uninvited young nobleman for a few moments before finally making up her mind.

What are you planning to do?

"We'll know the outcome in three days at the latest," Rou Ran said with a smile. "I hope Miss Ning Guang will cooperate then to eliminate that formidable enemy."

After Rouran left, Ningguang stood for a long time at the edge of Qunyu Pavilion.

This time, she wasn't looking at Liyue Harbor, but at the north side of Liyue Harbor, the place where glass lilies once bloomed everywhere.

Han Fulai should be in that place now, building dikes and trying to improve the land... If he succeeds, perhaps the lilies will bloom again in Guiliyuan.

But, is there any "what if"?

Ningguang sighed softly and slowly recited:

"Old dreams of twenty years are hard to forget, I walk alone through the long night. The gods and immortals are watching the stars, and a guest star is approaching. Although the summer heat has not yet subsided, a cool breeze has already crept in."

So many helpless things in life, all ultimately left to ponder. Who says all horses have fallen silent? Even if it is fate, I am not resigned to it.

Chapter 367 Han Fulai at the Construction Site [4k]

Han Fulai has not slept for two days and two nights.

He has spent the last two days on the flood control dike.

His bad premonition had come true—the flood came.

Liyue is mountainous, and where there are many mountains, there are also many flash floods.

After the torrential rain, flash floods followed.

When torrential rains and flash floods flow into the Bishui River, they become floods.

The early arrival of the rainy season this year caused the water level of the Bishui River to rise even faster than Garcia had predicted. Two days ago, the water level had already exceeded the danger line of 14 meters.

According to Galcha's calculations, they should have had more than seven days to prepare, or at the very least, five days—if there were no more heavy rains.

As a result, it rained heavily for three days in a row. Although there were intermittent breaks of half a day, it did not affect the fact that the Biyue River rose ahead of schedule.

—Galcha even found humor in his misery and invented a “Galcha Law,” which essentially states that “if you worry that something bad will happen, then it is very likely to happen.”

This law later spread throughout Teyvat and was constantly verified in people's lives—for example, when people accidentally drop a slice of bread while eating breakfast, the jam-covered side always lands on the ground… “Galcha’s Law” is even more famous than his invention of the “number-calculating machine” in some ways.

Since the water conservancy project in the Guili New Area started on May 1, it has only been a little over twenty days. The entire water conservancy project team has been working day and night, building several sections of flood control dikes several hundred meters long with a construction speed that can be described as "Liyue speed".

However, the flood control dikes along the original Guili River section were not fully completed. Due to the unexpected surge in water levels, they had to strategically abandon the construction of dikes in some sections of the river and focus all their efforts on reinforcing the existing dikes.

It must be said that the engineering skills of Patrick and Galcia, the two scientists from Fontainebleau, were quite outstanding. Even though the dam was hastily designed, it still performed as intended and withstood the floods of the previous two days. Keqing, the master of engineering management, also demonstrated project management skills that can only be described as an art, making the most of the team of thousands of people and creating such an engineering miracle.

But even the most "engineering miracles" have their limits; time was too tight. Even with all the workers from Guiliyuan mobilized, plus the Qianyan Army brigade called upon by Keqing, the construction schedule was barely met. Many sections of the river's "stone embankments" hadn't been completed in time, lacking breakwater protection, and had to be reinforced by manpower day and night patrols.

Such a long dike, built in such a short time, will inevitably have some weak points.

In terms of water volume, the two flood peaks in the previous two days were considered to be normal flood season volume, but even normal volume put enormous pressure on the temporarily constructed dam.