He changed Tiwat

So there's a reason why everyone chooses to travel to Mondstadt. The environment in Mondstadt is so good that it's enviable. The ancient symphony of wine is more effective than any diligent governance or love for the people.

This also shows how powerful Wendy actually is; he has been continuously using divine power to modify the environment for 2,600 years, and he is never at full strength for even a single second. Therefore, his slacking off and sleeping are forgivable.

In fact, the writing environment is also very important for us writers.

Last month, I experienced the illness and death of a loved one, which made this realization all the more profound. The fact that I've been able to continue writing for two years means that nothing major has happened in my family during this time, and I have the spare time to write stories. But such an environment is truly rare.

Environmental changes can directly affect the author's mental and physical condition.

For example, last month I kept vigil for my grandmother for a week, which disrupted my sleep schedule, and I still haven't recovered. I can't sleep at night, and I'm becoming increasingly sensitive to environmental noise. Also, the back pain caused by sitting for long periods has become more and more pronounced recently, and I have to go for massage therapy almost every week.

This is why you've seen me posting updates lately, often in the middle of the night; it's just something I can't help.

So I may need to rest a few more days this month, and there may be times when I miss updating for a day or two. Please forgive me, my body really can't take it.

Then we'll talk about our upcoming writing plans.

Volume 5 is a short story featuring Ye Lan and Ying Mei as the main characters. The content is related to the Millennium Thousand Rocks and the Taiwei Instrument Plate, which is the Lower Rock Giant Abyss of Xiao Han Er that I mentioned before.

Since Inazuma is still in a closed country in the current timeline of this book, it's unlikely that Arataki Ichito and Hisaki Shinobu will appear. However, their roles in the original work weren't irreplaceable, so I've decided to find Kamei to replace them and maybe do a Cantonese script or something, lol.

Then Volume 6 takes place in Inazuma, where the heroine is a shrine maiden. Just like Wendy advised Han in this volume, Mondstadt can only implement reforms, not radical changes. If there really is to be a radical change, it has to be in Inazuma.

Finally, I would like to thank all my readers for their continued support, and I sincerely hope that our connection can continue.

See you in the next volume.

Volume 5, Yes, Night Orchid

Chapter One: Yura H. Lawrence

On July 1, 37xx of the Liyue Calendar, at 7 PM, the Church of Favonius held a solemn baptism ceremony in the sanctuary.

The person to be baptized was Yura Lawrence.

She is the first descendant of the Lawrence family in a thousand years to officially declare her faith in the wind god Barbatos, and also the first descendant of the Lawrence family in a thousand years to have the title of "Family of the Wind God".

All the squad leaders and titled knights of the Knights of Favonius, from Acting Grand Master Jyn Gunnhildr down, including Sir Humphrey, the "Knight of Honor," were present to witness Yura's formal baptism, making her a true "Family of the Wind God."

From that day forward, Yura not only held the title of "Knight of the Waves" in the Knights Order, but also the title of "Saintess," equivalent to a cardinal in the Church—after a thousand years of silence, the name Lawrence once again rightfully stepped onto the historical stage of Mondstadt.

Since Vanessa, the first leader of the church, expelled the Lawrence family, no member of the Lawrence family has been able to receive the protection of the Wind God, and the Church of the West Wind has also refused to accept the descendants of the Lawrence family as followers of the Wind God.

However, the wind god Barbatos himself manifested at the "Badminton Festival" and recognized Yura as his consort, so the Church of the West Wind had to quickly hold a baptism ceremony; otherwise, the "Saintess of Mondstadt" would not have any church membership, and the people of the seven kingdoms would laugh themselves to death if word got out.

Although Yura had been a full-fledged Knight of Favonius for nearly four years, this was her first time receiving baptism from the Church, a ritual every Mondstadt citizen undergoes at birth. As she received the Iris Crown, she didn't face the statue of the Anemo Archon, but instead smiled at the man who had changed everything.

Han Fulai returned the smile and said softly, "This is what you deserve."

Years later, history will record this "Saint of Mondstadt" in this way:

"Yura H. Lawrence, the iron-fisted saintess who changed the wind god's servants of the Church of the West Wind and swept away a thousand years of accumulated evils with a greatsword."

Han Fulai returned to Liyue Harbor on July 7th.

The reason why the journey there took two days but the return took six days was naturally because he did not use "Yaksha Logistics." Taking the regular trade route would indeed take that long.

The reason he didn't use "Yaksha Logistics" wasn't just because he felt bad about constantly bothering Xiao—when he left Mondstadt, Yura offered to see him off, and then escorted him all the way to Stonegate Town.

Along the way, we frequently stopped to admire the maple forest at dusk, so it was inevitable that the journey would be a bit long.

Before parting, Yura took out two rings.

The crystal-clear ring, when placed in the sunlight, shines as brightly as a diamond.

"...Take this."

Yura placed one of the rings into Han Fulai's hand.

"It was made by separating a portion of the power of the 'Ice Seal' and it is 'Ice' that will never melt."

Even though Yura didn't say it explicitly, the meaning of the pair of rings made with the "Ice Seal" passed down through the Lawrence family bloodline is self-evident.

Han Fulai also noticed that on the inside of the ring that Eula gave him, there was a line of text engraved in extremely small characters—her name, “Eula H Lawrence”.

He looked at Yura with an inquiring gaze. Yura blushed slightly and showed him the ring she had left behind.

The inside of the ring also had a line of small words engraved on it—"Humphrey".

“…I’ll wait for you to come back and marry…and take this ring. Then, we’ll exchange it back,” Yura whispered.

Han Fulai nodded solemnly to Youla.

"Hmm...we'll go to the church to exchange rings then."

He told himself he wouldn't keep Yura waiting too long.

Once the major events on the continent of Teyvat are settled, he will go to Mondstadt to exchange the ring for it.

Unlike when he left, Han Fulai did not receive any welcome when he returned to Liyue Harbor.

Of course, this was also because he had kept a low profile throughout his journey and hadn't sent anyone to inform Liyue of his specific itinerary. However, given Ningguang's intelligence network, they should have known he was back.

Could something terrible have happened in Liyue that made Ningguang unable to even come to pick him up?

Slightly surprised, Han Fulai went back to Yuehai Pavilion to report for duty first.

A month had passed, and Gan Yu seemed unchanged, still buried in piles of documents, which looked much taller than those on Qin Tuan's desk—clearly, Gan Yu's workload had increased considerably during his personal secretary's absence.

Han Fulai casually greeted Gan Yu and then gave her the fine wine he had brought back from Mondstadt.

Then he chatted briefly with Gan Yu about his experiences during this period. Gan Yu's attitude was very normal, and she didn't mention anything particularly significant that had happened in Liyue this month, although there was a lot of good news.

For example, the three True Lords "Academicians" of the "Liyue Academy of Celestial Arts" have made breakthroughs recently. True Lord Liuyun has created a new Celestial Power-driven "Star and Moon Creation" series of divine machines, and the trial-produced fertilizer is already ready for production. Although the output has not yet reached the level of a factory assembly line, it is no longer a problem to meet some small-batch orders.

Shen He is currently recuperating at Mount Aozang. According to a message sent by True Lord Liuyun some time ago, Shen He's "Great Cave Miro Venerable Method" has stabilized at the fourth level, the "Cave Observation" realm, after the battle at the Biyue River. With a little more time to consolidate it, he can attempt to refine Qi into spirit and break through to the "Half-Immortal" realm—unlike Han Fulai, who was transformed through initiation, Shen He is a true genius in cultivation.

The keel of the first ironclad warship under construction at the Liyue Shipyard has been completed. Under the leadership of Director Owl, the shipyard's work speed is nothing short of "Liyue speed," and it could be commissioned in as little as two months. Of course, considering the issue of crew training, it will probably take even longer before it is actually used as a warship.

The reinforcement of the Guili Plains dam and the salt drainage pipeline project are mostly complete, thanks to Keqing. Furthermore, it's said that Young Master Xingqiu of the Flying Cloud Merchant Guild has provided a substantial operating fund for the Liyue Labor Association, resulting in high worker morale. Many large merchants in Liyue Harbor have also begun using various connections to inquire about the construction progress of the Guili New District at Moonlit Pavilion, and many have already confirmed their investment intentions.

In addition, he just finalized the intention of economic cooperation between the two countries with the top leadership of Mondstadt, so Liyue can be said to be in a very good situation recently.

Upon hearing this, Han Fulai was overjoyed and immediately said he would go to Qunyu Pavilion to talk to Ningguang about the terms of cooperation with Mondstadt. Gan Yu smiled and let him go.

After he left the office, Gan Yu pulled a newspaper out from under a pile of documents.

Last week's Steambird Badminton Festival column featured a striking image of the "Badminton Festival Princess" and "Sir Humphrey" sealing their love with a kiss.

Gan Yu looked at the photo and muttered, "Serves him right."

Chapter Two: The Heartbreaker

As Han Fulai approached the gate of Qunyu Pavilion, he saw a familiar face—Bai Xiao's cousin, Zhenhai.

He was the one who guarded the gate when Han Fu came to Qunyu Pavilion a month ago, and it was him again this time.

After a month apart, Zhenhai seemed to have changed a bit. His uniform now featured an exquisite flower made of gold foil—the "Flower of Merit" of the Thousand Rock Army, which is the same as the Knight's Medal of Fontaine and Mondstadt.

It seems that the commendations for the previous flood relief efforts at Bishuihe have already been issued, and almost every soldier of the Qianyan Army who participated received one.

Although Zhenhai's initial task was to blow up the dike, after Han Fulai stopped him, Ningguang's personal guard squadron also participated in the disaster relief work, and Zhenhai also benefited from it.

Zhenhai joined the army hoping to make a name for himself, and now that his dream has come true, he wears this "flower of honor" almost every day. If Teyvat had WeChat, he would definitely flood his social media with photos of the award ceremony…

I must say, after the kid put the medal on his chest, he stood up straight and his whole demeanor changed. He looked much more mature.

Han Fulai walked up to him familiarly, intending to exchange a few pleasantries and inquire about Ningguang's recent situation.

But to everyone's surprise, as he took a step closer, Zhenhai took a step back; as he took another step forward, Zhenhai took another step back...

"?"

Han Fulai wanted to find out the truth, but seeing that Zhenhai might fall outside the Qunyu Pavilion if it retreated any further, he gave up the idea.

But Zhenhai's behavior seems to be avoiding him...

Han Fulai had a somewhat uneasy feeling.

This premonition soon came true.

After entering, Han Fulai found Ningguang's office as if he knew the place well.

Ningguang was standing behind the desk with her back to him. She didn't react at all to Han Fulai's footsteps, her eyes fixed on the paper in her hand, as if she was analyzing some important intelligence.

It wasn't until Han Fu called out "Ningguang" that Ningguang replied indifferently, "You're back."

...How should I put it? His tone was like, "So you finally decided to come back?"

By this time, Han Fulai had already sensed something was wrong—Ningguang was clearly in Qunyu Pavilion, but she hadn't come to pick him up... People say "absence makes the heart grow fonder," and after a long separation, Ningguang shouldn't be so indifferent, even if she didn't rush over to give him a kiss.

This is clearly someone who's angry...

As for what Ningguang was angry about... Han Fulai realized that Ningguang seemed to have quite a few things to be angry about...

Gan Yu had been so calm before, not mentioning Yura at all, that he subconsciously pushed the trouble he didn't want to think about to the back of his mind. But now that he thought about it...

Ningguang didn't turn around; she simply read the briefing in her hand with her back to him: "Half an hour after Vice Minister Han left the city, he encountered two beautiful young women and warmly invited them to travel together..."

"...On June 16th, Vice Minister Han and Yura Lawrence, captain of the Zephyr Knights guerrilla squad, attended a lavish banquet at the Goethe Hotel, spending millions of Mora. That evening, Vice Minister Han and Miss Yura watched a performance by the Fontaine Traveling Circus, and news of their engagement spread..."

"...On the afternoon of June 19, Vice Minister Han attended the Mondstadt 'Poetry Recitation' event and composed a poem on the spot to present to a 'Fair Lord'...That evening, he met with Miss Yura at the 'Angel's Gift' bar, and signed a contract with the 'Radiant Light Merchant Guild' for 6 million Mora."

"...On June 24, Miss Yura and Deputy Minister Han met again at 'Angel's Gift,' during which Deputy Minister Han consumed a bottle of dandelion wine worth three million Mora."

"...On June 25, Vice Minister Han asked Miss Yura to accompany him on a hike in the outskirts of Mondstadt, and he did not return that night."

"Then, on June 30th..."

Ningguang glanced back at him meaningfully.

On her desk lay a stack of newspapers, thoughtfully laid out with the headlines facing Han Fulai—those newspapers featured photos of the "Badminton Festival." Some reporter, with exceptionally good photography skills, had somehow managed to capture the moment Yura was kissing him…

Not only that, even Mona got involved!

On another open newspaper, the "Astrological Talk" section prominently featured the headline: "Astrological Forecast: Mr. H and Ms. E's Love Fortune - Astrological Talk"...

Han Fulai's mind was immediately filled with only two words—"It's over."

He was wearing the dress Ningguang gave him, using money from the Ningguang Merchant Guild, and flirting with other girls in Mondstadt... That's not all, he even made the whole world know about it.

Although he did manage to balance the accounts with the help of Kaiya, upon closer inspection... it wasn't really a matter of money, was it?

Seeing that he didn't answer, Ningguang sneered: "Secretary Han, you're quite capable... no, I should call you 'Sir Humphrey'? You've really gone all out for your 'Fair Lord'. I thought you were planning to stay in Mondstadt."

Han Fulai broke out in a cold sweat.

"This...this is impossible...Ningguang, let me explain..."

Ningguang didn't listen to him; she just clapped her hands.

Then, Bai Xiao appeared out of nowhere and placed a steaming bowl of soup on the table—the bottom of the bowl perfectly covered the faces of Han Fulai and Youla in the newspaper.

Then Bai Xiao respectfully withdrew, without ever glancing at Han Fulai.

“Vice Minister Han must be hungry after his long journey. I’ve asked the kitchen to prepare a bowl of radish and vegetable soup for you to enjoy.”

After Ningguang finished speaking, she put down the briefing in her hand, turned around and left.

Han Fulai stole a glance at the "radish and vegetable soup".

If I had to describe it... it would be "extra green".

A typical "radish and vegetable soup" is made with white radish, tomatoes, and mint, but Ningguang's version uses vibrant green bok choy hearts as a side dish, and the radish in the soup isn't cut into pieces; it's a whole radish placed in the soup bowl...

—This is hardly a "radish and vegetable soup," it's clearly a "flowery radish"!

Even though Han Fulai was usually arrogant and eloquent, he couldn't refute Ningguang's sarcasm at all.

But he was, after all, a man who had once ventured into a life-or-death situation, and he still possessed a certain amount of courage to remain calm in the face of danger.

Since the die is cast, instead of pointlessly regretting it, it's better to try to solve the problem.

Besides, the fact that Ningguang didn't shut him out means she's at least willing to see him, right? If she's willing to see him, then she's also willing to listen to his explanation, right? Whether it's scolding or mocking, it's still a form of communication and catharsis, isn't it?

So, disregarding Ningguang's anger, he took a few steps forward, went around the table, and hugged Ningguang's waist from behind.

Ningguang's body trembled, as if she wanted to struggle, but she couldn't muster the strength...

Han Fulai was overjoyed—he knew best that Ningguang's weakness was her waist, which would soften at the slightest touch.

He held her tighter, speaking softly, "Ningguang, I know I was wrong. You can hit me or scold me, I'll accept it... But more than anything, I want to tell you first—I miss you so much."

Chapter 3 Why are you so skilled at this?

The four words "I miss you so much" are so powerful that even gods and ghosts would be terrified, and even the hardest heart would melt into tenderness.

Besides, Ningguang isn't truly heartless.