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Han Fulai recalled what Ningguang had said when she assigned him the task of helping Keqing organize the fireworks festival:

"The Lantern Festival has always focused on releasing 'sky lanterns,' but many things have happened in Liyue recently. Keqing said that people need more warmth and a sense of unity, and at least this year she hopes to adopt a more special and more relatable way of celebrating."

"Keqing's idea is to send fireworks to various parts of Liyue and light them all at the right time, so that the intense light and heat can connect people's emotions."

Liyue didn't originally have a "fireworks festival". Han Fulai found something he had been overlooking all along - why would Keqing think of holding a "fireworks festival"? And why would Keqing promote Pengyi, a fireworks master with no political or management experience, to be her subordinate and be in charge of setting up the fireworks festival?

Keqing is a civil engineering major, and has no connection with fireworks. Why did she suddenly think of organizing a fireworks display? If you want to convey a sense of warmth and unity, Keqing, why don't you organize a bonfire party? Gathering together to guess riddles would also be nice. If you want to be innovative, you could organize a Lego building block creative competition or something, which would also suit Keqing's civil engineering major.

What if the truth is actually the opposite? What if it wasn't Keqing who wanted to hold the fireworks display, but rather the mastermind behind it who wanted Keqing to hold it?

—It was only because of Pengyi, the fireworks master, that Keqing was able to have this fireworks display!

Because the mastermind had Pengyi as a pawn, the mastermind planned this fireworks display based on Pengyi's identity as a fireworks master!

Peng Yi was originally a fireworks master in Liyue. According to Xing Xiu, he also traveled far and wide, learning fireworks-making techniques from various countries in Teyvat, and designed all sorts of new fireworks. Keqing even gave Peng Yi's mechanical fireworks tube as a gift to Liu Yun Jie Feng Zhenjun, and even the immortals praised its ingenious design.

If such a talented person were to approach Keqing, a leading figure in the reform movement, with his newly designed fireworks and firework tubes, proposing to hold an innovative fireworks display, Keqing would certainly agree without hesitation.

If Peng Yi were to approach any of the Liyue Seven Stars other than Keqing, such as Ningguang, the proposal would definitely be rejected. Ningguang knows that the General Affairs Department doesn't have enough manpower to prepare for both the Lantern Festival and a fireworks display at the same time—but Keqing has never known what difficulties are.

In Ke Qing's view, there's a shortage of manpower? Then let each person do the work of two, and just work overtime.

If all goes as expected, the brilliant idea of ​​spreading fireworks throughout Liyue was also proposed by Keqing under Tomoyo's influence. After all, it can connect people's emotions with more intense light and heat.

Peng Yi was thus naturally promoted by Ke Qing to be one of the organizers of the fireworks display, taking on an important task—which also allowed him to become an inside man planted near Ke Qing, reporting her every move to the mastermind. This enabled the mastermind to keep track of Ke Qing's whereabouts and to stage a scene of breaching the dike and flooding the fields.

So the fireworks display is the real scheme orchestrated by the mastermind! As soon as Liyue begins preparing for the fireworks display, the mastermind's plan has already begun, and the mastermind is using Keqing to set up their scheme!

That's why he didn't leave any trace, making it impossible for anyone to see through his purpose—the mastermind never intended to ruin the fireworks display; it was the fireworks display that they originally wanted to hold!

Han Fulai's brows furrowed into a knot, which meant that not only he and Keqing, but also Ningguang and the entire General Affairs Department—almost everyone in Liyue was currently included in this scheme.

Destroying dikes and flooding fields would have terrible consequences, but for the mastermind behind it all, such a major event was merely a trivial matter on a whim—this in itself speaks volumes.

What if the mastermind's ambitions are even greater? Greater than framing Keqing, the Star of Yuheng, and even greater than causing political turmoil and internal strife in Liyue!

Yes, the Lantern Festival and the fireworks display are political tasks. Therefore, Han Fulai wants to ensure their smooth running. But what if, in the eyes of the mastermind behind the scenes, the Lantern Festival and the fireworks display are insignificant?

Yes, Keqing is the Jade Balance Star of Liyue's Seven Stars, an important figure. That's why Han Fulai wants to protect Keqing's political stance. But what if, in the eyes of the mastermind behind the scenes, Keqing is insignificant?

Yes, Qingce Village has farmland and river embankments, and agriculture is very important to Liyue. That's why Han Fulai wants to protect the river embankments. But what if, in the eyes of the mastermind behind the scenes, this is still insignificant?

"So, what exactly does this mastermind want to do?" Han Fulai asked himself softly.

Almost as soon as he asked himself this question, he realized the answer—he had stepped into an unsolvable trap, a trap that had already begun before he even entered the game. He would only fall into the trap the moment he saw through the enemy's scheme!

Han Fulai clenched his fist and spat out eight words through gritted teeth: "Lure the tiger away from the mountain, and relieve the siege of Wei by attacking Zhao."

Xingxiu, the leader of the treasure-hunting gang, could think of using fireworks to attract the attention of the Thousand Rock Army, and so could the mastermind behind it. The difference was that Xingxiu saw fireworks as light and loud noise, while the mastermind saw fireworks as exploding.

Holding a fireworks display would fill the entire Liyue region with explosives, creating safety hazards everywhere!

The mastermind felt Keqing lacked security awareness and even thoughtfully arranged a fireworks theft as a reminder that to successfully hold the fireworks display, they needed to deploy more personnel to ensure its safety. Oh, and fireworks can also be used to blow up important buildings, so remember to send troops to protect them too!

Unfortunately, Han Fulai discovered the plan to destroy the dikes and flood the fields, and quickly devised a countermeasure.

In Go terms, the mastermind behind the scenes made a brilliant move, while Han Fulai responded with his usual move.

In chess, a "brilliant move" is often a rare and precious occurrence. When this move is placed, it seems inconspicuous, and the opponent cannot discern the deeper meaning behind it. However, when the crucial moment arrives to determine the outcome, this move can become the decisive factor that influences the entire game's outcome.

"A mediocre move" is a neutral move that is neither good nor bad. Neutral does not mean mediocre, but it is certainly not as good as a master move.

Logically speaking, Han Fulai's response of "capturing Pengyi, protecting Xiaodeng, and safeguarding the river embankment" was an absolutely watertight defensive strategy.

Even if Han Fulai looked back now and wondered if he had a better way to deal with it, he would still come to the same conclusion—even if he knew that the other party wanted to "lure the tiger away from the mountain," he still had to fall into the trap.

He had no choice. Even now, he had to make the same arrangements as before.

Because the river embankment of Qingce Village cannot be lost, as long as there is a possibility that the enemy intends to breach it, then for the safety of Liyue as a whole, the Thousand Rock Army must be dispatched to protect it. The "Sky Lantern" is of great significance; if it is destroyed by the mastermind behind it within Liyue Harbor, turning into a massive explosion, the consequences would be extremely severe.

He had to get Keqing to send the Thousand Rock Army out to guard the riverbank. Similarly, he had to notify Ningguang to send more men to guard the "Mingxiao Lantern".

Even the fireworks display must be successfully held, as all the people of Liyue are eagerly anticipating this grand event; it has become a political task that cannot afford to fail. To ensure the success of the fireworks display, dedicated personnel must be assigned to guard all the fireworks display sites throughout Liyue—meaning even more Thousand Rock Army and General Affairs personnel will need to be deployed later.

This means that the protective forces near Liyue Harbor will be unprecedentedly weak, and Ningguang's Thousand Rocks Mobile Squad, which she had prepared in case of emergency, will be tied up with the task of guarding the riverbank.

Just like Pang Juan, a famous general of the Wei state in Chinese history, who had already captured Handan, the capital of Zhao, he had to turn back to rescue it because Sun Bin besieged the Wei capital. Moreover, Sun Bin used the "besieging Wei to rescue Zhao" strategy against Pang Juan twice in history. The second time was when Pang Juan attacked Han, Sun Bin used the same trick again, forcing Pang Juan to be defeated and commit suicide.

Rather than saying Pang Juan was defeated by military strategy, it would be more accurate to say that he was defeated by politics—the State of Wei simply lacked the military strength and political environment to attack other states while simultaneously defending its own capital.

This was the ingenious scheme of the mysterious mastermind—

Luring the tiger away from the mountain is a strategy to weaken the enemy's forces; besieging Wei to rescue Zhao is an attack on the enemy's forced defense.

For Liyue, holding the fireworks display was a mistake from the very beginning. The fireworks display exposed Liyue's greatest weaknesses at the time when it was least vulnerable, allowing the mastermind behind the scenes to manipulate the situation at will.

Whether it's the fireworks throughout Liyue, the riverbank in Qingce Village, or the "Lanterns" in Liyue Harbor... Liyue has many vulnerable spots that need to be protected during this Lantern Festival!

Liyue is currently short of troops, has weak grassroots control, and its government departments are inefficient. In addition, the Geo Archon has retired, and people are looking forward to change... This fireworks display has exposed all of Liyue's weaknesses at once.

As long as the fireworks display takes place, this arrangement is already unsolvable—because Liyue has already lost politically, and the power of the Seven Stars government is no longer able to break this arrangement.

More importantly, even though the other party had gone to such lengths, Han Fulai still couldn't guess the identity of the mastermind behind it all.

Judging by the time, Keqing should already be leading the Thousand Rocks Army's mobile force on their way to Qingce Village. Ningguang should also send troops to guard the "Mingxiao Lantern."

This mastermind mobilized almost all of Liyue's military forces by using a fireworks display and the possibility of breaching the dike and flooding the fields, forcing all the Thousand Rock Army in Liyue Harbor to move out according to his intentions. What exactly was he plotting?

Realizing the answer, Han Fulai stood up, cupped his hands into a megaphone shape again, and shouted to the sky, "Immortal Xiao! Help me!"

Chapter Thirty-Eight: The beginning of a game of chess is to let your opponent know your next move.

A moment later, the young immortal reappeared before Han Fulai.

Xiao looked at Han Fulai, who was all intact, with a look of confusion in his eyes. To translate Xiao's gaze, it would roughly mean: "You're just messing with me for no reason? Well, you're in trouble now."

Han Fulai naturally wouldn't dare to pull any tricks like "playing with the Yaksha with beacon fires," otherwise, Xiao's words of "disrespecting the immortal master" plus a blow from He Puyuan would surely make him suffer.

At this moment, the servants of the Feiyun Merchant Guild, who were responsible for protecting the fireworks in the cave, heard Han Fulai's shout and rushed out. They saw this important figure from Yuehaiting bowing deeply to the suddenly appearing young immortal.

Han Fulai bowed deeply, straightened up, and said solemnly to Xiao, "Immortal Xiao, this concerns the safety of Liyue, and I have two things I would like to ask for your help with."

Xiao only answered with one word: "Speak."

"The first thing I need to do is ask Immortal Xiao to escort me to the entrance of Wangshu Inn," Han Fulai said.

If Han Fulai wanted to reach Wangshu Inn quickly by normal means, he could only take a carriage. Although he had the option of borrowing a horse, he neither knew the way at night nor had any experience riding a horse, so he rejected this option.

It's already late at night, and the regular horse-drawn carriages near Qingce Village have all gone to bed. After all, this area is mostly mountainous, and traveling at night is difficult. For safety reasons, ordinary carriage drivers don't operate at night.

If he were to walk there on foot, it would probably take until dawn the next day. But that wouldn't be enough time; many things might happen tonight, and he had to see Ke Qing as soon as possible.

Judging by the distance, Ke Qing should be leading the Thousand Rock Army to the vicinity of Dihua Island by now. It would be perfect to wait for Ke Qing at the entrance of Wangshu Inn. The first thing Han Fu wanted to do when he came to ask Xiao was to hitch a ride with him.

Xiao nodded without hesitation and replied with only one word: "Okay."

He reached out and grabbed Han Fulai's shoulder.

Han Fulai only had time to briefly leave the servants of the Feiyun Chamber of Commerce with the words, "Please guard this place well and wait for the Qianyan Army..." before he disappeared with Xiao.

The most renowned medical clinic in Liyue Harbor, "Bu Bu Lu," welcomed a rare guest.

The guest was considered a rare sight because the pharmacist, A-Gui, who was responsible for dispensing medicine for customers behind the counter, had never seen this guest before, yet he could still sense an undeniable air of elegance and nobility about the guest.

That's the kind of demeanor that only the most powerful and influential families in Liyue possess.

What surprised Agui even more was that as the guest stepped into Bubulu, the owner, Baizhu, unusually took the initiative to come out from the back room to greet him.

As far as A-Gui knew, although Master Bai Shu possessed superb medical skills, his health was not good. From the first time A-Gui met Master Bai Shu, Bai Shu had been ill for many years and had never recovered. In A-Gui's opinion, this was probably what was meant by "a doctor cannot heal himself."

It was also because of Baizhu's poor health that the daily task of preparing medicine was entrusted to Agui, and the work of collecting herbs was entrusted to Qiqi. Master Baizhu usually only showed up to treat patients with difficult and complicated diseases, and the general miscellaneous work was handled by Agui and Qiqi.

But today, Master Baishu not only unusually went on a long trip to gather herbs with Qiqi, but he hasn't even rested yet. Normally, Baishu would have already gone to bed by now.

"I have come late at night to express my gratitude, and I am truly sorry to have troubled Mr. Baishu to personally greet me." The guest was very polite, and his voice was equally gentle and refined. Even though he was disturbing people in the middle of the night, it was hard to feel any ill will towards him.

"Not at all. Please come into the inner room for a chat." Bai Shu said, welcoming the guest into the inner room, and then turned to A Gui and instructed, "A Gui, I have something to say to the guest, don't let anyone come in and disturb us."

Agui responded, secretly wondering which noble family this distinguished guest was from on the Jade Capital Terrace.

Standing at the entrance of Wangshu Inn at the southern end of Dihua Island, Han Fulai felt his calves still trembling.

He was mentally prepared, knowing that hitchhiking with Xiao probably wouldn't be as comfortable as riding on the back of Liuyun Jiefeng Zhenjun—but the experience was still too terrifying.

Han Fulai hadn't expected Xiao to carry him in a princess carry like in the game's storyline, since he was much taller than Xiao and it wouldn't be convenient or appropriate for him to carry him... But he also hadn't expected Xiao to grab his shoulders and carry him like a luggage bag, flying over like that in the air.

So much so that his biggest worry in the air was whether Xiao's skills would be on cooldown, and whether he would fall down once the skills were off cooldown... In the end, he simply closed his eyes and dared not look at the ground.

Fortunately, it seems that immortals in reality don't have a cooldown period when using their skills. The journey, which would take two hours by carriage, only took five minutes by hitchhiking with Xiao. And those five minutes were only because Xiao was only flying and couldn't use his immortal power to break through space and teleport instantly with Han Fu.

Soon Han Fulai heard the sound of horses' hooves. He knew he had caught up and that Ke Qing's caravan should be passing by Wangshu Inn.

Han Fulai composed himself, walked to the roadside, and stretched out a hand in a gesture to stop a car.

The familiar carriage, accompanied by several cavalry units, quickly rushed up to Han Fulai.

"Old Luo, stop the car! It's me!" Han Fulai shouted.

"Little Han?" The coachman, Loren, stopped the carriage upon hearing the voice and then loudly reported to the carriage, "Lady Keqing, it's your personal secretary, Mr. Han!"

Ke Qing peeked out and saw Han Fulai jump onto the carriage.

"Lord Keqing, things have taken a new turn. Please turn back to Liyue Harbor immediately." He glanced at the Thousand Rock soldiers around him, pondered for a moment, and continued, "The Thousand Rock mobile forces will continue to guard the riverbank as planned."

Seeing Han Fulai's serious expression, Ke Qing knew he must have a good reason, so she didn't ask any more questions. She immediately gave orders to the captains of the Qianyan Army's mobile squad, instructing them to continue guarding the river embankment near Qingce Village.

The Thousand Rock Army's mobile force obeyed the order and departed. The coachman, Loren, then directed the horses to turn and gallop towards Liyue Harbor.

As soon as Han Fulai sat down in the carriage, he asked, "Lord Keqing, have you captured Pengyi?"

The main reason he was so eager to see Ke Qing was this.

Based on the intelligence he currently possesses, the only person connected to the mysterious mastermind is Peng Yi. In Han Fu's view, Peng Yi is one of the mastermind's most crucial pawns in the scheme behind this fireworks display. Capturing Peng Yi is tantamount to catching the mastermind by the tail.

Furthermore, Pengyi probably doesn't know that he has been exposed. If Keqing can get back to Liyue Harbor quickly enough, she has a good chance of catching Pengyi.

Ke Qing shook her head heavily. "Peng Yi... committed suicide. By the time I led people to Peng Yi's house, it was too late."

"...Suicide?" Han Fulai felt a sinking feeling in his heart.

“Yes. These are his last words.” Ke Qing handed Han Fulai a note.

The note contained only two lines: "Lord Keqing, I am sorry. I can only atone for my sins with my death."

Han Fulai frowned as he looked at the note.

He recalled what Tomoyo had said the last time he saw her: "Lord Keqing, I'm sorry! I... have failed you. I'll return to Liyue Harbor now."

Keqing, who had never shown any compassion for her subordinates, suddenly changed her personality and kindly comforted Pengyi. Pengyi showed obvious emotion at that moment, which did not seem fake at all. At that time, Pengyi clearly looked like he had drunk his boss's chicken soup and was ready to go back to work overtime without complaint, without any sense of preparing to die.

Moreover, although Peng Yi exposed many flaws, it was only because he was facing Han Fulai. Peng Yi had been trying his best to hide his plan to destroy the dike and flood the fields from Ke Qing. A person who was preparing to commit suicide had no need to go to so much trouble to hide himself.

Therefore, Han Fulai did not believe for a second that Pengyi would commit suicide.

Moreover, the handwriting in the suicide note he possessed was subtly different from the handwriting Peng Yi left on the planning map. The stroke order of some characters differed from Peng Yi's habits, suggesting it might have been forged. While it cannot be definitively stated, Han Fulai believed that Peng Yi was likely "forced to commit suicide."

He wasn't surprised that Peng Yi might be in trouble. If he were the mastermind, he would try his best to make Peng Yi disappear silently afterward. Of course, Han Fulai wouldn't do something like silencing someone. If he were in charge, he might just have Peng Yi transferred to another country in advance.

However, the mastermind behind the scenes was far more ruthless than Han Fulai, and acted much faster than Han Fulai had anticipated. It's likely that the mastermind discovered Keqing's sudden return to Liyue Harbor and immediately ordered the elimination of Pengyi, the only lead in the chain.

Han Fulai gritted his teeth inwardly—in a sense, he had killed Peng Yi. Because after he uncovered Peng Yi's plan, the mastermind, in order to cut off the trail, absolutely could not let Peng Yi fall into his hands. If he had seen Peng Yi in front of the Wangshu Inn this afternoon, he could have found evidence to arrest Peng Yi, and Peng Yi could at least have saved his life.

But Han Fulai knew this was impossible. Unless he had already obtained Peng Yi's plans from the treasure-hunting gang at that time, he had no reason to arrest Peng Yi.

He felt that the mastermind behind the scenes seemed to be one step ahead of him at every turn, and doing so with complete ease. It was as if a teacher was instructing a student in chess, calculating the student's responses step by step, and always one step ahead—this could be described as instruction, or it could be described as manipulation.

Han Fulai sketched out the image of the mastermind in his mind.

This person is shrewd and far-sighted; very familiar with Liyue and possesses strong intelligence capabilities; has considerable wealth and can easily produce dozens of gold bars; decisive in character and ruthless in methods... almost like another Ningguang!

"How did he die?" Han Fulai composed himself and continued to ask.

"He took poison. Pengyi took a kind of antidote from Sumeru. This kind of potion sells extremely well in Liyue's general stores, making it impossible to trace," Keqing replied.

Han Fulai lowered his head. He knew that the trail had completely gone cold, and there was no one or anything that could point to the mastermind behind it all.

Inside the "Bu Bu Lu" (a type of traditional Chinese hermitage), the guest took off his white fur coat and casually hung it on a hanger.

The guest wore black gloves on both hands, and over the gloves were several exquisite rings that looked very expensive.

Bai Shu noticed that the guest was carrying a small gift box.

"Thank you for your help, Mr. Bai. This is just a small token of my appreciation." The guest smiled and placed the gift box on the table.

“It was nothing, nothing to mention. Mr. Pantalone, you’re too kind,” Bai Shu replied with a smile. The guest was very young in both voice and appearance, but Bai Shu addressed him as “Mr.”—simply because that was how everyone else addressed him.

In the hearts of the people of Winterfell, Lord Pantarone is the embodiment of Winterfell's wisdom. Without him, there would be no "Northern Bank," and Winterfell would not have become so wealthy and powerful, even daring to venture into Liyue's financial world and compete with Liyue Harbor, known as the "Commercial Capital." Addressing him respectfully as "Lord" is only natural.