He changed Tiwat

Snowflakes disperse and fireworks hang in succession, the clear blue sky is tinged with the cold frost.

On Mt. Aozang, an old crane stands alone at the mountain gate, gazing towards Liyue Harbor.

Suddenly a deer and a crane descended from the sky and landed in front of her.

Liu Yun Jie Feng Zhenjun stretched out his wings, turned his head and snorted.

"You two, you actually know how to come back? Let me make this clear first, although the dishes on the table are for three people, I didn't make them especially for you."

The True Lord of Carving the Moon and Building the Sun and the True Lord of Managing Water and Stacking Mountains smiled at each other.

In Qingce Village, children, led by adults, looked up at the sky and clapped and laughed as the fireworks burst into bloom.

Qiqi skipped and hopped up the steps, followed by Baishu carrying a medicine box.

Grandma Ruoxin bowed slightly to him in greeting.

"Dr. Bai, thank you for coming to make house calls again this year."

Bai Zhu smiled and nodded: "You're too kind."

Qiqi looked up and saw a firework shaped like a willow leaf floating in the air.

“…Lantern Festival.” Qi Qi uttered these three words softly.

In her hazy memory, the Lantern Festival is something she will never forget.

Beidou walked up to Yujing Terrace and saw Ningguang leaning against a pillar in Yiyan Hall, as if waiting for someone.

The beautiful woman lazily toyed with the pipe in her hand, her navy blue dress outlining her elegant curves and highlighting her stunningly long, snow-white legs. The butterfly wing pendants on her ankles were a unique touch, adding a touch of lightness to her figure.

Beidou looked Ningguang up and down for a moment, then laughed and said, "What are you wearing? It's very trendy."

Ningguang cranked his pipe and chuckled softly.

"To earn the praise of the well-informed Captain Beidou, this outfit is quite impressive."

"By the way, I've come today to tell you something," Beidou said seriously. "There's been some unusual activity on the sea in the direction of Guyun Pavilion."

“Let’s not talk about that now. Let’s watch the fireworks.” Ningguang shook her head and pointed to the sky.

A firework bursts forth like a fiery tree, its light swirling and dancing in the air.

Beside the viewing platform in Yujingtai Square, Grandma Ping held a teacup and sipped the clear tea inside.

Yan Fei sat at the table with her hands supporting her chin, gazing up at the fireworks in the sky.

Shen He leaned against the railing, the flickering light and shadow of the fireworks blending her figure into the background, creating a stunningly beautiful scene.

Gan Yu walked quietly to Shen He's side. She noticed that her junior sister, who was always as cold as ice, also had a slight smile on her face.

"That must be the magic of the fireworks display," Gan Yu thought.

In the "Sky Market" at the dock, Andrei, the manager of the Northern Bank, and Ivanovich, a traveling merchant from the winter, meet on the street.

"Hey, isn't this Brother Ivan?" Andrei stepped forward and greeted him.

"Oh, Brother Andrei, don't you have to work?" Ivanovich was quite surprised. In his mind, the Northern Bank should be open all year round.

“Don’t talk about work now.” Andre shook his head. “It’s a rare holiday today. The sea breeze is blowing and the lanterns are shining. It’s so pleasant… We should enjoy everything Liyue Harbor has to offer today!”

Ivanovich nodded in agreement.

"The light of the lanterns is so warm. Looking at the brightly lit streets and the lanterns rising into the night sky, even though I am in a foreign land, I feel an indescribable warmth in my heart."

He looked up towards the north, “This warmth reminds me of our ‘Winter Oven Festival’ at the end of winter.”

Andre laughed heartily, "To tell you the truth, brother, as a Winterborn, I was quite unwilling at first to be transferred to Liyue because of the Northern Bank... But now I'm starting to like this place. Whether it's the sea or the atmosphere, everything is different from my hometown, haha!"

“Yes, our hometown has never been as lively as Liyue…” Ivanovich said with some emotion.

"And I've completely fallen in love with Liyue's food. Not only is the variety abundant, but the color, aroma, and taste are all impeccable..." Andre smacked his lips, still immersed in the delicious memory of the grilled tigerfish he had just eaten.

At this moment, a woman wearing the standard mask of the Fools and with a brown-red single ponytail quietly appeared behind Andrei.

"Manager Andrei, you're here."

Andrei turned around and gestured towards a corner of the street.

The two moved to a corner, and Andrei asked in a low voice, "Ekaterina, what's wrong?"

Ekaterina bowed and said softly, "This month's Mora has already been transported from the country to the vault of the Northern Bank."

Andrei's eyes instantly turned serious, but he remained nonchalant, waving his hand and saying, "It's just a normal transfer of funds. Don't interfere with my enjoyment of the Lantern Festival."

After Andrei finished speaking, he left Ekaterina and went back to Ivanovich.

“Brother Ivan, let’s find a shop and have a drink. We’re not leaving until we’re drunk tonight… Hahaha, what are you talking about? No matter how much I love the food in Liyue, I will never betray Her Majesty the Winter Queen.”

On the top of a dilapidated temple in the southern suburbs of Lisha, Xiao stood alone.

Suddenly, a warm voice entered his ears.

"You're here."

Xiao was first startled, then overjoyed, and turned around to bow: "Your Majesty!"

Zhongli helped him up and said, "I knew you would do the same for this year's Lantern Festival. In fact, with the demons gone and the people safe and sound, even if Tongque knew, he should be comforted that his long-cherished wish has been fulfilled."

"Your Majesty... why are you here?" Xiao's voice trembled slightly.

"What if I said I came to invite you to the city to watch the fireworks together?" Zhongli smiled.

"..." Xiao was silent for a moment, then shook his head. "I'll just stay here. The fireworks are high enough that they can be seen from anywhere. People who want to find me will come. People I want to see are also by my side."

At that moment, a petite girl huffed and puffed her way up to the roof.

"Hey, I knew you weren't home in the middle of the night, Zhongli. I wondered what you were up to. Turns out you came to visit a temple. But you don't need to climb onto the roof to visit a temple, do you?"

Zhongli still wore that gentle smile. "Master, I'm here to see a friend."

"Friends? Hey, I don't see anyone!" Hu Tao looked around, but Xiao had already disappeared.

A firework exploded. Hu Tao jumped up and patted Zhong Li on the shoulder.

"Look, that firework in the distance looks like a little pig."

Zhongli looked in the direction Hu Tao was pointing and indeed saw a firework shaped like a pig.

"So good."

Keqing's Legend Quest Summary (Stop waiting for your book to finish, subscribe now!)

This long story, which combines the two Lantern Festivals, is finally finished.

I think it depicts a Lantern Festival where undercurrents surge beneath the dazzling lights, and the brilliant stratagems and exaggerated descriptions are not an exaggeration.

Lying down... I'm so tired.

Readers who follow along will likely notice that not only does this volume form a complete structure from Chapter 1 to Chapter 61, but it also echoes many elements from the first volume. Well, I just like to give readers that "Ah, so that was foreshadowing!" feeling, haha.

The reason it's so long is because this chapter is an important one, connecting the preceding and following chapters. All the characters who appear in it will have important roles in the story that follows—yes, even the little girl Tia who played with the dog at Wangshu Inn in the Flying Stars and Gathering Colors chapter.

Overall, I'm satisfied with the final result. Of course, because it's a serialized work, there wasn't enough time to write, so there are occasional instances of rough language or typos, but I usually correct them when I see them. In short, I'm happy that I've managed to express everything I wanted to say.

The Lantern Festival section provides an in-depth analysis of Keqing's character, beliefs, and actions, as well as her transformation. Since Liyue is undergoing reform, Keqing, a leading figure in the reform movement, is naturally crucial.

The legendary quest tailor-made for Keqing has successfully completed its mission, and the next chapters are already clear—the Divine Maiden's Lair and the previously mentioned "Keqing's grand project."

Considering that some people are supporting the book, I won't spoil too much; you'll understand once you read it.

Here, I'll talk to you about the timeline and structure.

The timeline provides the following information that can be disclosed:

Golden House ceased production last November.

At the end of November, Gan Yu summoned Han Fulai. Han Fulai and Zhong Li drank and told stories.

In early December, during the Liyue Civil Service Examination, Han and Yanfei solved a spy case and subsequently officially joined the Moonlit Pavilion.

On January 1st, during the ritual to summon immortals, the Emperor faked his death, Gan Yu ran away, and Xiao Han met the Emperor and the young master at the Liuli Pavilion in the afternoon, and met Ning Guang at the Qunyu Pavilion in the evening.

January 5th, the Battle of Oser. Zhongli gives away the Heart of God.

On January 7th, Zhongli and Xiao Han had a conversation at the teahouse. That evening, Xiao Han and Zhiruo went to Wangshan Hall and met Cai Yujian. They began the Guhua Sect reform plan and the Yuehai Pavilion restructuring.

On January 10th, the Xingqiu Legend quest begins.

On January 11, the Xingqiu Legend quest ended.

On January 13, the wealthy man arrived at the Northern Bank.

On January 15th, the Liyue Strategic Material Embargo Act was implemented. Xiao Han and Xingqiu became sworn brothers at Qingce Mountain and obtained the Guhua Relics. That same afternoon, Keqing temporarily assigned Han Fulai as her personal secretary.

On January 16, a fireworks theft occurred at night.

The covert battle surrounding the fireworks display took place on January 17-18.

The Lantern Festival opened on January 25, followed by music and dance.

(Word count limit, to be continued, will refresh in a bit)

Regarding writing structure:

As you might have noticed, the main event of this year's Lantern Festival used a lot of "intertextuality" techniques similar to those in the TV show "The Great Battle," and the program effect was quite good, right? 2333

Since the Lantern Festival can basically be considered the prelude to the final battle in Liyue, I felt the atmosphere was quite similar, so I played on the final battle reference.

The overall structure of the text follows the four-fold solution approach used by Ellery Queen in *The Greek Coffin Mystery*. Therefore, you can see Pantalone making a classic four-move checkmate move in the text. Thus, the extensive reasoning in the Lantern Festival section has at least three twists and turns.

Xiao Han solved three riddles, the final one being revealed when Zhong Li took Xiao Han on a New Year's visit to the grassroots. As for what Zhong Li, the riddle teller, actually said, that's a story for later, so I won't spoil it here.

Then there's the romantic storyline, which has garnered a lot of attention from viewers.

So far, it seems that Xiao Han used a basic attack on Gan Yu, who neither dodged nor broke through her defense.

Ah Qing went up in today's update, as for the result—Master Ke, stop scratching.

Okay, just kidding. As I mentioned in my reply to readers in the book review section, the romance is also gradually built up, following the typical visual novel formula where each event adds a little bit of affection—but there are examples where the affection level is maxed out with just one event, like with Shen He next…

Finally, a few words of criticism from the audience—

The correct way to nurture your reading habit is to enable automatic subscription!

The correct way to nurture your reading habit is to enable automatic subscription!

The correct way to nurture your reading habit is to enable automatic subscription!

I'm saying it three times because it's so important, okay?

This book has 1800 high-end subscriptions, and the first volume has over 1,000 subscriptions per month. As a newcomer to the cat station, I am quite satisfied with this achievement for writing a niche political intrigue theme.

But once you started reading the second volume, you all began to build up your reading load, right? You all think it's more satisfying to read the whole volume at once, right?

As a result, the latest chapters only have an average of two or three hundred subscriptions, and people keep complaining in the comments section about why it's not popular. — How can it become popular if you're all just trying to nurture it? Editors need to see the follow-up subscriptions to give recommendations, and readers should at least give some follow-up subscriptions. If you keep nurturing the book, it will never become popular!

So please subscribe! Otherwise, I'll make Ah Ying cry for you guys!

Chapter Sixty-Two: May We All Live Long and Prosper

Fireworks filled the sky above the Qunyu Pavilion.

“Mr. Han, would you like to dance with me? I know you’re from Fontainebleau… I’ve heard that people there sing and dance to their hearts’ content during festivals, and the Palace of Fontainebleau is never short of dancers.”

Ke Qing blushed and softly extended an invitation to Han Fulai.

The girlish shyness hidden beneath that workaholic exterior erupted at this moment, leaving Han Fulai unable to resist.

Of course, he didn't want to resist either.

"It is my honor to receive an invitation from Lady Keqing."

Han Fulai held Ke Qing's fingertips with one hand, and naturally placed the other hand on Ke Qing's slender waist.

Ke Qing's body trembled slightly, and he relaxed his grip. The girl's soft waist rested in his palm, like a small boat docked in a harbor.

A firework exploded, scattering sparks like fireworks.

The deserted Qunyu Pavilion had become the perfect dance floor, and the fireworks blooming above their heads were like the lights of the dance hall.

"It's a bit of a shame there's no accompaniment..." Ke Qing murmured.

Han Fulai smiled and said, "It's alright, I can add background music."

"Huh, really?" Ke Qing's eyes suddenly lit up. This Secretary Han really seemed to know everything.

Han Fulai silently thanked his university physical education teacher and himself for taking ballroom dancing as an elective course.