He changed Tiwat

Although the reconstruction project of Qunyu Pavilion was supposed to be publicly tendered, the winner had actually been predetermined—of course, it was his superior, Ke Qing.

Back during the Lantern Festival, he had already discussed with Ningguang and Keqing a plan to promote Liyue Coins through several large-scale projects. The reconstruction of the Jade Pavilion, settled in Liyue Coins, was part of this promotional plan. Ningguang's offer of "one chance to ask her a question" as payment was actually a gimmick to conceal her true intention of promoting Liyue Coins.

Everyone knows that Ningguang possesses intelligence that can influence the future economic trajectory of Liyue, making the opportunity to ask her a question extremely precious—and Ningguang's intention is to "keep the good stuff within the family."

Keqing's family is the largest builder in Liyue, making her the perfect choice to oversee the reconstruction of the Jade Pavilion. Furthermore, Keqing's political alliance with Ningguang makes this project a fitting symbol of cooperation between Tianquan and Yuheng. Using Liyue Coins for payment also serves as a model, demonstrating Keqing's commitment to promoting Liyue Coins.

Simply announcing a high-profile collaboration with Ningguang clashes with Keqing's personality, and directly declaring that Yuheng Star would take over the reconstruction project wouldn't serve as publicity. However, if a public tender were held with a sufficiently grand gimmick, the news could spread throughout Liyue Harbor in a short time. That's why Ningguang specifically gathered Liyue Harbor's merchants at Yujing Terrace to announce the project.

If Keqing wins the project through open and fair bidding, others can only lament her lack of ability and have nothing more to say.

So Han Fulai disguised himself as a businessman and came to the bidding site in place of Keqing—after all, Liyue does not have a rule that "civil servants are not allowed to engage in business," since the Liyue Stars are all businessmen.

As for why he replaced Ke Qing, besides the fact that Ke Qing couldn't bring herself to bid, it was also because Ning Guang's three conditions were specifically set for Han Fu—"Mingxia Floating Life Stone", "Qianqi Core", and "Immortal Talisman"—these three items sounded like immortal treasures.

Han Fulai's other identity is Gan Yu's private secretary. Given his relationship with Gan Yu, it would be easy for him to ask Liu Yun for some treasures from True Lord Feng.

Han Fulai had already made up his mind to go to Mount Aozang later to seek out True Lord Liuyun and fleece him!

Chapter Seventy-Five: Remember Master's words: Do not use martial arts recklessly; don't ignore them.

Although the project bidding had already been decided internally, it was still a public bidding process, and Ningguang still had to provide all three items he requested.

It's like a civil service exam with a predetermined position; the questions and even the answers have been leaked to him beforehand, guaranteeing his pass as long as he takes the exam—but only if he actually goes to the exam hall and finishes the paper. Even if it's pre-arranged, there's always a formality involved; not even attending the exam seems a bit too much.

“The journey to Mount Aozang is long… Would you like me to arrange a carriage for you?” Ningguang asked with concern.

Han Fulai smiled and said, "Thank you, Sister Ningguang. Lady Keqing has already lent me her car."

He's now Keqing's personal secretary, and his whereabouts are always reported to her. Keqing knows he's doing this to promote Liyue currency, so she generously granted him her own car. He's now considered a car owner in Liyue—though he's basically using his boss's car.

Ningguang nodded and said, "The reconstruction of Qunyu Pavilion takes up a lot of space, so I've arranged for the site to be located in the abandoned mine outside the Golden House. Send all the collected materials there."

The Golden House is surrounded by mountains, where there used to be a huge mine, but it was abandoned after the veins were depleted. Ningguang's decision to arrange the reconstruction of the Jade Pavilion there was quite appropriate.

“I have other important matters to attend to and cannot accompany you to the scene. Once you arrive, just contact my secretary, Baiwen. Be very careful with the time; don’t let someone else get there first,” Ningguang specifically instructed.

In open bidding, efficiency is paramount. If someone else delivers these three items before Han Fulai arrives, Ningguang can only declare that the other person has won the bid.

"Please rest assured, Sister Ningguang, I will go to Mount Aozang right away." Han Fulai made a serious promise and bowed to Ningguang to take his leave.

He walked down from Yujingtai Square, only to find a familiar figure standing by the roadside.

The figure was tall and slender, dressed in white as snow, with hair as white as snow. From behind, one could see that her long hair was tied with a red ribbon, and in the center of the ribbon was a faintly glowing ice-blue divine eye—who else could it be but Shen He?

But why did Shen He come to Yujingtai? Was she here to find her senior sister Gan Yu?

Before Han Fulai could figure it out, he noticed that the atmosphere around Shen He was a bit strange—two strange men were standing around her talking about something, and Shen He's braids were swaying slightly, making her seem a little anxious.

One of the two men surrounding Shen He had dyed red hair and a faint scar on his face, making him look rather unapproachable. Anyone familiar with the streets of Huyan would recognize this man as the notorious local thug known as "Scarface Liu."

Han Fulai approached the group and overheard "Scarface Liu" speaking to Shen He.

“Miss, you have such an elegant demeanor and extraordinary bearing; you're clearly destined to excel in this reconstruction of the Jade Pavilion. We have information about those materials. Come, let's find a quiet place to talk…”

Shen He coldly rejected his sales pitch: "I don't need it."

"Don't say that..."

Scarface Liu continued to pester him, but Shen He ignored him and walked straight down from Yujingtai.

"Hey, don't go!" Scarface Liu, seeing Shen He walk away, refused to give up. He glared at his henchman, A-Qiang, and yelled, "What are you standing there for? Hurry up and follow me!"

"Yes...yes!" Seeing his older brother getting angry, A-Qiang quickly ran after Shen He.

This scene looks familiar... Wait! Han Fulai suddenly remembered the scene where he first met Shen He as a player in the game, and he knew something was wrong. He had to go and save him!

Han Fulai chased after the three of them, but Shen He was extremely fast. By the time Han Fulai saw her, she had already reached the winding corridor below Yujingtai.

Scarface Liu and Ah Qiang were panting heavily as they blocked Shen He's path.

"You run really fast... Hehe, Miss, this time you finally have nowhere to run, right?" Scarface Liu said with a smug look on his face.

"Don't worry, we're not bad people. We can get valuable information by paying a little money, so no one loses out."

Ah Qiang hesitated for a moment, then whispered to his older brother, "Boss, I have a bad feeling. Her demeanor is clearly different from others, and her hair is white; she doesn't seem like an ordinary person..."

Scarface Liu whispered rebuke, "So what? We finally found a fat sheep. If we don't fleece her, how will we pay off our gambling debts? That woman Ye Lan... tsk, she won't give us any time!"

"I told you, I don't need your intelligence." Shen He frowned, his voice quite impatient. "If you didn't hear me just now, I'll repeat myself one last time."

"Sigh... Miss, how can you be such a grown woman with no common sense at all?" Scarface Liu looked at this fat sheep with an expression that said, "We've already told you the information, so you have to pay! It's not a question of whether you need it or not; you just need to obediently take out the money and hand it over to us."

“I have no money…” Shen He lowered his head.

"Don't try to deny it! I saw you have money." Scarface Liu got angry and pointed his finger at Shen He's nose. "You went to Liuli Pavilion first, ordered a table full of dishes, but only tasted a little. Then you went to Xinyuexuan and Wanmintang, ordered all the signature dishes, and again only ate a bite of each. If you weren't a rich heiress, how could you have such extravagant habits? Since you're so rich, what's wrong with paying a little to buy our information?"

"Although my master warned me not to make a move in Liyue Harbor... never mind. Perhaps... this is fate."

Shen He swept her hand in the air, and a silver-white talisman appeared out of thin air, causing the temperature around her to drop several degrees.

Ah Qiang took a few steps back, pleading with Scarface Liu with some fear, "Boss, let's retreat, something seems off..."

Although Scarface Liu was also scared, both his gambling debts and his authority as the boss forced him to stand still and stubbornly say, "What's there to be afraid of? Selling information isn't illegal. If she dares to make a move, we'll sue her until she's bankrupt!"

At that moment, someone patted Scarface Liu on the shoulder.

Scarface Liu turned around and saw a young man he didn't recognize looking at him with a friendly smile.

"Who are you? Can't you see the old man is busy? Go away, go away." Scarface Liu waved his hand irritably.

"I wanted to ask you what you wanted to do with my sister?" Han Fulai asked. He wasn't very familiar with Shen He and didn't know how to explain the relationship of "my boss's junior sister," so he simply said that she was his own sister.

“Your sister?” Scarface Liu glanced at Shen He, then at Han Fulai. “You’re kidding me. Your hair is black, hers is white.”

"Girls love to look beautiful, so they dye their hair. Don't you dye your hair too, sir?" Han Fulai smiled and glanced at Scarface Liu's red hair.

Scarface Liu sized up Han Fulai, noticing his decent attire, and then a thought struck him. "Ahem. Your sister bought our intelligence but didn't pay. Why don't you pay for her?"

Han Fulai shook his head.

"But I clearly heard her say that she didn't need your information. Aren't you trying to force me to buy something?"

"So what? Just tell me if you're going to pay or not?" Scarface Liu, seeing Han Fulai's weak appearance, wanted to scare him, so he deliberately glared at him close to the face.

"That means my friend needs to talk to you. According to the Liyue Harbor Regulations, those who engage in forced buying and selling are subject to detention for five to ten days and a fine of up to 50,000 Mora. Old Zheng, that's them."

After Han Fu finished speaking, he stepped back two steps.

It was only then that Scarface Liu noticed a Qianyan Army soldier standing not far behind Han Fulai, holding a white-tasseled spear and with an unfriendly expression.

Old Zheng was a soldier guarding the steps of Yujing Terrace. Han Fulai had become familiar with him when he passed through Yujing Terrace on his daily work, and they would often chat for a while.

Old Zheng looked at Scarface Liu and A-Qiang carefully, then slammed his spear to the ground with a loud "bang": "Oh? It's you two again."

"Qianyan Army... Ah! Hehe, Lord Zheng, please don't be angry, let me explain slowly to you." When Scarface Liu saw Old Zheng, he realized that this was the soldier who had arrested them for refusing to pay their bill at the Yanshang Tea House last time, and he quickly begged for forgiveness.

"Go to the General Affairs Department and explain." Old Zheng was too lazy to listen to their nonsense and simply took the two thugs away.

Seeing the two thugs being taken away, Han Fulai breathed a sigh of relief and turned to Shen He, saying, "Miss Shen He, it's been a long time."

“You are Mr. Han…” Shen He was clearly not used to honorifics—after all, back in the mountains, her master always referred to Han Fulai as “Han boy” or “that boy.”

She hesitated for a moment, then finally remembered to thank him: "Mr. Han, thank you for helping me out of that situation."

"It was nothing. I hope Miss Shen He won't take offense at my earlier rudeness." Han Fulai smiled sheepishly. He had just called himself Shen He's brother, which made him look like he had taken advantage of her.

Shen He didn't care much about trivial matters like seniority. She smoothed her hair behind her ear and said to Han Fulai very seriously, "By the way, my hair... isn't dyed."

"I know..." Han Fulai twitched the corner of his mouth, somewhat puzzled as to why Shen He's focus was on such a strange place.

"Also... actually, I could have handled what happened earlier myself. I reckon if I had just grabbed that guy's head and smacked him on the ground three times, he should have given in." Shen He said these incredible words with a calm expression.

Han Fulai wiped the sweat from his forehead. The reason he rushed over to save people was not Shen He, but Scarface Liu and A Qiang.

He certainly didn't want Shen He to cause any deaths in Liyue Harbor.

"...Miss Shen He, remember what Master Liu Yun said: don't make a move in Liyue Harbor. This is Liyue Harbor, and you must abide by its laws." Han Fulai smiled wryly. It felt strange for a transmigrator like himself to be righteously lecturing a local on obeying the law.

"Law...?" Shen He looked puzzled.

"Miss Shen He, haven't you ever heard of the law?" Han Fulai asked curiously.

“I really haven’t heard of it,” Shen He replied matter-of-factly.

Han Fulai sighed softly, thinking to himself that he would have to give Lord Liuyun a good scolding when he got to Mount Aozang. How was he educating his disciples? His Lord Liyue personally drafted the first law of Liyue, and you immortals are leading the way in not abiding by it—aren't you disrespecting the Lord Liyue? Even if you don't consider the Lord Liyue's feelings, you should at least consider the social impact on Liyue Harbor! If you retired officials abuse your privileges like this and cause a public relations crisis, it will be very difficult for us lower-level civil servants!

Just then, Han Fulai suddenly heard a "gurgling" sound.

The source of the sound was clearly the belly of the white-haired beauty standing in front of him…

"It's my stomach that's rumbling. I haven't eaten enough," Shen He explained without any pretense.

“Miss Shen He is indeed…frank.” Han Fulai smiled, recalling what Scarface Liu had said earlier. “Speaking of which, I just heard from those people that when you went to Liuli Pavilion, Xinyue Pavilion, and Wanmin Hall, you only tasted a bite of each dish…of course you wouldn’t be full. Let’s go, as your…uh, your senior sister’s good friend, I’ll treat you to dinner. Is there anything you’d like to eat?”

Although he still needed to go to Mount Aozang to find True Lord Liuyun, since the man's disciple had come, he should treat him well, which would be beneficial for him to ask True Lord Liuyun for something later. Anyway, treating Shen He to a meal wouldn't take much time.

Shen He nodded and said, "Qingxin, Liuli Baihe, Liuli Dai... these are what I usually eat."

This is similar to what Gan Yu usually eats... Han Fulai, as Gan Yu's personal secretary, is very familiar with Gan Yu's diet. It seems like the entire Liuyun sect are herbivores... The master eats everything, so why won't she give her disciple anything good to eat!

Of course, he could only think these thoughts in his mind; he couldn't possibly criticize someone's master to their face. Han Fulai smiled and said, "Miss Shen He, let's go to Bubulu, it's nearby."

Han Fulai led the way, taking Shen He into Bubulu.

The pharmacist Agui, who was minding the shop, greeted the two men as soon as he saw them: "Are you two here to get medicine? Do you remember the prescription?"

Shen He stepped forward and, without any hesitation, ordered the food.

"Qingxin, Liulili, and Liulibao, half a catty each."

Agui scratched his head in confusion, "What kind of prescription is this? It's practically like eating medicine like it's food..."

He busied himself at the counter for a while, bringing out all the medicinal herbs Shen He had requested.

"...Here you go, this is all the stock we have."

Shen He opened the packaging without any hesitation and began to eat in front of everyone.

Shen He ate very quietly, even carefully leaving no crumbs of the herbs behind. She chewed slowly and deliberately, displaying the demeanor of a well-bred lady. But no matter how well-bred she was, no well-bred lady would eat herbs as a meal.

Under Agui's utterly bewildered gaze, Shen He finally finished his meal.

She turned to Han Fulai and thanked him, saying, "I'm not hungry anymore, thank you for the treat."

"...Whatever makes you happy." Han Fulai took out Liyue coins to pay Agui. This pound and a half of medicinal herbs was quite expensive; Shen He had spent 30,000 Mora on this meal.

He somewhat understood why True Lord Liuyun made his disciple eat grass—he probably couldn't afford to feed him.

"By the way, are these things tasty?" Han Fulai asked curiously.

“It doesn’t taste good.” Shen He shook his head. “Although it has a slightly fragrant taste, after eating too much it just tastes bitter, sour and astringent.”

Chapter Seventy-Six: Oh, my heart aches.

Hearing Shen He's answer, Han Fulai was slightly puzzled: "Then why would you rather eat this than finish the food in the restaurant? Is it because the food in the restaurant doesn't suit your taste?"

"No, those dishes were all delicious." Shen He turned around, took a few steps, and looked towards the door.

Opposite Bubulu is Crimson Cloud Slope, a bustling commercial hub in Liyue, teeming with people.

"It's just... because I'm not sure if I'll stay here in the future. The food in the human world is certainly delicious, but if I return to the mountains in the future, the lingering taste of the food will become an obstacle to my cultivation. So I'll just taste it and stop here, and just understand the flavor."

As if realizing he had said too much, Shen He gently shook his head and changed the subject.

"Let's leave my matter aside for now. Mr. Han, you seemed to have something to do earlier? I'm sorry to have kept you occupied."

"It's alright. Actually, I'm going to Mount Aozang to find my esteemed master, True Lord Liuyun. I still need to seek the help of Immortal Master Liuyun to rebuild the Jade Pavilion." Han Fulai smiled and said, "Although if too much time is wasted, the matter will not be finished... but there is still enough time for a meal."

“Then you’ve really made a mistake. Master isn’t at Mount Aozang right now,” Shen He said.

"Huh?" Han Fulai opened his mouth wide in surprise. He never imagined that the lonely old crane would be away from home sometimes. According to the information he got from Zhongli and Ganyu, Liuyun Jiefeng Zhenjun should be a typical tech geek who doesn't like to go out.

"Where is Immortal Master Liuyun now?" He still held a sliver of hope, thinking that perhaps True Lord Liuyun had simply gone to visit a friend in a place like Jueyun Realm.

"I don't know." Shen He calmly shook his head, then, mimicking the tone of True Lord Liuyun Jiefeng, repeated his master's words, "'Those two old fellows, Xiaoyue Zhuyang and Lishui Dieshan, have secretly gone on another trip... This immortal is also going on a journey!'"

"This..." Han Fulai facepalmed. He had relied entirely on Lord Liuyun and Borrowing Wind for the three immortal treasures needed to rebuild the Jade Pavilion. And now, before he even left Liyue Harbor, Shen He informed him that Lord Liuyun and Borrowing Wind was not at home... It was like preparing cheat sheets late into the night before an exam, only to find out at the exam hall that he had left them at home!

Does that mean his mission to bid for the reconstruction of the Jade Pavilion in place of Keqing is doomed? He had confidently assured Ningguang that he would complete the mission, and this is a huge slap in the face.

No, no, we can't give up so quickly. Han Fulai realized he had lost his composure and quickly regained his composure.

First, although he couldn't directly obtain the treasure from True Lord Liuyun, he at least saved the time of returning empty-handed from Mount Aozang, giving him time to think of another way. Second, he knew more than just True Lord Liuyun; if he were shameless enough, he could even ask Granny Ping for help. If all else failed, there was still the Ancestor of All Immortals sitting in the Hall of Rebirth; Zhongli had recited a poem for him during the Lantern Festival, implying that he would be protected…

Wait a minute, if True Lord Liuyun Jiefeng went on a journey, he should have left his disciple Shenhe on the mountain to guard the house. So why is Shenhe on the Jade Capital Platform today?

Furthermore, he had told Zhongli about the promotion of Liyue coins and the reconstruction of the Jade Pavilion during the Lantern Festival. At that time, Zhongli specifically introduced him to the Celestial Family Garden at Qingyun Peak, which was built with floating stones, and even specifically mentioned that the builder was Liuyun Jiefeng Zhenjun, and told him to get along well with Liuyun Jiefeng Zhenjun. This was basically implying that he could ask Liuyun Jiefeng Zhenjun for help with the reconstruction of the Jade Pavilion.