"Alright."
Xu Zheng pushed the door open and stepped in.
Inside, two pairs of eyes locked onto him.
Ganyu's gaze was soft and radiant, full of anticipation.
Baiwen's? Pure curiosity—mostly wondering what the hell Ganyu wanted with Xu Zheng.
"Xu Zheng, take a look at this report," Ganyu said, handing him a file.
Baiwen hesitated. Technically, Xu Zheng had no clearance to view internal paperwork from Yuehai Pavilion. But… this was Ganyu giving the order.
Even the Liyue Qixing rarely questioned her. And besides—Xu Zheng? He was family. If Ganyu wanted to show him some boring old scrolls, who was Baiwen to object?
Xu Zheng glanced through the document. It came from the Millelith.
It was about that merchant from Snezhnaya—Chayevich, the one who'd tried to play dirty yesterday. The report confirmed his disrespectful behavior toward both Ganyu and Xu Zheng.
Proposed penalties?
Expulsion from Liyue and revocation of his residency permit.
Xu Zheng didn't care much for the punishment list. What caught his eye was the line identifying Chayevich as a rice trader.
A Snezhnayan rice trader, huh?
"You noticed too?" Ganyu asked softly.
Xu Zheng met her gaze.
"I did. Something smells off." He gave her a look. "Not rice. Politics."
Ganyu nodded. "Exactly why I wanted your thoughts."
Baiwen stood to the side, feeling increasingly like the third wheel on a date she wasn't invited to.
Why couldn't she follow this conversation?
Was she… dumb?
Back when she and her colleagues stayed up half the night processing Ganyu's workload, she assumed Ganyu was just an overachiever. But maybe… maybe she was just stupid?
Xu Zheng spoke again. "Master, what do you think?"
"I think it's highly likely someone in Snezhnaya is pulling strings behind the scenes," Ganyu replied, her voice serious. "But we don't have concrete proof. We can't accuse an entire nation over the actions of one merchant."
"Exactly. But we could start by tracing who Chayevich's been meeting in Liyue. Track his movements. Maybe even let him go and tail him quietly." Xu Zheng's tone was sharp. "See who he reports to. Who he works with."
[Affection +10. 10 Primogems awarded.]
System's voice chimed in right on cue.
Ganyu nodded again, clearly impressed.
Meanwhile, Baiwen's confusion only grew.
She had chatted with the Millelith officer who filed this report. The entire guard force was pissed off at this merchant and had made sure to slap him with the heaviest penalties possible.
The takeaway was simple: if you're rude to Lady Ganyu, Liyue doesn't want your ass.
But now…
Why did this feel like some shady conspiracy?
"Lady Ganyu, is there something else going on with this merchant?" Baiwen finally asked.
Ganyu explained everything to her in patient detail.
Once Baiwen heard about the rising food prices across Liyue and the link to foreign interference, her expression changed instantly.
She knew about the inflation issue—especially food costs. Everyone in Liyue did. Rising prices in one sector had ripple effects across the economy.
"Understood! I'll assign someone to investigate Chayevich immediately," Baiwen said.
"Good." Ganyu gave her a small nod.
With that, the matter was temporarily closed. The case of the Rice Price Crisis finally had a few leads.
Baiwen left to deal with the follow-up.
Xu Zheng stayed behind… appearing to be deep in thought.
But in reality?
He'd opened the system panel.
"…Tss—"
He sucked in a cold breath.
Bug alert.
His Primogem count had gone over 160 again.
This system clearly had a glitch. And he was absolutely going to exploit it.
"System," Xu Zheng said smugly, "I've found another bug. Either cough up 300 Primogems, or we're going to war."
System: …
He opened the wish menu, clicked "Pull."
A burst of white light flashed across the screen.
Xu Zheng's blood pressure spiked.
White?! That was… three-star tier garbage.
[White Item: Cooking +1]
"…That's it?" he muttered. "Lame. But better than nothing."
Sighing, he closed the interface and got up to practice the flute again.
Just as he reached the door, he spotted Baiwen coming back in—this time with another document in hand.
She was in a hurry, didn't even acknowledge him, and went straight to Ganyu.
"This just came in," she said quickly. "A shipment of rice from Mondstadt got ambushed on the way to Liyue."
Xu Zheng's eyes widened.
Baiwen continued: "Fortunately, someone had destroyed the roadblock ahead of time. The shipment made it through without major loss. But the Mondstadt knights escorting it weren't happy. The captain passed along a message—they've taken this personally."
Her tone shifted.
"The rice was a donation from Mondstadt. They sent it after hearing about Liyue's food shortage. If this turns into a diplomatic screw-up, we're going to be in serious trouble."
Ganyu frowned deeply.
This wasn't just some logistics hiccup. If Liyue mishandled a goodwill gesture from a major ally, it would cast serious doubt on their credibility.
And if Liyue looked weak, it wouldn't just be Mondstadt losing respect. The other six nations might start seeing Liyue as a hollow shell.
Even worse, powers outside the Seven—like the Abyss Order—might see it as an invitation to cause chaos.
"How bad was the damage?" Ganyu asked grimly.
—
Some people died, but not completely...