"Keqing-san, Hu Tao was just joking. Don't take it to heart. Hu Tao, hurry up and apologise to Keqing-san."
Seeing Keqing get angry, Xiangling panicked too. Hu Tao was her closest friend—she couldn't just watch her get herself into trouble.
And Xiangling knew exactly where this came from. Those storytellers had filled Hu Tao's head with nonsense.
Whenever Hu Tao wasn't working at night, she'd run off to Third-Round Knockout for tea and stories. After enough of that, of course she'd start parroting whatever she heard.
"Sorry, Keqing… I-I just heard those storytellers say it like that."
Hu Tao looked at Keqing like she was staring down a storm cloud.
If Keqing started keeping people on her tail every day, Hu Tao would be done for. And it wasn't like this would be her first time getting hauled into the Ministry of Civil Affairs. If even Zhongli couldn't pull her out… she'd be stuck in there for a month.
"Keqing-san," Xingqiu said, stepping in, "Hu Tao only talked like that because we're close in private, so she got a bit loose with her mouth. In a formal setting, she'd never say something like that. None of this will get out. Could you give her one chance?"
Keqing glanced at Xiangling—then at Xingqiu. She even caught Tabibito about to speak up, and her brow tightened.
"Only this once. Don't let it happen again. Watch what you say. If you keep running your mouth like that, you'll ruin both our reputations!"
"Sorry."
Cold sweat broke out on Hu Tao's back.
Yeah—she'd gone too far. But she'd been talking to Xiangling and Xingqiu, and it was private. Half of it was a joke anyway. How was she supposed to know the people she was teasing would catch her in the act?
"Cousin, I've already booked a private room at Liuli Pavilion," Xingqiu said quickly, shifting the topic. "Let's go in and eat."
He just wanted Keqing and Ryou thinking about dinner, not about chewing Hu Tao out.
Xiangling immediately grabbed Hu Tao and turned to Keqing. "Keqing-san, Ryou-san—we only came over to say hi to Xingqiu. Since you're about to eat, we won't bother you."
She tugged Hu Tao along, pulling Tabibito with them as they left.
If not for what just happened, they might've had the nerve to hang around and ask a few more things. But now? No one was brave enough for that.
Ryou watched them go, then looked away. He stepped up and gave Xingqiu a quick hug. "Haven't seen you in a while. Let's go in and talk."
"Sure."
When Xingqiu saw Ryou wasn't angry, he finally let out the breath he'd been holding.
Once they sat down in the room—
"Cousin, this time I went to Inazuma to talk business and it took longer than I expected," Xingqiu said with a smile. "I didn't make it back for your wedding—my fault. So today I wanted to make it up to you. And to celebrate you joining the Ministry of Civil Affairs."
"No need to be that formal," Ryou said. "Our families go way back. But my uncle and my father have both mentioned you. Now that I'm not around to help you anymore, you need to stay on top of things. The Feiyun Commerce Guild has real weight in Liyue Harbor. You're young and capable—you should be pushing it even further. Otherwise… my uncle won't go easy on you."
Ryou patted Xingqiu on the shoulder.
"Well… you know my ambitions aren't exactly there," Xingqiu said, and sighed. "Before, with you backing me up, I could relax a little. Now the pressure's a lot heavier."
"Alright," Ryou said. "Enough of that. Let's eat."
"Mm."
Halfway through the meal, Keqing told Ryou she was stepping out to use the restroom.
The moment she walked out, she ran into familiar faces.
"Ganyu… and Mother? What are you two doing here for dinner?"
Standing there were Ganyu and Ryou's mother.
Keqing had been wondering whether her mother-in-law had made any progress. Instead, she'd straight-up brought Ganyu out to eat.
Wait.
Don't tell her she's actually planning to get Ganyu drunk and take her home?
Keqing's thoughts jumped to what tonight would look like—Ryou wasn't going to go easy on her.
So… should she speed the plan up?
If it's what Mother wants… just go for it and settle things with Ganyu directly?
"Oh, it's Keqing."
Ryou's mother caught Keqing's eye and gave a small, firm nod.
"Ryou's just started at the Ministry of Civil Affairs," she said. "I go way back with Ganyu, so I wanted to ask her to keep an eye on him and help him out. I didn't expect to run into you two here. Why don't we eat together?"
"That… might not be appropriate," Ganyu said.
Something about this mother-and-daughter-in-law pair wasn't sitting right.
Ganyu knew them both. They weren't going to hurt her. Still, she stayed on guard—the two of them were already steering the conversation where they wanted it.
[End of chapter]
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