When Keqing slumped over too, Ryou pinched the bridge of his nose. Seriously… why go this far? Did she really want to get Ganyu drunk that badly?
Everyone else had collapsed on the table too. Somewhere along the way, even Klee had gotten her hands on alcohol and was now sleeping like a rock.
"You can't even drink, and you still rushed to drink. I can't with you people."
Ryou wrapped an arm around Keqing and scooped Ganyu up with the other, carrying them back to the bedroom.
Both women were completely out of it. He wasn't about to take advantage of anyone, so he laid them on the bed, pulled the blankets up, and tucked them in. They looked way too tempting in their sleep, but he only bent down to kiss each of them on the forehead before turning around and leaving the room.
[Ding! Mouth entering Darkened Mode!]
[Ding! Mouth Darkened Mode active. You can exhale gases and imbue them with effects, up to two at once.]
Ryou heard it and didn't bother overthinking it. He just quickly saw the remaining guests off, then went back to the dining room and settled Tabibito, Paimon, Klee, and the others into the guest rooms one by one.
By the time he finished cleaning up, the sky had already grown dark.
He sat in the living room with a cup of tea, then breathed lightly toward the teacup. The misty breath spread out from him in an instant. He watched it expand—about fifty meters, give or take. The gas was so thin it was almost impossible to notice.
[Qi! – Refreshing]
[Effect: Mental alertness effects within range are boosted by 100%.]
[Duration: 1 day]
The effect didn't feel especially strong, but lasting a full day was still something. Ryou exhaled again, and the two clouds of gas overlapped, blanketing the entire space.
[Qi! – Thinking]
[Effect: Thinking speed increases by 30%.]
[Duration: 1 day]
If he could keep both effects running, life would get a lot easier. Better yet, he could tailor the effects himself—though the more he pushed it, the more it drained his mind.
Just as he was about to dismiss the gases, the steward walked in.
A moment ago, the man had looked exhausted. Now, for some reason, he seemed oddly energized. He stepped forward and said, "Ryou-sama, it's getting late. You should rest."
"Mm." Ryou glanced at him. Something felt off, but he didn't dwell on it. He waved a hand, pulled the two gases back, and headed to bed.
The steward returned to his room to sleep.
He couldn't.
No matter how he shut his eyes, drowsiness never came. He stood by the door… and stood… and stood. Nearly an hour passed, and he still felt wide awake, like his mind refused to switch off.
"Stew-steward… are you alright?" A servant spotted him, panicked by the redness in his eyes, and hurried over to steady him.
"I'm fine," the steward murmured. "Just… unusually alert."
He flicked his hand dismissively. "Go rest. We have a lot to prepare tomorrow."
"Steward, maybe you should go to a clinic…" The servant sounded genuinely frightened.
The steward's face had gone paper-white, and his eyes were bloodshot—so unsettling it made your skin crawl.
"No need. I'll rest in a bit," the steward said, waving him off again.
"But—"
"O-okay…" The servant had no choice but to back down.
The night dragged on. The steward still didn't close his eyes even once.
Then, slowly, his vision began to spin. The world tilted, darkened, and sank into black. His legs gave out. In the next instant, a sharp pain stabbed through his head—and after that, everything went numb.
"Ste-steward!" a servant cried out in terror.
"H-he's still got his eyes open… This—this isn't… he didn't die like this, did he?" another servant blurted, nearly hyperventilating.
"Should we… should we go to Wangsheng Funeral Parlor and ask them to prepare a coffin?" a third servant whispered, shoulders hunched.
An older man frowned hard. "This isn't right. Hurry—go get Keqing-sama and Ryou-sama!"
"I-I'm going!" A servant bolted, frantic.
Bang bang bang!
The knocking at the door wouldn't stop.
Keqing rubbed her eyes and sat up—then froze when she saw Ganyu clinging to her in her sleep.
"G-Ganyu… why are you in my bed?!" Keqing jolted so hard she broke into a cold sweat.
Last night, hadn't she helped her husband get Ganyu drunk? Don't tell me… he failed, and Ganyu got her way instead?
Keqing's imagination spiraled out of control.
Ganyu cracked one eye open and shot Keqing a look. "Why are you staring at me like that? We didn't even take our clothes off."
"Eh—oh… r-right!" Keqing exhaled so hard it was almost a sigh of relief.
Ganyu rubbed her forehead. "They're knocking like it's urgent. Go see what happened."
"O-okay." Keqing threw on her clothes and went to open the door.
The servant outside looked like he'd seen a ghost. "Keqing-sama—th-the steward… he's gone!"
"What nonsense are you saying?" Keqing snapped, glaring. "He's been with my father and our family for twenty years. He watched me grow up. How could he just leave?"
"I-I mean he collapsed outside his door!" the servant stammered. "His face is white like a corpse, and his eyes are still open!"
Keqing's blood ran cold. "What?! Take me to him. Now!"
When she saw the steward, even Keqing flinched.
She rushed forward and checked him herself. Thankfully, he was still breathing. Keqing immediately pulled out a bottle of fruit juice and fed it to him.
After he drank, he looked a little better—but it was still bad.
Keqing swung her hand. "Quick—get him to Bubu Pharmacy! Now!"
"Yes!" Several servants hurried to carry him off.
About half an hour later, Ryou emerged from his pocket realm. The moment he noticed the house felt emptier than it should, he sensed something was wrong. A servant quickly reported what had happened.
"Yeah… yesterday, I did feel something off about him," Ryou muttered. "But Baizhu's an excellent doctor. He should be able to handle it."
Truthfully, Ryou had always had a good impression of the steward. The man worked himself to the bone, kept the household running smoothly, and genuinely cared about Keqing.
While Ryou was eating, Ganyu came in from outside.
"This… isn't a great idea," she said, glancing out. "At this hour, going over there is already pretty late."
Thinking back to what happened not long ago, her face warmed up a little. Then she stared at Ryou and asked, "Last night… were you the one who put me and Keqing in the same room?"
"Yeah," Ryou said with a grin. "I figured I'd help you get used to it in advance."
Even after they finished eating, Venti and Tabibito still hadn't woken up, which said everything about how drunk everyone had been.
When they reached the area around Bubu Pharmacy, Ryou gave Ganyu a quick instruction and went inside.
He'd barely reached the door when he heard Baizhu speaking to Keqing. Ryou stepped in.
"Ryou…" Keqing walked up and pressed close to his side.
"What is it?" Ryou wrapped an arm around her.
"Baizhu said the steward's condition is really strange," Keqing said anxiously. "Even he doesn't know what to do. He's extremely weak, and if it weren't for your fruit juice, he probably…"
Ryou patted her shoulder gently. "Don't think like that. I'm here."
He looked at Baizhu. "Can I go in and see him?"
"Of course," Baizhu said, nodding.
Inside, the steward looked awful—his face was deathly pale, and his eyes were so swollen and red it was terrifying.
Ryou was about to check his pulse when he noticed something: three thin strands of qi lingering around those eyes.
[Ding! Refreshing effect ongoing!]
Ryou's mind clicked into place. Yesterday's gas.
The steward had been caught in it last night, and it had stayed on him all the way until now. For someone his age, lasting this long was already impressive.
Ryou felt a little guilty. He stepped forward and said, "I'll treat him."
He lifted a hand and pulled the qi back out of the steward.
Ryou turned to Baizhu. "Check him again."
Baizhu stepped in and took the steward's pulse.
"The abnormal status is gone," Baizhu said slowly. "But what was that just now? Why did he return to normal the moment you waved your hand?"
"Hard to explain," Ryou said, clearing his throat.
It was his fault, and Keqing was close to the steward. Better not to say it out loud.
Still… he could make it up to the man later. Give him fruit regularly, help him live longer. That would be fair.
Ryou looked at Keqing. "From now on, give him some fruit every day. Let him recover slowly."
"Ryou, you're really good to people," Keqing said, hugging him tight. Relief poured through her—she really had chosen the right man.
Ryou didn't say much else. After a few final instructions, he brought Keqing to Yujing Terrace.
Once they arrived, everyone was already buried in work. No one even looked up at the two of them.
Ryou leaned close and murmured to Keqing, telling her to go into the office first. Then he exhaled two clouds of qi, letting them spread over the entire Yujing Terrace administrative area.
[Qi! – Laser Focus]
[Effect: Greatly increases concentration within range, boosting work efficiency.]
[Duration: 8 hours]
...
[Qi! – Refreshing]
[Effect: Greatly boosts energy within range. At peak, can briefly raise alertness to 200%.]
[Duration: 8 hours]
Ryou glanced at it once, then looked away. He said a quick word to Zhongli and went back into the office.
Zhongli felt baffled by what Ryou said, but before he could think too hard about it, several people hurried over and handed in their documents.
Zhongli reviewed them one by one. The quality was excellent—and the processing speed was absurdly fast, noticeably stronger than before.
After that, more and more Ministry of Civil Affairs staff rushed in to submit completed work. The efficiency was off the charts. Even in normal times, pushing this hard still took hours. Today, everything wrapped up in under an hour.
Zhongli logged and sorted the paperwork, still half in disbelief.
"What is going on today? Everyone's working like possessed. The error rate is so low it's ridiculous. This efficiency is insane."
Bang bang bang!
After organizing everything, Zhongli went to Ryou's office.
He waited. No response.
He opened the door—and found it empty.
Zhongli frowned. He clearly saw Ryou and Keqing head into that office. How did they just… vanish?
With no better option, he carried the paperwork upstairs to submit it at Yujing Terrace.
"Zhongli-san?" A staff member stared at him in disbelief. "You're done already?"
"It's done," Zhongli said. "They were all unusually energized today, so… things moved faster than normal."
He set the documents down and headed back downstairs.
The Yujing Terrace staff were stunned. They'd only just managed to get started, and the Ministry of Civil Affairs had already finished?
Same humans. Completely different worlds.
"What are you all doing?" Ningguang walked in with Baiwen.
She'd originally planned to go see Ganyu today. Ningguang had pulled another all-nighter recently, and she refused to let Ganyu keep showing up late and leaving early. Otherwise, Ningguang was going to work herself to death.
But the moment she arrived, she saw staff whispering and gawking. She walked over and glanced at the documents.
"Hm? Everything's already been handled? Or… was it never sent out?"
"N-Ningguang-sama," a staff member said shakily, "the Ministry of Civil Affairs handled everything. It took them less than an hour!"
"Less than an hour…?" Ningguang sucked in a breath. "They're that fast?"
She shot everyone a sharp look. "Can't you learn something from them?"
The secretaries and staff exchanged looks, helpless. Learn? Even if they wanted to, how? Finishing everything in an hour was beyond impossible.
Ningguang pointed. "Bring all the paperwork to Ganyu's office."
"Yes, Ningguang-sama!" They gathered the documents and followed her to Ganyu's office.
Ganyu was already working. With some earlier pointers from Ryou, she'd been handling things much more easily lately.
Then she saw people coming in—followed by staff hauling in a pile of documents nearly as tall as she was. Ningguang and Baiwen walked in behind them.
Ganyu swallowed hard at the mountain of paperwork.
"Ningguang-sama… I admit I've been slacking a bit lately, but… isn't this way too much?!"
[End of chapter]
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