Watching Ryou leave with Keqing, the Ministry of Civil Affairs staff all exchanged looks.
One tall, chubby man stared in disbelief. "I honestly can't imagine it… Keqing-sama is usually so strict, but she was acting all cute like a girl."
"What kind of nonsense is that?" a female staffer snapped, smacking him. "Keqing-sama is a girl!"
She kept staring outside, still stunned. "And that Tabibito—seriously, she's got guts. Everyone in Liyue knows Ryou married our Keqing, and she still dared to ask him, right in front of Keqing, if he has someone he likes. Tch. That's something."
A woman with a pointed chin chimed in, "You just don't get it. Ryou-sama is that handsome. Forget Tabibito—honestly, even me…"
She suddenly paused, flustered, and waved a hand. "Ah—no. I need to go home and change."
The words themselves sounded harmless, but a bunch of the girls instantly went red.
Seriously, isn't she a little too bold?
Just saying that out loud—
No, no, I should go home too. I… I have laundry to bring in.
That man is dangerous.
One by one, the female staffers walked out, their movements looking a bit stiff.
A male staffer with a shifty look glanced after them, then started grinning to himself.
"What're you laughing at?" another tall man snapped. "Never seen women before?"
"Look at you, all sneaky and slimy," a different man added. "You're embarrassing the Ministry."
The shifty guy clicked his tongue. "Listen to you two—big talk, that's all. I'm telling you, when it comes to women, I'm a professional."
"Trust me," the shifty guy said with a grin. "They're flustered. Now watch—any second they'll start making excuses like, 'I have to go deal with my laundry,' just to run home."
Everyone: ???
A few people actually glanced outside. "Laundry? What laundry?"
The shifty guy just laughed. "Exactly."
…
The shifty guy covered his forehead, then looked at them like they were hopeless. He flashed that same grin again.
"You guys still say I'll never find a wife," he said. "Just watch. By tomorrow, I won't just have a wife—who knows, I might even have a kid."
With that, he swaggered off.
Everyone stood there dumbfounded.
A short guy muttered, "That was… a lot of information. Wait, is he going to end up raising someone else's kid?"
…
When Ryou got home, the servants had already prepared the meal.
He sat at the table with Keqing in his arms, feeding her while he ate.
"Put me down," Keqing protested, squirming a little. "This is so embarrassing."
Ryou was her husband, sure, but this still felt mortifying—especially with servants around.
And worse… with him holding her like this, her heart wouldn't stop pounding. Her breath kept getting heavier, one after another, like something inside her was trying to break loose.
She had a Vision. She trained with the sword year-round.
And yet right now, she couldn't find a scrap of strength in her body.
What the hell was this?
That thought immediately dragged up Ningguang's jab at the Ministry of Civil Affairs—
"I heard you train with the sword all the time. So where did that training go?"
Keqing's expression tightened. She ground her teeth. "Ningguang-san is unbelievable."
Ryou blinked, completely lost.
What does him feeding her have to do with Ningguang?
"Keqing, open up." Ryou offered her another bite.
"Mm." Keqing obediently bit down.
He fed her like that for nearly half an hour. Once he was basically done eating, he took her hand and led her toward his room.
As they walked, he said casually, "Keqing, remember how my father wanted me to go into business?"
"Yeah, I remember." Keqing didn't know why he brought it up, but after seeing everything Ryou had done today, she hugged his arm and spoke softly. "Good thing you didn't agree. Otherwise your talent would've gone to waste. Having you at the Ministry of Civil Affairs is like putting wings on a tiger. Even if you took my seat as one of the Qixing… I'd be willing."
Ryou froze for a second, then gave a dry laugh. "Let's not talk about your seat."
He cleared his throat and continued, "What I mean is—back then, I visited a lot of shops. I noticed clothing stores have huge profit margins, so my father told me to spend a month checking every clothing store in Liyue."
He squeezed her hand, sounding very businesslike. "So I know this stuff well. In a minute, you put on the qipao, and I'll check the quality for you. And whether it actually fits."
Keqing stopped short.
She thought he was about to talk about something serious.
And after all that… he just wanted her to go change clothes?
Keqing instinctively looked up, cheeks burning. "But… it isn't even dark yet."
"Keqing, what are you talking about?" Ryou said, dead serious. "This is business. Can you stop letting your mind run off in weird directions?"
He waved a hand like it was obvious. "And what does 'dark' have to do with anything? If I blow out the lamp, then even if it's bright outside, this room has to be pitch-black."
Keqing's face turned even redder.
Seriously—why was he in such a hurry?!
[End of chapter]
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