Omniscius [Genshin Impact]

14: Time To Make The First Move

What was Liyue to you at first glance?

A busy land of business? A prosperous nation of commerce and wealth? A land of blessed fortune? A place of fresh seas and quality goods?

Liyue was all that. Liyue was rich and beautiful. Maybe to passing tourists and travellers, yes. But to the network holding Liyue altogether, Liyue was a little more than that.

There was greed. There was crime. Rex Lapis has now passed and with the nation managed by humans, there will be flaws and dirt.

Ningguang didn't just ask Soleil to come to Liyue for business talk. She knew Soleil was not a fussy girl and was efficient in work. She needed that now she had greedy merchants, scheming Snezhnayan diplomats, and opportunistic criminals on the move to take down the seven members of the Qixing and overtake Liyue.

The Tianquan relied on Soleil due to her quick and stealthy plans to eradicate obstacles with the least amount of mess made. She wanted to deal with all these troubles with the least amount of violence.

So on the day Soleil went to the Jade Chamber to speak with her and the rest, Ningguang was slightly shocked to hear Soleil's proposal.

"Let's turn Liyue upside down."

"I beg your pardon?" Ganyu asked, baffled and confused with Soleil's words. The scholar shrugged.

"When you clear your bags, you usually take the stuff out and turn the bag upside down to get rid of the dirt you can't see, don't you?" Soleil asked, "The same can be done with Liyue."

"Liyue is not a bag, Soleil. We can't just 'turn it upside down' as we please," Keqing deadpanned, causing Soleil to giggle.

"It's a figure of speech, Keqing," Soleil said, "As you can see, no matter how many rules Ningguang implements, a few rodents will still be able to escape or bend the rules to their wishes. Dispatching more of the Millelith soldiers has been only doing more harm than good. I heard even children are getting scared whenever they see the soldiers on the move."

"Ah, that. I'm afraid that's true. Eversince the merchants made an uproar several weeks ago, the Millelith was tasked to apprehend all of them on sight and to be stricter with the regulations. The children must feel intimidated whenever they see the soldiers having to use force to arrest," Keqing sighed and shook her head.

"Exactly. The Millelith have been swarming the streets and are only causing more tension as of late. I'm afraid you will lose the people's trust if this continues," Soleil turned to the Tianquan by her table.

"Hm..." Ningguang hummed thoughtfully, "I am only concerned with keeping Liyue afloat and going. How the people see me is only temporary. Impressions rarely last especially when fueled by emotions. I have great faith in the intellect of the people of Liyue. We will eventually come to an understanding."

"I understand your point of view. But while that is true, this also serves as leverage for your enemies," Soleil replied, "Using the tension, they may use it as a chance to spread propaganda and turn the people against the Qixing."

"We have foreseen this and have taken precautions to counter such situations," Ganyu assured.

"Indeed. They rarely succeed especially when they know we have been actively guarding the Qixing's name," Keqing added.

"And that brings me back to my proposal," Soleil raised a finger, "As of now, your enemies are kept at bay due to your activeness, but that's it. They put their activities on hold until they see an opportunity and everyone is in a stalemate."

"If this were a dance with your enemy, both of you will be just stepping back and forth with no progress whatsoever," Soleil smiled, "I suggest to the good council that we take matters directly into our hands."