Zhongli's words left everyone in the room at a loss for what to say.
Ningguang looked thoroughly puzzled. "Lord of Geo, as I recall, I already instructed the Ministry of Civil Affairs to provide the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor with a rather generous package of subsidies."
Say what you would, Zhongli had guided Liyue as Rex Lapis for millennia.
The old man liked to take his birds out for a stroll and pick up curious antiques in his spare time, and all of that took Mora.
Those funds had never been handed to Zhongli openly, but everyone understood perfectly well that they were meant as his pocket money.
By rights, Hu Tao had to understand that too.
After all, the money had been issued as a reward for the many valuable suggestions Zhongli had offered the Liyue Qixing.
Hu Tao might be young, but she wasn't the sort to miss that kind of implication. She had no business skimming a single Mora off the top!.
So why, at a moment like this, was he still trying to squeeze money out of the Northland Bank?
Zhongli folded his arms and nodded. "The Hall Master passed every last Mora of it on to me. What you gave is what you gave — but the bill on Childe's end can hardly be waived either."
Ningguang: …
Keqing: …
Ye Xi was struck with sheer admiration.
Truly worthy of an old man who had lived for thousands of years. What sharp calculation.
What was this called? This was called keeping the scales perfectly level.
One couldn't keep taking only from the Liyue Qixing; one had to take a good deal more from Childe as well. Whatever else was true, Childe was operating on their turf — let him grow too comfortable, and the Fatui would only push further.
Noticing that both Ningguang and Keqing were looking at him, Ye Xi waved a hand. "Anyway, we know where Klee is now. Just run a quick inspection on those Fatui, then let them go back and resume business."
That said, he turned to Zhongli and went on, "Lord of Geo, how about you come with me to Snezhnaya? I'm not exactly on familiar terms with the Tsaritsa."
"Er…" Zhongli fell into thought for a while. "By any reasonable measure, the God of Snezhnaya would not raise a hand against a child. I suspect there is something else behind this."
Seeing that Zhongli had no appetite for helping, Ye Xi said flatly, "You should know Klee's mother, actually. A lady by the name of Alice."
"Hm? Her!?"
Zhongli's brows knit together, and his mind went straight back to the days he had spent touring Liyue's mountains and rivers with Alice.
That Alice was no well-behaved houseguest!
All those experiments she had run in Mondstadt back in the day, plus the little matter of turning old Mondstadt into Stormterror's Lair, had drawn no small amount of attention long ago.
Later, when Alice had abruptly turned up in Liyue, he'd been terrified the witch would blow the place sky-high, so he'd shadowed her every step of the way to keep watch.
Thinking back on it now, that woman was no native of Teyvat. She was an outsider through and through.
And if Klee was Alice's daughter, he could hardly settle down and enjoy his storytelling in peace.
After all, Klee had gone missing in Liyue.
At that thought, he spoke up. "In truth, I only ever concluded a single transaction with the God of Snezhnaya. As for genuine acquaintance, I suppose I only had dealings with the previous Cryo God."
"Still, a trip to Snezhnaya wouldn't be out of the question."
"When do we set out?"
Ye Xi hesitated.
Heading straight to Snezhnaya could go wrong in any number of ways. Better to make proper preparations first.
He needed to make a trip to Mondstadt and tell Acting Grand Master Jean about all this.
"Then head to Mondstadt first, Lord of Geo. We'll meet up in the city and go to Snezhnaya together."
He could reach Mondstadt directly through a portal, and Zhongli could probably just fly there himself — which meant there was no need to open up his permissions and let the old man into the Serenitea Pot.
Zhongli raised no objection. "Mm. I shall wait for you in Mondstadt City, then."
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