As Ren, his mind already buzzing with the exciting, new possibilities of a journey to Sumeru, took his leave from the Jade Chamber to begin his preparations, a quiet, worried voice remained behind.
"Lady Ningguang," Ganyu began, her gentle face a mask of anxious, sisterly concern. "Are you… are you certain about this? Sending Ren to Sumeru? It is a foreign land, full of its own politics and its own dangers. And to send him as our primary negotiator… shouldn't a more experienced diplomat, or perhaps Lady Keqing, handle such a delicate and important task?"
Ningguang turned from the grand window, a slow, deeply confident, and almost amused, smile on her face. "Ganyu," she said, her voice a calm, reassuring melody, "you are thinking like a guardian. And that is a good, and a very noble, thing to be. But I am thinking like a ruler."
She walked over to the worried adeptus, her gaze softening with a genuine maternal, affection. "Look at him, Ganyu. Truly look at the young man he has become. He is no longer the small, fragile child who appeared on Cloud Retainer's mountain. He has stood against gods, he has outwitted Harbingers, he has changed the very course of three nations, including our own, with his quiet wisdom. He is not a weak child to be protected from the world anymore. He is a brave, brilliant, and remarkably capable, young man. And he is, without a single doubt in my mind, the absolute best person for this job."
Ganyu listened, her own heart swelling with a fierce pride at the Tianquan's words, her fears slowly, but surely, beginning to be soothed.
Ningguang's smile then turned a little sharper, a little more cunning, a familiar, strategic glint entering her amber eyes. "And besides," she added, her voice a low, confidential purr. "Who ever said that he was going alone?"
A few days later, the final meeting was convened. Ren, having already received a very enthusiastic, and surprisingly less concerned than before, blessing from Xianyun for his Sumeru trip ("A patent? How wonderfully… bureaucratic. Just be sure to bring me back some of those interesting, glowing mushrooms they have there. This one has some new, alchemical theories to test."), was ready.
He stood before Ningguang, his travel pack half prepared at home, ready to receive his final, official instructions.
"Master Xianyun has given her permission for my journey," he reported, his voice full of a quiet, confident excitement. "Though," he added, with a small, dutiful smile towards Ganyu, who was standing beside him, "she did make one, very firm, condition. I am not to go to Sumeru alone."
Ningguang's smile was one of pure, triumphant satisfaction. "I anticipated as much," she said, her voice a smooth, confident purr. "And I have, of course, already decided on the perfect, and most logical, person to accompany you on this vital, international mission."
Ren's mind immediately began to race. Keqing? She was the most logical choice, a powerful, no-nonsense protector. Yelan? Her skills in subterfuge would be invaluable. Or maybe… maybe Ganyu again, after all, she was probably the most worried about me.
"I will be going with you," Ningguang stated, her voice a simple, final, and completely shocking, declaration.
Ren stared, his jaw dropping. "You?!" he squeaked, his carefully constructed, diplomatic composure shattering in an instant. "But… but you're the Tianquan! You can't just… leave Liyue! Who will run the city? What about your duties?"
Ningguang let out a soft, amused laugh, the sound of a master chess player who is a dozen moves ahead of everyone else. "Oh, Ren," she said, her voice full of a fond, teasing affection. "You worry far too much."
She gestured to the bustling, prosperous city below them. "Liyue was operating perfectly when our dear Ganyu was on her extended… 'leave of absence' in Inazuma. And it will operate perfectly when I am on my own, well-deserved, 'diplomatic vacation' in Sumeru." She gave a pointed, and very confident, look towards Keqing, who simply gave a sharp, capable nod in return. The city, she was saying, was in very good hands.
She then walked over to Ren, her expression softening into one of fierce, unwavering, and personal, protective, resolve. "I have no intention," she said, her voice a low, powerful, and utterly non-negotiable, promise, "of allowing anyone in the Sumeru Akademiya, or anywhere else, for that matter, to harass, or to try and take advantage of, my most valuable, and most brilliant, advisor. You are not just going to Sumeru as an inventor, Ren. You are going as the personal ward of the Liyue Tianquan. You will have the full, absolute, and very much visible, political backing of Liyue, in my own, personal, presence. No one," she finished, her amber eyes flashing with the cold, hard light of a dragon protecting its hoard, "will dare to cause you any trouble. I will make sure of it."