Lu Bu, the Thunder General, is my adoptive father in Genshin Impact.

"Hey, isn't this the groom? Long time no see, come on over for a drink..."

As I passed through the alley, I heard a loud and melodious invitation coming from within. If that voice were used to sing a beautiful narrative poem, instead of shouting like a drunkard, it would be perfect.

Xiao Yi and Ling Hua used the sound to locate the source and entered the alley together.

The young bard, dressed in lush green, sat on the ground, leaning casually against the wall. Beside him was a wine jar, its shape clearly indicating it was a fine brew from Liyue.

The banquet lasted for seven days and has just ended.

Xiao Yi guessed that this guy probably stayed at Yujingtai after the banquet ended, wanting to get a few more drinks, but was eventually asked to leave by Qianyan Army along with the drinks.

Xiao Yi felt extremely lucky; he happened to need to talk to Wendy, and the bard came to his doorstep.

Talking to Zhongli is like facing a serious elder; you need to be alert and polite at all times. Wendy is more like a younger elder who isn't much older and will take you out to have fun. Xiao Yi can communicate with her in a relaxed manner.

He clutched his aching back and moved into the alley, slowly squatting down next to Wendy: "Want to drink? I have a way to keep you drinking good wine, you just need to do me a small favor."

Hearing this, Wendy put her hand on Xiao Yi's shoulder and said expectantly, "Of course, I'm a helpful bard!"

"Are you familiar with Mondstadt's urban districts?" Xiao Yi asked.

“Hehe, of course!” Wendy nodded frequently. “From the most inconspicuous alleys to the most hidden sewers, no one knows Mondstadt better than me.”

Xiao Yi's lips curled into a malicious smile: "Alright, next I'm going to invade Mondstadt. You lead the way, and the Thousand Rock Army and the Shogunate Army will bypass the walls through the sewers and break through Mondstadt from the inside. After this job, I want to raze the Dawn Winery to the ground and plant watermelons..."

Although Linghua didn't know why Xiao Yi was saying that, she knew her adopted son quite well. In any case, he was probably just up to something, so she just had to watch gracefully.

Wendy sobered up considerably and stared at the other person in surprise.

Xiao Yi continued to speak eloquently: "When the time comes, I will purge the nobles and Mondstadt will be mine. As compensation, I will hand over Mondstadt to you, tear down the statue of the Anemo Archon and build your statue, and then force the Church of Favonius to worship you—in this way, countless fine wines will be within my grasp."

Wendy thought to herself: Teleporting on the spot?

"Ugh, stop teasing me—groom, just tell me what you're trying to say." Wendy helplessly spread her hands, then said politely before resorting to force, "If you keep telling riddles, I'm going to tell your godfather."

Having witnessed the drunken poet and the general enjoying drinks together in the past few days, and despite not knowing the specifics, she figured there was no need to investigate the general's affairs in such detail. Hearing Wendy's threat to report him, Ayaka wasn't too surprised.

Xiao Yi smirked: "Actually, one of the things I just said was true."

Wendy frowned slightly and stared at the other person seriously. Her casual attitude vanished instantly. Xiao Yi vaguely sensed that the drunken poet exuded an elusive majesty.

The majesty of Barbatos, the god of wind.

“I want to purge, or more accurately, teach the Mondstadt nobles a lesson,” Xiao Yi said, revealing his true thoughts. “It has nothing to do with the ruling Gunnhildr; the problem originates from Lawrence.”

The majesty of the Lord of Wind has vanished.

"What? I thought you were really going to flatten Dawn Winery and use the land to grow watermelons!" Wendy breathed a sigh of relief and reverted to her drunken state. "Watermelons can't make good wine. The land there is more suitable for growing grapes."

Xiao Yi thought to himself: So you don't care at all what happens to Lawrence?

"What did the nobles do to offend you, and is it related to your wedding?" Wendy got straight to the point, accurately guessing the key point. "If they really went too far, I'll stand up for you—I'll tour Mond Street every day with a narrative poem about Lawrence's dark past."

Xiao Yi didn't explain. He took out a tattered piece of paper from his clothes. It was covered with tape and patched up, as if it were a confidential document rescued from the front lines of a battlefield.

Those were letters from the Lawrence family that he had torn up seven days ago.

Wendy opened her blurry, drunken eyes, scanned the contents, and a cat-like smile appeared on her lips.

"Sending a concubine to the groom on the wedding day? The Lawrence family has gone too far! I'm afraid even the honest and simple Miss Gan Yu would be angry." Wendy commented without hesitation, "Although it sounds like an insult to you, the Lawrence family is actually getting worse with each generation, especially in terms of emotional intelligence. Maybe they really think that this will please you."

“I have a feeling something’s fishy about this,” Xiao Yi instructed. “Look at the signature and fingerprint part.”

Wendy's feline smile vanished, and she pouted, muttering, "If it were the family acting on their own, I wouldn't find it strange. However, Yura Lawrence's handprint and signature are also on it. It's very strange. She doesn't seem like the type to do such a ridiculous thing..."

“So you know Yura, that makes things easier to explain,” Xiao Yi said.

Wendy, hands on hips, chest puffed out, head held high, said smugly, "Actually, I can name all the Mondstadt people..." Seeing Ayaka's surprised expression beside him, the bard boy added, "Because I have excellent social skills!"

“Miss Yura Lawrence, I have drunk with her before. Among the haughty Lawrences, she is a rather unconventional and easy-going noblewoman.”

"Could it be that the family deceived Yura, making her sign this agreement and put her fingerprint on it?" Xiao Yi began to analyze the truth of the matter. "Or, the handwriting and fingerprint are forged, and Yura didn't know about this at all, and was used by the family as a tool to complete the deal with Naruto no Miko."

Under normal circumstances, nobles would not send their family women away, much less become someone else's concubines. Such behavior was not only against "etiquette," but would also be ridiculed by other nobles and even commoners. It was a thankless and tedious task.

However, Yura's situation is special.

First, the Lawrence family disliked this unconventional female knight. She joined the Knights of Favonius, opposed the family, ruined Lawrence's plans to make a comeback, and even sent her uncle to prison.

Sending this disgraceful and troublesome job abroad would actually gain Lawrence the friendship and support of foreign princes, which would be entirely beneficial to him.

As the Wind God said, apart from the special individual Yura, each generation of Lawrence is worse than the last, still yearning for unrealistic dreams and embracing bizarre etiquette out of step with the times. Therefore, it is not impossible for them to devise such an outrageous plan.

“In the free Mondstadt, arranged marriages are no good, let alone making a girl a concubine.” Wendy pointed at the contract, then suddenly felt something was wrong. “I think it’s very unlikely that Yura was deceived. She’s rebellious. If she knew the truth and was unwilling to leave, she would run away to the deep mountains to avoid trouble. That would be a disgrace to the family and would also put the Lawrence family at odds with Narukami. So the Lawrences wouldn’t do such a thing.”

“But the possibility of Yura signing on her own initiative is also zero, so both guesses have been ruled out.” Xiao Yi folded the tattered contract and stuffed it into his pocket. “How could a knight who openly opposes his family sacrifice his future for the so-called glory of his family?”

"Something's fishy..." The young, drunken poet pondered, stroking his chin.

Their intuition told them that this was not just ordinary flattery, but a conspiracy hidden behind it.

Linghua, who was only partially aware of the situation, stood to the side shaking her head. When Xiao Yi spoke, she looked at Xiao Yi; when Wendy spoke, she looked at Wendy. She roughly understood what had happened.

"What do you plan to do?" Wendy asked. "You're not really going to start a war against Mondstadt and wipe out all the grapes at Dawn Winery because of something like this, are you?"

“I want to use our honeymoon as an excuse to go to Mondstadt with Gan Yu, and investigate while we have fun,” Xiao Yi said, revealing his long-planned scheme. “This matter is like a brick floating above our heads; if we don’t do something about it, I always feel like it will fall down one day.”

“If you don’t mind, I can be your tour guide,” Wendy said, raising her hand.

Xiao Yi gave him a high five to indicate his agreement.

As Barbatos said, no one understands Mondstadt better than him, and having a god as a backer is better than rushing over headfirst—but with Xiao Yi's current power, there are very few Teyvat beings who can threaten him.

This Narutoshi is clearly incredibly strong, yet he's excessively cautious.

Xiao Yi decided, "I'll write to Mond tomorrow morning and tell them to prepare for the reception."

Ayaka's expression changed slightly.

“Um… I don’t know the specifics of this matter, nor the local customs of Mondstadt, but may I offer some advice?” Ayaka Kamisato asked.

In fact, before the lockdown was lifted, Ayaka had already learned a lot about the customs and cultures of foreign lands. After the lockdown ended, she studied diligently. Her claim of not knowing Mondstadt was just a humble way of putting it.

"Your opinion? Go ahead and say it," Xiao Yi said.

Ayaka slowly recounted her concerns: "If you were to go to Mondstadt as the adopted son of the esteemed Mikami no Kami, you would likely be greeted by the ruling Gunnhildr family and their Knights of Favonius. You would probably be surrounded by bishops and knights all day long."

"If that's the case, the bard will likely lose his opportunity to be a guide, and the task of visiting Mondstadt will be handled by the church. Once the adopted son arrives in Mondstadt, all his actions will be arranged by the Mondstadt authorities, making it difficult for him to find time to investigate the truth of the matter."

"If you entrust the Mondstadt authorities with the investigation, and if there are other conspiracies behind this, the Lawrence family will have ample opportunity to destroy the evidence. I think you should not alert them and instead secretly go to Mondstadt for your honeymoon and conduct the investigation as a traveler."

"In this way, you and Lady Ganyu will not only enjoy a peaceful journey without being disturbed, but also have more opportunities to act, instead of being protected by the Knights of Favonius all day long..."

"These are my basic thoughts."

Xiao Yi thought about it and felt that it made some sense, but not entirely.

He suddenly had a brilliant idea and said with a crooked mouth, "If I don't intend to take a concubine, but instead openly go to Mondstadt for my honeymoon, the Lawrence family will lower their guard, and I can infer their true thoughts from their reactions and actions."

"However, as Ayaka said, in order for Gan Yu and me to enjoy an undisturbed honeymoon period, and to have time to personally investigate Lawrence's conspiracy, I decided to go to Mondstadt under the false identity of a traveler, and at the same time send someone to impersonate Narukami's adopted son and wife to divert the attention of the Knights of Favonius."

Wendy and Ayaka were stunned: a Stand tactic?!

"You want to find someone to impersonate you and Gan Yu to deal with the Knights of Favonius?" The bard whistled merrily. "Not bad, a bold and interesting idea."

"Impersonating the adopted son and his wife..." Ayaka Kamisato hesitated, then said after a long pause, "...such actors are hard to find anywhere in Teyvat!"

After all, they are too special.

Xiao Yi smiled and said, "I do have a good candidate in mind."

……

At the Liyue Harbor docks, the Thousand Rock Army captured a group of stowaways, four men and one woman, a total of five people, who floated to Liyue Harbor on a small raft.

Two months ago, when Huanglong Yidou heard that Xiao Yi had been imprisoned by Liyue, he led his Huanglong faction to build a small raft overnight and sail across the ocean to seek justice for his friend Xiao Yi.

However, their means of transportation were so bad that even Thor had to make two round trips and finish Xiao Yi's wedding banquet before the Huanglong Sect finally managed to reach the shore by sheer luck.

What's worse is that these people are completely unaware of everything that happened in between, much like the legendary archetyper from Liyue who had just returned from the fairy realm.

The streets were filled with the joy of the marriage alliance. Several members of the Araki faction were escorted to the General Affairs Department by the Chiiwa Army. During the process, Araki Ichito was still shouting loudly.

"Liyue has imprisoned Narukami's adopted son without cause. I can no longer stand by and watch! You are all despicable bastards!!!"

Chapter 154 Master Xiao's Substitute

"What? Lord Narukami, please say it again!" Kujo Sara looked at Xiao Yi in surprise, her face full of disbelief. "You want me to impersonate Narukami's adopted son—impersonate you?"

Due to some trivial matters, Kujo was unable to leave Liyue with Raiden General, but instead waited a day longer and boarded the ship to return to Inazuma today.

Just now, she was packing her luggage in her hotel room when Xiao Yi suddenly barged in and inexplicably issued this absurd order.

“You heard me right, you’re impersonating me.” Xiao Yi explained again, “In order for Gan Yu and me to have a relaxed and enjoyable trip to Mondstadt, the task of getting rid of the Knights and the Lawrence family is entrusted to you. I believe that as a general of the Shogunate, you can easily deal with the Mondstadt nobles.”

Kujo possesses a heroic spirit and a soldier's stern demeanor that most shogunate soldiers lack. If she were to stand next to Xiao Yi disguised as a man, and unsuspecting people were to identify who was Narukamiko, it is estimated that more people would choose Sara.

Furthermore, in order to eliminate the impact of the fog, Liyue temporarily closed itself off to stabilize the internal situation after the incident, and the Mondstadt people still did not have the opportunity to learn what Naruto looked like.

In the isolated continent of Teyvat, news is often difficult to verify, and even if a portrait of Xiao Yi were to circulate in Mondstadt, people might not necessarily believe it.

Therefore, the substitution tactic is feasible.

"Excuse my bluntness, but this is not appropriate..." Kujo Sara said helplessly, "Traveling to Mondstadt can be considered a diplomatic activity, so sending a Stand is far too impolite."

Xiao Yi's face darkened.

"Impolite? Those bastards surnamed Lawrence sent me a concubine on my wedding day, causing my wife to be jealous and angry, which almost led to me being squeezed to death by her! The Lawrence family's behavior is rude. The Gunnhild family and their Knights of Favonius, as the leaders of the nobility and Mondstadt, should apologize for this inappropriate thing. After all, it was done by the Mondstadt nobles."

Even setting aside the fact that Xiao Yi almost died in bed, sending such a contract on their wedding day is neither reasonable nor polite in any country. Xiao Yi was right; the Knights of Favonius should be held responsible for the Lawrence family's rudeness.

“However, I am always magnanimous and Mondstadt does not need to pay any price.” Xiao Yi spread his hands. “Let you pretend to be Narutoko and go to Mondstadt to play a little joke on them. That will settle the debt and let the matter of being impolite pass by.”

"As for what Lawrence is up to, I must find an opportunity to see for myself, otherwise it will be like a knife hanging over my head, making me very concerned."

Kujo Sara felt a terrible headache.

She always felt that this Prince Inatsuma was developing in the direction of becoming a "god of pranks," and had started to neglect his duties and frequently engage in pranks.

Although Saro has become much more flexible under Xiao Yi's influence, she is still a serious female soldier at heart and would not approve of such mischievous, prank-like behavior.

It's fine to play around in Inazuma normally, but in important diplomatic matters, we still have to follow diplomatic language. Even if the other party does something impolite, we have to express "severe reprimand" according to the rules, rather than resorting to some strange prank.

Despite her disagreement, what could Sara do? There was nothing she could do.

Xiao Yi was his direct superior, so he could only indirectly advise him to behave himself.