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

Linghua suddenly remembered something and said, "My adopted son, actually, I made some minor adjustments to your substitute before I set off, but I forgot to mention it on the way."

"Transfer?" Xiao Yi asked, puzzled. "Explain in detail."

Ayaka continued, "Regarding Arataki Ichito, I think that although he can maintain his refined demeanor for a short time, he is bound to make mistakes over time or when stimulated by external factors. For example, when he boarded the carriage earlier, he lost his temper and confronted Miss Kujo..."

"So halfway there, I took it upon myself to communicate with Ms. Kujo and changed the person chosen to be the lady's stand-in."

Before leaving Liyue, Xiao Yi's carriage led the way, and he and Gan Yu would enjoy the interesting scenery along the way. Kujou and Ichidou, Ayaka and Wendy's carriages followed behind, keeping pace with their adopted son and wife.

Therefore, Xiao Yi had no idea what happened between Linghua and her two stand-ins.

Leaving Liyue, Kujo's carriage was at the forefront, while Xiao Yi's carriage and Ayaka's carriage were still some distance behind. During their journey of the past few weeks, they had not officially met until yesterday noon when Ayaka's carriage broke down.

Therefore, it is understandable that there is an information gap between the two sides.

Linghua, exhausted from her journey and having spent half a day struggling to get her carriage stuck in the mud yesterday, forgot about this matter, which was both important and unimportant. After all, Xiao Yi's main goal was to have fun and take care of Lawrence's matter, and who exactly was the substitute for the smokescreen was not important.

Of course, a report is still required.

It wasn't until she had just played cards to refresh herself that she finally remembered and told Xiao Yi on her way to Diluc Manor.

"Who did you replace the lady's stand-in with?" Xiao Yi didn't react much, nor did he blame Linghua for acting on her own initiative.

For him, any Stand that could successfully deceive him was a good Stand. He chose Ichidou simply because he was too lazy to find someone else and immediately picked one with horns.

“The candidate is named Yanfei. Like the lady, she is a demigod and also has horns on her head. Although the color is not quite right, it can be fixed with some paint.” Linghua reported in an orderly manner. “In addition, she knows Miss Yura Lawrence, which may bring us additional benefits. As for my arbitrary behavior, please forgive me, my adopted son.”

"What sins are you atoning for? You did a great job, a truly excellent job!" Xiao Yi gave a thumbs up and praised, "Actually, it would have been better if we could have done this sooner. I was quite tired during those few days training Yi Dou. If only I had known there was such a ready-made one..."

Speaking of Ichito, he suddenly realized something was wrong: since Ayaka-chan replaced the Stand with Ms. Enhi, then where did the Oni youth go?

Before Xiao Yi could ask, Gan Yu asked in confusion, "I remember Miss Yan Fei is a famous legal expert in Liyue. Why would she give up her job to be my substitute?"

Linghua unfolded her fan and smiled, "I invited her over under the pretext of legal consultation, and then made my real request. At first, Miss Yanfei was very resistant, but after I offered her a price she couldn't refuse, Miss Yanfei reluctantly agreed."

Before making the honeymoon plans, Xiao Yi gave Linghua a lot of Mora, asking her to perfect the honeymoon trip and indicating that she could use the money as she pleased.

After all, all Xiao Yi wanted to do was have fun with Gan Yu and investigate Lawrence. He didn't want to spoil the mood with things like financial management, so he treated Princess Bailu as his housekeeper, letting her handle all the trivial matters without having to report to her too much.

Ayaka's abilities and character are believable.

That's why she took it upon herself to replace Yi Dou with Yan Fei, and incidentally used the money to bribe this legal expert.

As for where Xiao Yi got so much money to give Linghua, it's because he has a group of Seven Stars friends, and Liyue is the richest country in all of Teyvat.

On their wedding day, in addition to placing many gifts in the bridal chamber, Liyue Qixing also gave Xiao Yi a lot of extra red envelopes as wedding gifts.

For example, Miss Keqing, disregarding the past grievances about the maid outfit, gifted Xiao Yi six large villas, representing good fortune. Although Tianquan Ningguang was not familiar with Xiao Yi, she was also generous, giving him a very direct gift—Mora.

Ningguang bought a plot of land of about 300 square meters and piled up tens of millions of Mora to form a congratulatory message for Xiao Yi and Gan Yu's marriage, saying that they could transport it away by car at any time.

The other five Seven Stars also gave him some nice gifts, and even without considering Xiao Yi's assets in Daoqi, he is still one of the richest men in the world.

Before marrying Gan Yu, if someone asked Narukamiko what her special ability was, people would answer that she could manipulate lightning to condense weapons. But now, if someone asks what Narukamiko's ability is, people will answer without hesitation: he is very rich.

This is what is known as the power of money.

After Linghua finished explaining how she maximized Mora's interests and how she coerced and persuaded the legal expert to become an actor, Xiao Yi began to ask him questions: "Since Gan Yu has a more suitable stand-in, what about the original stand-in, Ichidou, and his Arakkari faction? Should they stay in Liyue Harbor, or should they be sent back to Inazuma?"

Ayaka gently shook her head and replied, "I remember that the adopted son promised him that he and the Arataki Faction would enjoy the Mondstadt trip. So, I arranged for Arataki Ichito to pretend to be the bodyguard of the 'adopted son's stand-in' and the 'lady's stand-in,' which means that he is the bodyguard of Miss Kujo and Miss Enhi.

"As it turns out, Arataki Kazuto was really into this. He immediately accepted the new identity. In order to legitimately deceive strangers, he even borrowed Ms. Kujo's name and called himself Kujo Sara directly... Ms. Kujo was quite helpless about this."

At this point, Ayaka revealed a complex expression that was neither a smile nor a frown.

The one who claims to be Narukami's adopted son is actually the bodyguard Kujo Sara; the one who claims to be his adopted son's wife Ganyu is actually the Liyue law expert Yanfei; the one who claims to be Kujo Sara is actually Sara's tormentor, Inatsuma Street slacker Araki Ichito—what an interesting combination.

"Heh, hahaha... cough cough." Xiao Yi looked out the carriage window with amusement. "Gan Yu and I were on our honeymoon when Sara was in trouble. If Yi Dou had behaved himself, it would have been fine. But if he used Sara's identity to cause trouble in Mondstadt, it would have been a disgrace to the country."

He and Gan Yu didn't need to worry about such things. After all, Kujo acted more like Narukami than he did, and Yanfei was a half-immortal who had read books and knew basic etiquette. No matter what, they wouldn't embarrass themselves. However, as for Ichito, who played Sara... Xiao Yi didn't even dare to think about it.

Ayaka composed herself and continued, "His friends, a few of whom claimed to be members of the Araki faction, played the role of Okuzawa's bodyguards, obeying Araki Ichito's commands."

“The Araki Faction? I remember there were only five people in total. Besides the leader, Ichito, there was Akira, Genta, and Mamoru. The fifth one was…” Xiao Yi recalled the members of the Araki Faction. Ichito had told him about it before. “Is her name Shinobu? Kuki Shinobu, the only girl in the Araki Faction.”

However, apart from Kuki Shinobu, the other four men of the Arataki faction were basically synonymous with good-for-nothing hooligans in their daily lives. If you were to give them some face, you could call them "principled but kind-hearted hooligans".

"It must be hard on Sara and Miss Yanfei, who are being guarded by the Ara-ryu faction," Xiao Yi muttered to himself. "When I return to Inazuma in five years, I will give Sara a raise."

The road the carriage traveled gradually became more secluded, and before long, they could clearly see a brightly lit manor through the carriage window.

“When I was playing cards with the tavern patrons, I asked them a lot of questions about Mondstadt,” Ayaka suddenly said. “They talked about the suburban manor where the banquet was held today. It’s one of the mansions of the wealthy merchant Diluc. Although it’s not as luxurious as the Dawn Winery, which is the main house, it’s still an extremely luxurious building.”

Xiao Yi thought to himself: A person with money power...

Just then, the coachman suddenly braked, and the inertia caused the carriage to shake violently. Xiao Yi reached out his left hand to support Gan Yu beside him, and raised his right hand to press Ling Hua opposite him into her seat to ensure that they would not be bumped.

Qian Yanjun, disguised as a coachman, whispered to the carriage: "Sirs, it seems we've run into some highway robbers."

Chapter 162 Fake Yura's Bodily Fluids

"How many of them are there?" Xiao Yi asked the coachman.

“Three…” the driver replied, “No, four.”

Robbed? Four people in total? This is the most unbelievable thing Xiao Yi has encountered since arriving in Mondstadt, apart from the real and fake Yura.

A cargo wagon traveling through the mountains might be ambushed by a band of thieves, but most robbers would not choose to use the wagons of wealthy merchants.

Because most wealthy people care more about their lives than money, if a few shipments of goods are lost, they might give up after a while if the items aren't that important. At that point, the thieves can sell them and divide the loot.

If anyone dares to kidnap a wealthy Liyue family, they will face a powerful retaliation from the wealthy family, based on their vast assets, to the point that they may have money but not the life to enjoy it.

The wealthy in Liyue are petty but ruthless. They will not let go of anyone who threatens their lives easily, a consensus that has been reached among the nations of Teyvat.

Therefore, ordinary bandits without any skills wouldn't dare to rob a wealthy person's car in Liyue, and Xiao Yi's fake identity for this trip just happened to be that of a rich person in Liyue Harbor.

The question is, how dare they? Four people stopping a car—aren't they afraid of a bodyguard team behind them?

The four men were quite polite. After stopping the carriage, they did not do anything else that would cross the line. Instead, they walked to the carriage door and gently knocked.

A man said, "We are the Araki Faction..."

Another man corrected, "Idiot, you misspoke. Our current identities are the Otsui Clan, the leader of the Otsui Clan... no, we are subordinates of Lord Kujo Sasara!"

The third man hurriedly interrupted his two companions, raising his voice to say, "Hello, we are Narukami's adopted son's bodyguards, from the Okuzawa clan, responsible for security around the winery. Your car is not registered; please show us your identification or invitation."

While the people who stopped the car were joking around, Xiao Yi had already roughly figured out the current situation through the car window.

Three foolish men were blocking the carriage door, while a green-haired girl with a single ponytail, dressed like a ninja and wearing a mask, stood a little distance away from them, directly in front of the carriage.

It's confirmed, it's the Araki faction.

However, these guys, despite receiving security assignments, didn't properly patrol around the manor. Instead, they ran all the way to the middle of the gambling road. Their thought process was rather peculiar.

Because the carriage was dimly lit while the outside was illuminated by moonlight, the four members of the Huanglong Sect could not see Xiao Yi's face clearly, but Xiao Yi could observe them clearly.

Xiao Yi didn't open the car door, but smiled mockingly: "I remember that the Knights of the West kept Ming Shenzi's itinerary a secret. Now that you've said that, if I really were someone with ill intentions, wouldn't that confirm that Ming Shenzi is at Master Lu's manor?"

Of course, Xiao Yi was just teasing them. His adopted son's whereabouts were basically public information; even the hotel staff knew. Besides, who would be so foolish as to start targeting his adopted son again less than half a year after the society was wiped out?

The three members of the Arakkari faction didn't think much of it; they looked at each other, at a loss for what to do.

"Oh right, it seems we've leaked information."

"Oh no, he found out about us."

"What should we do? Should we make a lot of noise to cover it up?"

With the situation urgent, Xiao Yi stopped joking and snapped his fingers crisply, the tip of his index finger flashing with electricity, illuminating his own face.

Although only a small number of Liyue people know Xiao Yi, and almost no Mondstadt people know Xiao Yi, in Inazuma, almost everyone knows what the adopted son looks like. He appears in public even more frequently than General Thunder.

Therefore, Ichidou's underlings immediately recognized Xiao Yi. They were dumbfounded, and even the relatively calm Nine-Headed Ninja showed disbelief in his eyes.

“Wow, Narukami-sama!” one of the Arataki faction members exclaimed.

"I usually only see him from afar, or hear about him from my elder brother. I never imagined that today... I would actually see my adopted son in person! What an incredible honor!!!"

"Please give me your autograph—"

Although their incoherent speech was due to their excitement, they would never have dared to be so presumptuous if they had met General Thunder.

Xiao Yi's human origins and approachable image left a deep impression on Inazuma's heart. In addition, Ichidou was his friend, which is why the three of them dared to let loose like this.

"I need to go to the banquet to find someone, is that alright?" Xiao Yi extinguished the electric sparks at his fingertips.

"But we received orders not to let anyone in without an invitation..."

"Idiot, we were originally responsible for protecting the fake adopted son, Tengu. Now that the real adopted son has arrived, there's no reason not to let him pass!"

"I think we should report to Boss Yi Dou first."

The three people standing on the side of the carriage were arguing incessantly, but the sensible green-haired girl had already taken a step forward and stopped blocking Xiao Yi's carriage.

The coachman steered the horses forward, leaving behind the three arguing men and the helpless Ren.

Before long, the carriage approached the manor.

A blonde woman in a formal dress stood in the courtyard, watching the approaching carriage. Her beautiful and smooth golden hair was coiled into a bun at the back of her head, but from her upright posture and aura, it could be judged that she, like Yura, was a combatant, that is, a knight.

"Commander Qin? This is the first time I've seen her dressed like this." Xiao Yi leaned out the window. "But it makes sense, after all, you have to wear formal attire to a banquet."

Gan Yu and Ling Hua stared at each other, completely unaware of when Xiao Yi had met this acting leader.

Unexpectedly, when the carriage stopped in the courtyard, the leader immediately rushed to greet them, as if she had been waiting for Xiao Yi and the others.

Standing to the side of the carriage, Qin hurriedly asked, "Are you a doctor? Please come with me to the hall immediately."

Xiao Yi's pupils contracted slightly.

Clearly, the female group leader mistook the car for the correct one, but what exactly happened during the banquet, and why was a doctor needed? Could there have been an accident here as well?

"We're not doctors, but we have other urgent matters to attend to," Xiao Yi explained briefly, then asked Commander Qin, "What happened at the banquet? Why do we suddenly need medical personnel?"

“Mr. Kujo Sara…” Qin explained.

Xiao Yi was stunned for a moment, then realized: the real Sara was himself now, and Yi Dou had replaced Sara, so he understood what the leader of the Qin Troupe wanted to express.

Despite the changes, the underlying issue remains the same: the young ghost clan member has definitely caused trouble again. Xiao Yi hopes it hasn't escalated too much and that Sha Luo and Yan Fei can handle it without him having to intervene.

"He ate some soy products and then collapsed. Sister Barbara gave him emergency treatment, but he still needs professional medical attention. We've already sent someone to Mondstadt to find a doctor, and I'm waiting for him outside," the leader continued.

Unexpected, yet reasonable.

“I’ve studied ghosts before, and I also know the reason why they’re allergic to beans,” Linghua suddenly spoke up. “Perhaps I can be of help, Mr. Xiao…”