I'm not feeling right when I transform into Keqing

[Look at Mondstadt today. Left alone and without a guiding will, Mondstadt can only use "freedom" as an excuse to cover up its own weakness and incompetence.]

[The importance of a wise leader is far greater than anything else, and if it is a wise leader's "persecution", there must be a reason.]

[But I think, as a citizen of Liyue, you would not have such thoughts.]

[As for the second thing you mentioned last time, I can't give you any good advice either.]

[I don’t know how your relationship is with your friend who always teases you. If he goes too far, I think you can report him to your boss.]

[I'm not sure about the laws of Liyue, but in winter, if a crime is committed against a friend, the perpetrator will usually be sent to the snowfields to grow snow beans for five to ten years, or to the mines to dig coal for seven years.]

[Also, regarding your question about whether the friend I wrote to before was fictional, I don’t think that’s a question.]

[Do you think I'm a pathetic person who writes letters to imaginary friends?]

[This is a little too ridiculous.]

[Okay, it’s getting late and it’s starting to snow outside, so I have to stop writing and take a break.]

[Liyue should be in the rainy season now, don't forget to bring an umbrella when going out. It's windy and cold when working at the port, so remember to put on more clothes.]

[Written in the first snow.]

[Until winter.]

Chapter 15. Please punish me!

It still had the same icy coldness as the snowy Mondstadt mountains, but in the end, he was able to express some caring words.

Keqing's pen pal is obviously a leader, otherwise he would not have discussed with her how to manage subordinates in the previous correspondence.

Although no specific occupation was asked, based on the information revealed in several letters.

This pen pal from the Snow Country should be working in some government agency in Zhidong, otherwise he wouldn't be so familiar with Zhidong's criminal law and system.

And according to Keqing's experience, the writing and sentences are so formal and smooth, which is obviously the result of handling a lot of official documents.

That Snow Country pen pal is probably doing a secretarial job in the government agency in Zhidong.

Maybe it's because the work pressure is too great that I thought of writing letters to imaginary friends to relieve stress.

Yes, Keqing didn't believe her pale explanation.

How can you write a letter to a friend without marking the recipient's name?

Forgot? How is that possible?

This Snow Country man even remembered that it was already the rainy season in Liyue. How could such a thoughtful person forget such common sense?

However, she would not expose the other party again.

Keqing does have this emotional intelligence.

Although Keqing met this distant pen pal by chance, she cherishes him very much.

The farthest place she had ever been to was Mondstadt, and she was quite curious about the customs and culture of the distant snowy country.

Although the ruler of that land, in her opinion as one of the Seven Stars of Liyue, was too aggressive in his external behavior and too harsh and even terrifying in his internal rule.

However, the actions of the monarch have nothing to do with his subjects.

Keqing certainly wouldn't criticize her pen pals from the Snow Country unless someone else mentioned it.

He put the letter in his hand aside, bent down and pulled out the most intact and new piece of paper from the pile of papers Noelle brought yesterday, and placed it flat in front of him.

Pick up the quill and skim off the excess ink.

Keqing placed her pen on the paper and put it down after thinking for a while.

[To my friends in the Snow Country:]

[How are you doing lately? Time has really passed quickly. I still remember that we have only communicated less than ten times, but the first time was a year ago.]

[Regarding my views on management in my last letter, I can only say that these are my personal opinions and are for reference only.]

[However, although I work in Liyue Harbor and my position is not very high, I do know some common sense.]

[I wonder if you have heard of an old saying in Liyue: "A harsh government is more ferocious than a tiger."]

[I don’t think so. The specific story is too long to be explained in this letter, but you can temporarily understand it as “even rabbits will bite when they are angry.”]

[Management does need to be efficient, but it does not mean exploitation.]

[As a leader…]

Keqing stopped writing as she suddenly remembered that she was just an ordinary staff member of Liyue Harbor.

I had to take a new piece of paper and rewrite it.

[As ordinary staff serving our country, what we should do is to continuously improve our abilities.]

[Do what you can to the best of your ability, so that you can set an example and take the lead.]

[This is the correct and benign way to stimulate everyone’s enthusiasm.]

[Of course, this is similar to what you mean by "wise leader". I don't know why you are so sure that the ruling style of a tyrant recognized by the Mond people is correct, but in my opinion, a wise leader must also be a "diligent" wise leader.]

[Regarding the second question I mentioned earlier, it was just a casual comment, don’t take it seriously.]

[My friend is only good at talking. If she really dares to take action, she is no match for me. Unless she spends a lot of money to hire someone, she will not dare to do it.]

[By the way, you said before that your workplace is quite cold and your working hours are quite late?]

[I have a suggestion. There should be a tailor shop in Zhidong, right? You can go there and see if there are such gloves, or you can find a tailor and ask him to make them according to the drawing I drew.]

Keqing finished writing, then drew on the paper for a while and drew two fingerless gloves.

The painting skills are not very good, but the meaning is conveyed.

[Wearing it will help keep your fingers warm, especially when writing letters or documents.]

[Also, I heard that the Lord of Winter is as violent as the old King of Mondstadt. You must not let her see this letter.]

[Otherwise, as you said, I'm afraid you'll be treated as a spy and taken to the snowfields to grow snow peas.]

Keqing frowned slightly when writing this. The tone made it seem as if he regarded her as very important, which was not a good thing during communication.

Then he continued to write.

[This means I have one less pen pal to pass the time with.]

[It’s getting late here, and I just got back from work, so I have to stop writing here.]

[It’s cold in winter, please take care of yourself.]

[Your Liyue friend.]

After writing the last punctuation mark, Keqing put down her pen, glanced over it, then folded the letter and put it into the pure white envelope.

Perhaps because she was afraid that it would be against the rules for a person working for Zhidong to contact Liyue officials, the envelope she used to communicate with Keqing was also unmarked with the address, which allowed Keqing to reuse it.

Place the scissors over the candle flame for a few seconds, then place them on the red ink on the envelope. The ink will soften and then solidify to seal the envelope.

Afterwards, Keqing summoned the Thousand Rock Soldier and handed him the envelope.

"Send this letter to the post office and put it in Zhidong's mailbox. Remember, it's Zhidong. Tell the other seven stars that because Captain Qin is temporarily out for investigation, the time for signing the treaty will be extended. I may be back a little late."

Thousand Rocks is the Thousand Rocks soldier who came to Mondstadt with Keqing.

Holding the letter, he touched his head and said, "The other seven stars? Sir, do you mean Sir Tianquan?"

"Anyone, you can go find Kaiyang." Keqing said lightly.

Qianyan Bing also felt it. It seemed that whenever the word "Tianquan" was mentioned, Lady Keqing's eyebrows would unconsciously frown.

"Okay, I obey, little one."

Qianyanbing didn't leave after she finished speaking, and Keqing thought she had forgotten her instructions.

"This letter is sent to Zhidong. Just put it directly into the Zhidong mailbox. Don't write the address and name yourself."

"Okay, I understand." Qianyanbing looked at Lady Keqing, then hesitated. After thinking it over, he still felt that he had to say it.

"Sir...why don't you go see a doctor?"

"Doctor?"

"Yes, sir, you've been caught in the rain. I'm worried that you might have caught a cold. How about I call Dr. Liang from the team and ask him to prescribe some herbs for you?"

"Do you think I'm sick?" Keqing asked calmly.

Qianyan Bing was not in a good position to speak, and then under the calm gaze of Lady Keqing, he had no choice but to retreat and go find a fast horse to go back to Liyue to see if he could ask the other Seven Star Lords to persuade Lady Yuheng.

After the Qianyan soldiers left, Keqing cleaned up the table.

Put the paperwork back into the package.

The important marriage certificate was indeed missing from the documents, but Keqing didn't pay much attention to it, just like yesterday.

Sooner or later they will come back on their own initiative. Seriously, Qin is not joking when she gets angry.

After writing the letter, Keqing did not hear any notification that the task was completed.

After thinking about it, it should be considered complete only when the letter is officially on its way to Zhidong.

She wasn't in a hurry, as there was no need to use weapons while waiting for Qin to come back.

……

……

Nothing happened that night. When Keqing woke up the next day, she suddenly found someone standing beside her bed.

It was the silver-haired maid——Noelle.

However, the maid had lost her usual elegance at this moment. Her face was pale and she was biting her lips, as if she had not slept the whole night.

When she saw Keqing getting out of bed, she immediately lowered her body and knelt on the floor.

This gave Keqing a big shock.

"Noelle, what are you doing?"

"Master Keqing, please, please punish me!"

Chapter 16. Something is wrong with Noelle

"Please punish me!"

Noelle's voice made Keqing's hair stand on end.

"Stand up first and talk later, don't kneel down." Keqing said.

Who can withstand this sudden incident so early in the morning?

But Noelle didn't stand up. She fell to the ground and said with great remorse, "I have failed to fulfill my duty as a maid. Not only have I brought shame to Captain Qin, but I have also betrayed Lady Keqing's trust."

Lifting the quilt, Keqing sat down beside the bed and helplessly asked the maid kneeling on the floor: "What happened?"

Noelle saw Lady Keqing's bare feet, and when she looked up again, a pair of white thighs came into her sight.

Noelle felt her cheeks burning, and immediately lowered her head again and whispered, "I, I, I lost the important treasure that Lady Keqing entrusted to me."

"The important treasure I gave you to keep for safekeeping?" Keqing was puzzled. Why didn't she remember this?

“Yes.” Noelle was ashamed. “My Lord trusted me with such a valuable thing, but I lost it in just one night.”

"My ability is really too inadequate."

one night?

Keqing suddenly realized what the "precious treasure" Noelle was talking about?

"Are you talking about Xiao Qing Dan?"

"Yes."

After receiving a positive reply, Keqing suddenly realized that this was it.

She did not take back the Xiao Qingdan that she had left in Noel's bag yesterday, because she had no intention of taking it back and had assumed that it was a gift to Noel.