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“lady ningguang?”
the sound of knuckles against wood resonates three times within the room, a sign of a trusted officer requesting her audience. groaning, she sets down the quill she had been writing with, raking her fingers through white hair.
“enter.”
a familiar blue-haired secretary enters the room, smiling and holding a large pile of papers in her gloved hands. her purple eyes hold no small amount of sympathy as she lays the stack on the desk, silently sliding it over to the military head.
“when’s the deadline?” ningguang asks tiredly, pinching the bridge of her nose between two golden clawed fingers.
“any time before next week, m’lady. the heads of mondstadt require an official statement for negotiation. they’re sending two diplomats within the next few months in order to establish trade connections.”
“figures. when do they not want trade connections?” huffing quietly and blowing some of her hair out of her face, she cracks her knuckles, “thank you, ganyu.”
“of course,” she bows, turning to leave, before suddenly pausing, “ah, i forgot to mention. there is a meeting tomorrow with the other country heads. it appears as though some want to put an end to the war and have decided to try and hold a summit in hopes of finding peace. however, with mondstadt and snezhnaya’s current rivalry, it seems unlikely,” ganyu adjusts the sleeves of her uniform, shoulder tassels shaking. her various medals pinned across the fabric gleam under the light of the office as she spins to glance at the tianquan, “it is also said that the captain of the inazuman fleets will make an appearance for once. pray tell that she does not drive you as mad as her representative had. i must return to my work now. i wish you the best of luck, lady ningguang,” the officer bows once more, offering a curt salute before exiting the room.
the door shuts quietly, and ningguang flops her head atop the surface of her desk. it would be a long meeting.
. . .
the next morning, the qixing headquarters bustle with activity. maids and low-levelled soldiers skitter around the military base’s grounds, conversation constantly being exchanged between the various staff members. in the center of it all is ningguang herself, currently standing in her chambers and watching out of her balcony. she’s dressed in the finest of her uniforms, all of the medals and tassels that symbolize all of the effort and bravery she has exerted into her military forces on full display against the olive green. her long, white hair was pulled upward into a strict bun, golden hairpins symbolizing liyue’s immense wealth on full display.
her gloved fingers intertwine for a brief moment before she separates them once more, tugging on her standard claw-like rings. her crimson eyes shut as she sighs deeply, before opening as she rises from her chair. she had no reason to be nervous. it would just be another failed attempt at making peace.
“lady ningguang! the carriage is ready!”
the general walks to the door, brushing a few loose strands of hair from her face. it was time.
. . .
as ningguang stepped out of the horse-drawn carriage, mumbling out a word of gratitude to the driver, she fans herself as the high temperature of the region clamps down on her like a vice.
they had all agreed to meet in sumeru, as the territory was the most neutral in regards of the war. she was glad that they had all actually agrees on a location this time, yet also found herself wishing that the weather was slightly more tolerable.
yet, nonetheless, she finds a pale hand outstretched, clasped around the golden door handle of the building. printed across the front, in sumerian, read their motto. the liyuen representative swings the heavy door open, crossing the threshold and stepping into the meeting room cautiously. her heels click against the tile floor, announcing her entrance as she approaches the table at which they would be discussing. seated at the head of the long structure was the sumerian representative, a young man dressed in black with purple accents and with long, white hair. in front of him was a neat name card reading ‘cyno’. to his left was the mondstadtian head of forces, a straight-forward looking woman with ash blonde hair pulled tightly back into a low ponytail. her gray eyes looked over at ningguang as she gave her a greeting dip of her head. in front of her was a name card reading ‘jean’. to her left was a vacant position, although the name plate reading ‘murata’ suggested it to be where the natlani representative would sit. finally, in the last position of that side was a similar plaque engraved with her own name, and she swiftly made her way to sit down. she also took the opportunity to glance at who would be sitting across from her. directly across her was a blonde woman, black mask partially obscuring her face before twisting up into a regal crown that sat fairly atop her head. she wore a vicious smirk on her face, icy mannerisms indicative of her region. to seal the deal, a plate sitting slightly left of her position read ‘signora’. beside her was a young man with purple eyes and a small top hat, hands intertwined and resting directly in front of him on the table. the card deemed his name as ‘lyney’, most definitely the fontaine head. lastly, but not least, her eyes fell on the last presence in the room.
said presence was currently laughing boastfully, one of her hands clapping heartily on a very disgruntled looking cyno’s back. her long, black hair was messily braided down her back, hairpins just barely holding it together. in front of her was a name plate reading ‘beidou’, although it was slightly crooked. even though a beautifully embroidered magenta eye patch obscured her left eye from vision, her right one was currently curled up in joy as she continued laughing on. after a few more moments, however, she calms down, letting out one last amused ‘hoot’ before crossing her arms behind her head and catching ningguang’s gaze.
the tianquan swears she did not have her breath quite literally taken away from her as her own red eyes meets the loud-mouthed navy captain’s. it was… simply unfortunate timing, was it not?
she feels a flush of heat arise to her cheeks and she’s quick to look away, trying to be as nonchalant as she can. what she misses, however, is the way the inazuman representative continues to look at her, lips curled into a smirk full of no small amount of mirth. clearly someone was finding this amusing.
just as ningguang makes up her mind to walk straight out of that conference room, the doors swing open once more as a woman with fiery red hair stumbles in, tanned hand brushing some of her stray locks from her face. murata. lady of fire.
“my apologies for the tardiness. my carriage had… a malfunction.”
cyno was quick to wave a hand, signaling that all was well. she takes her seat, exchanging a few greeting nods with some of the other military heads, before everyone turns their attention towards the sumerian leader.
“as you all are mostly aware, i presume, we are gathered here today to…”
his words seemingly fade out into the background as ningguang once again finds her gaze landing on beidou. the captain’s eyes are currently fixed on cyno, nodding along to the conversation as various points were made. ningguang knows she should probably be doing the same and actually paying attention, yet every single time she makes an attempt, she finds her eyes inevitably trailing back over to beidou.
it was… a problem, to say the least. beidou is the captain of the crux. the crux is inazuma’s navy fleet. inazuma is a country that liyue is warring with due to opposing views on power division. therefore, ningguang can not get involved with her. their countries hate each other. no, perhaps despise is a better descriptor.
the thoughts are quick to vanish as said subject of her affections suddenly turns around in her seat. for the second time that summit, the pair lock eyes.
red to red.
beidou grins, shamelessly winking - or perhaps blinking? - at the tianquan. this time, despite the red blush contrasting her pale cheeks, she refuses to look away. instead, she holds the captain’s obnoxious gaze, her own lips curling into a sly smirk.
as the two military heads continue to hold each other’s stares, they barely even notice how the rest of the room are currently in an uproar, hands slamming onto the table and sharp words benign thrown around relentlessly.
. . .
the first letter arrives only four days after their initial meeting.
ningguang is currently sitting at her desk looking out her window. faint beams of sunlight leak in through the drawn curtains, bouncing off of the gleaming metal of her hair clips and blade of the well-used sword hanging on the wall. a familiar knock sounds at the door, and her head turns to look towards the source of the noise.
“enter.”
a purple-haired girl enters the room, lips pulled into a sharp frown as she does so. her magenta eyes are narrow, gaze piercing as she makes her way across the room towards the tianquan’s desk.
“lady ningguang, i bring a letter addressed to you personally. judging off of the seal and sending address, it appears to be from inazuma. shall i have it double-checked for poison or other harmful substances?”
upon hearing it was from inazuma, she cannot help the rush of heat into her cheeks. could it… possibly…?
she shakes her head, disguising it as her brushing hair out of her face. she clears her throat, coughing lightly into her fist before intertwining her hands atop her desk.
“no, no, there is no need. i believe i have an idea of whom this is from.”
ningguang extends a clawed hand for the parchment, grasping it carefully once keqing hands it over.
the yuheng merely raises an eyebrow.
“i do pray that you are not associating with the enemy, my lady. please do take care.”
she salutes as a farewell, turning promptly on her heel and exiting the office curtly.
the white-haired woman merely huffs in slight amusement. keqing had always been the most uptight about her duties out of the entire staffing. however, her attention returns to the envelope clutched in her hands, and she smiles as she grabs a letter opener to tear open the adhesive. once doing so, crimson eyes widen as she takes in the writing messily scrawled across the sheet of parchment.
to lady ningguang of the liyuen qixing cavalry --
good day. i hope you are doing well.
alright, now that the diplomatic opener is out of the way, i’m sure you know why i’m writing to you. it’s no small secret that you caught my eye at the conference a few days ago, and i am here to tell you outright that you are very beautiful. i know our countries hate each other or whatever and i mean not to push off the duties of my land, yet just know that i am quite infatuated with your beauty. perhaps it is love at first sight. oh, woe is me! falling for the one person i cannot have. especially since you are the head of the beloved cavalry forces. pray tell we even get a happy ending.
i doubt it, however.
i guess that ends this letter. it was simply to tell you that i believe i am very much in love with you, lady ningguang. i was never quiet about my affections, and that will cease to change, even now.
your admirer,
captain beidou of the inazuman crux.
ningguang refuses to admit how hard she blushes after reading the crude letter. it was very direct, the other military head not even attempting to hide her intentions.
being straight-forward is always a trait she finds important, yet in the current moment she can’t help but wish the navy captain had tried to soften the blow of which her words hit with at least a little bit.
so no, she does not, in fact, lay her head on the desk and let out a childish squeal after rereading the letter.
. . .
“miss beidou! there’s a reply!”
a young girl storms into beidou’s office, holding a very elegantly stamped envelope between her small hands. complete with a wax seal in the shape of a dragon, it was clearly sent with immense thought put into its packaging.
“thanks, xiangling. appreciate it.”
the captain grins, taking the letter and ruffling the chef’s navy blue hair. she glances at it carefully before her eyes flick back up to look at xiangling standing by the door and staring back at her.
“what is it, kid?”
“are you in love?”
beidou freezes for a moment, not expecting the question. she looks down at the response to her affections pinched in between two gloved fingers, nails absentmindedly tracing the hardened wax. her mind thinks back to the original peace conference, where she had first been enamored by the “stone-cold” and ambitious liyuen representative. she snorts, lips curling into a cat-like smirk as she uses a single finger to rip open the seal with a satisfying noise.
“you could say so.”
. . .
the pair make it a habit to exchange letters as often as they can. at first they are pretty much in the same cycle of beidou loudly professing her admiration of ningguang in many different ways and the tianquan chastising her and reciprocating in her own ways. yet, as the seasons change, with sunny summers melting into cool autumns and bitter winters thawing into gentle and fragrant springs; the amount of wax seals broken and envelopes carefully torn open by a golden letter opener increase tenfold, hours upon hours spent for each woman in their own offices, a quill and fountain pen scrawling away hastily to parchment as the sun moves and shifts outside their windows.
oh, dear lady ningguang, why must you bestow such cruelty upon such a dear friend?
kill me!
your enemy and future beloved,
captain beidou of the crux.
captain beidou, it is of utmost respect for your sense of duty towards your land only that i do not order my troops to bombard your home personally.
i shall gladly.
your enemy and nothing but,
lady ningguang of the qixing cavalry.
. . .
nearly a year has passed since they first began their strange habits.
things got rocky at times, with them often having to take long breaks from writing their letters to focus on their country’s forces being prepared for any sign of a threat. there were times where they were forced into battles, whether it be to fight off snezhnaya’s constant soldiers at their borders or to force away their neighboring territories from overtaking their lands in fits of greed-driven anger.
yet, in the end, their love prevailed. it always did.
not once did they fail to write back to each other, no matter how long it took.
which is why, nearly three months after ningguang had sent her last letter, she was expectant when she heard the all-too-familiar knock at her door.
“enter.”
the same phrase she uses to usher in either a disapproving keqing or a jubilant ganyu every time a new letter arrives.
...which is why she raises an eyebrow upon seeing both of her most-trusted officers enter together, ganyu looking dismal as she holds a letter within her hands and keqing even managing to look slightly sympathetic. the yuheng, refusing to meet her gaze, instead pointedly looks out the window as the pair approach her desk.
“lady ningguang, we bring you yet another letter from inazuma. however…”
the blue-haired secretary trails off, looking downward as she wordlessly presents the envelope to the tianquan.
it’s clear that this letter is much different from any of the others. it’s sealed with red wax stamped into the shape of a heart.
her heart drops.
beidou never used wax seals. she claimed they were pretentious and “made for important people who needed to learn how to live a bit”.
she surprises herself with how quickly she rips the letter from ganyu’s open hands, not even bothering to grab a letter opener as she tears the seal in half with a clawed finger instead.
ningguang opens the parchment with shaky hands, only skimming the hastily scrawled contents of the letter. it’s clear that the author had written it in a great hurry, the lettering shaky and ink blotching all over the sheet.
hey, ning.
so i’m not really sure if liyue gets updates on what’s goin’ on over here, but if you don’t know we’re currently having struggles with those damned fatui again. they just nonstop keep pushing our borders, and i think my time is running out.
if you’re receiving this, i’m probably gone. i know you’re probably gonna deny it, just like you deny everything, but archons, i promise this isn’t some sort of prank. even as i’m writing this i smell nothing but the overwhelming stench of gunpowder and death.
my crew’s dying out there to buy me time as i’m writing this. i’m sorry it can’t be longer, i really should have written out a preemptive one full of everything i wanna say, but sadly we don’t get time.
then again, when did we ever? we’re two heads of opposing sides of a war. there was no happy ending for us ever, was there? i’m sorry we didn’t have more time. i’m sorry we were born into this life. i’m sorry about everything i can be.
sorry for… dying? i guess i could say.
don’t blame yourself, ningguang. i know it’s probably gonna be hard without me to bother you, but don’t worry. i’ll have to ask xiangling or kazuha to send you letters for me even while i’m gone. i trust they’ll be able to tell you all i’ve said to them in honor of me not being able to.
i wanted to just thank you, though. thanks for all you do and all you did and all you’ll ever do. i mean all of it, princess. you were such a wonderful penpal and i couldn’t have asked for a better woman to fall in love with.
i know that this is awfully cheesy for a last farewell and i know you’d probably be ripping my head off right now if you could, but too bad.
i love you so much, ning. i love every aspect of you and every part and bit that makes you ningguang, the cunning tianquan of the qixing cavalry or whatever your official title is.
who has time for formality anyways? i’m writing this to you as beidou. just beidou. no captain, no inazuma, no crux, no navy.
just beidou. the woman who’s in love with you. the woman who wanted to invite you to wine one day. the woman who wanted to even marry you.
and you know, you’re meant to receive this as just ningguang. no tianquan, no liyue, no qixing, no ‘m’lady’ fancy shmancy bullshit.
just ningguang. the woman i’m in love with. the woman who enjoys watching the sun set and pointing out oddly shaped clouds. the woman who holds a soft spot for children despite denying it with every inch of her being. the woman who works too hard and deserves a huge break whenever the fuck this war is over.
no words can describe how much i love you.
i really wanted to spend forever with you, ning. but i guess this is as ‘forever’ as we’re gonna get, huh?
if only our story was rewritten. if only we actually got our goddamn happy ending. if only i could propose to you obnoxiously in the middle of the town square for everyone to watch. if only i could dance with you under the twinkling stars and kiss your head and whisper sweet nothings to you.
okay, okay, i’m done i promise.
the cannons are booming now. i really gotta go.
fuck.
i’m sorry, ning.
i’m really sorry.
your love,
beidou.
. . .
the scream that tears out of ningguang’s throat is not any short of painful. ink blossoms across the page as glimmering tears roll down her cheeks and drip down onto the parchment, trembling hands clutching to the paper as if it were the only thing keeping her tied to reality.
...perhaps it was.
she wanted to keep screaming, keep crying, keep wishing and begging for beidou, no- for her love back, yet she could only manage half-hearted sobs and choked whimpers as the cavalry leader slips to the floor, head hanging low as she holds the frail letter to her chest.
ningguang vaguely registers the feelings of keqing and ganyu pulling her into a hug. she trembles, a look unfit for the cunning and ambitious tianquan. yet, her thoughts are venom, damning and cursing both everything in existence and nothing.
who was there to blame? they were running on a timer broadcasted to the both of them, yet they chose to ignore it.
after all, they were both wicked.
and who lays the wicked to rest?
fin.