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She never thought she would end up here again. It wasn’t until the storm ceased that she had a chance to consider the full weight of what she had done, her sacrifice. In the moment, there had been no hesitation, no wrestling with it.
Liyue was her home, its people her family.
If there was one thing Ningguang knew, it was the appraisal. The value of each mora was ingrained into her, a remnant of a childhood near Mingyun Village. The value of the Jade Chamber was worth more than just the materials or the engineering expertise used to create it.
It was worth the childhood dreams of a girl who had grown up with nothing. Her mother once had told her stories of a floating palace that belonged to the Adepti in Jueyun Karst. So when Ningguang was forced to take shelter beneath driftwood on the beaches, when there was nothing to eat, she had distracted herself then with imagining her own palace amongst the stars.
It would be a permanent home, a place where she could have everything she ever wanted and would never have to be wet, cold, and hungry.
As she had gotten older, the childish fantasy of the floating palace had helped her along the added stings of loneliness, her family gone. She wasn’t sure exactly, when the dream crystallized into an ambition.
Somewhere along the way, when she sold her wares along the beaches of the Yaoguang Shoal, the Jade Chamber became more than fantasy—rather, an ambition, a representation of everything she intended to be.
Just like her, it started as a single brick—but it had become the beautiful palace casting a shadow over Liyue Harbor and Mount Tianheng.
And she’d given it up in a heartbeat.
Ningguang couldn’t say that she regretted it, even as she stood on the dock looking out to the ocean where the remnants of her dream lay.
Rather, she thought of the little girl who had seen an ancient god awake to claim her city, and had not been afraid because she knew the Adepti and Qixing alike would protect her.
Ningguang had always had a fondness toward children. As much as she often claimed that it was purely for the pragmatic purpose of bribing them with candy for information, she would have and sometimes did give them treats and toys regardless.
She couldn’t help it—they reminded her of herself, when she was a little girl. Well, not the way she had been. They were healthy, well-fed, well cared-for.
They had the childhood that she had deserved.
Ningguang would do anything to make sure that was the status quo in Liyue Harbor.
Because no child deserved to go to bed hungry, to have no place to live, to lose her family before she had even become a woman.
And when it came down to it, which was more valuable?
Her own childhood fantasy and dream come to life?
Or a chance to make sure that no child ever had to cling to such a dream so desperately as she had?
There was no question.
The Jade Chamber’s value could be calculated.
But the future and dreams of the children of Liyue could not be. It was simply priceless.
Ningguang twisted her white-blonde hair, wringing out the rainwater. She would have a Jade Chamber again. She would rebuild her home, larger and grander than before.
And in the meantime, as much as it frightened her, she would make a home somewhere else for the time being.
There was much to consider for the future of Liyue Harbor. Lady Ningguang was ready to rise again, like a phoenix from ash and dust.