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Ningguang first hears of it from Yelan, because she hears everything important from Yelan.
The two are sharing a pot of tea in the afternoon, one of their regular meetings to catch up and share any news in the city. The conversation is easy and languid, to the point that an unaware observer would simply see two close friends instead of two of the most powerful women in Liyue Harbor.
“There’s an assassination attempt planned for your birthday celebration,” Yelan says as casual as if she were commenting on the weather. “That faction we spoke about a few weeks ago seems to be making their move.”
Ningguang hums, taking another sip of tea. “That’s rather inconvenient.” And truly, it is. She has some free time the day after her birthday. She might be more inclined to humor her assailants then. She should tell them that when their plans fall apart at her feet.
“I know.” Yelan smiles full of teeth, the expression only a whisper away from a snarl. “Shall I have them dealt with?”
Ningguang thinks for a moment before responding, “No, I’d like to see how far they go. It’s a good time to test my security. Not to mention, Captain Beidou will be with me. I’m sure she’d relish an excuse to fight.”
“Very well.”
And so the conversation moves on, resolved for the time being.
Truly, Ningguang almost forgets about Yelan’s words between her busy schedule and birthday preparations. The conversation only comes back to her a week before her birthday, when one of her secretaries returns from a break to walk around the city with a confused expression.
“What are you thinking about?” Ningguang asks, watching Baishi stop in her tracks with reddened cheeks at the direct address.
“Oh! Um- I was only thinking about an encounter I had during my break. Someone new to the city I presume kept asking me about your ladyship, but he seemed unhappy with my answers for some reason. I spoke only of your beaut-“ She coughs, cutting herself off before continuing, “-your business prowess, which is practically unmatched, so I do not understand what else he could be interested in.”
Ningguang raises an eyebrow at that, waving Baishi away to start her work again. Clearly, someone had attempted to garner information from one of her secretaries. She almost pities the fool, as each secretary is utterly devoted to her, but Ningguang still makes a mental note to mention the incident to Yelan the next time they meet. Just in case her soon-to-be assassins are behind it.
It’s two days later when she finally meets with Yelan, who has more troubling news.
“Members of the faction planning your assassination have been trying to sow discontent against the recent legislation. Nothing became of it, since Yanfei was more than happy to clear up any issues, but it does seem like they are smart enough to cause minor chaos prior to the big day.”
Ningguang frowns, looking at Yelan’s report. “Do we think they pose a real danger?”
Yelan barks out a laugh. “Oh absolutely not. But I have a suspicion that there’s another group playing this faction like a puppet, and they could certainly be a threat. I’ve got my people investigating already though, so I doubt it will escalate any further than we want it to.”
Ningguang nods, and they move on to speak about plans for her birthday when Baiwen appears in the entryway. “My apologies for interrupting, Lady Ningguang, but a letter arrived from Captain Beidou and I figured you would want it immediately.”
“You figured correctly, thank you Baiwen.” Ningguang takes the letter, and Baiwen leaves just as quickly as she came.
In any other company, the Tianquan may have waited to open the letter. But Yelan simply sits back, well accustomed to Ningguang’s habits after years of friendship, so she opens it immediately.
N,
The fleet’s been held up by an unknown enemy. We will prevail, but I do not know if we will arrive in time for your birthday.
Yours,
B
Ningguang narrows her eyes at the message. While it is not unusual for them to miss each other’s birthdays, she knows Beidou made every plan this year to arrive two days early this year so they could spend the day together.
Yelan quickly clocks the change in her expression, leaning forward again. “Bad news?”
“It appears Captain Beidou may not arrive in time for the celebrations,” Ningguang drawls, pushing the letter towards her friend. Yelan reads it quickly, eyes sharp as they track every word. Ningguang starts, “Yelan, what are the chances-“
“I’d say they’re very high.” And it’s a testament to their years of friendship, of the deep trust formed between these two dangerous creatures that Yelan knows immediately what Ningguang is asking. “This faction may be incompetent, but whoever’s behind it has a vague idea of what they’re doing. It would appear they are trying to distance you from your main defenses.” Yelan takes another sip of tea, movements slow and unbothered in a way that normally would not fit this type of conversation. “If I had to hedge a bet, I’d say they think you’ll be an easy target when you’re alone.”
Ningguang huffs out a laugh at that. How wrong they would be.
The night before her birthday, Ningguang is almost looking forward to her assassination, taking a twisted joy in knowing just how badly it will all fall apart. Yelan had her informants so deep in the faction at this point that they knew every aspect of the plan.
And, considering how they dared to keep her captain away from her, Ningguang has no intention of letting her soon-to-be assailants off easy.
She’s in good spirits as she walks around the harbor, the last rays of sun quickly fading, when one of her children comes running to her in near tears.
Instantly, Ningguang feels that familiar protective nature for her little informants. “What’s wrong?” she demands, crouching down to be at Zhizhi’s height.
“I- I-“ The girl never gets past her stuttering before bursting into tears, barreling into Ningguang. The Tianquan doesn’t say a word, only moving to hold the crying child in her arms.
After a moment, Zhizhi goes from sobbing to the occasional hiccup, still clinging tight to Ningguang as she rambles, “Some strange men stopped me earlier and tried to make me tell them all about you. A-and when I didn’t want to, they said that you said really mean things about me and that you don’t care. But I know that’s not true since you fixed Nannan’s comb, and when I said no again they- they- they tried to take me!”
The sobs start anew, and it takes every fiber of Ningguang’s control to not immediately demand more information. She keeps comforting Zhizhi while internally seething.
No one touches her kids. No one.
Zhizhi doesn’t have much more information, so Ningguang sends her on her way with direct instructions to go straight home. After the child has left, Ningguang says, “Follow her, and keep an eye out for the other kids.”
Yelan’s agent seems to bleed directly out of the scenery. “But Lady Ningguang, I was assigned to protect you-“
“And I am ordering you to protect my kids. I’ll return to the Jade Chamber.”
The agent nods before disappearing again with a whisper of wind, and Ningguang makes good on her word to head home. She spends the entire walk feeling a boiling anger deep in her stomach, threatening to explode.
“Welcome back, Lady Ningguang,” Baixiao greets her, but Ningguang pays her no mind, immediately going to her desk to send a letter.
Yelan,
Show no mercy.
The morning of her birthday, Ningguang dresses for war in the Jade Chamber. She has Baishi select a luxurious garment to wear, artfully pinning her hair with matching clips. She lets her secretary paint her face to be something almost delicate and breakable, even as Baiwen reviews their plans for the attack.
Ningguang wants her assassins to underestimate her, to think they stand a chance. Then, she wants to tear them down.
“As soon as the festivities start, we will lock down the area and Yelan will make her move,” Baiwen explains as Baishi finishes off her makeup. “We’ve told the attending Millelith to avoid confrontation with suspicious behavior, so they’ll start the attack when you make your speech. After that, it is likely they will follow you into the building, where your ladyship can deal with them as you deem fit.”
Ningguang’s lips curl in a vicious smile as she nods, standing up when Baishi backs away. “Well then,” she says, a thinly veiled anger deep in her voice, “shall we begin?”
Her secretaries nod, and Baixiao leads the way to Yuehai Pavilion.
Cheers greet them as the Plaustrite platform descends, and Ningguang is pleased to see her children in the front row. Zhizhi is cheering the loudest, and Ningguang hopes the events of the night before will not linger in her mind.
As she begins her speech, she sees subtle movements within the crowd that are a bit strange. She makes a point not to stare, instead focusing on her peripherals as her gaze sweeps the crowd.
It’s at the end of the speech that sunlight glances off a blade, and Ningguang throws up her hand just in time to catch a thrown knife midair.
The crowd erupts in noise, cries of shock sounding as people begin to realize what is happening.
“Over here, Lady Ningguang!” Baixiao calls, playing the part of the scared servant perfectly as she beckons Ningguang into the building behind her. Ningguang goes without hesitation, and her secretary only nods at her before leaving the Tianquan to wait for her assassins.
Moments later, the doors burst open and a single assassin stands before her, knife in hand. “Your reign is over, Tianquan!” he cries as a knife sails toward her.
Ningguang can’t help but feel offended that they only sent one person to finish the job as she sidesteps and the knife flies past her harmlessly.
Her assassin doesn’t seem deterred by his failed attempt to remotely gut her. “There’s nowhere to run to now, no one to come save you. All your defenses are gone,” he crows, his demeanor smug and far too confident. Ningguang almost pities the fool, no different from a mouse convinced he’d outsmarted the cat.
He runs at her again, and she doesn’t even pretend to dodge, only activating her vision once he gets close. The man looks triumphant until she lashes out, the earth moving with her as she uses his own momentum against him to flip him.
The rocks keep him on the floor as Ningguang stares her assailant down, pure geo energy surrounding her as she snarls, “My defenses may be as vast as my riches, but do not for a second think that makes me weak without them.”
The man continues to struggle, and Ningguang allows one of his hands to be free. He smirks, reaching for what is likely another knife. “Is that so?”
The blade hurls through the air, only to be caught in a swish of geo-infused fabric as the jade screen unfolds between Ningguang and her assailant.
His confidence diminishes as his earthen bonds tighten around both hands again, face paling as the Tianquan pushes through her screen to come closer. He opens his mouth, but she beats him to it. “You tried to subvert my authority. You tried tempting my secretaries away from me. You kept my captain from returning to my side,” she growls, stepping closer and closer.
“Well you-“
“I wasn’t finished.”
The man pales as his binds tighten even further, a new tendril of earth forming a gag to suffocate him as Ningguang continues, “All these things, while not forgivable, would not invoke my wrath to this degree. But…” She kneels down, looking him in the eye as he struggles for breath so he can truly feel the weight of her words. “You went after my children. And that is something I can never disregard.”
Suddenly, the doors bust open as an unfamiliar voice shouts, “It’s a trap!” Ningguang looks up just in time to see another man in the entryway fall to his knees, a very familiar surge of electro energy engulfing him before bouncing to the man bound at Ningguang’s feet, rendering him motionless. A voice Ningguang knows almost as well as her own cuts through the air.
“Heard you were having some pest issues. Mind if I help?” Captain Beidou steps into the entryway, silhouetted by the bright light filtering through the door, and Ningguang cannot help the smile that takes her face. Beidou grins back, hoisting her weapon over her shoulder with her trademark swagger.
Certain that her attacker will not be getting up anytime soon, Ningguang relinquishes her hold on the geo energy around her and approaches her captain. “Well this is certainly a surprise, I was under the impression you wouldn’t make it.”
“Ah, turns out they were all bark and no bite,” Beidou responds, meeting her halfway as she always does. The doors close again, and they finally have the privacy to reach for each other. Beidou squeezes Ningguang close as she murmur’s into her hair, “I must say, I was almost worried when I found out there was a plot against you. Haven’t sailed so quickly in a while.”
Ningguang presses a soft kiss to Beidou’s cheek. “Yelan found out about it weeks before today. I was honestly looking forward to it, after they dared to target my kids.”
Beidou pulls back just far enough to look at the two men unconscious on the floor, a sneer on her face. “I should’ve hit harder then.”
Ningguang just laughs, pulling her love in for another kiss. Baixiao returns to fetch them, and Ningguang returns to the birthday celebrations outside with her captain by her side.
The next day, Ningguang comes to awareness surrounded by Beidou’s warmth. She starts to snuggle back in as another knock sounds at the door.
“Tell ‘em we’re busy,” Beidou murmurs sleepily, holding Ningguang tighter.
The Tianquan kisses her captain’s arms and calls out, “What is it?”
“Lady Yelan asked to have a message delivered,” Baiwen calls through the door. “She says that everything has been taken care of.”
Good, she thinks viciously, leaning back against Beidou once more. She feels a kiss against her neck and smiles, ready to fully indulge in her free day.