Summary/disclaimer: Time for another chapter of Queen and the Servant. Enjoy the 2000-word chapter. I don't own Genshin Impact, MiHoYo and a few others do.

(Jade Chamber, 3 years after Ningguang's and Grantly's meeting.)

Ningguang was quite aware of how much work went into her empire. She was not stupid enough to not cover her bases. She looked around the golden room, tapestries of her empire hanging from it. Grantly always used to talk about how it seemed a bit much, but he was willing to allow her to have her own opinion, it wasn't his place to judge his friend after all.

"Has there been any word from him currently?" Ningguang asked Baishi as she put a hand to her temples. "Grantly does NOT miss out on messages when it comes down to it. He'd only miss one of the check-ins if he's busy." Ningguang said as she crossed her legs and sighed to herself.

Baishi was silent, the assistant was no combatant like Grantly, it wasn't like she asked her to do such work when she thought about it. There was no amount of work that could be put in to help that, however. It was simply a bit of business when she thought about it.

"I'm going to guess that he might be in trouble?" Ningguang questioned to which she got a nod.

"My last message we received from Master Grantly suggested one of your enemies was involved," Baishi stated as she wrung her hands. "I'm sure Grantly is quite alright, he's simply busy dealing with your business, however," Baishi added, wringing her hands as she did so.

Ningguang was silent, Grantly was someone who she trusted more than she did most people. She was quite curious when she thought about it, however? She still trusted her friend at the time, he had never done anything to dissuade her trust in her.

"Is Beidou anywhere close by?" Ningguang questioned to which she got a nod as her assistant turned to address the other letters within the pile she held atop her hands. "Then send a message, tell her to meet Grantly, and make sure he makes it to the next customer. We have a deadline to meet and I will NOT let some pathetic bandits bother our business." Ningguang ordered as she sighed.

This business needed to be dealt with swiftly and perfectly, if it wasn't? Ningguang had a feeling that this would be used as an idea her enemies thought she was weak, that they could push against her with no threat of retribution.

She'd put an end to that in one go, however. This ended today, TODAY on her terms, it would NOT stop her…. But she still had some business to attend to it when it came down to it.

"I will be in quarters, tell Grantly he is open to contacting me at any or whenever it comes to it," Ningguang said, slowly walking down from her throne. "And if it persists? Then we're be getting on with business." Ningguang stated while she hummed, rubbing at her temples as she did so.

She crossed her arms, shaking her head and looking at the tapestries, people knew she had a reputation to keep up. They would be sure to try and murder Grantly.

If they did? There would be hell to pay for hurting her friend, more than they could imagine.

(With Grantly)

Grantly continued to walk down the corridor. Several more of Ningguang's guards gathered around as she did so. All of them held cases and crates, Grantly took care to keep it all in one place in which case she needed it. It had taken a while to gather the money needed to buy these supplies. Losing them now? It would do nothing but set Ningguang back and that was NOT what either wanted to do, there was plenty of work to do, limited time to do it, and delays were UNACCEPTABLE.

"Sir? I think we should set up camp, we've been traveling for over an hour currently without any time for rest." Grantly heard to which he nodded at her.

It wasn't a fib, nor a lie, nor any attempt to bother her. He didn't care for his state or anything that didn't concern her plans. It had simply come down to what was to be next.

She looked at him, there was no real concern or distrust in his statue, he fully trusted in her plans as anyone did. It had become a lot more boring when it came down to it. This had been her plan; her war was something that all of them had signed onto. This had been something far odder and weirder to them than anything else. It simply felt odder it had been curious when it came down to it.

There was a lot more interest in what to do next. She raised an eyebrow as she stared before he seemed to look at her before he seemed to be interested.

She knew his limits; she knew he'd not betray her anytime soon. She knew he was a warrior and that meant something to him that hadn't been there before. This war was going to end sooner or later and it had been all on them to end it before she was forced to resort to worse measures.

"What do we do next? There are plenty of people here who don't want us here and will be honestly a lot harder to operate when it comes down to it." Grantly stated as he seemed to question what to do next.

She rose from her throne. It had been simple business for him, simple business when it came down to their war. It was going to be odd at the time to explain the problems here and how to resolve them.

"Talk to me as you usually do, Grantly," Ningguang stated while she crossed her arms. "We both know each other well when it comes down to it. There will be so much more to see and do we don't get this operation off the ground… So, stop trying to let me down gently and just tell me what the hell is going on." Ningguang stated to which Grantly cracked a smile.

Ah, here she was. he had met the woman who had started to build an entire empire to the top, piling it with the dead and those who had gotten in her way. She was ruthless in every single way, but she was also the one who had all the power and vision. It was like trying to swim through a river clogged with poison, she wanted to corrupt everything, but not to the extent that it couldn't function.

Still? He was curious as to what her goal was. there was always some sort of plan, always some sort of conflict that made her feel as if she was at the top of the food chain. He always enjoyed these types of debates and seeing where her head was in the game.

"We're mopping certain problems up and trying to find a way to deal with the soldiers who are too corrupt to accept the deal," Grantly stated before rubbing at his temples. "They're being pains in the ass, but we're still dealing with it. the more they dig in? The more we're pressing them to the wall. Honestly? I still wish you were here. It isn't the same when it comes to these deals and you damn well know with all due respect, I suck at trying to tell people what to do without getting nasty." Grantly put in as he rubbed at his temples and sighed to himself.

"You're the only one I can seem to trust besides the others the others with orders on the frontlines," Ningguang stated to which Grantly hummed and rubbed his temples with annoyance.

"There's only so much I can do," Grantly stated with annoyance. "Some people respect your way more than mine. We both know I'm not the snarky speaker you are at the top of the food chain. We both are weeks away from this." Grantly stated before she tilted her head to the side.

It had been so hard when it came down to it. so much was on the line if she failed and couldn't gain the deal she wanted. Still? She put faith in Grantly. He was a skilled warrior and one of her friends, they were good enough people that had to handle this sooner or later.

She frowned to herself for a second.

"Are they resisting the deal that badly?" Ningguang questioned to which Grantly frowned and crossed his arms.

"This isn't going to end the way we want. I don't even know if they have the same type of power you wish. They want more than their suggesting before now for it." Ningguang heard as she frowned.

There was more going on than had been before. It had to end, there was a lot more on this than before. She had been curious and she expected more on their side, more progress that had been made towards this. Yes, such a massive amount of progress.

"There's only so much progress that can be made on this planet. We both know the problems that come with being in charge. It's kinda why I just stick with being the second in command of your army. Leadership and me? They don't mesh well. All things considered?" Grantly stated before he tilted his head to the side as he did so.

"I'd much rather have limited command of things, it helps clear certain things, it does put some of those things into perspective at the moment, at least when you get over some of them," Grantly said as she questioned what to do next. It had been odd at the moment.

Still? If there were any real questions as of this? It'd be odd when it came down to it. She had a few problems at the moment, there was only so much that could be done to fix this, only so much as of the second.

"Then we're dealing with this properly. We can find a way to turn this around, we still need to deal with it properly. Grantly? Wait for more orders and stay there until I get there. When this is done and over with? We're moving on to the next problem and deal with it then." Ningguang said as he seemed to glance around.

He rubbed at his temples before he tilted his head. It had been some time before he had heard such words, he questioned for a time if he had heard correctly, but they were his words either way.

He had been too far gone on this mission to question his master's orders.

"We aren't going home yet, are we?" Ningguang questioned as of the second before he was going to be insane.

He had been interested in what to do next as of the second. He was tilting his head, brushing off what else was going to go wrong. There was so much that could go wrong. She knew this was going to go wrong and he expected something to go insane.

He tilted his head before he sighed. There was so much that hadn't been decided at the time. This had to end sooner or later. The more time he spent trying to finish off this idea, the more time he'd spend being bothered by it.

He decided to press on either way as of the time. This had been odd either way.

Author Note

Phew. Another chapter is done! I want to point out that the next chapter will be a bit delayed at the moment. The next chapter will be delayed at the time. The next chapter will be 2-10 months and will show both Ningguang and Grantly forming their plan at the moment and such. Until then, Lighting Wolf out!

P.S: Next chapter is 900-6500 words.