Ningguang: The Tiger's Tale
Ningguang was a cold and shrewd woman with the skill and capability that had gotten her to the position as the Tianquan of the Liyue Qixing and the most well known of them due to her financial dealings and her power with the land based off of the god of contracts. She loved the feeling of victory and of adding the coin to its growing family in her coffers. Despite losing the Jade Chamber she still had property to work with to get it back up and running and on this night she was trying to enjoy some rest.
Trying was the word though as despite the night was cool and fair, that her secretaries were gone for the night and even that the few security she had to keep around were very capable for their positions, she still could not will herself to the darkness. All of it fought back with the losses that made her life so painful, so prickly, that she told herself she would never go back there again.
Some were obviously in her youth figuring the ways of the world as she was a barefoot orphan selling what could be found to the various tourists and travelers. Others were in the moves she made where the markets had countered her plans, most of those were in her first year in her position, but now it had gotten to the point where many of the stores would not even dare to face her in the field of financial trade without realizing they would be on the losing end.
All of it was still painful though, it rubbed her soul raw as each moment made her thrash in the bed that would normally be kept clean and straight even with her under the covers, that is until a shock had surprised her catching her from the luxury pillows and sheets hopping to her feet and sending one gem already flying towards the source.
Lounging at one of her game tables tipping one model between two fingers was the captain, that was as much a friend to her as anyone could be save for the traveler.
"Yo."
Ningguang was really going to need something to get by in the morning or maybe she would take a rare sick day as in the markets no information had come in that said something was going on, it was a day of calm, which was the best day to take off in her mind. If one can get a little relaxation and do something that would make one come back stronger then it would be something if a planned investment that could show itself useful throughout the actions of the day after.
Still here she was with her closest friend sitting in her bedroom on her estate and she knew the rumors were some thing to be used but this particular one would be a bit problematic, she had taken to rubbing her temple wondering who was possibly that way that maybe she could work it in to some deal. A particular pottery shop owner had those same rumors and if anything a connection on it could be something to get a lowered price.
Beidou had taken the large blade from her back and let the tip gently tap the ground showing off the control and letting the electricity course to her bringing her back to the scene at hand. It was a move of great skill from the otherwise bombastic captain of the fleet. It was clear from the little shock through the metal inlaid tiles arching to her bare feet that she would not get any sleep, which meant now she had to do something with the time.
"Care for a game of Liyue Millennial?"
"With how I woke you up I take there is not getting out of it."
Laying the sword down on the opposite side of the small table the board and pieces or well carved, as would be expected by someone who would be so affluent in the area. She was debating something by the arch of her brow, but Ningguang could not figure it out in the moment and let the question ruminate while the game began.
There was little chance for the maker of the game to be beaten especially by a pirate captain, but for all the big words and bravado the game had allowed her to see a bit of the tactician that wasn't so well known. It made the game somewhat interesting as her own pieces moved in the dance of ploy and counter to someone who actually could match her in some degrees. In fact it was clear that anything that dealt with under the table dealings or working with the criminal pieces had been something she could do well enough that her supply lines were always at risk.
What made it worse was when the street urchin piece was put on a specific beach as she pushed her men around the hills around the city gates.
"It is amazing what you find out with a couple drinks. So wanna tell me how you worked up from that point on the beach?"
The tone was flippant, as easily as someone asking for tea or what their favorite snack was and looking across the small flight of panic crawling up her throat was something she pushed back down with a reserved practice. A part of her life, that she was not proud of existed in that small move and question, something she would have paid good mora to have buried underneath the sands of that beach.
"I would rather not. Not my finest hours. I am sure you understand."
"Fair enough, let's see how you can handle something like this."
"You know if you actually listened to the rules and laws you would have another ship in your fleet?"
"But that would not make a good set of pirates now would it?" Her tone glowed with a sarcastic lilt
Her brow arched and she could already feel that playing the Captain was going to lead to a headache and that the continued conversation would only make the growing throbbing at the back of her neck begin to rage with a fire that hadn't been felt since the time she forgot to sleep after poring over seasons reports.
Existing the day after the best financial one the city had meant she was crunching numbers from daybreak to daybreak and it wasn't until she stood up that her body reminded her the need of rest especially after hard times of thought and calculation. Currently, the pain at the back of her skull was a throbbing ember, but given how Beidou could be there was little chance of it subsiding.
"Why couldn't you just let things be?"
"Because that is who I am, and why would I lie to myself when the seas is there and is free for anyone to sail"
Looking down at the board it was clear something was amiss. During the conversation the board game she had made was soon showing all the necessary factors of her first incoming loss if she was not careful.
Her fastest way to victory would be something she hated, a straight up brawl of a match up. Beidou had taken too many shipping lanes in that and without some forces defending it she couldn't have her shopkeepers thrive, and without them she was going to be playing the rest of the game to the pirate's wishes and that would not do well for anyone involved.
Each side knew the plan after she began moving forces to the front gate. She would be trying to keep her opponents trading routes closed, and she would need to force them open and throw enough problems that her own merchants would not be able to catch up. While her merchants were not as well equipped as hers, the group could still make money if they controlled the stock coming in and that was clear to be the trap that was sprung.
It was a fun game, it was an exciting game, and the problem was it came at the hands of the one person who would crow about such a victory if it was to occur. She could here the needling of a few of the others already mocked up in her mind and it was not something she wanted to really subject herself to.
Her hands were clammy, already with the idea of a loss and while part of her always panicked she had to be the eagle eyed show of leadership. That could be able to send Liyue's actual merchants in a tizzy with the sight of her snowfall cut into shreds from the reports she would mull over for the various reasons.
It wasn't enough though. For all the hyping she did as the game unfolded her supply lines could not be opened and Beidou's people were making more money then hers and no matter who was used for the victory the captain had efficiently routed her either by force by choking her pieces out of space and power. The piece on the beach was all it took for her to remember that the mind games, the social portion of the competition was something she would often rely on her aura for.
Many people would claim to be unnerved by the reigning Tianquan and if word had gotten out that in the single slip of a moment she could not reign herself in fast enough then it could be used to smear her and by proxy the whole of Liyue's movers and shakers, causing a painful loss in the market when it came to trading with other countries, and even cause some ripples for years.
"You win." Beidou stated with all the enjoyment of someone dealing with a hangnail.
It was a move that befuddled her, she was not only on the ropes but in her struggles she could not make up the ground and was in some cases losing more so. The reserved face of the leader fell away for a moment and her friend saw that she could not understand, again, the actions of the noble woman.
"I don't want to win. It does me little good to do so, and in all honesty no one will be able to hide their emotions forever, those flashes are always going ta happen."
"Why else would you play then? If not for victory?"
"Because my friend was having a rough time and I decided to pop in, I know friends are rare to you, but I do not care for money, I do not care for status, and beating you in a game would unfortunately only give me that. So we played, we know what would happen, but I am walking away, so you win."
Making the motion of washing her hands and leaning well back in the chair there was a second where she had to wonder, if Beidou had not been the captain, the leader of the pirates, and smuggler extraordinaire. If perhaps in another world she was as focused on law and order as she was would Beidou be a rival for her position, or would she be a force to the whole of Liyue, or perhaps both.
"Never would happen, do not even try to think about that."
"I would not know what you are speaking to, just wondering how some skills would carry over."
"Could I wear my leggings, drink at any time, and not care for my off hours?"
"What off hours."
"Ya, no. I like my life too much, besides I keep you all on your toes, if I was gone then you all would be sitting on your heels when another pirate gang strikes. We can't have that especially after losing the Jade chamber. "
Smiling, at the what-if in her own head, seeing her friend throw her greatest work, home, and estate at an overgrown octopus was enough of a sign to wonder how the uptight Geo vision holder would do with a crew under her own wing. The look may need to change, but they were close enough body wise that she had some spare stockings and dresses that would work with her.
"Now, I do not know what is going in your own mind, but I am guessing I would not like the direction."
"Hah, nope. Just wondering how you would do as a pirate. It would be a good fit on you I think."
Waving herself off after Ningguang's head fell in her hands the sun was beginning to peak over the clouds and scenes starting to brighten everything with a purplish pinkish rays of dawn. It was most definitely one of her rare sick days because right now the bed looked like a reprieve from all the sheer nonsense. Her as a pirate would be bizarre for everyone involved, while Beidou's chuckle was heard as she made her escape past the guards who clearly had no idea she was there all that remained was how to tweak the game for next time before she drifted dreamless off to sleep.