Ningguang's Story
Conan glanced curiously from side to side, and just then Xia Yu's voice drifted over to him as she explained something to Sonoko and Ran. His attention snapped toward her at once.
"This is the Jade Chamber," Xia Yu said.
"Huh?" everyone echoed.
"You mean it's really Miss Ningguang's Jade Chamber?" Ran pressed, leaning in with wide, curious eyes.
Sonoko looked equally puzzled. "Isn't the Jade Chamber the name of Miss Ningguang's company? How did it turn into an actual building?"
"Mm-hmm." Xia Yu nodded. "You could say it's Ningguang's dream, I suppose."
Under the curious stares of everyone present — Conan, Hattori, and the rest all turning toward her at once — she went on with her explanation. "Ningguang wanted, ever since she was little, to build a palace that belonged to her alone. And if that palace could hang high above the clouds, looking down on all the beauty of the world beneath it — well, so much the better. Unfortunately, she eventually learned that this world would never allow such a dream to come true. So she decided to simply show everyone the Jade Chamber of her dreams here, inside this hologram."
Each listener took Xia Yu's words differently.
Conan and Okiya Subaru studied her thoughtfully, as if trying to puzzle out who she really was — a girl who somehow knew about a dream Ningguang had cherished so very long ago.
Ran and Sonoko, meanwhile, were busy craning their necks every which way, delighted and wide-eyed at everything around them.
The children, for their part, weren't thinking about identities at all. They had been utterly captured by the splendor of the Jade Chamber, and their cries of wonder rang out one after another.
Genta stood with his jaw hanging open, gaping at the colossal palace before him, and murmured to himself, "Whoa! A palace that big — you could sell it and buy a mountain of unagi rice bowls!" In his mind's eye he was already picturing himself perched atop a heap of eel rice, feasting to his heart's content.
Mitsuhiko shook his head with a sigh, defeated by Genta's bottomless appetite. "Genta, stop thinking about food for once. Besides, this is just a hologram. There's no real building like this anywhere." He tried his best to make Genta understand that none of it actually existed.
Ayumi ignored the two boys' bickering entirely. Together with Klee and Haibara, she wandered here and there, drinking in the gorgeous scenery beyond the Jade Chamber's walls.
"Looks like that Miss Ningguang of yours has some pretty big ambitions, huh," Sera Masumi remarked.
Xia Yu tilted her head and let out a light laugh. "Isn't that only natural? Ningguang is a merchant, and what merchant has ever lacked ambition?"
"Miss Ningguang used to be nothing more than a fishmonger. Without ambition, how could she ever have clawed her way to becoming the successful merchant she is today?"
Then something seemed to occur to Xia Yu. The corners of her mouth curled as a smile spread across her face. "Come to think of it, back when Ningguang was trying to raise funds, she even had her eye on a Vision — she wanted to auction off an unclaimed one."
"A... Vision?" Sera repeated the unfamiliar word, frowning in confusion.
"Oh, it's that ornament on Ningguang's waist. Some people are quite fond of these things, you know. If you put one up for auction, it could fetch a handsome price."
"Sounds like it didn't sell, then?" Sera said.
Sonoko wore the same puzzled look. "But Miss Ningguang is so capable — how could an auction fall through? Unless it got stolen right in the middle of the sale!" At the thought of theft, her other great idol popped into her head: Kid the Phantom Thief himself.
"Ahem. Nothing of the sort."
When Xia Yu shot down Sonoko's wild theory, Sonoko visibly deflated. She'd been hoping to hear some little-known tale of Kid the Phantom Thief in action.
"Treasures have spirits of their own, you see," Xia Yu went on, in the warm cadence of someone telling a bedtime story. "That one chose Ningguang as its master, which meant it was no longer unclaimed — so no matter how many times it was sold, it would always find its way back to its owner. Naturally, there was nothing left to auction."
"Wow," Ran and Sonoko chorused. "What a romantic story!"
Evidently, hardly anyone took Xia Yu's words at face value; they simply filed the whole thing away as a pretty fairy tale.
Xia Yu smiled faintly and didn't bother correcting them.
Conan's eyes darted about for a moment — then he hopped down from his seat and scampered over to Kamisato Ayato, who had been sitting quietly through the entire conversation. In his best childlike, innocent voice, he asked, "Hey, Ayato-nii-chan, is your Vision amazing like Ningguang-neechan's too?"
Ayato looked down at him, his gentle smile unwavering. "Oh, nothing of the sort. It's just a story. In fact, if Xia Yu hadn't helped persuade Lady Raiden on our behalf, my Vision and my sister's might well have been confiscated outright."
"Why would anyone confiscate a Vision? Isn't it just a piece of jewelry?" Conan pressed.
Conan sensed he might have stumbled onto one of the Teyvat Syndicate's secrets: so a Vision really wasn't just an ordinary ornament!
"Because they are a source of instability..."
That single cryptic sentence was all Ayato would offer. After that, no matter how Conan probed, he simply deflected, changing the subject with practiced ease.
While the crowd around Xia Yu was still immersed in her tales, and entirely without their noticing, two figures had already approached the audience to make an announcement.
The pair were none other than the very owner of the Jade Chamber that Xia Yu had mentioned — Ningguang herself — along with her secretary Ganyu, who had taken part in the opening performance only moments before. They glided gracefully toward the seats, smiling warmly at everyone.
Ningguang spoke first. "Dear friends, thank you for joining us at this one-of-a-kind concert. Here, allow me to introduce the cutting-edge technology we've brought to this competition venue — holographic projection." She paused deliberately, giving the audience a moment to absorb the news.
Ganyu picked up where she left off. "That's right. This technology blends virtual imagery with the real world in perfect harmony, offering a visual experience unlike anything you've seen before. And even more exciting — the Akasha Terminal, which our Jade Chamber Corporation is about to release, incorporates a simplified version of this holographic projection along with intelligent assistance, bringing convenience and efficiency right into your daily life." Her voice was gentle yet firm, and one couldn't help feeling a surge of anticipation for the product.
Finally, Ningguang drove the message home. "If any of you are interested in these new technologies, you are warmly welcome to place your orders with the Jade Chamber. We believe this innovation will transform the way you live, bringing greater convenience and greater joy. Thank you!"
With that, she and Ganyu bowed together to the audience and exited the stage amid the thunderous applause that erupted from the crowd.