Qingzu

Qingzu is an NPC aboard The Xianzhou Luofu. She can be found in Exalting Sanctum, inside the Seat of Divine Foresight.
==Profile==
She holds the position of Chief Counselor for the Divine Foresight.
==Location==
==Missions and Events==
==Voice Lines==
;(Version 1)
:: "*gasp* A—Aren't you General Jing Yuan's esteemed guest?"
;(Version 2)
:: "May I ask? How can we help you today at the Seat of Divine Foresight?"
==Dialogue==
;(First interaction)
:Qingzu: (Trailblazer), I've heard so much about you but never had the chance to chat with you. May I ask, how can we help you today at the Seat of Divine Foresight?
: Oh nothing, I'm just strolling about.
::Qingzu: The Seat of Divine Foresight deals with high-level military secrets. It's really not the kind of place where you could just take a stroll.
: I'd like to learn more about the Seat of Divine Foresight's work...
::Qingzu: I have to warn you, travelers' making inquiries into military secrets is generally known as "espionage."
:Qingzu: If you've really got nothing better to do, I think the Petrichor Inn is looking for cleaners... I know the proprietress there and can introduce you. It might just help you shake the stereotype of being a lazybones.
: You've got an attitude issue.
::Qingzu: Sorry, I've been dealing with military affairs and wars for so many centuries that I don't really get a chance to communicate with idlers like yourself. I'm sorry for offending you.
: I think working at the Seat of Divine Foresight would really suit me.
::Qingzu: I'm sorry, you must be mistaken. My job description isn't actually "chatting with an idler and helping them kill time."
: Could you please write me a letter of recommendation?
::Qingzu: Sorry, I just got notified that the Inn doesn't just hire any idlers for cleaners. I was too rash and, nearly put you in a very difficult situation. Please forgive me.
:Qingzu: *sigh* Alright, fine. I'll let up on you. You're one of Jing Yuan's guests, after all. My name's Qingzu, and I'm a counselor here at the Seat of Divine Foresight.
:Qingzu: Come find me if you've ever got any important matters to discuss.
;(Obtained )
;(Continue on to dialogue options below)
----
;(Subsequent interactions)
:Qingzu: (Trailblazer), may I ask to what do we owe the pleasure of your visit at the Seat of Divine Foresight today?
: I'd like to learn more about the Seat of Divine Foresight...
::Qingzu: Please let me remind you that most of the information we handle here is top secret... Basically, please be careful and considerate with your questions, and try your best not to ask anything too sensitive.
:: What do counselors get up to?
:::Qingzu: Counselor is a title in the Cloud Knight forces. We're in charge of strategic planning and processing information, helping the Captain make better decisions. I'm no great talent, but humbly hold the position of chief counselor.
:::Qingzu: But Jing Yuan is a meticulous and insightful general, so most of the time I'm left feeling like a handyman who just passes on intelligence.
:::Qingzu: Cough, I've said too much.
::: Did you just call Jing Yuan by his first name?
::::Qingzu: Yes. He said we have to be strict with our official chain of command during battle, but back here at the Seat of Divine Foresight we can call each other by our first names. Over time, I slowly got used to it.
::: Are you playing down your role a little bit here?
::::Qingzu: Hey, I grew up listening to the legends of Jing Yuan as a kid. Did you ever hear the one about the High-Cloud Quintet?
::::Qingzu: I'm getting off topic here, but it takes me hundreds of years to get where I am now, and advising his leadership like this is like a life-long dream coming true for me.
::::Qingzu: But as a counselor, it's important to have a clear understanding about yourself. We're no match for Jing Yuan's intellect, but we help him out as much as we can and derive great meaning from this work.
:: Have you got any secrets you can share about the Seat of Divine Foresight?
:;(Qingzu can give one of four responses)
:::Qingzu: Hmm... Classified intelligence, huh... Let's see what I can tell you... Oh, there's one.
:::Qingzu: Lots of folks know Jing Yuan had a mentor. But most people get it wrong and think the mentor was some swordmaster. Nah, only a few people know the real deal — the mentor was actually a great crosstalk comedian.
:::Qingzu: Jing Yuan spent the first 500 years of his life as a crosstalk comedian. His comedy mentor was also his perfect partner on stage.
:::Qingzu: And now, the sword prodigy, Yanqing, only stayed by Jing Yuan's side to learn the art of crosstalk.
:::Qingzu: We have this annual arts and culture show where Jing Yuan and Yanqing do a crosstalk skit together. Last year's The Cowardly Escort was really awesome... If you get a chance, you should come and check it out too!
:;(Version two)
:::Qingzu: Tsk, the last guy who came snooping around here with questions like that is still locked up in the Shackling Prison for espionage.
:::Qingzu: But seeing as you're Jing Yuan's esteemed guest, I suppose I can divulge a few in-house secrets to you...
:::Qingzu: There used to be a pet lion kept at the Seat of Divine Foresight called Snowmoon. Jing Yuan adored it and the lion would spend all day following him about.
:::Qingzu: But one day, while the Abominations of Abundance were raging against us, the Marshal rallied his troops and ordered Jing Yuan to lead an expedition force to purge their territory... Just like that, three hundred years passed.
:::Qingzu: Snowmoon didn't understand what The Hunt meant for Xianzhou, and thought Jing Yuan would never come back... It would wait at the front gates of the Seat of Divine Foresight, just waiting... And waiting... for three hundred years.
:::Qingzu: On the day Jing Yuan returned, triumphant, he arrived at the gates to the Seat of Divine Foresight and saw a withered old lion slowly staggering toward him... In the final moments of its life, Snowmoon finally reconnected with Jing Yuan.
:::Qingzu: Snowmoon slowly drifted off to sleep in Jing Yuan's arms, just as it had when it was a cub.
:::Qingzu: Those stone lions you can see out the front of the Seat of Divine Foresight were erected by Jing Yuan to commemorate his dear friend Snowmoon the snow lion. Because it was the third cub of its litter, it became known as Snow Lion the Third.
:::Qingzu: How about this story, then? Good enough for you?
::: I'm afraid that doesn't sound real to me.
::::Qingzu: I find it rather fascinating. When I told my niece this story, she listened intently and kept on asking me about the snow lion.
:::: Didn't you say this was top secret?
:::::Qingzu: I never said that. You must have misheard me.
:::: Is this just a fable that you use to trick kids?
:::::Qingzu: At your age, you don't consider yourself a child?
::: Which of these stone lions here is Snow Lion the Third?
::::Qingzu: ...They're all pretty similar. Let me think, is it that one to the east?
:::: Are you just making this up?
:::::Qingzu: ...I can't actually remember. Actually, it might be that one to the west.
:::: Shouldn't it be a little more special than the others?
:::::Qingzu: They all look look the same from the outside... But isn't it what's inside Snowmoon — its loyal spirit — that matters most?
::: I'm touched.
::::Qingzu: Hahaha, that's good then.
:;(Version three)
:::Qingzu: *sigh* Alright, fine. Here's some top secret intel, so don't leak it...
:::Qingzu: According to the public records at the Seat of Divine Foresight, Yanqing is still young. But word on the street is that Yanqing ain't as young as he seems. In reality, he's already of advanced years. Some of us Vidyadhara folks are like that too, where we stop aging when we hit adolescence.
::: Don't all Vidyadhara have pointy ears?
:::Qingzu: Yanqing used to have a pair of beautiful pointy ears... but one day, a rat infestation broke out at the Seat of Divine Foresight during Yanqing's afternoon nap. That was when a giant rat nibbled his ears' pointy ends away...
:::Qingzu: Poor Yanqing, he's been afraid of rats since then. To protect his own image, he kept his true lineage a secret, claiming to be a young Xianzhou native.
:::Qingzu: Look, you gotta keep this to yourself, because all those who have revealed this secret "got vanished" without a trace...
::: Does that mean you are "getting vanished" as well?
:::Qingzu: ...I'd be fine as long as you don't tell anyone else.
:;(Version four)
:::Qingzu: Yes. This is a confidential information that few know in the Seat of Divine Foresight. So, look...
:::Qingzu: Those guards over there at the entrance, we call their leader Yutie... But the truth is, they're all Yutie. Yutie is not a person's name, but an organization.
:::Qingzu: This organization is well-hidden and powerful, protecting the safety of the Seat of Divine Foresight for generations.
:::Qingzu: The Yutie standing there changes every day, but you'd never know it. They're all trained to act the same and assume the same personality.
:::Qingzu: If you catch a glimpse of a Yutie's face, all the other' faces will simply disappear. They just fade away, like they were never even there.
:: I have nothing else to ask.
:::Qingzu: On your way, then. I won't see you out. If you have any serious business to discuss next time, come and find me.
;(Upon completing Obsequies Performed, A Long Road Ahead)
: The disaster is finally over...
::Qingzu: Without your help, things wouldn't have gone so swimmingly... But, is it truly over?
::Qingzu: The master diviner acting as the general and my backlog of work show that things aren't over for the Seat of Divine Foresight until the very last Disciple of Sanctus Medicus is arrested.
::Qingzu: It breaks my heart to see Jing Yuan suffering such a serious injury for the Luofu. So, I hope to do my best to present him with a clean Xianzhou Luofu.
::Qingzu: Anyway, please allow me to say this personally: Thank you very, very much.
: I have nothing else to ask.
::Qingzu: On your way, then. I won't see you out. If you have any serious business to discuss next time, come and find me.
==Trivia==
*Qingzu's claim that Yanqing's Vidyadhara ears were bitten off due to a rat infestation is a reference to , a robot cat whose ears were bitten off by robot mice.
*Qingzu's story of Snowmoon the lion waiting for Jing Yuan for 300 years is likely a reference to , a white Akita dog who famously waited every day for his owner to get off work in front of for over nine years after his owner's death.
==Other Languages==
==Change History==
ru:Цинцзу