The Silly Alchemist

The palace looked marvellous at night. Tonight, the royal family and the Ye family were celebrating the birthdays of their children. The event itself was private, so not many were invited. Guests who attended the luxurious celebration were important figures of this land. 

They were so important and prominent that if they moved a single hair, the whole kingdom would tremble in fear!

Just like every other year, the thirteenth prince was having a field day showcasing his prodigal tendencies at the venue. He had dragged along Tigress and the seventh princess on his mischief, lighting “fireworks” at the square. His fireworks. 

Eight fire dragons had appeared in the sky over the square in a whole sudden, lighting up the surrounding land. The view of flying fire dragons sure was magnificent, the display could be considered top-notch. 

These dancing fire dragons were also visible to the people nearby the palace, in fact, the whole of the Imperial Capital basked in its glory. Many found it beautiful, but also rather terrifying. 

To the unknowing, they would’ve mistaken this as an accident in the palace, why would fire dragons like this appear on top of it? They wouldn’t have thought that these were just magic fireworks. 

“Holy shit, a Level Eight Magic Fire Technique! That scroll was worth at least a hundred thousand gold coins! What the hell? I’ve heard the Ye’s thirteenth son was a prodigal but I wasn't expecting it to be this bad.”  

Everyone at the party started to murmur, discussing the young aristocrat’s prodigal tendencies. Hearing this, Ye Chengtian furrowed his brows, he too felt that this was too much.  

“Eh? That’s weird, since when did we have this?” surprised, Tigress held up a scroll. She was shocked to see a Level Eight magic scroll lying around Ye Lang’s feet. 

“I just bought it. Level Five Magic Fire Scroll. Wait, why are there eight dragons instead?” replied the thirteenth prince. He may be weak in many intellectual aspects, but his memory was impressive.

“Guess we got it for cheap, we only spent three thousand gold coins on this. It’s too late to say anything at this point,” sighed Tigress, she looked dejected. She felt that she should’ve kept a closer eye and actually give his purchases a check. Her master was inclined to buying weird and impractical items. 

“Never mind, it doesn’t matter anyway. It’ll just be left there unused,” the thirteenth prince had no hints of regret. 

“Oh, right. Master, your gift…” reminded Tigress while everyone around was distracted by the soaring dragons in the sky. 

“Oh yeah. My wife, I brought you something today. It costs a hundred and eight thousand gold coins, it’s the most expensive thing I could find,” Ye Lang received the gift Tigress passed over, then offered it to the princess. 

A hundred and eight thousand gold coins?! The Ye family’s heart clenched. Long Anqi had many regrets, she started to contemplate whether it was time to cut off the little jerk’s pocket money. She’d never done it because she was way too soft. 

Ah, nevermind. She would just take it as her debt to him in his past life. He could do whatever he wanted as long as he was happy. 

“What is it?” asked the seventh princess happily. She remained unfazed after being referred to as his wife by the thirteenth prince. If it were someone else, she would’ve felt disgusted. 

Perhaps she knew that there wasn't any deeper meaning to it.

At the same time, she really enjoyed Ye Lang’s companionship. They both shared a wonderful bond and had not voiced any opposition to their engagement. It was rather a weird sight for everyone else. 

The seventh princess may not be the most prominent one out there but she was very beautiful, many suitors had sought her hand in marriage.  

Maybe she was just young, maybe it would be different many years down the road. As of now, she liked the little prodigal because of his innocence, there was no worry or frustration whenever they were together, not even arguments. 

Her gift laid mysteriously in the box. Normally you would something along the lines of “You’ll know after you’ve opened it!” or “It’s a surprise!”... 

But the thirteenth prince was no ordinary person, he directly told her what he got her, and even added in something he shouldn’t have said, “It’s the Lunar Deity Laurel, Tigress said all girls would like this.” 

He was basically exposing himself, implying that if it weren’t for Tigress, he wouldn’t even have thought of buying it! 

The seventh princess opened the box, then gave him a small smile in return. Steadily, she stretched out her little arms to offer the laurel to the thirteenth prince, “Since you bought this lovely gift for me, you should put it on my head.” 

“Oh…” the thirteenth prince was a little taken aback, glancing at the laurel in her hands. He took the laurel from her and placed it on her crown clumsily, it felt a little crooked. 

The seventh princess had expected this, so she gently adjusted it a little. “How do I look?” asked the princess. 

“The sapphire is huge, it’s really nice,” nodded the thirteenth prince. 

“...I’m asking about ME,” emphasized the seventh princess dejectedly. 

“Yeah, you look good, much better than my sister.” 

“...” 

“Ye Lang, what did you say?!” Ye Lanyu appeared out of nowhere, gaping at the kid.  

“I said she looks better than you…”

“How dare you!” 

“It’s not a lie! She really is much better looking than you.”

“Why would you say that? I mean, look at her! She’s flat-chested and short…” Ye Lanyu started to ramble about the princess. The seventh princess was just a child at this point, she hadn’t even hit puberty yet. 

The seventh princess was evidently angered by Lanyu’s words. She glared at her and retorted, “You’re not any better. You’re three years older but your chest isn’t any much bigger and you’re not that tall either!” 

“Tigress, by chest, did they mean this,” the thirteenth prince pointed at Tigress’s chest innocently. 

“Y-yeah…” Tigress blushed at the question. 

“I’ve seen her chest when we took a bath together, her chest is only as big as xiao long bao…” 

“Ye Lang, you jerk…” 

As the children argued relentlessly in the background and people around them were laughing at the ridiculous fight, a piece of news had arrived in the ears of the emperor. The emperor made a small cough to call upon the people’s attention, and soon all chatter in the venue died down. 

“What?! Are you sure?” the emperor’s voice echoed across the entire square. Everyone abruptly shifted their attention from the children to the emperor.

“Your Majesty, what’s going on?” asked Ye Cheng Tian curiously. The emperor he knew was a man of impeccable calmness and composure, something serious or extremely major must’ve happened to cause this reaction.

“I’ve just received news that the notes of the Great Alchemist Ban have been found,” stated the emperor with no intentions to keep it a secret.