The Silly Alchemist

The thirteenth prince’s lack of skills was a huge blow to his parents. However, they comforted themselves that their as long as their son would be safe, and have no worries as long as he lives, it didn’t really matter. Of course, they didn’t give up on raising him. They believed that a person’s efforts and upbringing can make up for what he lacked naturally. Even if he couldn’t be an impressive child prodigy, at least he could be good at something.

At least their three other children were naturally smart, especially the eldest of them, Ye Hui. He was the only son apart from the thirteenth prince, and everyone was delighted with his growth. Both brothers were exact opposites, this one was a definite genius.

Ye Chengtian and his wife were at least a little comforted by Ye Hui’s capabilities. Hence, they emphasized their upbringing efforts on Ye Hui once again. The other two daughters were second to him too. As for the thirteenth prince, they didn’t give up on him, they still loved him the same but his education was a lot less strict.

If the thirteenth prince remained this way, he could still live his whole life peacefully. With the Ye family’s status, although he wouldn’t be able to marry the princess, at least he’d still get a good wife. His would life a content, happy life.

Why can’t he marry the little princess? Nonsense!  Based on regular circumstances, both parties would dissolve the marriage agreement. Both the Ye family and the royals would never let the thirteenth prince marry the little princess of the empire.

It would be a complicated matter indeed. If the Ye family ignored everything else and let him marry the little princess, they might not fare very well within the Soaring Sky Empire in the future.

No matter what, as polite aristocrats, the Ye family wouldn’t embarrass the royal family. They had to insist to let this matter pass.

Then again, there was only one logical direction for this matter to proceed in. The royals would just go with the flow, they wouldn’t insist either.

Of course, while they were still young, this matter can first be tossed aside. No one would want to disturb the waters. Theoretically, the little princess was still the thirteenth prince’s betrothed.

There were rumours that this boy had something peculiar about him. Naturally, they weren’t about his intellectual abilities. Everyone already knew about that. We’re talking about something else.

Peculiar, inexplicable things would happen, just like the godly rays during his birth. Nobody knew why.

The first person who noticed his peculiarity wasn’t an outsider, but his bubbly sister, Ye Lanyu. One time, when she was cuddling and playing with him, realised his memory abilities were the complete opposite from his intelligence.

At that point, the thirteenth prince could barely have a conversation with a person. Although his development was a little slow, it was still acceptable to everyone. Everyone’s expectations of him weren’t very high anyway, they only hoped for a happy, peaceful life for him.

It didn’t really matter if he didn’t know how to look after himself, the Ye family could take for of that for the rest of his life. People were already preparing for this.

However, it was little Lanyu who noticed something odd with him. They were playing a sort of matching game that tested a person’s analytical and memory skills. She was playing a very simple memory game meant for kids.

However, little Lanyu felt she was smarter than a regular kid (which was also what most people thought), so she made a more difficult puzzle for herself. It was very difficult for a child, even adults might have difficulty in solving it. 

That’s right, little Lanyu was extremely intelligent, but there was of course still a limit to her child’s intelligence. She still couldn’t finish the puzzle after a day, and in a bout of frustration, she threw the puzzle on the ground to sulk in a corner.

While little Lanyu was sulking, the little thirteenth prince started to move. He looked at the puzzle on the floor, then at his frustrated sister, his expression a little confused.

He seemed to understand his sister was upset because she couldn’t finish the puzzle. Hence, with his tiny hands, he picked the pieces off the floor and slowly pieced the puzzle together within its frame.

“Little brother, let’s not play anymore. This is not even a little bit fun. I’ll bring you to…” Once little Lanyu was done sulking, she noticed the little thirteenth prince lying on the ground fixing the puzzle. She first thought he was only playing with the pieces, but soon realised something was wrong.

Her eyes fell on the corner of the frame. It looked like part of a completed puzzle! She was shocked. When she peered closer, she realised he’d already finished half the puzzle.

“Uh… Uh…” Little Lanyu’s expression looked as if she’d just discovered new land. She was sure the little thirteenth prince did the puzzle because there were only two of them.

However, she could barely solve the puzzle after spending an entire on it. Her dumb little brother fixed half of it in so little time, it was ridiculous.

Little Lanyu stared in stunned silence, watching the thirteenth prince.

“Sister, look! Done! Don’t be angry,” The thirteenth prince spoke very slowly. He had to think at the end of every sentence, trying his very best to convey his thoughts.

Little Lanyu was used to it. He’d always talked like that.

Coincidence. It must be a coincidence.

Little Lanyu stared at the completed puzzle in disbelief. First, she couldn’t believe her dumb brother could finish a puzzle. Second, she couldn’t believe that she was worse than her brother. As an older sister, it was embarrassing.

“I’m not angry. Brother, let’s play again,” Little Lanyu smiled, then broke the puzzle apart to check if it was just a coincidence.

The little thirteenth prince stared at her, then squatted to continue working on the puzzle. As he slowly pieced the puzzle together, little Lanyu’s mouth opened wider.

“Mom, Mom! Oh no! It’s little brother, he…” Little Lanyu immediately ran to report to her mother.

Soon, it caused a huge commotion in the entire Ye family. A small incident caused everyone to realise his memory far exceeded a regular person. Almost photographic.

After many tests, they finally drew a conclusion. An unbelievable conclusion.

The thirteenth prince’s intelligence in all other areas were still disappointing, still behind his peers. However, his memory abilities even exceeded those of an adult’s.

He was the legendary idiot genius.

Perhaps that was true, or perhaps the thirteenth prince lacked something so he couldn’t properly use his abilities.