The Silly Alchemist

“......”

Was this kid serious?

Everyone was stunned. They suspected Ye Lang’s intention was to provoke the couple- although this went against Ye Lang’s personality. But it was he who uttered those words!

From the audience’s perspective, Ye Lang must’ve mistaken Sha Lan’s child to be Moya’s, hence he congratulated her in front of Moya.

It was because of this misconception that led Ye Lang to add insult to injury, under the guise of a question.

“Ye Lang…” Zhen Xiaoyan hurried her steps towards Ye Lang to pull him aside.

“Little Seven, since when did this kid become so rude?” questioned Ye Lanyu, who happened to be next to the seventh princess.

“How would I know? You don’t seem to know why either, and one more thing, why did you call me ‘Little Seven’?”

“We’re eventually going to become siblings, so what’s the big deal if I call you ‘Little Seven’? Or would you rather I called you ~princess~?”

“If it were to come naturally, I wouldn’t mind. But I can’t shake the feeling that ‘Little Seven’ sounds as if I were his seventh wife. I am the boss,” the seventh princess shot back unhappily.

“Relax, your title as the boss is indisputable. You’ll have to make sure he doesn’t marry other women.” Ye Lanyu grasped her hand while saying this as if entrusting her with a difficult responsibility.

“Yes, I will!” replied the seventh princess in a serious tone.

The two’s conversation eventually drifted away from the topic at hand, and towards the topic of Ye Lang’s indifference. He didn’t seem to care for his marriage with the seventh princess, for he did not expect to take her as his wife in the future.

Of course, the seventh princess had foreseen her marriage with Ye Lang, but that did not mean she would actually fall for him!

“Sister, I’m here to bring you home! Ah, seventh princess, you’re here too. Looks like you can come back on your own,” Ye Lang mentioned coldly.

“You…” the seventh princess muttered angrily, “Why can’t we go together?”

“Oh, together? That’s fine too,” Ye Lang replied, absent-mindedly.

“I wanna come along too…” muttered Zhen Xiaoyan.

“No way, you’d better head home quick. It’ll be troublesome if your illness flares up again,” Ye Lang said abruptly.

“Do you still want today’s lunch?” Zhen Xiaoyan grinned while asking, unaffected by Ye Lang’s rejection.

“Ahem... alright you can come along, I’ll send you home later. If that doesn’t work out, you can stay in that room,” Ye Lang replied as he changed his mind, even graciously offering Zhen Xiaoyan to stay the night at his place.

“......”

Ye Lanyu and the seventh princess looked at one another, coming to the silent agreement that the saying was indeed true. The way to a man’s heart was indeed through his stomach.

‘Looks like I’ll have to brush up on my cooking skills,’ thought both ladies to themselves, albeit for different reasons.

“What about them?” The three ladies knew that Ye Lang wished to leave immediately, and so they queried with slight curiosity, for the “them” they were referring to were Moya and Sha Lan.

“Aren’t they happy together? Look at how they’re in love,” Ye Lang replied absent-mindedly.

“You call that love?” the three ladies asked in unison.

“You can call it tough love…...”

“......”

‘Whack!’

Sha Lan slapped Moya. With tears in her eyes, she shouted.

“Why can’t you just believe me? I didn’t do it!”

Her actions were likely spurred by some insensitive remark from Moya. But little did she know, Moya’s next words are going to shatter her heart.

“Why should I trust you? When you’re with me... when you’re with me, you’ve become a woman, you’re no longer a little girl!” Moya fired back, coldly.

An uncomfortable silence settled around them.

Even though Moya’s statement was shrouded in obscurity, everyone else understood its underlying meaning.

“You… Moya… I hate you,”

It was at this moment, Sha Lan was devastated. She had her regrets, for she knew that if she had maintained her status as a residence’s maiden, this misunderstanding would not have occurred.

She had also finally understood why people often said that as women, they should not casually forfeit themselves and their bodies to any man, even if it was someone they loved. A woman should only forfeit themselves to a man who is capable of loving and caring for her, for all of his life.

“Hey fatass, good thing you’re a conservative girl, or you’d suffer in the hands of players like him. A man with an attitude like that- Moya’s no good for you!”

“I had no idea he was this kind of scum… I really was so blind!”

“The more you know. If you’re looking for a good man, you should look for someone like me,”

“Huh, you call yourself a good man?You pushed me into the fire pit!”

“Hey hey, that was to complete you, to fully understand your emotions. If not, you’ve already become a weirdo!”

“You’re the weirdo!”

“Hey Ye Lang, you wanted me to see Moya’s true colours right?”

“Yup, that’s right!”

“You answered so quickly. Why can’t I shake the suspicion that you’re just lucky this time around?”

“Hehe… you think so?”

“......”

……

It was because of this incident, people perceived Sha Lan as someone who didn’t take love seriously. Sure, men still chased after her, but none of them were serious about their feelings.

Alas, Sha Lan resorted to using alchemy to numb her pain. As a result, she grew colder, and was gradually devoid of emotion.

As for Moya, whatever reputation he had left was ruined during that incident. In the end, women had stopped falling for him, his popularity suffered a decline, and his position as one of the four big princes had been snatched away from him.

……

Ye Lang, the one who had started all of this, had, on the other hand, been bothered incessantly by a particular someone.

“Brother, please help me figure something out!” seventh brother begged Ye Lang pitifully.

“You should fix your own mess!” Ye Lang rejected without hesitation.

“I couldn’t do it on my own, that’s why I’m here! Only you can fix this, you’re the alchemy genius!” seventh brother begged Ye Lang, with desperation in his eyes.

After the Zhen Xiaoyan incident, Ye Lang’s alchemy had received the validation of many, and also attracted a lot of attention for himself.

“So what if you can’t fix it? It’s not even your problem,” Ye Lang was still reluctant.

“Oh Ye Lang, this concerns your brother’s - my- happiness. Your future seventh sister-in-law also depends on you,” seventh brother ramped up the guilt-tripping.

“You should fight for your own happiness!”

“Which is precisely what I’m doing right now!” seventh brother persisted.

“... I really don’t want to attend to you right now.” Ye Lang replied, weakly.

“That’s it, just promise your brother, ok?” seventh brother pressed on.

“Alright alright, I understand. I have no idea how my future seventh sister-in-law could get into this mess,” Ye Lang helplessly muttered.

“......”