The Silly Alchemist

Time passed. Some still had their papers blank...

"Time's up! Write your name on your paper, even if they are blank," said Ye Lang. "Guards, keep a close eye on them!" he instructed.

The guards collected the papers hurriedly. While many were dissatisfied, they dared not do anything as there were many guards present.

"Seventh brother, you and your wife’s papers were blank." Ye Lang checked their papers first.

"I know! You don't have to point it out!" exclaimed the annoyed seventh brother. Anyone would hate being called out like that. 

"Why not? It's not a problem if you can't answer," Ye Lang said light-heartedly. He then continued to separate those who left blank papers and those who answered all wrong and had them stand together.

All of them had red faces, flustered from embarrassment. And they had one thing in mind - to teach Ye Lang a lesson. Though, of course, they could only dream.

"You guys, move to that group. The rest of you, move here." Ye Lang continued to call out those who got less than three questions right.

"Well, the palace is indeed rich with talented people. You all managed to get five questions right!" said Ye Lang as he glanced at those who were left in front of him. The results were far better than what he had initially expected.

"Five of you got more than ten of the questions right! Very talented...hm, who's this? Zhao Yarou? Who is this scary woman?" Ye Lang was already surprised that the few of them could answer at least 10 questions, and he was even more shocked when he saw that Zhao Yarou had gotten them all right!

"What scary woman?! Yarou is our eighth sister. The most beautiful, obedient and intelligent among all the sisters. I can’t believe she could get them all right despite them being rather difficult," interrupted the seventh princess.

"Eighth sister? You mean the eighth princess?" questioned Ye Lang.

"Yeah, you should know her. You used to bully her," the seventh princess nodded.

"??"

Ye Lang was confused. When did he bully the eighth princess?

"We were little..." hinted the seventh princess. It was during their childhood so it didn't really matter if he recalled or not.

"Ye Lang, don't tell me you have forgotten me already?" Zhao Yarou approached, giving a complex look no one could understand.

Ye Lang glanced at Zhao Yarou and flinched. He held the seventh princess' hand tight and whispered, "Be careful. Don't get too close to her...She's terrifying!"

"..." 

Zhao Yarou and the seventh princess were lost for words. They had never expected this of Ye Lang.

“Wh- didn’t she answer all your questions correctly? What’s there to fear?” asked the seventh princess. She then continued, “Or is this because she could be smarter than you?”

“...”

“Never mind that! Your Majesty, what was asked of you has been done already, you can settle the rest on your own. I’ll excuse myself!” Ye Lang prepared himself to leave.

To be fair, it wasn’t really any of Ye Lang’s business anymore, as the king would verify the results later. While he did not understand Ye Lang’s questions, it was of no importance- it didn’t affect his requirements in his decision to select an heir to the throne. The statistics served as mere references.

Yet all of a sudden, the king had a question.

“Ye Lang, I’d like to ask you a question.”

“Hm? What is it?”

“If you had to choose an heir among my children, who would it be?”

The king’s question shocked everyone. No one expected anyone to ask Ye Lang a question like that, let alone from the king himself!

All eyes were on Ye Lang. Everyone itched to hear his answer. Even if his answer was one that was neutral, everyone still listened attentively.

“If I were to choose someone, I’d select one of them,” said Ye Lang while pointing at the ones who hadn’t gotten a single question right.

Everyone was surprised. Was it a biased decision? 

“Now, I’m not being biased here, this is my opinion. But just by looking at them, I know that any one of them would become excellent rulers.”

Everyone was extremely confused with what Ye Lang had said. It became even more peculiar when he said this:

“And, she’s the only one I think that needs to be excluded. She’s not built to become a ruler!” Ye Lang pointed his finger at one person - Zhao Yarou!

Everyone was taken aback by his answer. He first pinpointed the one person who had answered everything correctly, then said that those who did not do as well were more fit to sit at the throne. The people began to question the standards of Ye Lang’s questions.

“Ye Lang!!!” yelled Zhao Yarou, gritting her teeth and staring daggers in Ye Lang’s direction.

“Your Majesty, she keeps scaring me. I suggest for you to kill the rot to avoid any problems in the future,” said Ye Lang while he pointed at Zhao Yarou.

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The entire room fell silent. How could someone say that? Asking a father to kill his own daughter without any proper reason?!

“Ye Lang, stop saying stupid things. Eighth sister, ignore him. He can be the worst jerk sometimes,” said the seventh princess while she pulled Ye Lang away.

“Why? I was just stating the facts - you will know when you grow up,” Ye Lang said innocently. He didn’t think that what he said was wrong.

“Ye Lang, what were the standards of your questions?” asked the king. He waited patiently to ask this very important question.

What was Ye Lang’s aim really with this test?

“The questions went something like this,” said Ye Lang.

“There was once a mother and her two daughters. When the mother passed away, the younger sister saw an unknown aristocrat at the funeral and fell in love with him. A month later, she killed her older sister. Why?”

“Another question was something like this: A long time ago, there was a beautiful princess who was cursed by an evil witch. She was caged in a castle and was asleep for years. It was believed that only a prince’s kiss could awaken the princess. A very good-looking prince came by, broke into the castle and saved the princess. Yet after he kissed her, he was killed. Why?”

It was then understood - his questions were based on human psychology. Only people with psychological health problems would answer his questions correctly!  And since Zhao Yarou had gotten them all correct, he concluded there must be severe problems with her mental health!