The Silly Alchemist

“Then you do it!” the emperor wrung his hands. He’d been hoping someone would replace him for negotiations with Ye Lang. He couldn’t stand Ye Lang.

“You little troublemaker, give me the magic cube. I’ll never give you any compensation!!” Princess Longji held her palm out, gesturing for Ye Lang to give it up.

Hey hey Longji, are you sure? He just rejected an offer double its price, but you’re not giving him anything instead. He won’t listen!

Just when everyone thought Ye Lang was going to say no, when they’d begun to think of other methods, Ye Lang obediently handed the magic cube over.

“Take it!!” Ye Lang tossed the magic cube at Princess Longji.

“Ah…”

Everyone’s jaws dropped.

“Good boy. I’ll take you out to squander some money later, you can pay for everything,” said Princess Longji smiling, handing the magic cube to the very confused emperor.

“Really? Then let’s go!!” said Ye Lang, jumping up.

“Longji, why did he listen to you? It was 300,000 and he gave it to you just like that?” asked the empress dowager.

“Hehe, of course he would, he’s a good boy- he’s always listened to me!” She smiled, then added, “You all should know that he never liked earning a profit, he only spends! Father, you wanted to pay him double! Even if Ye Lanyu were here, he would never listen, he would never give it to you!

“And if you do not offer compensation so he loses his 300,000, he might actually give it to you. He would never let anyone take advantage of him though. He would rather let stuff rot in that ring of his- that’s what happened to many things. If it weren’t for us, he wouldn’t give it up either!”

“…”

What sort of person is he? He was one weird kid. He would never want to make a profit but rather lose money happily!!

“Alright, we don’t have any more business here, let’s go!” Ye Lang jumped onto the spirit girl’s shoulder. He no longer had to hide.

“Wait. I think you should stay here for a while or you might get into some trouble,” said Princess Longji. Everyone was confused again.

“??” Ye Lang, the emperor and everyone else didn’t understand.

“Father, do you know how to open it?” asked Princess Longji, smiling.

“I don’t know, we’ll ask the eighth boy. He’s read the diary, he should know how to open it!” The emperor shook his head.

The eighth prince stepped forward, saying, “The diary mentioned that it will only open when the right method is used or anything inside would self-destruct. There is also a poem on the diary, we might have to recite it with a specific rhythm, it sounds like this…”

The eighth prince started to recite the poem, and it was very, very long. No one understood him at all.

When he finished, he continued, “In fact, other people have found this cube before us. They spent their whole lives on it but still failed. Looks like we might have to take a very long time too!”

Princess Longji smiled, then said mysteriously, “Do you want to open it within a short period of time?”

“Of course we do, do you have a way?” asked the emperor.

“Hehe, little troublemaker, do you know the poem?”

“I didn’t understand it at all!” answered Ye Lang honestly, shaking his head.

“I knew it. Alright, open this magic cube!”

“Oh, okay!” the spirit girl, controlled by Ye Lang, walked over to take the cube from the emperor and started fiddling with it.

“Longji, what are you doing? He said he didn’t understand, then why let him try?”

“It doesn’t matter if he understood it, as long as he can open it!”

The eighth prince was annoyed, “Then why did you have to ask if he understood? You said it didn’t matter.”

Princess Longji glanced at the cube in the spirit girl’s hand, then replied, “Because it pleases me. I just like the way he shakes his head- I knew he didn’t understand!”

“…”

If he didn’t understand the prince, would he be able to open it?

Very soon, Ye Lang gave an answer to this question—

“Alright, take this!” the spirit girl hands the opened cube to the emperor.

“Ah…”

Looking at the opened cube caused everyone’s jaws to drop once again. It was the millionth time their jaws fell today. Perhaps the number was larger than all the surprises they got in the past year.

He succeeded! But how?

“Longji, how did Ye Lang open it?” asked the empress dowager. She didn’t ask Ye Lang because he might not answer.

“That’s simple. There’s nothing he cannot open in this world. Don’t ask why, he doesn’t know either. Things just get unlocked or solved magically!” said Princess Longji, laughing. It wasn’t an answer but it was the truth.

“…” The audience fell silent.

Everyone was still very happy with this outcome, though they may not know the reason.

“Alright, we have to leave or I’ll leave you here,” Ye Lang brought the spirit girl out of the door, ignoring her.

“You’re ignoring me? You’ll be sorry if I died!” cursed the princess, then running to catch up.

The both of them left abruptly, leaving behind a silent group of people.

Ye Lang met the people waiting for them outside, including Coldblood Seven. They didn’t know what the emperor was going to do with them, though Ye Lang didn’t seem to think there was anything to deal with. He directly called for Coldblood Seven to return with him.

But how would Coldblood Seven leave?

“It’ll be alright, come with us!” smiled Princess Longji. She didn’t care Coldblood Seven had just wanted to murder herself because she knew the problem was only with Coldblood One.

“I…” Coldblood Seven hesitated.

“It’s fine if you want to stay. You’re quite useless anyway, I don’t want you complaining next to me,” said Ye Lang leaving Coldblood Seven behind. Princess Longji naturally followed.

Coldblood Seven thought for a moment. She finally understood when she saw Coldblood Five sitting on the spirit’s shoulder with Ye Lang, then dashed to catch up.

Think about it. With Ye Lang and Princess Longji by her side, who would trouble her? If she were to stay, she might even be punished. She would rather play with Ye Lang.