The Silly Alchemist

Ye Lang did not bother Zhao Yarou anymore once he’d gotten his answer. He did not want to make small talk with her at all. All he wanted was to bring Li Yue to the garden after their meal.

Zhao Yarou snapped a file close then looked at him, only to see him and Li Yue chatting happily away while completely ignoring her presence.

“Mr Fox…” said Zhao Yarou but Ye Lang did not respond.

After a few times, he still did not reply. She was starting to get annoyed, then had an idea when she saw the food on the table.

Zhao Yarou stood up, walked over to the meal table and sat down. She said very softly, “Hey, time to eat!”

“Alright!” Ye lang answered curly and quickly sat down at the table. He picked up a piece of pork rib with his chopsticks.

Suddenly, another pair of chopsticks appeared on the same piece of pork rib. This pair of chopsticks pressed on the rib, stopping Ye Lang from picking it up.

“Oh fuck me, there are so many pieces here. Just take a random one, don’t take mine,” yelled Ye Lang as he looked up to see the person who’d stopped him from taking his pork rib.

“Why is it you? Don’t think I’ll go easy on you just because you’re the empress, this pork rib is mine!”

At least Ye Lang saw that it was Zhao Yarou. However, he did not back down at all when he did, he only wanted his pork rib.

The servants serving Zhao Yarou were all sweating nervously. Did Ye Lang have a death wish, to be talking to the empress like that?

However, they were surprised -or rather, flabbergasted- to see her reaction.

“I’m not taking your pork rib! You can have it.” With a smile, she gave up on the piece of pork rib and even placed some vegetables in his bowl.

“!!”

Oh my goodness, what did we just witness? Are we dreaming? Not only did this little empress not rage, she even gave him more vegetables? I must be dreaming, this is unbelievable.

The royal servants each had looks of disbelief.

He gave her a look and stopped eating abruptly to also place some vegetables in her bowl. “You should have some too!”

Zhao Yarou and Li Yue were stunned. Even when Ye Lang’s relationship with Zhao Yarou improved a little, he never offered her any food, it was always Li Yue who offered.

Right now, to witness him offer her food was like watching the sun rise from the west.

“Have some!” hurried Ye Lang when he saw that Zhao Yarou wasn’t moving.

“Mm!” With a grin, she ate the vegetables. The servants were stunned once again to see such a smile. They’d never seen her smile like that!

“Have some of this too!” Ye Lang placed more vegetables in her bowl, she ate them too.

Then, Ye Lang consecutively offered her even more food, giving her a little from every dish that was served. Zhao Yarou ate every dish with a smile though she was also weirded out.

“Alright, all clear! Li Yue, have some too!” Before anyone understood what he meant, he started to gobble up his food like a tornado.

While he was inhaling his food, he still did it in an elegant manner. It was evident he was raised in an aristocratic family for no commoner would eat like this.

Zhao Yarou was still smiling as he ate, though very soon her smile faded into a frown, into anger.

“When you offered me the food, were you testing them?” Zhao Yarou asked this question so calmly it sent chills down the servants’ spines. Something bad was about to happen.

“Yeah, how would I know if you’ve poisoned the food if you aren’t eating?” answered Ye Lang nonchalantly as he ate.

“…”

At this moment, almost all sound vanished within the royal study. Other than the sound of Ye Lang eating, it was completely quiet.

This fox kid was… impressive indeed, to use the empress as a test kit. So that was why he gave her a little food from every plate! And he was so honest about it too! Did he really want to die today?

“I have graciously prepared a feast for you and you dare accuse me of poisoning your food?!” exclaimed Zhao Yarou.

Eh, that’s it?

The servants were surprised at the turned of events. While she was obviously furious, based on her past behaviour, she would’ve immediately ordered him to be killed.

“This is very normal, you’ve had an interesting past!” said Ye Lang.

“…” Zhao Yarou and the rest fell silent. Ye Lang was referring to the day she poisoned everyone when she usurped the throne.

“Fine, it’s my fault then!” Zhao Yarou clenched her teeth to hold herself back.

What?! The empress was actually holding herself back? She even admitted it was her fault! Oh my goodness, what’s happening? Did someone switch the empress?

The servants thought this was a very exciting day, they were already dumb from astonishment.

“I’m done! We’ll excuse ourselves now, thank you for the meal!” once he’d finished eating, he prepared to leave with Li Yue, who was already waiting.

“…” The servants fell silent.

They were exasperated at his behaviour, acting as if this was a restaurant– a free one too.

“You’re leaving straight after the meal? What do you think this place is?” cried Zhao Yarou.

“A place to eat! It’s only normal to leave once the meal is over!” argued Ye Lang. “Didn’t you invite me here for a meal? You have anything else?”

“No, fine, go then. Ugh. Stay in the palace, come to the party on time tonight!”  waved Zhao Yarou. She had no choice either.

“I know! I’ll still be punctual even if you didn’t remind me to. The earlier I show up, the earlier I can leave…” Ye Lang nodded and disappeared straight after he finished his sentence.

“You..” Zhao Yarou did not even get to reply in time, all she could do was proceed with her work. She seemed to be in a very bad mood now, everyone else was in for a bad day today.

When she dealt with work matters later that day, she started to use terrifying methods to solve her problems instead of rational ones… all because she was mad.