The Silly Alchemist

“As I said, you re-opened Romantic Floor.” Zhao Yarou was not angered, or maybe her anger was hidden.

“Just because of that? Some people even re-sold businesses that had been shut down, you’re just using this as an excuse!” raged Li Yan.

Zhao Yarou put down the document in her hands. “Are you questioning my decisions?” she asked, staring at him.

“Yes.”

There was a Chinese saying for a situation like this one: newborn calves do not fear the tiger.

Everyone present was sure Li Yan was going to be in deep trouble soon. However, they had the same questions too. The punishment was too severe for merely re-opening the Romantic Floor.

“Re-opening the brothel was just a minor thing. Many people have done something like this, I think this is unfair!” Li Yan continued, refusing to back down.

“Stop talking, you idiot! You were wrong, so admit you’re wrong- even if you think it is a small thing! Her Majesty is already too kind with her punishment... Your Majesty, please forgive him, he is but an ignorant child.” Li Tianjun had to speak up to save him but everyone knew he was too late.

“You must be wondering why I’m doing this.” Zhao Yarou gave Li Tianjun a look that said I know what your intentions are, I know you let your son speak to me like this before ‘trying’ to stop him.

Her words weren’t only for the Li father and son, they were also meant for everyone present.

“This is because you touched the Romantic Floor. It doesn’t matter who. Without my permission, no one is allowed to touch the property left by him, ” she said coldly.

As she spoke, a teenage boy’s face appeared in everyone’s minds. They all knew who she was talking about.

Ye Lang.

Everyone here had met Ye Lang before, they were very familiar with the kid.

However, no one dared mention his name now. It was common knowledge that Ye Lang was a banned topic in front of Zhao Yarou.

That was why no one ever brought up matters about him, not even mentioning the word ‘thirteen’.

As they thought of Ye Lang, they realised they had forgotten about something else: the Romantic Floor was considered Ye Lang’s private property, it did not belong to the Ye family.

Ye Lang’s one backyard had already sparked a huge commotion years ago. The Romantic Floor was a place he had once lived in for a period of time, perhaps he had left something important inside.

They believed this might be the most important reason why Zhao Yarou was upset. If anyone found something important inside, the damage to her monarch could be irreversible.

Li Yan most likely brought this onto himself. He could’ve taken over any other spot but he CHOSE this Romantic Floor instead...

“Him? Who?”

Suddenly, Li Yan asked a very dumb question, unable to connect the dots in time. He was still green after all, his gears did not turn as fast as the old politicians here.

“He, is Ye Lang ,” said Zhao Yarou, her tone still ever so calm. All the people felt chills down their spines.

“You idiot, you’re supposed to beg for forgiveness now! Why are you still asking questions?!” Li Tianjun immediately stopped Li Yan from speaking this time, smacking him hard and shoving him into a kneeling position to apologise to the empress.

Li Tianjun hastily said, “My apologies, Your Majesty. He is still very young, please forgive his brashness.”

“Hmmph, very young, you say? He’s only younger than him by a few years but why was he able to spark chaos across the mainland? I couldn’t even cover it up... Now, how do I catch him...” Zhao Yarou spoke, slowly trailing off into mutters to herself.

She was referring to the power Ye Lang unleashed when he was escaping from the Soaring Sky Empire. The impressive display of power was enough to make him a focal point of attention across the mainland. She wasn’t trying to protect him, she just wanted to capture him.

What she didn’t expect was that news of his capabilities soon spread within two years of his escape. As he grew more famous, it became more difficult for her to catch him.

This wasn’t even the most difficult part. Most surprisingly, he had become a protected figure of the Sacred Light Religion! If she wanted to capture him, it was the equivalent of waging war against the Sacred Teachings. She did not want to make them her enemy all because of Ye Lang, hence she could only give up for the moment.

To be honest, what choice did she have? She couldn’t even catch him when he was within her territory, how could she when he was within the borders of another kingdom?

The only way to capture him was to trick him into coming to her doorstep, that would be easier...

Although she was frustrated other people knew about his alchemy powers, she was still relieved this was the only part of his powers that was known to the public. They didn’t know he had other special powers.

After years of research, the alchemists had already unlocked his secrets. The attack Ye Lang used against the 180,000 soldiers did not need the support of an alchemy formation, all they needed to do was to place obstacles in specific positions like what he did.

At the same time, they also found that this formation could be shrunk or magnified as long as the ratio was still the same. The objects had to be placed with utmost accuracy or it would not work.

The results were astounding. This meant they could use this formation to trap their enemies, no matter how many millions of soldiers their enemies had. If they used it right, they could swallow an entire nation’s army.

If they used it right. Or it wouldn’t work...

Ye Lang was constantly making adjustments during the battle, and he was also trapped inside the formation. That was how he could trap the soldiers. If the formation was used on its own, effects would only have been temporary.

They very quickly realised that all they needed to do was to damage the obstacles he placed to be able to slowly escape the formation. This was what the soldiers inside did that day too. It was a dumb idea, but effective.

That was why the person in control of the formation had to deal with the trapped army as soon as possible or they would break free.

Right now, the Soaring Sky Empire’s alchemists were still hard at work conducting research. They had a problem with setting up the formation properly.

They weren’t as powerful as Ye Lang, who could take advantage of the shape of the terrain and make adjustments to his formation. They could tweak their formations but they weren’t as effective.

Research was going to take years, hence everything else was tossed aside before this problem was solved.