The Silly Alchemist

Rejection (1)

"What now? Alright, don't think I'll be afraid of you all because you're the emperor! No means no!!" said the spirit girl arrogantly.

"..." Coldblood Five had wanted to stop Ye Lang so he wouldn't offend the emperor, but she didn't act quick enough. Looks like this was the end of their mission.

This little idiot had no fear AND no clue, sigh...

"I'm not here to talk about the necklace, you both should just settle it among yourselves. I want to talk to you about the pirate king, King Jack's magic cube!" said the emperor.

"Oh. You're also interested in it?" said the spirit girl, stunned.

"Yes!" answered the emperor. You don't say! If he wasn't interested, why would he be talking to you now? Why would he invite you to the palace?

If the emperor had to personally extend an invitation, that meant it was an object of certain importance. Or at least it was very important to him.

"Why? You're the emperor of an empire, and you control the empire's economy. You could take a slice of the economy and it would be worth way more than the treasures here! You mean you still want this tiny bit for yourself?" the spirit girl peered suspiciously at the emperor.

It was true. As Ye Lang mentioned, even the pirate king's treasure trove shouldn't pique the interest of the emperor of an empire like the Vermilion Bird Empire. Even if the amount was enough for commoners to die for.

There must be some other reason!

"What rubbish! What do you mean by 'take'?! I am here to serve my people!!" exclaimed the emperor, exasperated. He didn't understand why the empress dowager liked this Lady Marge so much. He couldn't stand her at all.

As the emperor, it had been a long time since someone was this rude to him- aside from a few of his children.

"Alright, let's not talk about that. Give the thing to me and I will give you five hundred thousand gold coins," the emperor did not beat around the bush. He was about to let Ye Lang earn two hundred thousand gold coins for it.

To earn two hundred thousand gold coins in a second was a something everyone dreamt of. People were willing to pay the ultimate price to earn this much money.

However, as a prodigal son, as a person who only wanted to spend money, would Ye Lang agree to this?

Obviously not!!

Alright, who wouldn't say no to two hundred thousand gold coins… Wait, what did she say? No?!!

Everyone around thought they'd made a mistake. Everyone, including the emperor, stared at Ye Lang in shock. He didn't expect this answer at all.

"What did you say? No?" asked the emperor, stunned.

"Yep. I think you should save the money, maybe give it to your people. This gentlem--girl ain't selling!" answered the spirit girl, almost blurting the word 'gentleman'.

"Are you saying it's not enough?" he frowned. It was the only explanation the emperor could think of. Which sane person would reject an offer like this?

Everyone thought the same, except Coldblood Five. She only thought this idiot was dumb. And that was the only truth.

"No, I still won't give it to you, even if you offer anything higher!" she shook her head.

"Why? Even if you find the treasure, it might not be worth five hundred thousand," asked the emperor. He didn't understand why this Lady Marge would reject the offer.

Other than people close to Ye Lang, no one would've guessed that Ye Lang was rejecting the offer all because he didn't feel like earning any money. There was no other reason.

"I don't want to!" that was the reason Ye Lang gave, and it simply explained his desires. He didn't like earning money, and that was it.

However, to other people, it didn't seem that way. They thought this Lady Marge was not taking the emperor seriously like she was mocking him.

The emperor thought so too, as his face darkened. He glared coldly at the spirit girl, "What do you want?"

"I don't want anything…"

"Alright, let's put it this way. You only need to give one thing from the treasure trove to me, then I'll promise you something… Something that is in my power!!" The emperor was close to begging now, "Then, I will also send someone to help search for it. It'll save you money on operational costs!"

His conditions did sound good. It seemed like the emperor was making a loss, and Ye Lang had an advantage!

In reality, the object the emperor wanted, to him, was more important than money. Things like that can be very subjective- as long as he thought this object was worth him making an offer like this.

Also, indirectly, sending his people on the treasure hunt would give him certain control of the situation. When they did find the treasure, if he wanted to, he could do whatever he wanted!

The emperor wanted to prevent accidents, and at the same time wanted to make sure people didn't know what it was.

What was it? No one knew, but it was definitely something very important to the empire, for the emperor was willing to get it no matter the cost.

Ye Lang felt even more like he was earning money out of this deal. So, he said, "No, I reject this offer!"

"..."

What did she want? Why did she reject the offer on such good terms! Everyone wanted to ask Lady Marge, but they didn't because she seemed to be the one in control here.

At this point, the emperor was privately blaming his son. How incompetent was he, to let a maiden like this win! If he wanted to bid for it, he should've just stuck with it till the very end!

And he also blamed himself. How could he have overlooked something this important? It was right under his nose! If it weren't for someone mentioning it, he wouldn't have known of its existence, nor would he have known it was with this lady.

That was why the emperor never confronted his son about it either. As for the eighth prince, he lived in the most regret of them all! If he had known such an object existed, he would've never given up. It was so precious!

With this object, his path to the throne would be so much shorter. With this object, that woman Longji will have to step aside for himself!!