The Silly Alchemist

“You heard him! Even he admits he’s robbing us. How could we allow this? This is a sacred place, the Sacred Teachings tell us we must help anyone who needs help without condition!” said the duke excitedly, dragging the Teachings into this matter.

He felt like everyone would start to agree with him. They should too, they should condemn such a shameless daylight robbery!

“I’m sorry, my lord, the genius doctor isn’t a follower of the Sacred Teachings so he doesn’t have to follow its doctrine! The fees they charge are reasonable medical bills, you can choose to not pay!” once the thin, dark youth finished, he turned to the rest of the queue, “Next please! Please be aware of the elders and young children around you, please report anyone with a life-threatening condition- we’ll deal with you first!”

“Sir, you should leave. We’ll escort you out!” said the Light Rider.

“…” The duke fell silent. He couldn’t believe nothing changed even after his speech. And that Ye Lang would continue robbing the people.

“This is unfair, I want to meet Pope Eden!!” shouted the duke. He must be someone close to the pope.

“…” Everyone fell silent, for they all knew what happened between the pope and Ye Lang. They didn’t expect the duke to even drag the pope’s name into this.

He… He was literally embarrassing himself!

“Even if Pope Eden arrives, it’d be useless. He’ll ask you to leave too, his relationship with the genius doctor is not what you think!” the Light Rider was about to laugh, but stopped himself.

“How? Who is this doctor, why is he so powerful here?” the duke started to be suspicious of Ye Lang’s identity. Only someone very powerful could have such an influence over the people, where everyone had to defend his name in public.

“We don’t know, but we know he’s a doctor worth our respect!”

Everyone in the crowd gave the same answer because no one ever cared about Ye Lang’s identity. They only cared that Ye Lang was a respectable doctor.

“Respect? A doctor who only cares about money is scum!” cursed the duke in anger.

Slap!

Someone slapped the duke across his face. The person who hit him was Ye Lanyu! The seventh princess and Zhen Xiaoyan were both very surprised. Why did Ye Lanyu hit him?

Even Ye Lanyu couldn’t answer the question. She stared at her hand, her mind suddenly blank. She was surprised at herself. Why did she hit him? Was what he said any of her business?

However, no one cared who she was. When they saw someone slap the duke, everyone did the same thing– they cheered!

“Good for him!!”

“Awesome!”

“People like him deserve it!”

“Did you just hit me… Do you know…” The duke pointed straight at Ye Lanyu. The cheers infuriated him, he was furious, he was about to…

Hey, she’s pretty!

Everyone saw how the man seemed to be stunned by Ye Lanyu’s beauty.

At this point, the duke straightened his clothing, then in a very gentlemanly tone, “Miss, if you apologize, I will not press the matter further!”

Ye Lanyu furrowed her brows. While she did think it was rude for her to slap him, and an apology was in order, she wasn’t sure why she didn’t want to. He deserved it.

“I’m sorry, you deserved it. I’m not sure why I think so, but you did!” said Ye Lanyu very directly, not hiding her confusion. The seventh princess and Xiaoyan fell silent.

The crowd continued clapping, “That’s right! He deserved the slap! He insulted our doctor! Let me tell you this, the doctor’s fees are reasonable!”

“What sort of reason is that? Ten thousand gold coins!!” roared the duke. The fees were still a sensitive topic.

“How did you even become a duke? Look at us, do you think any of us would be able to afford ten thousand gold coins? You’re the only one he charged ten thousand gold coins. He isn’t like this for the rest of us, he even treats patients for free sometimes,” said someone in the queue.

“Why? Why me?” The duke didn’t understand.

“He charges patients whatever he wants. He probably charged you so much because you’re mean! Then again, you must be able to afford it because he would never charge more than a patient can afford. He would never charge a fee if you were poor. If you have money, then a fee is reasonable. It’s to cover some of the costs of the clinic, how do you think he buys his medicine?” said another person. Paying a fee was reasonable, or at the very least a patient should pay for his medicine.

“I… I don’t have that kind of money!” The duke had run out of excuses now, he could only say he had no money. However, everyone solved his problem for him.

“My lord, you must be kidding. Your family must be worth at least a hundred thousand. You’ll be exchanging a tenth of it for your health, isn’t it worth it already?” said another person, exposing his lie.

The source of this voice was surprising. Not only because this person knew of the duke’s background, but the voice belonged to…

“Pope Eden, why would you…” The duke was equally surprised, for he didn’t expect even the pope to expose him like this.

“What? We’re brothers, and I am here to remind you that you should pay that ten thousand gold coins in exchange for your health. There won’t be another clinic like this one again! This doctor doesn’t belong to the Sacred Teachings, he might leave anytime!” reminded Pope Eden

The duke paused. Finally, he clenched his teeth, saying, “I’ve just insulted the doctor, would he agree to see me?”

He knew that if the Pope was on Ye Lang’s side, it was time he listened to them. That was the only way to get out of it alive and well. And from the pope’s tone, the pope was still there to help the duke.

That was true. The pope was helping him, for they were very close. This duke had once made huge contributions to the Sacred Teachings, and the pope was still grateful for it!

The pope wrung his hands, “Don’t worry! He probably doesn’t even remember you, you’re not important to him! Just pay your fees honestly- don’t try anything funny or you’ll be in trouble!”