At night in the palace, in one of the palaces, people from the royal family and the Ye family were celebrating the birthdays of two little birthday stars. This banquet was of a private nature, so not many people were invited, only significant figures from the empire were present.
Yeah, significant figures. A casual move from them would make the entire empire tremble for a while.
As in previous years, the little spendthrift started his extravagant behavior at the banquet, setting off "fireworks" with the Seventh Princess and Hu Niu in the square. His fireworks.
Suddenly, eight dragons appeared in the sky above the square, dancing upwards, illuminating the surrounding area. The way the dragons soared was extremely beautiful, and purely in terms of appreciation, it could be said to be top-notch.
These dragons were not only visible to the people near the palace, but to the entire imperial capital. Many people, besides finding it beautiful, also felt a little nervous.
Those who didn't know thought something had happened in the palace, why else would such dragons suddenly appear? They would never have thought that these dragons were just fireworks set off by someone.
"Wow, the Eight-Level Magic - Eight Dragons Technique. Damn it, this scroll of magic at least costs 100,000 gold coins. I've heard about his spending habits, now I realize that what I heard before was just the tip of the iceberg."
Suddenly, the people at the scene started to talk among themselves, and Ye Chengtian also began to frown, thinking that this was too much.
"Huh, strange, since when did we have this?" At this point, Hu Niu, who had taken out the scroll, was stunned. She apparently hadn't expected to have an eighth-level magic scroll.
"I just bought it, a scroll of the Five Dragons Technique. How can eight dragons appear?" the little spendthrift said. Although he was weak in other aspects, his memory was impeccable.
"Then we've found a bargain, we just spent three thousand gold coins on it, but it doesn't matter now," Hu Niu sighed, realizing that she should have checked first. This little master of hers often bought some weird stuff, and she wondered if it was a case of like attracts like.
"It doesn't matter, anyway it's just for display," the little spendthrift showed no regret at all.
"Young master, your gift..." Seeing the sudden appearance of the Eight Dragons Technique, which attracted everyone present, Hu Niu took the opportunity to have the little spendthrift present the gift.
"Oh, wife, this is the gift I bought for you today, 180,000 gold coins, the most expensive thing I've bought." The little spendthrift took the thing, and then handed it directly to the Seventh Princess.
180,000 gold coins, it pained the people of the Ye family for a moment. Long Anqi was now considering whether she should temporarily cut off this little bastard's source of income, but every time she saw the little guy, she couldn't bear to do it.
Forget it, consider it as a debt from a past life, let him be happy.
"What is this?" the Seventh Princess smiled and asked. She didn't feel any aversion at all to the little spendthrift’s calling her "wife". If it were another engaged person calling her wife, she would definitely feel disgusted, but she did not feel any aversion towards this silly little guy. Perhaps it was because she knew that the term "wife" in his mouth was just a form of address, and had no other meaning.
At the same time, the Seventh Princess also liked being with the little spendthrift, and their relationship was very good. It seemed that she did not object to their engagement, which surprised many people.
Although the Seventh Princess was not the most outstanding princess, she was still a beautiful princess pursued by many people, which was very surprising.
Perhaps it was because she was still young, and things might change when she grew up. But this was a matter for the future; right now, she just liked that the little spendthrift had a childlike innocence, and being with him meant no worries or intrigue.
If it were an ordinary person, at this time, when the Seventh Princess asked this question, they might say "you'll find out when you open it," and they might even say there would be a surprise.
But the Thirteenth Young Lord was not an ordinary person. Not only did he directly say it, he even said things that he shouldn't have said: "Moonlight Crown, Hu Niu said that girls would like it."
Damn, are you telling her that if it wasn't for Hu Niu wanting to buy it, you probably wouldn't have bought it?
The Seventh Princess smiled faintly, and after opening it, she looked at it for a moment, then handed the Moonlight Crown to the Thirteenth Young Lord, saying, "Since this is a gift from you, then you can help me put it on."
"Oh..." The Thirteenth Young Lord responded, then looked at the Moonlight Crown in his hand for a while, and casually put it on the Seventh Princess's head, giving it a somewhat crooked feeling.
The Seventh Princess knew there would be such a result, so she adjusted it a little herself and then asked, "Is it nice?"
"Yeah, this sapphire is quite large, very beautiful," the Thirteenth Young Lord nodded.
"... I mean, am I beautiful?" The Seventh Princess said somewhat helplessly.
"You're beautiful too, prettier than my sister."
"..."
"Yelang, what did you just say?!" Ye Lanyu, who appeared from nowhere, stared at the silly little lord and said.
"I just said, she is prettier than you..."
"How dare you say that!"
"Why not? She is indeed prettier than you."
"Where is she prettier than me? Look at her, she barely has any curves and she's not tall..." Ye Lanyu began to criticize the Seventh Princess, but what she said seemed normal, after all, she was only ten years old and still growing.
The Seventh Princess pouted at Ye Lanyu and firmly protested her statements, "You're not much better, you're three years older than us, but your chest isn't that big, and you're not that tall either."
"Hu Niu, is this what they mean by a chest?" The Thirteenth Young Lord pointed to Hu Niu's chest and asked.
"Yes, it is," Hu Niu blushed and replied awkwardly.
"Yeah, I saw it when we showered together, her chest is only as big as a small bun..."
"Yelang, you little fool..."
Just as Ye Lanyu and the Thirteenth Young Lord and others were arguing, and others were watching and smiling, a piece of news came in, the emperor made a sound that temporarily disrupted the whole scene.
"What?! Are you sure this news is true?" The emperor's astonished voice spread throughout the entire square, diverting everyone's attention from those little brats to him.
"Your Majesty, what happened?" Ye Chengtian asked curiously. He knew the emperor was the kind of person who could remain calm in the face of a catastrophe, no matter how big, and it was rare for anything to astonish him like this.
"Just now there was news that the alchemy master Ban's alchemy notes have appeared," the emperor said, seemingly not trying to hide it.
This is somewhat similar to modern technology on Earth. The countries with the most advanced technology become strong. Many people have thrown out countless tempting conditions to obtain his technology, but he has never agreed. Some people have tried to steal it, but found it almost impossible to do so.
The alchemists have their own special way of fighting. They use alchemy arrays to summon magical elements and can also change some things in the surrounding environment. Some only change shapes, while others even transform their material structure.
A powerful alchemist can definitely contend with corresponding mages or warriors, and they usually carry certain alchemical items, making them more difficult to deal with.
However, alchemists need to calculate various factors and accurately draw alchemy arrays while in battle, so their conditions are very strict. Most alchemists can at most learn to protect themselves, and it is very difficult to advance to become an expert, with only a few becoming masters in a hundred years.
But if alchemists have enough time to prepare in advance, they can easily crush an expert.
"Yes, that's what the news said. The item is currently in our capital," nodded the emperor.
"What? So who has it now? No matter what it takes, we must obtain it," a fierce-looking general said. The general was not young, seemingly the grand marshal of the empire.
As the grand marshal of the country, he naturally knew the benefits of Ben's alchemical notes to the army. Producing one or two powerful alchemical devices could make them invincible.
"This person mentioned, I find it very surprising," the emperor's expression was a bit strange, as he looked at Ye Chengtian.
"?" Ye Chengtian didn't understand the meaning of this strange expression, and others who didn't know thought that this thing had fallen into the Ye family's hands.
"Chengtian, if your Ye family has this, bring it out. This cannot be kept privately. At most, I will support you a little regarding family matters," the grand marshal said very directly.
"Uncle Li, if our Ye family had it, given my dad's personality, wouldn't he have brought it out and presented it to you long ago?" Ye Chengtian said helplessly.
The relationship between the grand marshal, Li, and Ye Wing could be described in three words: good brothers. They grew up together, stirred up trouble together, pursued girls together, and traveled the world together...
Although both have become senior figures, whenever they are together, they would argue and quarrel over trivial matters, but these are just manifestations of their good relationship.
"Yes, if your Ye family had it, he would immediately come here today and wouldn't stay at home being lovey-dovey with Sister Lien." Even if no one said anything, the grand marshal Li knew that Ye Wing must be sticking close to Ruan Lien. He also couldn't understand why these two old couples could maintain such a state, unlike with his own wife.
However, the grand marshal Li did not think that the degree of his love for his wife was weaker than Ye Wing's; it's just different ways.
"Chengtian, the person who got this is indeed from your Ye family, you just didn't know it, and perhaps even he himself doesn't know it," at this point, the emperor said something puzzling.
"?" Ye Chengtian looked at the emperor in confusion, wanting to hear the emperor's next words.
"Xiao Ye Lang, come here, I have a question for you," the emperor beckoned to the little Shopaholic who was still talking to Ye Lanyu on the side, but the little Shopaholic didn't hear him, which made him feel upset for a while.
However, as soon as the emperor called the little Shopaholic, everyone seemed to understand something, could it be...
"Your Majesty, what's the matter?" after being pulled over by Tiger Girl, the little Shopaholic asked straightforwardly.
"Xiao Ye Lang, did you buy a strange box at the auction house today?" the emperor asked with a slight smile.
"Yes, I did, bought it for a hundred thousand gold coins," the little Shopaholic replied.
"Do you know what's inside?" the emperor asked tentatively.
"Don't know," the little Shopaholic shook his head.
"As expected, since you don't know, why did you buy it?" the emperor asked somewhat puzzled.
"I want to splurge," the little Shopaholic said righteously.
"..."
The people of the Ye family, whether the older generation or the younger generation, all covered their foreheads, expressing extreme helplessness. They all guessed that there would be such an answer.
"He's the type to splurge like this, why didn't any of you stop him? Is the Ye family's money that abundant?" the grand marshal Li said, he had heard about this little Shopaholic of the Ye family, but only today did he find out the extent.
"You think we don't want to, it's just that he likes it this way, and we can't help it. Besides, the things he buys often contain rare and strange items, the value of which is unimaginable," Ye Chengtian said somewhat strangely.
Indeed, if this little Shopaholic didn't occasionally buy extremely rare treasures, the people of the Ye family probably wouldn't allow him to spend recklessly, at least they would control it to some extent, not let him spend a hundred thousand gold coins carelessly.
But is this kind of control?
"True, I also know about this. It seems that he has been favored by the goddess of luck since childhood. Take this time for example, the box he bought for a hundred thousand gold coins, its value far exceeds what he has ever spent before, even if he had spent ten million, it would still be a bargain," the emperor said.
"Does that mean that Ben's alchemical notes are in the box? Xiao Ye Lang, hurry and let Senior Li see the box you bought," the grand marshal Li said.
"Okay, um... who is Senior Li?" the little Shopaholic nodded, then realized that he didn't know who Senior Li was.
"..."
"Ha ha..."
The people nearby all let out a light laugh, and then immediately pretended to be serious, completely denying that they had just laughed, and among them, there seemed to be the emperor and others.
"Son, Senior Li is him, whom you met when you were a child," Long Anqi held back her laughter and gave the little Shopaholic a hit.
"When was that?" the little Shopaholic still couldn't remember.
"When it was your full moon."
"Oh..."
"..."