Chapter 352 “Display of Strength!”
“Since Princess Yue is here now then please go ahead. I’m sure the Alchemist Hall is awaiting your arrival.”
This had caused Ling Yue to wrinkle her brow. She didn’t miss it, the general didn’t address her as Chief Yue, rather Princess Yue instead. That’s more than enough to ring some bells. Even if the man didn’t have nothing better to say, he should’ve at least directed her personally to the Alchemist Hall. If not that, then the very minimal some details would suffice.
And of course, General Su wouldn’t miss the frown on the girl. However, what he didn’t expect was how quickly Ling Yue recovered.
“Thank you for the reminder General Su. I will be heading to the Alchemist Hall then.” Ling Yue politely left without giving her thoughts away.
“Send someone over to the Alchemist Hall and inform them the new Chief Alchemist is here,” he waves one of his men to run outside.
“But General, didn’t the Alchemist Hall already choose a new replacement? What are they going to do with that one?” One of the aids didn’t understand the meaning of the general’s intent.
Dan City cannot go without a leader due to its military importance. Therefore, as soon as the death of the previous Chief Alchemist was confirmed, a newly elected individual was immediately brought forward to act as a temporary replacement.
“One mountain cannot accommodate two tigers. This is a good chance to test that Princess Yue and see how capable she is,” General Su reveals a meaningful smile as he grasped onto the information in his hands. It’s a scroll sent from the royal capital pertaining to the events leading up to today and how the girl managed to nearly turn the whole capital upside down.
While the general and his men were busy discussing on what to do, Ling Yue and Lan Caier had finally arrived at the Alchemist Hall. This place was much bigger than the General’s Manor, making it the largest estate in the city.
According to the information collected ahead of time, there should be nearly a hundred alchemists living here. As such, the expected scene Ling Yue had was an aspiring image of hard working individuals bustling around the cauldrons. However, what welcomed the girls were an empty mansion without a spec of life.
“Where is everyone?” Lan Caier could not located a single soul after wandering around.
“Reporting to Alchemist Yue, the other alchemists are all taking a sick leave.” One of the young assistant boys guiltily answered after being interrogated.
“Sick? A hundred people all sick at the same time?” Ling Yue sounded incredulous at the explanation.
“If you don’t tell me the truth soon then I will make sure you are sick too,” cracking her fingers to make a snapping sound, Lan Caier threatens the boy with her gesture.
Sure enough, the assistant quickly spilled the beans on everything after being scared out of his wits.
Now the girls knows why. After the other alchemist learned of the Court assigning a new Chief Alchemist over, they immediately went on a boycott since they were unwilling to accept a little girl as their new leader. This had been going on for three days already since the news broke out.
“So are they planning to collectively revolt?” Instead of getting angry, Ling Yue broke out into a chuckle because she didn’t expect her first day at her new post to be so difficult already.
“They really don’t know their place. Ling Yue, you should write a report to the Court now and have them all punished.” It’s unavoidable that Lan Caier’s temper would flare up like this.
“No, the only way to deal with these people is to make them submit willingly,” turning her eyes, Ling Yue quickly came up with a solution.
The arrival of their new Chief Alchemist didn’t go unnoticed, especially for Alchemist Wang who was the acting leader until now. This man had been here for over twenty years. Originally he had hoped he would become the new chief for real since he had the seniority and experience, but then this Princess Yue came along.
It’s one thing if the new replacement were those old masters like Longyue (dwarf) or Alchemist Chou of the Royal Hospital, he could not saying anything against that, but it’s a girl that’s barely weened from her mother’s milk! How can he accept it?
As such, this elder incited his peers to revolt and boycott.
“So what if she’s from the royal capital? So what if she’s assigned by the king? Without the proper support of everyone, what else can she do?” Lying in his luxurious bed, Alchemist Wang was very cozy and relaxed at this moment. Well, that was until a loud commotion from the outside brought him back to attention.
It was the sound of a gong being wacked at, “Water! Fire! IT”S BURNING!!!”
Since the place was the Alchemist Hall, it’s not uncommon to find the cauldron room catching on fire if one of the users are careless.
Without hesitation, Alchemist Wang immediately rushed out of his room at the alarm. Because of how quick he was, the elder had forgot to put on his shoes even. Like him, there were other occupants of this place scrambling out of their room in a frantic manner. Their target, the front end of the mansion where the sound was coming from.
Unfortunately for these people, they only saw a chair and table there instead of the burning blaze they were expecting. Sitting on it was a teenage girl leisurely sipping away at the tea in her hands.
“You!” Now they knew they’ve been had. It was all a sham!
“Good day to everyone, I heard you are all sick are you not? A hundred people sick at the same time, is there a deadly plague happening here? If so then the Court should just remove all of you then. As the most outstanding alchemists here, it’s improper that the bunch of you can’t even take care of yourselves. Da Xia doesn’t need useless individuals leeching off of the coffer without offering anything in return.” Seeing how disheveled they were, some without shoes even, Ling Yue was full of mockery and contempt in her voice.