A Professional Prodigal Son

The entire hall fell silent. No one raised the bid unless they wanted to deliberately offend him, or knew that the item inside truly had some value.

After staring blankly for a moment, the auctioneer immediately said, "One hundred thousand! Thirteenth Young Master Ye has bid one hundred thousand! Any higher bids? One hundred thousand, going once..."

Very quickly, the auctioneer finished counting down, his pace unusually fast. This was completely unlike a normal auction, where each call would be dragged out for several minutes.

That was only natural. Everyone knew that, aside from Thirteenth Young Master Ye, this Prodigal Son, it would be difficult to find a second person willing to bid. There was simply no competition.

And indeed, everyone was curious to know what was inside and waited with craned necks. Yet they were greatly disappointed: after paying, Thirteenth Young Master hurried away at once.

He ran off in such a hurry—could the item inside be some treasure? Was that why this Prodigal Son had rushed away? Many people suspected so. But if they had heard the following conversation, they would have understood that it was nothing of the sort.

"Ye Residence, please!" After stopping a hired carriage and climbing aboard, Tiger Girl looked at the box in her hands and asked, "Young Master, do you know what's inside?"

Although she had a feeling that the answer might leave her utterly helpless, she could not resist asking.

"I don't know." As expected, the little Prodigal Son shook his head.

"...You bid one hundred thousand without knowing?" Tiger Girl helplessly shook her head, then put the item into her Space Pouch.

The little Prodigal Son did possess a rather fine Space Ring, but it was exceedingly empty, with almost nothing inside. That was because Tiger Girl kept nearly all of his things for him.

There was a reason for that. When he bought things, he never cared whether he could use them, and he did not understand their functions very clearly. Tiger Girl was different. Even if she did not know, she would find out. Only in her hands could an item's practical use truly be brought out.

Besides, whether something was with Tiger Girl or with the little Prodigal Son made no difference. The two were practically inseparable, a perfect pair... ah, no, a master and servant.

"This is what it means to be a professional Prodigal Son. Other people squander their fortunes by picking things they like, picking things with value. I'm different. I don't care whether I like it or whether it has value. If I want to squander, I squander. If I want to splurge, I splurge." The little Prodigal Son spoke very seriously, with a faint trace of disdain in his tone, as though he looked down on those so-called Prodigal Sons.

"Sigh... I knew you'd say that. Why is it that every time we talk about this, what you say is a little different? Were you born solely to squander your family fortune?" Tiger Girl felt even more helpless. At the same time, she found something strange: her Young Master was slow-witted about everything and spoke without much order.

Yet whenever the subject was squandering money, he seemed remarkably clear-headed. The only problem was that his reasoning was enough to make people lose their tempers—it was crooked logic.

Since the little Prodigal Son did not know what was inside, why had he been in such a hurry? Naturally, it was because he had to return home and head to the Imperial Palace to attend the birthday banquet for himself and his "wife."

They had already spent more than an hour and a half at the auction house, nearly reaching the limit. If he did not return soon, his parents would send people to drag him back.

"You little bastard, why are you only back now? Didn't I tell you to come back early today? Enough talk—get in the carriage, quickly. Taiya, help him change clothes in there." When the Ye Clan's greatest Prodigal Son returned to the entrance of Ye Residence and had just stepped down from the carriage, someone seized his ear and dragged him straight toward the luxurious carriage waiting nearby.

"Mom, it hurts..." the little Prodigal Son cried. The person twisting his ear was none other than Long Anqi, who had been waiting at the entrance—one of only two people who would do such a thing to him.

Why only two? Naturally, because there were two people. But the other was not his father. It was his elder sister, Ye Lanyu.

"Haha, serves you right! You ran off while I wasn't paying attention." Ye Lanyu clapped her hands, looking as though she had finally vented her anger.

"I didn't." The little Prodigal Son shook his head, denying Ye Lanyu's accusation.

"You still say you didn't? Didn't I ask you to go out and have fun with me?" Ye Lanyu said, slightly angry.

"Mm, you did." The little Prodigal Son nodded and answered slowly.

"Then how can you say you didn't?" Ye Lanyu knocked him on the forehead.

"But I never said I would go with you!"

"..."

"I don't like shopping with you. You always dress me up to look like you." The little Prodigal Son continued, explaining why he would not go with Ye Lanyu.

"..."

A little confused? It was actually very simple. When Thirteenth Young Master said that Ye Lanyu dressed him up like her, he did not mean disguising him as her. She dressed him in a style similar to hers. Simply put, she dressed him as a girl.

Back then, Thirteenth Young Master was still young, with watery eyes and fine, fair skin. Dressed as a girl, he could be said to topple kingdoms and cities—of course, that was an exaggeration. Still, there was no denying that he looked rather adorable in women's clothes.

After all, he was only a child of around ten. Even if it had been someone else, as long as Ye Lanyu caught them and dressed them up the same way, they would probably have looked little different from him.

"Xiaoyu, you only have yourself to blame. Your little brother is starting to fear you now." A beautiful young girl with a touch of gentleness smiled from the side.

"Second Sister, you're laughing at me. You were involved back then too. I remember it was you who suggested it." Ye Lanyu said unhappily. She still remembered that when she had asked her little brother to try on her clothes, it had been Second Sister who said he was very cute, and that if they dressed him up, they would gain another little sister.

"Was I?" Second Sister pretended not to know.

"Hmph!"

"Stop talking. Set off for the Imperial Palace." Ye Chengtian waved his hand, cutting off his children's chatter while announcing their departure.

Inside the carriage, as Tiger Girl and Long Anqi changed Thirteenth Young Master's clothes, Ye Lanyu once again suggested that he try on one of her evening gowns. Naturally, Long Anqi immediately gave her another knock.

Thirteenth Young Master looked at Ye Lanyu pitifully from the side and rubbed the spot Long Anqi had knocked. He still felt rather sorry for his elder sister.

Although Ye Lanyu often teased and tricked her little brother, there was no denying that she loved him dearly and would not allow anyone to bully him.

"Little brother, why don't you wear it for me to see after we get back..."

Ye Lanyu coaxed him.

"No!" Thirteenth Young Master immediately ran to the other side and hid beside Long Anqi, leaving Ye Lanyu only able to watch, not daring to make another move.

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