I Became the Eye Candy: Four Bigshots Claimed to be My Dad?-Chapter 136: Being Fed and Warm Isn’t Pitiful

"I already told you, I don’t want to listen," Ye Qianning frowned.

"Haven’t you always been set on going to school? I’ll explain a few things now, so it will be easier to understand when the tutor teaches you later," Sang Zhi insisted.

"I don’t want to go to school at all, and I don’t want to listen to a tutor’s lessons either."

"Why don’t you want to go to school?" Sang Zhi asked in surprise.

"Because I’m so smart I don’t even need to," Ye Qianning said with a very cheeky expression.

Sang Zhi was speechless. ’Aside from being completely incorrigible,’ he thought, ’I don’t see anything smart about her at all.’

Xiang Minghou entered the room carrying a tray of food. He was slightly surprised to see Sang Zhi, but only for a moment. He walked over, his face cold.

"What is the Eighth Prince doing here?" His tone was not friendly.

"General Xiang, I came to... help her with her studies," Sang Zhi said, standing up.

’Studies?’

"The Eighth Prince is ten and attends the advanced class. Pangtuan is only six; she can’t learn such difficult material. There is no need for the Eighth Prince to come and teach her in the future." Xiang Minghou placed the tray on the table, picked up a bowl of congee, and sat by the bed.

Sang Zhi pressed his lips together, hugging his books, his young face stern.

"Dad, I want to be in the advanced class! I want to be in the same class as Sang Zhi." ’He has to come,’ she thought. ’The little stick-in-the-mud is my lucky star. Living to a ripe old age depends on him!’

"Why do you want to be in the same class as him?" Xiang Minghou asked, confused.

"I like him."

Sang Zhi: "..."

His stern little face froze for a second before his cheeks flushed red.

Xiang Minghou: "..."

’Daughter, do you have any idea what you’re saying?’

’Although the Eighth Prince has a better temperament than the Seventh Prince, he’s still a Prince. The Imperial Family is fraught with trouble. She isn’t suited for that life.’

"I like him enough to want him as my big brother," Ye Qianning added, seeing their silence and realizing she might have said the wrong thing.

Xiang Minghou finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Sang Zhi, however, had a strange expression on his face. "It’s almost time for class, so I’ll be going now."

"Mm," Xiang Minghou nodded, his face cold.

Without another glance at Ye Qianning, Sang Zhi hugged his books and walked out of the room.

Xiang Minghou huffed, then picked up the spoon, scooped some congee, blew on it, and lifted it to her lips.

Ye Qianning opened her mouth, took a sip, and swallowed. She was a little confused. "Dad, you seem to really dislike the Eighth Prince."

"I don’t like anyone from the Imperial Family."

"But I feel like the Eighth Prince is really pitiful. Dad, you shouldn’t be so harsh with him next time. We should be kinder to him." ’I’ll warm him with motherly love and win him over,’ Ye Qianning thought.

"Him? Pitiful? He’s a Prince. You have no idea how good his life is. No matter how pitiful he might seem, he’s not as pitiful as the common people who have suffered through war." Having been on the battlefield for so many years, Xiang Minghou had seen far more tragic things.

In his mind, anyone who had enough to eat and warm clothes to wear could not be considered pitiful.

Ye Qianning didn’t argue. She understood. Even in modern times, wars broke out frequently. ’Anyone who has seen war knows that material things are fleeting. Just being alive is the greatest fortune.’

"If you want to be in the same class as the Eighth Prince, fine. Just don’t be so nice to him. And ’be kinder’? If you have so much kindness to spare, you’d be better off feeling sorry for your old dad," Xiang Minghou said, feeding her another spoonful of congee.

...

The corner of Ye Qianning’s mouth twitched as she took a sip.

As Xiang Minghou fed his daughter, he noticed she seemed to be zoning out. ’I’ll have to be more wary of the Eighth Prince from now on,’ he thought to himself, ’to prevent that boy from getting any funny ideas.’

’The strife within the Imperial Family is the most terrifying thing of all. Everyone has their own agenda. They might seem friendly, but they’re ruthless in secret. So much is unpredictable in the struggle between the Princes.’

’Until someone is firmly seated on the throne, they can be replaced at any moment.’

’In the chaotic power struggles of the Imperial Family, life and death are decided in an instant. He would not let his daughter get mixed up in that.’