I Became the Eye Candy: Four Bigshots Claimed to be My Dad?-Chapter 18: Psychological Butterfly Effect

"Wait, Imperial Uncle, what are you talking about?" Sang Yan grew even more confused.

"Just tell me if this Jade Pendant is yours or not."

"The Jade Pendant is indeed mine, but what does this child have to do with anything?" Sang Yan became frantic, completely failing to grasp the situation.

"I can’t be bothered to explain it to you. Official Song, you tell him." Prince Changyang waved his hand dismissively. ’For a Prince of the realm, he has no sense of responsibility. If he were my son, I’d have taken a whip to him long ago. Does he think I’d let him stand here talking?’

Official Song stepped forward. "Third Prince, it’s like this—"

Official Song recounted everything in painstaking detail, from their first encounter with Fourth Granny and Ye Qianning, to the origin of the Jade Pendant, and how the child came to be in the Prince Mansion.

The more Sang Yan listened, the more dazed he looked. He had indeed gone to Nanyuan back then, but he’d run into some trouble and lost the Jade Pendant. He later sent men to search for it, but they found nothing.

But... on their way back to the capital that year, he’d asked Zhan Chi about the Jade Pendant. At the time, however, several of them were gravely wounded, and their behavior and even their speech had been strange. He hadn’t pressed the matter further, assuming the Jade Pendant was lost for good.

’Thinking back on it, their odd behavior was indeed suspicious.’

’If this story about the child is true, then her father is likely one of the four of them.’

Ye Qianning was also puzzled. ’He really doesn’t seem to know anything about the Jade Pendant or the child,’ she thought. ’You can’t fake such subtle expressions.’

At this point, she was quite certain he wasn’t her deadbeat dad.

’That man on the upper floor of the street pavilion last time, the one in fine robes with that intense killing aura... it was probably him.’

"Remember now?" Prince Changyang snorted coldly.

"Imperial Uncle, please, don’t be so anxious. Just let me process this for a moment." Sang Yan looked down at Ye Qianning. ’I have to say,’ he thought, ’this child is quite beautiful.’

’Her eyes and brows look a little like Zhan Chi’s, but how is her nose like Gu Shuo’s? She even seems to resemble Qian Fanji and Xiang Minghou...’

A shiver ran down his spine. He quickly averted his gaze. ’Oh no, my eyes are playing tricks on me. The more I look at her, the more she resembles everyone.’

"Sang Yan, a man must act with integrity," Prince Changyang began to counsel, his tone grave and meaningful. "Making a mistake isn’t what’s dreadful. What’s dreadful is refusing to take responsibility. This child has suffered a great deal on her journey from Nanyuan. If she is truly of royal blood, we cannot allow her to remain lost to the world."

This was because the more he looked, the more Prince Changyang felt that Ye Qianning resembled the Third Prince...

Once a person has made up their mind about something, they tend to see everything through the lens of their own expectations. Perhaps this was a psychological butterfly effect of sorts...

"There’s something strange about this matter. Imperial Uncle, grant me two days. In two days’ time, I will be sure to give you an answer." Sang Yan felt that with so many people involved, he couldn’t speak rashly.

Seeing him stalling, Prince Changyang was instantly displeased. He retorted irritably, "What good is giving me an answer? It’s not like I’m the one looking for a father."

"..."

Ye Qianning’s mouth twitched. ’I didn’t expect the Prince to have such a fiery personality.’

’But even though he has a fiery temper, his character is definitely top-class.’

"Prince." The Princess Consort quietly nudged him with her elbow. ’He really should learn to rein in that temper of his.’

"Hmph." Prince Changyang huffed.

Slightly embarrassed, Sang Yan turned to Ye Qianning. He walked over to her side and squatted down to meet her gaze, his expression gentle.

"What’s your name?" he asked.

"Ye Qianning," Ye Qianning answered demurely. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

"What a good girl." Sang Yan couldn’t help but stroke her small head.

’She’s so chubby, like a little glutinous rice ball,’ he mused. ’This girl just looks like she’s blessed with good fortune.’