I Became the Eye Candy: Four Bigshots Claimed to be My Dad?-Chapter 70: Gave Away Their Fortune in Jewelry
Ye Qianning suddenly recalled what Concubine Sansan and Concubine Huaihua had said: have Concubine Peony go and give the teacher a gift—
’So *this* is what "giving a gift" meant!’
"What are you all doing?" Xiang Minghou asked slowly after taking a deep breath. ’Don’t get angry, don’t get angry.’
"Ahem... What could we possibly be doing? We just haven’t seen the teacher in years and came to pay him a visit," Hua Qiao said with a cough, struggling to appear calm.
"A visit? Is *this* how you pay a visit? If word of this got out, wouldn’t everyone say our General’s Estate is barbaric and unruly?"
"Well, Peony and I were visiting perfectly politely at first. We even brought gifts! General, look, these are the gifts we brought." As she spoke, Hua Qiao hurriedly opened a pile of colorful boxes at her feet, which were filled with gold and silver jewelry.
"All the concubines in the residence pitched in for these. We just want Pangtuan to be able to go to school. Who knew the teacher would be so ungrateful? He even said that since our Pangtuan is six and has never been to school, she’ll never get into Lou Mountain Academy," Shaoyao added, peeking her head out from behind the door, her expression growing more resentful as she spoke.
"He even looks down on our Pangtuan! If it weren’t for us sisters helping him back then, he’d be nothing but a pile of bones by now. How could he still be a teacher at Lou Mountain?" Peony huffed at the teacher.
Ye Qianning looked at the pile of gold and jewels. She recognized a few of the golden hairpins; she had seen several of the concubines wearing them just a few days ago. And that jade bracelet—Concubine Sansan had still been wearing it on her wrist yesterday.
She had only known the concubines for a few days, yet they had given away all their personal jewelry just so she could go to school. That they would do so much for her... to say she wasn’t moved would be a lie.
’In her past life, even comrades-in-arms who fought and died together would consider their own interests first before helping someone.’
A wave of warmth washed through her heart and rushed to the tip of her nose. She didn’t consider herself an emotional person, but at this moment, she felt the sting of tears.
Xiang Minghou had been about to scold them, but the sight of the pile of jewelry completely extinguished his anger. He hadn’t been in the Capital City for years. Although they were nominally concubines of his estate, their monthly allowance couldn’t have amounted to much.
Even with the military honors he earned on the frontier and the rewards bestowed by the court, knowing his mother and second brother’s personalities, not a single coin would have reached these women. This much jewelry and money must have taken them many years to save.
And they had taken it all out at once for Pangtuan—
"Hmph! Rotten wood cannot be carved. With concubines like you, what kind of good child could you possibly raise? If you think she can just muddle her way through Lou Mountain Academy, dream on!" Teacher Song gasped for breath after being freed, his temper flaring.
"How can you say that? What does our character have to do with the child?"
"That’s right! Our child was educated by Fourth Granny, and she did an excellent job! You haven’t even met her, yet you slander her like this. Some teacher you are! I think you’re just a posturing hypocrite."
"You were the one who said you owed us sisters a favor! You said if we ever needed anything, you would definitely help us. A supposedly dignified teacher goes back on his word!"
Peony, Hua Qiao, and Shaoyao chimed in one after another, each sentence hitting Teacher Song where it hurt.
"I said no, and I mean no! If you continue to cause a scene, this old man will report it to the Emperor and let His Majesty decide!" Teacher Song had been through enough, and he stubbornly refused to yield.
"You—"
"Alright, all of you, leave for now." Xiang Minghou suddenly spoke, bending over to set Ye Qianning down.
"General," Peony protested, displeased.
"Out."
The three concubines grumbled under their breath, their faces still etched with displeasure, but they were afraid of provoking Xiang Minghou’s anger. As they passed Ye Qianning, they bent down to take her small hand, and the group slowly shuffled out the door.
