Chapter 21 – Forbidden to Eat Pastries

“Brother Persimmon, what are you doing?”

Yao Yao suddenly felt a bit ticklish and tried to pull her arm back to scratch it, but Imperial Physician Jiang immediately grabbed her.
“Girl, don’t move. I’m not done yet.”

Startled by the sudden sternness in his voice, Yao Yao quickly lowered her little head and sat obediently, looking a little lost.

Standing beside her, Xie Yixing’s face suddenly darkened.

Madam Wei was just about to speak to smooth things over, afraid her son might offend this senior physician by losing his temper, but as she looked up, she saw her son visibly restraining his anger.

My goodness!

Madam Wei clutched her chest in shock, nearly fainting.

Thankfully, Nanny Zhao had quick reflexes and caught her, asking in a flustered tone, “Madam, are you feeling unwell? Should we have Imperial Physician Jiang examine you too?”

Madam Wei quickly made a “shh” gesture, signaling for Nanny Zhao not to disturb the physician’s treatment.

She wasn’t unwell—she was overjoyed!

Ever since her son was born six or seven years ago, she had lived in constant anxiety, fearing that the slightest unhappiness would push him toward violence.

Back then, a Taoist had read her son’s fortune and said that in his past life he had committed too many killings, and upon reincarnation, one of his souls had been stripped away.

So she worried that her son would follow the same tragic path and be punished by the heavens.

For years, she had lived a vegetarian life, chanting sutras and donating incense at Huguo Temple every year—all to keep her son safe and reduce his karmic burden.

She had never expected to finally see a sign of hope.

In the past, any imperial physician who dared to treat her son would receive a cold glare for even the slightest misstep. But today, he actually held back his emotions for Yao Yao’s sake.

Wasn’t that proof her son was truly changing?

Yao Yao was truly the blessing their family had been waiting for.

When Imperial Physician Jiang finally let go of her hand, he said nothing. With his head down, he slowly began packing up his needle pouch.

Even if he was upset, he didn’t dare voice it directly under that cold gaze.

What was wrong with this family? Such a minor issue, and they made such a big fuss?

Any random barefoot doctor on the street could’ve handled this.

Still, Madam Wei asked anxiously, “Imperial Physician Jiang, is she seriously ill?”

“Hmph.”
The physician couldn’t help but grunt.

Then realizing his attitude was inappropriate, he forced a stiff smile onto his wrinkled face.
“The little girl is fine—quite healthy, actually. Just a bit… of food retention.”

By the time he got to the last part, even he was struggling to keep a straight face.

He was a grand imperial physician—he’d treated all sorts of complex illnesses in the inner palace—and now here he was treating something so trivial.

But Madam Wei still pressed, “Then may I trouble you to prescribe her a remedy?”

Imperial Physician Jiang scratched his chin awkwardly. “A prescription, you say? For food retention… hmm, that’s a tricky one. Perhaps instead of medicine, Madam can buy her some hawthorn jelly from the market to help digestion?”

Madam Wei: “……”
Nanny Zhao: “……”

Why did this old man always talk in such dramatic gasps?

As he finished speaking and was about to put his needle pouch into his medicine chest, he caught sight of the pastries set aside on the table and added,
“She may be at an age where she’s growing, but gaining too much weight isn’t good either. Don’t let her eat those pastries anymore.”

Only then did Xie Yixing notice that the date pastries on the jade plate weren’t from his own kitchen. His expression darkened even further.
“Who sent these?”

Nanny Zhao’s thin body trembled violently. She stammered, “My Lord… it was me, Your Grace.”

Before she could finish explaining, his cold gaze sliced into her like a blade. She blurted out, unable to resist, “The Marquis ordered me to deliver them.”

At that moment, the Marquis of Chengming had just received a letter back from the military camp. He opened it with great joy, only to close it with disappointment and sigh.

Still unwilling to give up, he pulled out another sheet of paper and began to grind ink.

He refused to believe there was no place for him in such a large military camp!

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In the Garden Residence

After sending Imperial Physician Jiang off, Nanny Zhao returned. Xie Yixing ordered the pastries on the table to be thrown out.

Madam Wei, who was sitting beside Yao Yao and helping her tidy up her clothes, tried to intervene upon hearing his unyielding tone.
“Yixing, your father meant well.”

But halfway through her sentence, she caught the impatience in his eyes and quickly shut up, muttering to herself,
“Your father always means well but ends up doing the wrong thing…”

Yao Yao didn’t understand adult nuances, but she could grasp one thing clearly—Xie Yixing had given an order.

When Caiwei carried away the pastries in front of her, she immediately showed her disappointment, blinking her big eyes at Madam Wei.
“Does this mean I can’t eat pastries anymore?”

Seeing her pitiful expression, Madam Wei felt a pang of guilt.

Unfortunately, this wasn’t something she could decide—it was up to her son.

Yao Yao, thinking about not being able to see her father and mother, and now not even allowed to eat tasty pastries, let her hands fall to her sides, fingers interlaced. She lowered her head, trying hard to hold back her tears.

But the bottled-up emotions from recent days were simply too much for such a little girl to contain.

Just as Madam Wei gently patted her shoulder, Yao Yao’s tears began to fall silently, her long curled lashes fluttering.

Though she tried to control it, her heart felt like a tangled ball of yarn clawed at by a cat. Her sobs were silent, but her small body trembled like a leaf.

Before Madam Wei could pull her into her arms to comfort her, she saw Xie Yixing stride forward and scoop her into his own embrace.

Madam Wei had seen him protect her before, so she didn’t say anything.

She only worried that Yao Yao would fall into a gloom over this matter.

New Year was just around the corner. There would be no shortage of lavish dishes then, let alone pastries. To ask her to diet at a time like this—wasn’t that too cruel?

She was just a little girl.

Perhaps moved by Yao Yao’s sadness, even the usually strong-willed Madam Wei felt a pang in her heart.

Unwilling to watch the child suffer, she turned away, eyes reddened, and quietly walked off.

Meanwhile, Yao Yao, held tightly in Xie Yixing’s arms, gradually stopped crying. Just as she caught a whiff of osmanthus fragrance, and before she could wipe her tears, a palm-sized pastry appeared before her.

A slender white finger held up a piece of soft osmanthus cake to her lips.
“Just eat less from now on.”

Xie Yixing’s tone was flat, but Caiwei, standing beside him, could hear the tenderness beneath it.

Forget the young lord—even she felt a little heartbroken.

That palace physician was a quack. What child didn’t love sweets? How could he be so absolute about it?

What she didn’t know was that this so-called quack hadn’t even left the marquis’ estate yet when a sob caught his attention from a nearby corner.

Nanny Zhao, noticing the thin figure in the corner, merely shook her head as if used to the scene.

But Imperial Physician Jiang, curious, craned his neck to take a closer look—only to be startled when the figure suddenly turned around, nearly making him fall flat on his back.

When he finally steadied himself and recognized the familiar face, Imperial Physician Jiang was shocked.
“Old friend! Weren’t you supposed to be retired in the countryside?”

Chef Shen had never expected to run into an old friend at his most vulnerable, helpless moment. Ignoring the sympathetic stares around him, he rushed forward, grabbed Imperial Physician Jiang’s hand, and sobbed,
“Brother Jiang, life is so hard! Even His Majesty and the Empress Dowager have praised my cooking. Why doesn’t the young lord like it?”