Chapter 109: Plum Blossom Cake

Chapter 109: Plum Blossom Pastry

With A Man calling him "Father," Wei Xun's mood lifted, and his illness improved significantly.

By lunchtime, he could already sit up on his own.

Chang Yuan brought the meal from the kitchen, and Wei Xun waved the little girl over to sit beside him.

"Will A Man keep Father company while he eats?"

His tone was exceedingly gentle, but A Man felt a little uneasy.

Would Mommy be angry if she knew she had called Bad Uncle "Father"?

The little girl's thoughts were written all over her face. Wei Xun covered his mouth with a fist, masking his emotions. "I won’t tell your mommy that you called me Father."

"Really?" A Man's eyes sparkled, but Wei Xun felt a pang in his heart.

"Really. If A Man doesn’t believe me, we can pinky swear."

He held out his pinky, and A Man hooked hers around it. "If you lie, you’re a puppy!"

"Okay, if I lie, I’m a puppy."

With her worries gone, the little girl instantly brightened up.

Wei Xun, still recovering, couldn’t eat anything greasy, so the kitchen had prepared mostly bland congee and simple sides. However, since A Man was there, Chang Yuan had also ordered two sweet desserts.

The little girl devoured the almond tofu happily, and Wei Xun, who originally had no appetite, finished a whole bowl just watching her eat.

Chang Yuan almost teared up from happiness. "Young Master, you should have the Little Mistress accompany you for every meal from now on."

"No way! A Man eats with Mommy too!"

The little girl swallowed the last bite of her dessert and shook her head firmly.

Even though Father was pitiful being sick, Mommy gets lonely eating by herself.

"This..." Chang Yuan hesitated. "If only Mistress Xie could join us."

If the family of three could be together, the Young Master would be thrilled.

Wei Xun gently wiped the crumbs from the little girl’s lips with a handkerchief, his touch gentle. "Father can eat by himself. A Man should spend more time with Mommy."

A Yuan had a difficult birth giving life to her and raised her single-handedly all these years. Wei Xun had his pride—he had no right to vie for their daughter’s love, nor was he worthy of it.

"Okay! Then A Man gives Mommy *this* much time."

The little girl first gestured the size of her fist, then showed Wei Xun her fingernail. "And this speck with Daddy."

Though compared to A Yuan, he only got a sliver, Wei Xun was already content.

"Okay."

…

At Ci’an Courtyard.

Madam Wei, hearing that A Man had gone to see Wei Xun but hadn’t greeted her first, smacked her chopsticks down with her face stormy.

"No manners! No discipline!"

"Mother, A Man is still a child."

Zhao Wan suppressed a smile and feigned concern.

"A child? What child behaves like her, running around like a wild thing all day? It’s all because of her no-good mother’s influence!"

Madam Wei looked down on A Yuan and, naturally, was dissatisfied with A Man as well.

However, Wei Xun was nearly thirty without a single child of his own. Even if she disliked A Man, she would never let her stay an outsider.

"Bring her here later."

...

Wei Xun’s injuries had not yet healed, and he was running low on energy.

After lunch, he played a game of Go with A Man, and he started looking pale.

"Father, are you tired?"

Young as she was, A Man was sharp.

Seeing Wei Xun’s pallor, she set down the piece in her hand.

"Not tired. Daddy can still play with you."

Wei Xun shook his head with a smile. He rarely got to spend time with his daughter, and he was willing to endure even if exhausted.

"No, Mother says when you’re tired, you must rest. Father, be good. A Man will come play with you again tomorrow, okay?"

The little girl scolded him like a little grown-up.

Wei Xun’s heart softened. "Alright, Father will listen to A Man."

He gave the little girl’s hair a fond ruffle and turned to instruct Chang Yuan, "Personally escort her back to the General’s Manor. If anyone stops you, tell them to come to me."

He trusted no one in the household, especially his mother.

Chang Yuan nodded. "Rest assured, Master. This servant will make sure Young Master gets home safe!"

At Cian Manor, Madam Wei waited half the day without seeing the child brought to her. Her face darkened. "Where’s that little brat?"

"W-we couldn’t hold them back..."

Chang Yuan didn’t give a damn, and with the Young Master’s orders, he blew off everyone from Cian Manor. How could they possibly stop him?

"Useless!"

Madam Wei slumped into her chair, fuming, like she was about to have a fit.

"Now they’ve got some nerve, no respect for their elders anymore. Fine! Fine! Fine!"

She snapped 'Fine! Fine! Fine!' in succession. The servants dropped to their knees, too scared to breathe a word.

It was plain to see the Young Master and the old madam were at odds. If she kept going after A Yuan and her girl, she’d only drive Wei Xun away for good.

Wei Xun had always been in robust health, but this illness kept him laid up for a whole month.

The Marquis's estate sent someone daily to fetch A Man, and the little girl would return babbling excitedly to her mother about what she had eaten and played that day.

Though A Yuan made a point of ignoring him, her daughter’s daily chatter made it impossible not to hear.

“Mama, Dad—I mean, that bad uncle—also asked me to bring a box of pastries for you.”

A Man covered her little mouth, almost letting it slip. Luckily, A Yuan came back to herself and didn’t notice.

“Mama doesn’t like pastries. You can have them.”

A Yuan came back to herself. She didn’t want any connection with Wei Xun, much less take his gifts.

Even if it was just a box of pastries.

“But that bad uncle said these pastries were made from the plum blossoms in Mama’s courtyard. He said you’d definitely like them.”

The little girl held the plum blossom cakes, her face falling.

She had even packed them for her mother herself.

“Plum blossom cakes…”

A Yuan's face went distant. The plum tree in the Jade Purity Courtyard had been planted the year she came to the Marquis's estate.

Back then, A Yuan still held onto some childish hope, believing her beauty and obedience would win Wei Xun’s heart.

But after moving into the Jade Purity Courtyard, Wei Xun hardly ever came by.

Thinking the courtyard’s simplicity displeased him, A Yuan worked up the nerve to request saplings from the steward.

Years had passed, but A Yuan still remembered the steward's sneering look.

Her efforts to please had been put on display and trampled.

Especially by Wei Xun. She had gone to great lengths to fix up the courtyard, hoping to make his visits more comfortable.

Yet he never noticed. All he did was tell her to know her place, to follow the rules, and not to covet what wasn’t hers.

Her tender heart that she had carefully offered was torn to pieces. For the next five years, she obeyed his wishes, not daring to entertain even a sliver of affection for him.

“Mama, try it. It’s really good.”

A Man pinched off a piece and held it to A Yuan’s lips.

The little girl cuddled into her lap, her eager eyes impossible to refuse.

A Yuan took a small bite. The subtle fragrance of plum blossoms melted on her tongue.

That once-delicate flavor had accompanied her through five winters, by now part of her very being.

But what had once been a light, refreshing taste now carried only bitterness.

Those countless days confined in the rear courtyard, the humiliation of waiting for crumbs of kindness—no apology from a man could make her forgive.

She knew Wei Xun was atoning, trying to make things right. But she didn’t want to forgive.