A Mei hugged An Sheng, her heart full of joy.
Soon, her thoughts turned to An Sheng's upcoming inspection tour. She lifted her head from An Sheng's embrace and called out softly,
"Husband."
"Mhm," An Sheng replied tenderly.
A Mei said earnestly, "You don't need to be distracted, Husband. Just focus on the affairs of the imperial court and the Inner Depot. I will carefully prepare our luggage in advance."
Saying this, A Mei released the arms wrapped around An Sheng's waist and began to count on her fingers, saying,
"The clothes, shoes, and socks for you and me, the writing brush, ink, paper, and inkstone we use daily, and everything we are accustomed to using must be brought along."
"The frontier is so far away, we will definitely be traveling for a long time. I will instruct the servants to prepare a few more thick cotton quilts."
"The weather is getting colder, so we must also get all the heating items ready."
"As for food..."
A Mei chattered on endlessly. An Sheng only felt a wave of softness in his heart. He took a deep breath and gently interrupted her.
"A Mei."
A Mei hummed in response and obediently closed her mouth, her bright, watery eyes blinking at An Sheng.
Then she heard An Sheng slowly speak, "For this inspection tour, I cannot take you with me."
A Mei's eyes widened instantly, her face full of disbelief. It took her a long while to recover her senses, and she stammered, "Ah? Husband, you... you aren't taking me?"
An Sheng's gaze was as tender as water, looking straight into A Mei's eyes. The deep affection in his eyes was not concealed in the slightest, yet the words he spoke possessed an unprecedented firmness and left no room for doubt.
He affirmed, "Yes, I am not taking you."
A Mei only felt her heart suddenly empty out. She looked pitifully at An Sheng and couldn't help but ask, "Why?"
Suddenly, A Mei's heart tightened. Was it because her little bit of capriciousness just now made her husband unhappy? She immediately became nervous. Reaching out to tug at An Sheng's sleeve, she pleaded pitifully, "I don't want this. Husband, I don't want to be separated from you. I will never be willful again, nor will I cause a fuss. I will obediently listen to you and absolutely will not cause you any trouble. Please, Husband, just take me with you."
An Sheng sighed. A trace of reluctance flashed through the depths of his dark eyes, but it was quickly covered by reason.
He held the small hand on his sleeve, gently rubbing it, and slowly explained to A Mei, "Naturally, I don't want to be separated from you either. But this inspection tour is different from the last one. Not only is the journey far, but more importantly, the environment at the border is harsh. It will soon be deep winter, with freezing weather and frozen ground. Coupled with the exhaustion of traveling, I am unwilling to let you endure such hardship."
A Mei shook her head like a rattle-drum, "As long as I am with you, Husband, how could I fear hardship!"
An Sheng simply said directly, "The matter I am handling this time is of great importance and involves many people. Furthermore, I don't have my trusted aides in the army there, so I won't be at ease taking you along."
A Mei's eyes flickered, her expression tense, and her small face was full of seriousness, "Does Husband mean there will be danger?"
An Sheng slowly nodded.
"This inspection tour is not only an official patrol by imperial decree; privately, I also have a case to investigate. I cannot keep you by my side at all times. If you don't want me to be distracted, you should stay at home obediently and wait. At the shortest, it will be three months, and at the longest, four months, before I can return."
Towards the end, An Sheng's voice carried the utmost gentle coaxing:
"Good A Mei, my darling, wait for me obediently at home, alright?"
A Mei's eyes suddenly turned red. She pressed her lips tightly together, not making a sound.
She knew in her heart that her husband not taking her was for her own good, and she was even more aware that following him would not only be useless but would also distract him. However, the thought of her husband leaving her for such a long time made her heart ache with unbearable reluctance and sorrow.
For some reason, A Mei felt a strong urge to cry, yet she also felt she was being too weak. She simply turned her body and looked away so An Sheng wouldn't see.
How could An Sheng not see? He felt his heart instantly clench. He reached out and grasped A Mei's shoulders on both sides, turning her body to face him. Looking down deeply at A Mei's tearful yet feigning strength appearance, his heart ached immensely.
"Oh my, let me see, why are you crying?"
A Mei twitched her nose, looking away, not daring to meet An Sheng's eyes, and spoke contrary to her feelings, "No, I'm not crying. I know Husband is not taking me for my own good. I will listen well to Husband's words."
But as she spoke, the tears she had painstakingly held back fell disappointingly.
An Sheng pulled A Mei into his embrace, his brows furrowing lightly in distress, forming a shallow crease, as if the unspeakable helplessness and pain in his heart had carved a mark on his forehead.
An Sheng was equally reluctant, but he had deeper concerns.
The soft crying from his arms sounded so pitiful. Her crying had already caused his soft heart to completely collapse, but he had to harden his heart.
A Mei rubbed the tear stains on her cheeks against An Sheng's chest, still unwilling to give up as she looked up. Her wet eyes were full of the sorrow of parting, "Can Husband really not take me? I will really be very obedient and good. Not seeing Husband for such a long time will drive me crazy!"
An Sheng looked at her quietly without speaking, his eyes still carrying a gentle affection, but A Mei instantly understood her husband's meaning.
A Mei buried her face in his chest. Even though she had just said she would be obedient, she ended up being willful after all, whimpering and complaining:
"No, no, no!"
"What I just said doesn't count, I just want to follow Husband."
"Isn't Husband the Commander of the Inner Depot? Aren't you overwhelmingly powerful? Why can't you take me?"
"Husband, I beg you, I'm begging you."
An Sheng took a deep breath, put on a stern face, and his lips parted.
"No, A Mei, be obedient."
Every word he spoke was tinged with cold suppression.
Suddenly, A Mei reached out, wrapped her arms around An Sheng's neck, stood on her tiptoes, and kissed him.
An Sheng watched helplessly as A Mei's small face, covered in snot and tears, leaned in. A soft and moist sensation followed. A Mei sobbed softly while sticking out her tongue; it was a careful yet ingratiating kiss.
The mixture of tender affection, reluctance, and helpless restraint surged in his heart, giving birth to a different kind of emotion. A strange excitement gradually rose within An Sheng. Meeting A Mei's crying appearance at this moment, a violent, malicious desire and frenzy that made him want to destroy the person instantly poured out, and An Sheng's eyes instantly turned red!
A Mei remained unaware. She ended the kiss, buried her small face in An Sheng's embrace again, and continued to softly plead, "I don't want to be separated from Husband, I just want to follow you. Even if Husband thinks I am being willful and unreasonable and wants to punish me, I still want to follow Husband. Just thinking about being separated from Husband for so long makes me feel so awful that I can't breathe."
After saying so much, A Mei didn't receive any response from An Sheng. She felt even more miserable in her heart. She simply moved out of An Sheng's embrace, turned her back to him without even looking at him, and spoke aggrievedly, "I swear I will really be obedient and not distract Husband. If Husband really doesn't take me, then I will ignore Husband."
With those words, A Mei stormed toward the door in a fit of anger.
The next moment, a tremendous force wrapped around her waist, stopping her in her tracks and squeezing her so tightly that a low cry escaped her lips.
Even as she was thrown onto the bed, with An Sheng roughly pinching her cheeks and kissing her lips fiercely, A Mei was still completely dazed.
