Climbing on the Sparrow Branch – CH 189

Chapter 189: Worried

Huiping saw An Zhi frowning and became a little anxious herself.

“Nothing bad happened, right?” Huiping asked.

“I hope not.” An Zhi had a bad feeling, but without any information, saying anything would only cause more worry.

She saw her sister-in-law was restless and gently comforted her, which also comforted herself.

Huiping speculated on many possibilities, but no one could be sure at the moment. Fortunately, An Xu returned that evening. Hearing that his newlywed wife was at his sister’s place, he went straight there.

Upon hearing their worries about the military camp, he reassured them, saying, “It’s alright. There’s heavy snowfall in the northwest this year, and the barbarians from the northern border have attacked several times. My cousin was injured, and I might have to return to the northwest earlier.”

“Return early?” Huiping only heard those words. They had been married for just one day, and now they were about to be separated. Huiping anxiously grabbed her husband’s hand. “How many days earlier? Is the situation on the border that urgent?”

An Xu, with his wife holding his hand, especially in front of his sister and the servants, blushed and froze, unable to speak. But he didn’t push her away; instead, he gently held her hand. “The situation on the border isn’t urgent, but my cousin is injured, and we need someone to take his place on the battlefield. According to what we discussed today, I should probably leave on the second day of the Lunar New Year.”

“That means we won’t have even ten days together?” Huiping raised an eyebrow.

There were only four days left until the Lunar New Year, and if he left on the second day, that meant they would only have six days together.

An Xu nodded, feeling guilty towards his wife, but he had to obey his orders. He should have left that day, but the Emperor, understanding his recent marriage, allowed him to stay home for the New Year.

Huiping clung to her husband’s hand, leaning slightly towards him, completely forgetting that her sister-in-law was standing beside them.

An Zhi saw the affection between her brother and the princess and felt a pang of jealousy, but then she felt sad when she heard her brother would return to the northwest on the second day.

Her eyes welled up with tears, but she tried to hide her emotions.

For the next two days, the atmosphere in the house wasn’t as cheerful, as everyone knew that An Xu would be leaving early.

After Huiping returned home with An Xu, she told her mother about the situation, and the Grand Princess asked Huiping what she thought about it.

“We’re newly married; if we separate now, we don’t know when we’ll see each other again.”

Huiping had been pondering this issue these past few days. The more time she spent with An Xu, the more she liked him. Her previous feelings for him were more superficial, but after spending time with him, Huiping realized that An Xu was reserved and straightforward and sometimes didn’t understand women’s emotions. However, he knew she had cold feet, so he would have someone prepare a heated water bag for her every day. In the morning, he would even use his legs to keep her feet warm.

“So, I want to accompany him to the Northwest.” Huiping had this idea from the beginning, and it became even stronger later. “If I have to be separated from my husband for a year or two, I’ll go crazy with longing.”

The Grand Princess was startled by her daughter’s words and asked with wide eyes, “Do you know how harsh and cold the Northwest is? Let alone anything else, you won’t even be able to bathe every day.”

“I know.” After Huiping had the idea of ​​going to the Northwest, she had asked her husband about many things about that region.

She knew that the Northwest was half grassland and half desert, that it could be freezing cold there in winter, and that she wouldn’t be able to live a comfortable and leisurely life as a wealthy woman there.

“Then you still want to go?” The Grand Princess had never considered letting her daughter go to the Northwest; she always planned for her daughter to stay in the capital, where she would be protected. Meanwhile, the Northwest region was vast and remote, and even with her considerable abilities, she couldn’t reach the Northwest in time to protect her daughter.

“Knowing how harsh the conditions there are, why do you still want to go? Have you been bewitched?” The princess sighed, then angrily said, “No matter how many years you’re apart, you will always be An Xu’s principal wife. As long as you stay in the capital, you’ll have a life of wealth and luxury. Why would you want to go to that impoverished place in the Northwest?”

“Mother, no matter how harsh and poor the Northwest is, if An Xu is going, then I’m going too.” Huiping had already made up her mind. “Since things have come to this, I won’t hide something from you,” Huiping told her mother about An Xu saving her but omitted the part about asking An Zhi to find someone.

The princess was unaware that her daughter had been attacked. Hearing this, she was both relieved and sighed again.

“Since fate has granted me my wish, I want to live a happy life.” Huiping wiped her tears and rested her head on her mother’s lap. “Mother, you’re a woman too. When so many people advised you to remarry, even the late Empress Dowager, your grandmother, advised you, but you refused because you felt you could never find someone who loved you as much as your husband did, right?”

The princess’s marriage was arranged by the late Emperor. Initially, she and her husband didn’t know each other well, but over time, they grew to love each other and lived happily for a while. However, this happiness didn’t last long; her husband died when Huiping was eight. Hearing her daughter mention her husband, the princess was transported back to the past.

After a long pause, she sighed, “Very well, if you must go, then go. I’ll give you some guards. And remember to write to me every month.”

“I will!” Huiping hugged her mother and showered her with praise, not forgetting to ask for more money.

While Huiping and her mother were talking, An Xu was having tea and chatting with several of the Yuan family’s cousins.

During the reign of the previous Emperor, the Yuan family was at its peak. At that time, the Yuan family had a deputy minister, two Hanlin scholars, and many talented descendants. However, after the patriarch’s death, the Yuan family split into three branches, each lacking cohesion. Furthermore, no exceptionally talented younger generation emerged, so in recent years, the family had been only of average standing, and even that was thanks to the support of the Grand Princess.

An Xu had spent too much time with soldiers, so he didn’t have much in common with scholars when it came to discussing poetry or drinking tea. He mostly just listened. Fortunately, his wife didn’t make him wait too long.

The couple returned to the An Mansion after the Grand Princess finished dinner. On the way back, Huiping couldn’t help but mention her own desire to go to the northwest.

“No!” An Xu immediately refused. “You can’t go to the northwest!”

“Why not?” Huiping didn’t understand. “My aunt and my two female cousins ​​can go to the northwest. Why can’t I? Tell me, do you have another woman in the northwest, so you don’t want me to go?”

“What…what are you saying? I’m a good man; I don’t have any other women!” An Xu had a negative view of concubines from his childhood experiences with his father’s concubines. “I don’t mean what you think.”

“Then what do you mean?” Huiping sat beside her husband, wrapped her arm around his, and saw his ears turn red. She pouted and asked, “Then you don’t like me, so you don’t want me to go?”

Three days after their wedding, Huiping was no longer as shy as on their wedding night. She was quite bold when no one was around. “Tell me, why?”

An Xu sighed, turned his head to look at his wife’s delicate face, his eyes flickering, and said, “You grew up in luxury and comfort. The conditions in the northwest are harsh. I…I’m worried about you.”