"I'm really leaving!" Wei Li said, unwilling to give up, and emphasized it again at the top of his lungs.

He casually broke off a tree branch from the side and started whipping it on the ground in a fit of anger.

Zhao Xiheng waved her hand impatiently, signaling him to hurry up and stop making noise.

Wei Li felt that if he didn't leave, he would have no backbone at all. Zhao Xiheng would think that she had him completely under her thumb, and that his status and dignity as the head of the family would be smashed to the ground and could not be picked up again. He absolutely could not let that happen!

He glanced at Zhao Xiheng hesitantly, then threw down the branch and slowly moved towards the edge of the garden, loudly announcing, "Zhao Xiheng, don't regret it, I'm really leaving! You can just stay here and feed the mosquitoes. Go back to your room by yourself later, there'll be no one to keep you company." He felt that wasn't enough of a threat, "I'll never talk to you again."

The two wanted to go out to admire the moon, so the maids naturally didn't follow, for fear of disturbing Zhao Xiheng and Wei Li's mood.

After Wei Li finished speaking, he looked at Zhao Xiheng again. If she didn't seize the opportunity, even if she acted cute and kissed him several times, she wouldn't be able to win him back.

Zhao Xiheng hadn't reacted yet, as if she really didn't care about him. Wei Li's nose tingled, he bit his thin lips, and then disappeared in an instant.

Indeed, he talks too much and is always nagging. Zhao Xiheng probably got tired of him a long time ago and couldn't wait for him to leave so she could have some peace and quiet and enjoy the moon by herself.

After a long silence, with the moon and stars shining brightly and the air clear and crisp, Zhao Xiheng hugged her knees and leaned against the rattan chair, looking at the moonlight. She sighed softly, her tone slightly melancholy, "Wei Li, I'm cold."

"Go back inside if you're cold. Calling me won't help." Before she could finish speaking, a voice came from the corner.

Zhao Xiheng couldn't hold back any longer, clutching her stomach and laughing so hard she almost fell over in the rattan chair, "Didn't you go back? Hahahahahahahahahahaha."

In the shadows, where the moonlight couldn't reach, Wei Li tucked his half-lifted maroon robe into his waistband to prevent the hem from getting dirty. He squatted on the ground, chewing on a blade of grass, and could just see Zhao Xiheng, who was laughing heartily in the rattan chair. His face turned pale, and he slapped himself. "Such a foul mouth! Does she have to respond to what I say? How arrogant!"

Even so, Wei Li stubbornly refused to peek out from the shadows, as if that would preserve his crumbling self-esteem.

Zhao Xiheng laughed until tears almost came out. After a while, she calmed down and realized that she had laughed too much and felt a little guilty.

That brat is all talk and no action; he's not going to abandon me.

Zhao Xiheng felt a tingling, numb sensation in her heart, as if Gou Dan'er had kneaded her. She quietly thought to herself, "Wei Li is so cute."

She wouldn't say it to his face, otherwise he would definitely get angry; he doesn't want others to describe him as cute.

The two of them fell silent again, as if what had just happened had never occurred.

After a while, Zhao Xiheng changed her posture and said again, "Wei Li, I'm cold, I'm really cold."

Wei Li did not reply, still holding a grudge because of his pride.

Zhao Xiheng kept calling out, like a cat meowing, incessantly, as if she wouldn't stop until he appeared.

Wei Li finally couldn't stand her calling him anymore. He spat the grass on the ground, dusted off his clothes, crawled out from the corner, walked over, tilted his chin up and ignored her, and said arrogantly, "Didn't I just ask you to come back to the house with me?"

Zhao Xiheng tilted her head back and blinked her beautiful big eyes at him. "So I'm cold now."

Wei Li still turned his head away from her, looking impatient and aloof. His left cheek seemed to say "You're so annoying," and his right cheek seemed to say "Troublemaker." Then, he awkwardly reached out his hand to her and grumbled, "Let's take your hand."

After he finished speaking, before Zhao Xiheng could react, his ears turned red.

“But it’s still early, and I don’t want to go back.” Zhao Xiheng felt she had already hinted quite clearly. She shifted her position, making some space on the rattan chair, and continued to look at him expectantly.

"If you don't want to go back, then stay here." Wei Li frowned impatiently. She complained about the cold but refused to go back inside. Wasn't she just being difficult? He couldn't even take off his clothes for her to wear.

Zhao Xiheng clicked her tongue slightly and licked her lips. She really was someone who was clueless about romance when she should be, and who tried to be romantic when she shouldn't be.

She reached out and grasped Wei Li's dry, warm hand.

Wei Li instinctively flinched; her fingers were as cold as ice, thin and soft, pressing against his palm. He instinctively gripped them tightly. "You'll freeze to death..."

The rest of his words were stuck in his throat and he couldn't utter them in time. Zhao Xiheng grabbed his hand and pulled him onto the rattan chair. He didn't know how she was so strong, but the rattan chair, which was hanging there, started to sway and swing when he threw it down.

Wei Li looked at Zhao Xiheng. Her eyes were bright and dazzling, as if they contained a galaxy. For a moment, he was speechless. He felt that he had fallen for her, but it wasn't a bad deal. At least she was beautiful, wasn't she?

But...but...

He gripped the armrest of the wicker chair with his other hand, his face flushed with embarrassment and anxiety. "What are you doing?"

Zhao Xiheng took his hand, leaned into his arms, hugged his slender waist tightly, and then let out a long sigh, "This will warm you up."

Wei Li's face suddenly turned red, the redness spreading from his neck to his face, and then to the tips of his ears. He froze, not daring to move.

Zhao Xiheng pressed down his flailing hands and hugged him from behind. Wei Li was warm all over; even though he was dressed lightly on a slightly chilly spring night, he was like a good fireplace.

"Just say you want a hug... Why go through all that trouble? It's not like I'm not going to let you hug me." Wei Li's tone was light and cheerful, revealing a hint of disdain, but more so a suppressed shyness.

In front of everyone, in the outdoor garden, Zhao Xiheng took the initiative to hug him, which was already quite exciting.

He couldn't help but pull his hand away, lowered his face, and rested it on Zhao Xiheng's shoulder. The faint scent of gardenias on her neck made him lose all sense of direction.

He felt like he was doing something wrong by hugging her like that. He thought, "It's my wife, so why should I be afraid of anyone seeing?"

Wei Li placed his hand on Zhao Xiheng's back and stroked it up and down to show that his embrace was perfectly legitimate.

Zhao Xiheng rubbed against his waist, then looked up and noticed a leaf had fallen on the top of his head.

As soon as she raised her hand, Wei Li thought she was going to touch his head and quickly tried to dodge, saying, "Zhao Xiheng, you can't just touch a man's head like that!"

"Someone just said they were going to abandon me and ignore me." Upon hearing this, Wei Li was inevitably stunned. Zhao Xiheng took the opportunity to remove the leaf from the top of his head, and then went a step further and stroked his hair. The smooth and cool feeling was wonderful.

She spread out the leaves in her hand for him to see, and Wei Li blushed even more, realizing that he had really been presumptuous just now.

"Do you think I want to talk to you? I wouldn't have come back if I wasn't afraid you might accidentally hurt the baby in your belly." He stubbornly refused to admit defeat and slid his hand towards Zhao Xiheng's belly to show that he really stayed for the sake of the child.

Zhao Xiheng was five months pregnant, but her belly was still smaller than that of an ordinary woman, and she moved very lightly. If she wore slightly loose clothes, no one would be able to tell that she was a pregnant young woman; she would just look like a young girl.

The moment Wei Li's hand touched her abdomen, the little one obligingly kicked out so that both of them could feel it.

Zhao Xiheng had gone from being surprised to taking it for granted. The little one was healthy and lively, and would definitely be easy to raise after birth. She turned over and simply lay in Wei Li's arms. He hugged her from behind, his chest warm and cozy.

He placed both hands on Zhao Xiheng's lower abdomen and hesitated, saying, "Zhao Xiheng, why don't I wait until the baby is born before I leave?"

He couldn't bear to leave now; he simply couldn't leave without worrying.

Zhao Xiheng chuckled, "You'd better hurry up and leave. You'll be even more reluctant to leave after the baby is born. If you keep dragging it out, it'll be next year. Before we go from one person to two, you should hurry up and try to come back in September so you can stay with me during my postpartum period."

Thinking about it this way, it seems quite reasonable. If Wei Li were to go on a campaign against Northern Goguryeo, it wouldn't be like the last time he resisted Liu Huan and Wang Zhiyao, when he could return in a month or two. It might take four months or half a year.

"Then I'll go and come back as soon as possible." Wei Li patted his chest. "I've beaten Goguryeo to a pulp so many times, this time will be fine too, it's just a matter of time."

This was probably the first time the two of them had been separated for so long, and Zhao Xiheng was a little reluctant to part.

If he's not home, there's no one to warm her hands, feet, or the bed; no one to eat with, no one to peel shrimp for her; no one to go shopping with; while others can celebrate Qixi Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, Double Ninth Festival, and Dragon Boat Festival, she might have to spend them all alone in a cold, empty room...

The more she thought about it, the worse it seemed, and the more pathetic she felt. She couldn't help but shed tears, turned her head away, wiped her tears, and rubbed them on his chest. "Waaah... Anyway, just come back soon."

She's pregnant now, so crying and being dramatic aren't her true feelings; it's the baby that's affecting her, which is why she doesn't want to cry.

"You never cried before I was gone, and you were doing just fine. How come you cry like this now that I've only been gone for a few months?" Wei Li raised his sleeve to wipe her tears, his words filled with pride.

Yes, Zhao Xiheng can't live without him now.

The gold thread on his cuffs stung Zhao Xiheng's face, and she shoved him away. "Isn't it because I'm your best friend that I'm reluctant to part with you? You're going to war, and no one is even crying to see you off. Don't you think you're doing terribly?"

“If Chen Ruojiang goes to war, his sister will cry; if Yang Zeli goes to war, his mother will cry. You only have me as your wife. If I don’t cry, who will? I have no choice but to let you look too pitiful.”

Wei Li was so angry that his heart ached. He pinched and rubbed her face hard like dough. "I'm leaving tomorrow. Don't let your crying go to waste."