Her words were resounding, carrying a firmness and compassion beyond her years. Xiao Chengjing was taken aback by the light in her eyes and the power in her words, but what followed was a deeper worry and resistance.

"Nonsense!" Xiao Chengjing's voice suddenly rose, carrying an unquestionable authority. "What kind of place is the battlefield? It's a meat grinder! How could a girl like you go there? Swords flashing, arrows flying everywhere, this is not child's play! I will not allow it! Absolutely not!" The thought of his delicate daughter being placed in such a dangerous place made his heart feel as if it were being tightly gripped by an invisible hand, almost suffocating him.

"Father!" An'an's eyes reddened with anxiety, and she bent her knees to beg.

An'an rarely calls Xiao Chengjing that; the children usually call him "Daddy," which is enough to prove An'an's determination to go to the frontier.

"Sister, don't go!" "Wow—Sister!"

Two screams, trembling with sobs, suddenly rang out. Ningning and Yan Ge'er, the twins, rushed out of the corridor like two little cannonballs, followed by Kang Kang and Huai Yu and Huai Jin, who looked anxious.

Ningning and Yan Ge'er clung tightly to An'an's legs, one on each side, their little faces upturned, tears streaming down their faces: "Sister, don't go! The northern frontier is so far! There are bad people there! Ningning doesn't want sister to go!"

Yan Ge'er was even more incoherent: "Sister's gone, who's going to weave grasshoppers for me! Who's going to tell me stories about herbs! Waaah—!"

Although Kang Kang didn't cry, his little face was tense. He walked to An An's side and silently stuffed a copy of "Illustrated Materia Medica" that he had been clutching into his sister's hand, his voice muffled: "Sister... take the book with you, it'll be useful." Shen Huaiyu also looked at An An with concern and said softly, "Cousin An An, the north is bitterly cold, you should think it over carefully." Shen Huaijin also gently advised.

Seeing this scene, Shen Yuewei felt a mix of emotions—tenderness, sadness, and helplessness. She stepped forward, supporting her emotionally distraught daughter, and also embraced the two sobbing children, looking at Xiao Chengjing with complicated feelings: "Chengjing..."

Looking at his daughter, surrounded by her younger siblings, her expression stubborn yet tinged with reluctance, and then at his younger children crying their hearts out, Xiao Chengjing felt a crack appear in the wall of "absolutely disagreement" in his heart under the impact of family affection. He turned away irritably, gazing at the vibrant herbs in the garden, and after a long while, he let out a heavy sigh, his voice low and weary:

"This matter... will be discussed later! An'an, you stay here in the manor and are not allowed to go anywhere!" After saying that, as if afraid that he would soften his heart, he turned and strode away, his back view revealing unprecedented agitation and struggle.

An'an watched her father's departing figure, then looked down at her younger siblings who were crying and clinging to her, and at the book Kang Kang had stuffed into her hands. Tears finally streamed down her face. She knelt down and hugged Ningning and Yange'er tightly, her voice choked with emotion but still firm: "Don't cry, sweetie... Sister... Sister will find a way. Sister promises you, I will... I will definitely come back safely."