After Rebirth, My Wife Turned Out to Be Myself - Chapter 29

“Your Majesty, Consort Wan has signed up,” Zhaoxia reported. “Just as Your Majesty predicted, after Eldest Young Master Xie visited Wanyi Palace, Her Ladyship signed up.”

Xie Wan: “Mm.”

“Your Majesty is truly prophetic.”

Xie Wan smiled. It wasn’t that she was prophetic; she simply understood herself and her eldest cousin. Her eldest cousin was sharp; once he discovered that the rare books she gave Xiao Anyu were all about bandit suppression, he would definitely guess in that direction.

But she had done it on purpose.

She did intend for Xiao Anyu to go out and suppress bandits.

The bandits in Lingbei would become the first wave of pioneers for civilian uprisings in the Da Yue Empire in the future. It wasn’t surprising that they would revolt; according to the trajectory of her previous life, after this great drought and famine, the population in the northern cities drastically decreased. While the south remained prosperous, the north fell into a state of extreme poverty, and many people were forced to become bandits.

Emperor Ruiming later intended to support the north, but unfortunately, she lacked the strength to do more.

The proportion of brigands and bandits surged, and the development of the north was far from satisfactory. Some people became bandits out of sheer necessity.

The final Lingbei Uprising wasn’t instigated by hotheads, but rather the last groans and cries for help from the northern people.

Were those rebels wrong? From their standpoint, they were not. They were merely saving themselves.

However, the uprising was ultimately suppressed by the imperial army led by Xie Wan, and the vast majority of them were incorporated into her army.

The current banditry situation in Lingbei is much simpler than in her previous life.

Although there are many bandit and mountain bandit strongholds, most of the people inside are just trying to earn a ‘passage fee’ to get a full meal. As for those who are ferocious and evil, killing anyone they see, there really aren’t many.

So Xie Wan was preparing to send Anyu out to suppress bandits.

The little eaglet needed some tempering.

Once the banditry in Lingbei was cleared, and a convenient official road was built, the northern and southern regions would truly be connected.

“Your Majesty, Maiden Qingcui from Wanyi Palace is here. She says Consort Wan has ordered her to invite Your Majesty to Wanyi Palace for dinner,” a palace attendant outside reported.

“Alright, I’ll be there shortly,” Xie Wan nodded.

“Her Ladyship also said… to please bring Her Ladyship’s pillow,” Qingcui said softly from the doorway.

Xie Wan: “…My birthday hasn’t arrived yet, and she wants the pillow back already?”

“That… Her Ladyship didn’t say.”

“Very well, I understand.”

“This servant takes her leave.”

Zhaoxia smiled upon hearing this. “Your Majesty is very fond of that pillow. Why not let Her Ladyship just give it to you?”

“Taking what someone loves is not the act of a gentleman,” Xie Wan chuckled. “Zhaoxia, go fetch the pillow. I’ll take it to Consort Wan later.”

“Yes.”

Xie Wan narrowed her eyes. Xiao Anyu inviting her for a meal was something new.

By the time Xie Wan arrived at Wanyi Palace, the sun had already set halfway, and the sky full of red clouds was beautiful.

The palace attendant wanted to announce her arrival, but Xie Wan stopped her with a raised hand.

“Your Majesty, Her Ladyship is practicing archery right now.”

She walked into the small courtyard and, as expected, saw Anyu’s figure.

She had drawn the bow to its fullest, the arrow was already nocked, her back was straight, her posture upright, and she was staring intently in the direction of mid-air.

The instant a leaf fell—

Only a whoosh was heard.

The arrow left the bow.

Finally, with a thud, it nailed onto the tree trunk.

Although it hit the tree, it didn’t hit the leaf, and the arrow’s path was so crooked it was unbearable to look at.

Anyu puffed out her cheeks and turned around. “Your Majesty, why didn’t you say something when you arrived?”

Xie Wan looked innocent. “I saw Consort Wan was focused on practicing archery and didn’t want to disturb you. Once the bow is drawn, there’s no turning back the arrow… I didn’t expect Consort Wan to be so easily influenced by me.”

Anyu: “…”

Still blaming her, huh?

“This subject’s archery skills are poor. Your Majesty, would you like to try?” Anyu nodded her chin towards her, but her gaze was fixed on the bow in her hand.

This bow was one of the lighter ones she had chosen.

“I thought Consort Wan was inviting me for dinner. I didn’t expect Consort Wan would want to compete with me,” Xie Wan didn’t take the bow but said, “I am powerless to even truss a chicken. If Consort Wan wants to find someone to spar with, you should go find the Imperial Guards.”

Anyu glanced at her lightly. “You’re still tricking me.”

Xie Wan: ?

Anyu quickly walked closer to her and said face-to-face, “Your Majesty, on the day you accompanied me back to the General’s Manor, wasn’t that arrow on the tree shot by Your Majesty?”

Xie Wan frowned. “…”

“Not going to argue?” Anyu lightly snorted. “Yuntao wouldn’t even fail to draw the bow fully. Besides, Yuntao doesn’t have that kind of accuracy; he couldn’t hit a leaf.”

Seeing that Xie Wan didn’t speak, Anyu looked left and right and whispered, “I’ve sent all the extra servants away. Your Majesty, don’t worry, just tell me quietly.”

Why did she have to hide the fact that she knew martial arts so carefully?

Seeing her like this, Xie Wan felt quite helpless.

Was her younger self really this ‘curious’?

However, Xie Wan still hadn’t expected that Anyu would discover it, even though she thought she had managed to fool her.

Xie Wan: “Consort Wan is very eager to know?”

Anyu nodded.

“Then I just won’t tell you.” As she spoke, Xie Wan did indeed take the bow from her hand. For her current self, this bow was quite heavy.

But there was also a different kind of complex feeling within it.

It had been a long time since she had touched a bow in front of others.

In the past, with this very bow, she had received countless envious and adoring gazes.

“Your Majesty, you can’t be so petty! Aren’t Your Majesty and I the best… the best of friends!” Anyu pouted. “Tell me, and I promise I won’t tell anyone else.”

“The best of friends…” Xie Wan smiled. She took an arrow and nocked it onto the bow.

It seemed extremely casual.

But Anyu watched very seriously. Her Majesty’s movements were very standard.

“That’s right, I like this relationship. Your Majesty and Consort Wan should be the best of friends.” As she spoke, she shot an arrow through. The dull thud as it hit the tree trunk was clearly not as powerful as the arrow Anyu had shot, but the accuracy was top-notch.

Anyu darted to the front of the tree and, as expected, it was the same as the arrow at the General’s Manor.

A leaf was nailed there, like an enemy whose heart had been pierced. The arrow was stuck there, silent and powerful.

Anyu’s eyes lit up.

A surge of fighting spirit suddenly ignited in her heart.

So amazing.

Indeed! Indeed! Her Majesty is so amazing!

Dad said that she had too many distracting thoughts in her mind, and only when shooting arrows could she have a moment of calm and focus, single-minded, which was why her archery skills were so good.

But, Her Majesty seemed even more amazing than her.

Her calmness and focus seemed to be even greater than her own!

Anyu’s bright eyes stared intently at Xie Wan. She didn’t understand, was this the composure of an ‘adult’? She could pierce the heart of a leaf with a casual shot!

Xie Wan lightly coughed. “Consort Wan, I…”

“Your Majesty, let’s go to the mountains and compete at shooting birds!” Anyu exclaimed. She could stop caring why Her Majesty was hiding her skills; seeing her archery skills with her own eyes, Anyu just wanted to compete with her! Her Majesty seemed very powerful, but she wouldn’t easily admit defeat either!

Xie Wan: “…”

Xie Wan walked to the stone table and put down the bow and arrow. “No, I’m hungry. I want to eat.”

Anyu pouted. “You can eat less…”

“No.”

Anyu was exasperated. “Your Majesty clearly isn’t greedy about food!”

Xie Wan looked at her leisurely. “I am greedy about food.”

“You…”

Xie Wan smiled and pinched her face. “Let’s eat first. We can talk about shooting birds later.”

“Oh.” Later, huh? That meant it wasn’t completely out of the question, right?

Anyu immediately called out to Qingcui. “Qingcui, serve the dishes, let’s eat!”

Outside the palace wall, Qingcui responded loudly. “Yes, Your Ladyship!”

After eating, the two walked back and forth in the palace corridor to aid digestion.

“Anyu, the fact that I can shoot arrows is a secret. You can’t tell anyone else,” Xie Wan tilted her head to look at Anyu, who was rubbing her belly because she had eaten too much.

Anyu nodded. “Okay.”

“Not even your father, your eldest brother, or your second brother,” Xie Wan said in a deep voice.

Anyu didn’t understand but still agreed. “Okay.”

“If you agree to all that, next time I’ll accompany you to shoot birds.”

Anyu nodded heavily. “But does Your Majesty truly have no martial arts?”

Xie Wan extended her wrist in front of her. “To be precise, I have no internal energy. However, I have learned many martial arts, I can shoot arrows, and I can use swords and blades. I am quite proficient with weapons.”

She said this conservatively.

“Is it like what’s written in the little storybooks? The body cannot store internal energy, but everything else is learned very well.” Anyu held her wrist. Her wrist was slender, empty inside, and her pulse was also weak.

So Her Majesty really was a sickly person. This wasn’t fake.

Xie Wan: “Roughly so.”

Anyu sighed softly.

“Why are you sighing? I don’t need Anyu to worry about me,” Xie Wan lightly patted her head. “Getting back to the main topic, I didn’t just come today to bring you the pillow. I also have a task to arrange for you.”

A task!

Anyu immediately thought of something, nodded, then suddenly realized what it was and pretended to be confused. “What task?”

Xie Wan saw everything and smiled. “Win that martial arts competition, and I will personally send you to Lingbei to suppress bandits.”

Anyu: Big Brother was right!

“Okay!”

“Consort Wan doesn’t seem as happy as I expected,” Xie Wan teased.

Anyu quickly said, “Happy, I’m overjoyed!”

“Being able to leave the palace and even lead troops to suppress bandits, Consort Wan should be so happy you’re spinning in circles,” Xie Wan shook her head and swayed. “Perfunctory.”

Anyu: “…”

Who would be so happy they’d spin in circles! She was sixteen, not six!

“Let’s go, let’s head back. Don’t think I’m letting you leave the palace to play. Suppressing bandits in Lingbei is not a simple job. The mountains in Lingbei are steep and dangerous, easy to defend and difficult to attack. Some of the strongholds only collect money and don’t kill people, but some are ruthless killers.”

“Those who should be killed, I want you to kill them all. Those who shouldn’t be killed, I want you to bring them back.”

Anyu hurriedly followed. “Bring them back?”

“Mm. Even the worst of those mountain bandits have some skill. And there are quite a few people in each stronghold.”

Anyu understood immediately. “Your Majesty wants to recruit and incorporate them?”

“Right.” Becoming bandits is also for survival. As long as they aren’t great villains and evildoers, they can be used for oneself.

“Okay.”

Xie Wan’s mouth opened and closed, slowly telling her about the situation in Lingbei.

The two walked back while talking. The setting sun fell, night was about to fall, and the moon hung early in the sky, watching them all the way.

By the time Anyu arrived at Wanyi Palace, Her Majesty had already returned with Zhaoxia.

Anyu looked at the moon in the sky and belatedly realized something.

How did Her Majesty know she knew how to take a pulse?

Just now, Her Majesty seemed to have very naturally extended her hand in front of her.

But Her Majesty shouldn’t know that she had learned some medical principles, right?