After Rebirth, My Wife Turned Out to Be Myself - Chapter 45

Night fell, the bright moon shining.

The sleeping quarters were silent.

Tonight, however, Xie Wan did not go to bed early. Dressed only in her inner garment, she sat at her desk, deep in thought.

Before her lay two combat records.

The first was one she had asked Zhou Ning to bring, a record of the bandit suppression written by Zhou Ning. She was quite curious about the Qianlong Stronghold incident, and what she had heard from Anyu always left her with a few doubts.

From what she knew, those three siblings were not that easy to deal with. Let alone killing them, even a direct assault on the mountain should have taken considerable effort.

But Anyu had spoken of it lightly, evasively.

So she had summoned Zhou Ning and asked her to bring the bandit suppression record.

Who knew that just as Zhou Ning delivered it during the day, Anyu also handed her one that afternoon.

Xie Wan recalled what Anyu had said… asking for commendation. Was it truly just for commendation?

For some reason, Xie Wan felt a sense of unease. It was an intuition, a bad feeling that things were developing beyond her calculations and expectations.

An incense stick later.

Xie Wan’s gaze rested on the similar words written in the two notebooks. The bright moonlight illuminated the astonishment on her face.

‘Imperial Envoy Xie Wan secretly investigated Qianlong Stronghold. Upon reaching the foot of the mountain, she was surprised to find the stronghold gate unguarded. After entering the stronghold, she encountered the Nie siblings who, to save their sister, set the stronghold ablaze with their subordinates before fleeing…’

‘…The situation was critical. Xie Wan took the life of the Qianlong Stronghold leader and rescued the Nie siblings. Taking advantage of the situation, the imperial soldiers swarmed the mountain. The bandits, caught off guard while trying to put out the fire, were all captured without resistance.’

And on Anyu’s list of commendations, it was clearly written—

‘Silver Snake Escort Agency, Nie Gulan and her brothers.’

“Nie Gulan… the First Boss, hasn’t even become a bandit yet.” Xie Wan didn’t know what expression she should wear, but it was certainly complex and tinged with bitterness.

She had only thought that these three were difficult to deal with, but she had forgotten what year it was. These Nie siblings were not born mountain bandits.

Not only did Anyu not confront Nie Gulan, but by a strange coincidence, she was accidentally rescued by Anyu, who had gone to suppress the bandits.

In the brocade pouch she had given Anyu, she had written about the three bosses.

Anyu had returned saying no one was left alive, and hadn’t mentioned this matter at all. Only because she was told to lead troops to the Northern Border did she hastily hand over this combat record detailing the events.

“Little girl… you’re giving me a hint.” Xie Wan raised an eyebrow, as if she could already see Anyu poking her head out, blinking, and saying, ‘Your Majesty, you’ve been exposed.’

“But do you think I’ll be flustered? Or show some other expression? You didn’t even dare to ask me face-to-face? And you specifically wrote a list of commendations, afraid I wouldn’t see the names Nie Gulan and her siblings?” Talking to herself, Xie Wan’s eyes were full of amusement.

She didn’t refer to herself as ‘We ‘.

She was not Emperor Ruiming after all; she was a lone soul who had accidentally returned to this world. From the moment she began preparing to save Da Yue and change the future, she knew that there would be a day when she would be discovered.

There was no wall in the world that was completely airtight; there would always be some suspicious points left behind.

But the unexpected thing now was that the first person to discover the existence of ‘her’, this lone soul, was actually ‘herself’.

She never thought of herself as a foolish person.

She had anticipated this day.

That it would arrive so soon was somewhat unexpected.

Indeed, Anyu discovering ‘her’ existence first made her uncontrollably happy.

Xie Wan looked at the familiar handwriting in the notebook, reaching out to gently stroke it, her heart tightening repeatedly.

“Xie Anyu…”

“Achoo!” Xiao Anyu, who also couldn’t sleep and thus sat on the roof of Wanyi Palace’s sleeping quarters looking at the moon, sneezed violently.

She rubbed her nose, sighing towards the moon, “Is Her Majesty thinking of me?”

“Lady, it’s cold at night, you should come down quickly,” Qingcui couldn’t help but call out from the courtyard.

Xie Anyu sighed, “Qingcui, I can’t sleep tonight.”

“What is Lady worrying about? Tell Qingcui, and it won’t weigh on your heart,” Qingcui was puzzled and curious. Her Lady, who usually slept so well, was actually troubled and couldn’t sleep.

Xie Anyu cupped her cheeks, shaking her head, “I can’t tell you, it’s someone else’s secret.”

“Why should Lady worry about someone else’s secret?”

“Because… maybe that secret wasn’t meant for me to know, but I accidentally found out,” Xie Anyu pouted. “What if she gets angry with me?”

The more Qingcui listened, the less she understood. “Who dares to make Lady angry? I’ll bully them back for Lady!”

Xie Anyu still shook her head, only saying in a voice she could hear herself, “I can’t even bear to touch her.”

Even when accompanying her for a few laps around the Martial Arts Ground, she was careful, afraid she might fall.

That person’s pulse was so weak, so weak that it felt like if she didn’t hold it in her hand, it would disappear.

“Qingcui, if you like something, won’t you inevitably treat it as a treasure?”

Qingcui nodded, “Things you like will naturally be cherished especially.”

Upon hearing this, Xie Anyu became even more troubled.

She should have known not to ‘ask’. If the sickly Emperor got angry with her, could she still go to the Northern Border to support her second cousin with peace of mind?

But she had already asked.

Sit and wait for death?

That would only make her unable to sleep.

Xie Anyu jolted up, shouting, “Qingcui!”

Qingcui was startled and quickly straightened up, “Lady?”

“I need to go to Her Majesty’s place. You rest first.”

Qingcui: Huh?

“But Lady, it’s so late at night, won’t Her Majesty be asleep?”

Anyu waved her hand, “If she’s asleep, I’ll come back.”

Qingcui wanted to say more, but suddenly a gust of wind blew, the figure on the roof flashed, and disappeared from her sight.

“Lady, you can’t walk on the roofs!”

Scaling walls and roofs in the palace, wouldn’t she be caught as an assassin!

An assassin, of course, was impossible to be mistaken for an assassin.

Lady Consort Wan of Wanyi Palace, every hidden guard in the palace had to recognize that Lady.

Why?

Because Lady was the only person who could enter Her Majesty’s sleeping quarters without announcement.

Guided by the moonlight, Xie Anyu quickly crossed the red walls and stone paths and arrived at the sleeping quarters.

The good news was that the lights in Her Majesty’s sleeping quarters were still on, and she hadn’t slept yet.

The even better news was that not only was she not asleep, but she had also come out.

Their gazes met where the moonlight converged.

Seeing the person a few meters away, Anyu’s heart skipped a beat.

Xie Wan wasn’t very surprised by Anyu’s sudden appearance. Standing still, she curved her lips, “What, you found out my secret, so you’re too anxious to sleep?”

Anyu met her gaze and said softly, “…Originally, I didn’t quite know, I just had doubts. But since Your Majesty is waiting for me here, then, Your Majesty is indeed not Your Majesty…”

“Yes.”

Receiving her personal confirmation, the tension in Anyu’s heart suddenly released.

The reason why the various things that ‘should have been’ contradicted what she saw and heard was this.

Because it was fundamentally not the same person.

“Then why do you look exactly the same?” Anyu became curious instead. If Her Majesty wasn’t Her Majesty, did no one around her notice? Was it a case of a civet cat for a crown prince? Or some other drama?

“Do you know, if this secret you know were to fall into the hands of others, I would have no choice but to take your life. And you still dare to ask these things?” Xie Wan feigned anger.

Anyu immediately shrank her neck.

She was going to be angry with her!

“Come here,” Xie Wan beckoned to her.

Xiao Anyu drooped her head and slowly shuffled towards her, whispering, “The wind is cold at night. If Your Majesty wants to be angry with me, let’s go inside to be angry.”

“Alright, let’s go inside to be angry,” Xie Wan chuckled.

Anyu secretly lifted her eyelids—

Hmm?

Why was Her Majesty smiling?

Taking off her shoes and socks, Anyu obediently sat cross-legged on the bed, waiting.

Xie Wan dismissed the hidden guards, and unhurriedly lit the lamp in the room before walking towards her.

Told to wait obediently, she was indeed very obedient, her gaze following her, not making a sound.

“When did you notice something was off about me?” Xie Wan came to her side, also took off her shoes and socks, and sat on the bed.

Anyu tilted her head, “When I entered the palace, I felt that Your Majesty was different from the Your Majesty I knew.”

“How different?” Xie Wan was surprised. Even Zhaoxia hadn’t initially noticed any discrepancy between her and Emperor Ruiming. Anyu had actually noticed?

“Your Majesty… was a little too good to me.”

At first, she could still convince herself that Her Majesty was good to her to win over the Xie family. But she was the person involved; how could she not feel whether that kindness was genuine or feigned?

But later, she couldn’t convince herself anymore.

Emperor Ruiming was diligent but incompetent, incapable and sickly. She had no foresight regarding the disaster relief in the north, nor the iron-blooded courage to execute Minister Qian.

A very important point was that Emperor Ruiming regarded Xu Ping as a great loyal minister and the Xie family as rebels. As for other things, Emperor Ruiming loved literature and also loved beauty, and these were naturally part of it.

“Your Majesty seems to know everything,” Anyu recalled carefully. “I only mentioned my eldest cousin to Your Majesty once, and Your Majesty let him enter officialdom. Everyone says Your Majesty dotes on me, but I always feel that Your Majesty truly knew that my eldest cousin had the talent to be an official, which is why you did that.”

Xie Wan watched her quietly, as if encouraging her to continue.

“It was the same during the disaster relief. Your Majesty sent Minister Li out early. And coincidentally, when there was a shortage of silver for disaster relief, that corruption case was investigated, and the assets of many corrupt officials were confiscated… It’s as if Your Majesty knew that the disaster in the north would be severe this year and the national treasury might not be enough, so you specifically went to confiscate their homes… The things found in the manor of Minister Qian’s wife’s cousin, my eldest cousin said, were priceless.”

“Your Majesty even knew that those things were hidden under the Buddhist shrine.”

“Couldn’t it be that my subordinates are capable?” Xie Wan asked with a smile.

Anyu raised an eyebrow, “If your subordinates were so capable, why did you have to borrow people from the Xie family to protect Minister Li going north at the beginning?”

Xie Wan smiled, “Perhaps I deliberately borrowed people from the Xie family to win over the Xie family.”

“That’s also possible. Your Majesty’s subordinates are indeed capable. Your Majesty sits high in the capital, yet you can give me so many brocade pouches, even knowing how to attack each stronghold. But if your subordinates are so capable, how could they not even find out how many bosses there were in Qianlong Stronghold?” Anyu spoke with excitement.

Xie Wan sighed, “When I saw your list of commendations, I knew I was speechless.”

Anyu nodded. In fact, there were many, many other suspicious points, but since she had admitted it, there was no need to continue.

Before coming here, Anyu was actually unsure if her guess was true.

Because she still had one question.

Anyu took her wrist, “If Your Majesty is not Your Majesty, what’s going on with this body?”

If it was a civet cat for a crown prince scenario, how did she hide it from the surrounding palace staff and imperial physicians?

“Who says I’m not Chu Long?”

Anyu: ?

“I am Chu Long now. A wandering spirit just happened to possess this Emperor’s body, that’s all. It’s not predicting things like a god; I was just fortunate enough to have seen the future of Da Yue. It was like a dream, and I don’t remember much.” Xie Wan spread her fingers. It had been half a year, and she was gradually getting used to this body.

Anyu’s eyes widened.

“No wonder you look exactly the same.” So it was just a change of core.

Xie Wan smiled as she looked at her. She knew that Anyu believed her words.

In this world, only Anyu would believe her.

“I’m a wandering spirit, aren’t you afraid?”

Anyu disliked the words ‘wandering spirit’ and blurted out, “No. Is Your Majesty being too modest? Someone like Your Majesty, I’d believe you were a deity.”

“Only deities save the world,” Anyu whispered. “It must be that Emperor Chu Long was incompetent, and even the heavens couldn’t stand it anymore, so they sent you here.”

Xie Wan chuckled. How did she not know that her younger self had such simple and cute thoughts?

“What about the original Chu Long?” Anyu suddenly became energetic. “She’s not still in this body, is she?”

“When I came, she was already gone,” Xie Wan told her with regret.

So that’s how it is.

Wait…

Anyu suddenly became nervous, “Why is Your Majesty telling me so much…”

So honest?

Xie Wan curved her lips. Finally, they were getting to the point.

She raised her hand and pinched that familiar face before slowly saying, “Xie Anyu, now, you guess, why am I so good to you?”

Anyu tilted her head, “Because I’m a daughter of the Xie family?”

“I knew you before I became a wandering spirit.”

Before becoming a wandering spirit…

She was alive before.

So she knew herself when she was alive.

Yes, how could someone be good to her for no reason?

Anyu opened her mouth, meeting her eyes, but then seemed unable to hold back, covering her face, “You absolutely cannot be my mother!”

Xie Wan: “…”

Hearing no sound, Anyu peeked through her fingers, cautiously looking at Xie Wan—

She had already reached out to support her forehead, her lips curved in a helpless smile, and the doting look in her eyes when she looked at herself, all illuminated by the moonlight, formed an extremely beautiful picture.

“Xie Anyu, you really dare to imagine.”

Since she said that, she was probably not her mother.

Anyu chuckled, “It’s good that you’re not my mother.”

Anyu’s relieved expression made Xie Wan feel a little mischievous. Leaning against the bed frame, she watched little Anyu at her leisure, her words like the devil’s whisper—

“I’m indeed not your mother, but I’m also called Xie Wan. What do you think?”