After Rebirth, My Wife Turned Out to Be Myself - Chapter 47

After this, the two seemed to tacitly avoid meeting.

But two days later, the Xie family’s Younger Aunt came to the palace.

Anyu crawled out from under the covers and, hearing Qingcui’s report, was stunned. “My Younger Aunt is here?”

Qingcui nodded. “Yes, Your Ladyship. Madam has already arrived at the front hall of Wanyi Palace.”

Anyu sat up abruptly. “Qingcui, quickly help me comb my hair!”

Qingcui smiled. “Yes.”

The Xie family’s Younger Aunt, the only sister in the previous generation of the Xie family, differed from Xie Anyu mainly in temperament, and the way the Xie family raised her was also different.

Although the Younger Aunt also knew martial arts and even had a husband who married into the family, her temperament was gentle, not the stereotypical fierce woman people imagined.

Though she was the Younger Aunt, for Anyu, whose mother died early, the Younger Aunt was like half a mother to her.

Anyu hurried to the front hall. The Younger Aunt had already been waiting there for a while.

The daughters raised by the Xie family were all exceptional, and Xie Qingyun was a beauty among beauties. Whether in temperament or appearance, Xie Qingyun was second to none.

Now over thirty, her dignified and mature charm, coupled with a purple-brown dress, was still stunningly beautiful. It was hard to imagine she was the mother of a half-grown boy.

“Younger Aunt!”

Xie Qingyun rose and bowed. “Xie Qingyun pays respects to…”

Before she could finish, Xie Anyu held her hand, preventing her from completing the bow. “Younger Aunt, why so formal? Are you trying to embarrass me?”

Seeing this, Xie Qingyun smiled. “After all, this is the palace.”

“Don’t worry, no one in Wanyi Palace dares to say anything extra,” Anyu grinned.

Xie Qingyun flicked her nose. “You’re already a consort, yet you’re still like a child, without any proper bearing.”

“Younger Aunt is right!” Anyu said with a beaming smile.

She had been unhappy these past two days, but seeing her Younger Aunt made her mood much better.

“Younger Aunt, why did you come to the palace? Did you bring me something good to eat?” Anyu looked around and asked.

“Her Majesty invited me. I didn’t understand Her Majesty’s intention at first, but after seeing you…” Xie Qingyun frowned slightly as she spoke. “Anyu, you are not happy here in the palace.”

She had watched little Anyu grow up with her own eyes. This rather haggard complexion, and the lingering bloodshot eyes, might have been overlooked if not for her smiling facade.

Her Majesty invited Younger Aunt?

Thinking of this, Anyu’s smile stiffened, and she lowered her head. “No… it’s just that I’ve encountered some things recently.”

Xie Qingyun sighed softly. “Do you want to tell Younger Aunt about it?”

Anyu pursed her lips.

Since she was little, she would tell her Younger Aunt about any troubles she had. When she was young and ignorant, she broke her father’s vase in a fit of pique and was chased by him to be beaten. It was her Younger Aunt who pulled her behind her, carefully protecting her from the blows.

“It’s not something easy to speak of…” Anyu said softly.

No matter how close she was to her Younger Aunt, she understood that everything Her Majesty told her that night was a secret she couldn’t reveal to anyone.

Xie Qingyun pulled her to sit down. “That’s alright. Her Majesty summoned me to the palace probably just to keep you company. Anyu, Younger Aunt still says the same thing: if you’re not comfortable in the palace, just leave. Even if the sky falls, your father and your eldest brother will be there to hold it up.”

“I am comfortable,” Anyu pursed her lips. “It’s just…”

“It’s just that you can’t bear to leave,” Xie Qingyun looked at her and smiled. “Is that right?”

“Younger Aunt…”

Xie Qingyun sighed. “Anyu has grown up.”

She was an experienced person; how could she not understand?

This haggard look was due to being hurt by love. Anyu was in the palace, and the object of this affection, who caused her pain, was self-evident.

“Younger Aunt,” Anyu shook her head and said glumly, “I’m just a child.”

If she were truly an adult, perhaps she wouldn’t have been so uselessly hiding in Wanyi Palace, feeling sad for two days.

“You’ll be seventeen in a few days, how can you still be a child?” Younger Aunt stroked her head. “But I don’t understand… Her Majesty clearly cares about you so much.”

Anyu paused. She knew that in her Younger Aunt’s eyes, she and Her Majesty were probably mutually in love.

But the truth was…

“I heard from your father and eldest brother that Her Majesty has been unhappy these past two days, and the atmosphere in court has also been bad. The officials are all uneasy. Then Her Majesty summoned me to the palace, and only then did I realize it might be related to you.”

“Her Majesty is also unhappy…” Anyu was startled.

“Yes,” Younger Aunt nodded. “My little Anyu, you truly have become somewhat of a ‘favored consort’ now.”

Anyu’s cheeks flushed slightly at the teasing. “Younger Aunt, it’s not…” Her voice trailed off as she spoke. “Her Majesty just sees me as a child; she won’t fall for me…”

So that was the crux of the problem. Younger Aunt gently stroked Anyu’s face. “Anyu, people don’t stay sixteen forever. My Anyu is intelligent and brave; who wouldn’t like her?”

“Besides, she wants to dote on you so much at sixteen that the whole world knows… You should ask Her Majesty instead, when you are in your prime in a few years, does she have the confidence that she will absolutely not fall for you?”

Anyu froze. Yes, people don’t stay sixteen forever.

“Her Majesty treats you like a child, but I think Her Majesty is more like a child who hasn’t experienced love,” Younger Aunt chuckled. “How can someone both dote on you and reject you? It’s more like she’s afraid of falling for you, which is why she did something so disorganized.”

“No…” Anyu instinctively retorted.

Her Majesty dotes on her because she is herself. Her Majesty rejects her precisely because she is herself.

However, hearing Younger Aunt say ‘afraid of falling for you’, Anyu couldn’t help but feel happy. It wasn’t impossible, was it? What if she did fall for herself?

“Younger Aunt’s mouth is like it’s smeared with honey. If you keep talking, I’ll start thinking Her Majesty is madly in love with me,” Anyu mumbled softly, but she had to admit that talking to her Younger Aunt had made her feel much better.

Xie Qingyun smiled. “Actually, Anyu, the key to this matter isn’t Her Majesty. It’s you.”

Anyu: ?

“Anyu, do you want to give up now, or do you want to try?” Xie Qingyun’s words exploded in Anyu’s ears.

The key, was it herself?

She lowered her head, looking at her calloused hands, and couldn’t help but recall her childhood.

She had always been strong-willed.

She wanted to be a great general, so she practiced martial arts diligently. Even when she cried from exhaustion as a child, she never stopped.

The word ‘give up’ had almost never appeared in her heart.

But Younger Aunt said ‘try’? Her Majesty’s subtle rejection that night seemed to be the biggest obstacle she had encountered since birth, like an invisible, boundless wall standing before her, blocking her path.

So, should she give up now and erase this moment of infatuation?

She was both unwilling and unable to let go.

Anyu’s eyes gradually cleared.

Yes, if she didn’t try, how would she know the outcome?

She was only sixteen.

After the Xie family’s Younger Aunt left, Anyu seemed to recover and no longer confined herself to Wanyi Palace.

Hearing this news, Xie Wan breathed a slight sigh of relief.

It seemed summoning the Younger Aunt to the palace was indeed a good idea.

With this, she could feel a little more at ease.

A sixteen-year-old child, experiencing first love, it was inevitable to feel sad. But time could heal everything.

Xie Wan curved her lips. Leave it to time, that would be best.

Suddenly, there was a slight movement outside, and Zhaoxia’s voice was heard: “Your Majesty, Consort Wan has arrived.”

Xie Wan: “…”

Speak of the devil?

Xie Wan looked up. The door was just pushed open, and a small head peeked in. “Your Majesty, are you busy?”

Their eyes met, and Anyu’s eyes were filled with frankness.

She was no longer upset, which gradually made Xie Wan feel happier. “Not busy. You look like you have something to tell me .”

“I do.”

Anyu came before her and found a stool to sit on. “Thank you, Your Majesty, for summoning Younger Aunt to keep me company.”

“You always tell your troubles to Younger Aunt.”

Anyu gave a thumbs-up. “Your Majesty is truly me!” She even knew this.

Xie Wan chuckled. She really did seem much more energetic.

“But I didn’t tell Younger Aunt… about Your Majesty’s matter.”

“Mm, I know you have discretion.”

Anyu was praised and beamed with joy.

“You came to see me today because…” Xie Wan was actually very curious about what Younger Aunt had said to Anyu.

Anyu cleared her throat.

Xie Wan: ?

“When I’m unhappy, Your Majesty can find Younger Aunt to accompany me. But Your Majesty can’t find Younger Aunt, right?” Anyu said, blushing. “If Your Majesty is unhappy about anything, just tell me.”

Xie Wan’s gaze instantly became complicated.

She naturally wouldn’t seek out Younger Aunt if she had something on her mind. Firstly, she wasn’t sixteen this year. Secondly, she was now Chu Long, the Emperor of Da Yue.

But the meaning behind Anyu’s words…

“Xie Anyu, I told you, you should give up,” Xie Wan said in a deep voice.

Anyu also immediately became serious, her gaze firm. “No. In Xie Anyu’s dictionary, there is no word ‘give up’ from childhood to adulthood! Your Majesty should know this better than I do.”

Xie Wan fell silent. Her most worried situation had occurred.

“Before sixteen, Your Majesty might have understood me completely. But from now on, Xie Anyu will be different from the one you know,” Anyu stood up and said with certainty.

Xie Wan curled her lips in a mocking manner. “How is it different?”

She seemed to be ridiculing her decision.

Anyu cupped Xie Wan’s face, trying to make her see all the seriousness in her eyes. “From now on, I have my own goals: to be a general of Da Yue, and also to be your Empress.”

Her eyes were bright like stars, firm and honest.

She said ‘to be’, not ‘to want to be’.

Xie Anyu, once her mind was made up, no one could change it, not even ‘herself’.

She knew herself best. What kind of person was Xie Wan? Once she had a goal, she would achieve it by any means necessary. Although Anyu was young and hadn’t reached that level yet, these ‘bad habits’ seemed to be budding.

Thinking of this, Xie Wan actually felt a hint of fear.

“Be the Empress? I can immediately issue a decree sending you to the Northern region to guard the border until you die!”

Her tone was light, yet contained a hint of genuine intent.

Anyu’s heart tightened, and she immediately became angry. “Then Your Majesty better keep a close eye on me, otherwise, once I gain military command in the North, I’ll kill my way back to the capital and force you to make me Empress!”

When pushed too hard, there was nothing she couldn’t do.

Even Xie Wan couldn’t help but close her eyes and curse, “Madman.”

Anyu laughed and nodded heavily. “Exactly, a madman.”

How could she not be mad?

Who among ordinary people would fall in love with themselves?

But she just did fall in love.

She didn’t think it was wrong, and she even planned to make this person fall in love with her too.