After Rebirth, My Wife Turned Out to Be Myself - Chapter 64

The moonlight deepened, the candlelight flickered gently, and the palace was quiet.

Xie Wan sat at her desk, flipping through a book. A hidden guard quietly came before her and reported, “Your Majesty, Prince Xian went to the General’s Manor.”

Xie Wan’s movement of turning the page slowed. Without lifting her head, she asked, “What did he go there for?”

“Prince Xian did not submit a calling card. He climbed over the wall alone and went to Her Ladyship’s courtyard. However, he didn’t stay long, leaving after just a few sentences.”

Xie Wan’s expression darkened. “Chu Tang seems quite attentive to my Consort Wan.”

He had gone to Wanyi Palace to look for her, and this time he even left the palace for a night visit to the General’s Manor.

“What did he say?”

“This subordinate feared Her Ladyship would notice, so I didn’t follow him in. However, I overheard a little from the corner of the courtyard. It seemed Her Ladyship had once promised Prince Xian some small trinkets but forgot, which is why he went to ask for them.” The hidden guard didn’t find this suspicious upon first hearing it.

In everyone’s eyes, although Prince Xian was a prince, he was still just a thirteen-year-old boy.

Moreover, Lady Consort Wan had a lively personality and got along with everyone, so there was no reason to suspect anything else.

However, given the hidden guard’s duty, he still had to report to Her Majesty.

“Mm, I understand.”

After listening, Xie Wan was indeed unconcerned.

Soon, the hidden guard withdrew, and Xie Wan continued flipping through the book in her hand.

Only this time, her attention was no longer on the book.

Asking for small trinkets, even going so far as to climb over the wall at the General’s Manor? Was Anyu very familiar with Chu Tang? Don’t be ridiculous, Anyu had been in the palace for less than a year.

How many times had Chu Tang even seen her?

Based on Xie Wan’s understanding of Chu Tang, leaving the palace and climbing a wall to find Anyu was already unexpected.

A thirteen-year-old Chu Tang might be a bit naive, but his nature wouldn’t change.

Unless… something unexpected had happened to him.

He must have gone to find Anyu because there was something he wanted to know, something only Anyu knew, or something he had to learn from Anyu’s mouth.

But asking for small trinkets was baffling.

Xie Wan withdrew her wandering thoughts, thinking that with just this much information, even she couldn’t guess more, but there was nothing to worry about either.

After all, Chu Tang was only thirteen now. She hoped he wouldn’t do anything foolish.

Suddenly, a gust of wind blew, and the candlelight in front of Xie Wan flickered a few times but didn’t go out.

Someone had arrived.

She sensed something and gently curved her lips.

“I thought you were enjoying yourself so much at the General’s Manor you’d forgotten to return.”

The figure who had sneaked in stiffened.

“How did Your Majesty know it was me?” came Xiao Anyu’s dejected voice from behind the bookshelf.

“No hidden guard reported it,” Xie Wan looked over towards the sound. “Who else would dare to barge into my sleeping quarters besides you?”

Anyu pouted and walked closer. “Your Majesty should just have the hidden guards stop me.”

“If I had them stop you, you would have been blocked the moment you reached the entrance to my palace.”

Anyu became even more depressed upon hearing this. It was true, she didn’t want to have to wait for a report every time she came to Her Majesty’s palace.

“Your Majesty, it’s late. Why aren’t you resting?”

“Reading for a bit.” Xie Wan didn’t move, didn’t put down the book, and didn’t even spare her more than a glance.

Anyu wrinkled her nose and complained, “You never let me read at night! It’s like the magistrate is allowed to burn down houses while the common people aren’t even allowed to light lamps!”

“I am not a magistrate, I am the Emperor.”

She still wasn’t looking at her. Anyu, feeling quite petulant, came to her side, then reached out and snatched the book from her hand. “Your Majesty, we haven’t seen each other for a few days, don’t you miss me?”

Xie Wan looked up at her. “Isn’t it Lady Consort Wan who was enjoying herself so much she forgot to return?”

Anyu choked, her voice becoming much quieter due to being in the wrong. “Well… well, didn’t I come back to see you…?”

“Did you come back to see me, or do you have something to ask me?” Xie Wan looked up at her, her gaze direct.

Anyu chuckled, “Both.”

Anyu looked eagerly at the spot beside her. “Your Majesty, you haven’t even granted me a seat.”

The ‘Grand Tutor’s chair’ that came with the desk was very wide; two adults could sit on it, though it would be a bit crowded. But for the two of them, it was just right.

Xie Wan sighed and moved over to the left.

Anyu sat down close to her, her face showing a foolish, contented smile.

Xie Wan couldn’t help but soften her gaze. Was she that happy to see her? Xie Wan couldn’t describe the feeling. But this taste of being cared for was both unfamiliar and subtly sweet to her.

In this moment of distraction, she saw the person in front of her move, followed by a soft touch on her cheek.

A touch and then gone.

Xie Wan touched her face, looking at her with a dark gaze.

Under the candlelight, Xie Anyu’s gaze darted away, her cheeks slightly flushed. “Although I have something to ask, I missed Your Majesty even more.”

“Kiss here.” Xie Wan pointed to her own lips.

Anyu: !

Xie Wan looked at her, making no move, as if waiting, waiting for her to lean in and kiss her.

Anyu whispered that she didn’t know how, but still tentatively moved a little closer.

The distance between the two was already very small.

Just as Anyu’s lips were about to touch hers, the person waiting for the kiss suddenly moved.

Their lips met.

But unlike the last time when she said ‘let’s try’.

This time was more intense.

A soft tongue tip explored her mouth, stirring wantonly, even trying to entangle with her tongue.

Anyu trembled, “Mm…”

But her waist was held by her, and she could only weakly keep her eyes open, letting herself be devoured little by little.

Yet, she felt at ease.

Your Majesty, it seems, missed her too.

Her mood also became fervent, and Anyu learned to kiss back.

The candlelight shone, casting two shadows as one.

After the kiss, both were slightly breathless. They looked at each other, saw each other’s rosy lips, and suddenly smiled.

It wasn’t until the blush on their faces faded that they realized the outside was completely quiet and the night was deep.

“You came back to the palace to find me to talk about Chu Tang.” Xie Wan looked at the languid Anyu leaning against her, and simply leaned back, allowing her to lie more comfortably in her arms.

They had done this countless times on the way back to the capital. She liked holding Anyu, and Anyu liked leaning on her.

“Your Majesty knew?”

“Mm, Xu Ping left the Censorate Office. To be safe, I sent hidden guards to follow you,” she explained to her.

Anyu didn’t feel anything was wrong and hummed twice in agreement.

“So, what did he go to find you for, even climbing over a wall?”

“He was full of grievance and anger, feeling that I had given my favorite pillow to Your Majesty but forgot to bring him some small trinkets.”

Xie Wan raised an eyebrow. “How did he know that pillow was your favorite?”

Anyu also shook her head. “I’ve only met Chu Tang a few times. I don’t know how he knew. But his aggrieved and angry look, as if I had wronged him in some way,” it gave her goosebumps.

“Such abrupt behavior makes me feel very strange.” Anyu straightened up from her embrace, rubbed her chin, and said carefully, “Does Your Majesty know something?”

Why did Chu Tang suddenly come to find her and say those things?

After Chu Tang left, Anyu shouldn’t have cared, but the more she thought about it, the stranger it felt. “And he even called me Sister Wan.”

Xie Wan’s hand on Anyu’s waist paused. “He called you Sister Wan?”

“Mm. That form of address is too strange.” Xie Anyu asked her, “Am I thinking too much?”

‘Xie Wan’ was also her full name, but she used it very rarely. Her family and close acquaintances called her Anyu, and those she wasn’t familiar with naturally didn’t need to address her by her full name.

Chu Tang’s abrupt behavior and form of address gave Anyu the illusion that he wasn’t calling her, but another Xie Wan.

The more she thought about it, the more something felt off, so Anyu simply came to ask the ‘other Xie Wan’.

“I’m afraid you’re not thinking too much.” Xie Wan chuckled softly. “In my previous life, Chu Tang did like to call me that.”

Anyu was startled. “Your Majesty means…”

Xie Wan replied lightly, “It’s not impossible. Is it?”

If even she could be reborn from a lonely ghost into the current Emperor of Da Yue, then it wasn’t impossible for Chu Tang either.

“Then…”

“Assuming Chu Tang is the Chu Tang from the previous life, then the reason he came to find you this time becomes simple.”

Anyu didn’t speak, just listened as she continued.

“In the previous life, Chu Tang inherited the throne after Emperor Ruiming’s death and became the Emperor. But clearly, the reality before him now has been turned upside down. What is the variable in this?” Xie Wan said in a deep voice, “It is me.”

“But coincidentally, the day I was reborn as Emperor Ruiming almost overlapped with the day you entered the palace.” Xie Wan’s thoughts were clear. “He only needs to compare it slightly with his memories to know that everything started to change after you entered the palace. So, it’s possible he thought you were the one who was reborn.”

“However, all of this is just speculation, without any evidence.” After Xie Wan finished speaking, she looked at Anyu, but seeing her silent, she smiled gently. “What’s wrong?”

Anyu suddenly grabbed her sleeve. “Your Majesty. In the previous life, Emperor Ruiming died?”

Xie Wan: “…”

She let it slip.

“How did she die? Your Majesty is using her body now, so will you…” When Anyu heard Xie Wan say Chu Long died, her first reaction was that she died of illness.

Chu Long’s health wasn’t good, so dying of illness really wasn’t strange.

But the one using Chu Long’s body now was…

Xie Wan hugged her. “Anyu, calm down.”

Anyu blinked and calmed down.

“This body is right in front of you, can’t you tell if it’s good or bad?”

Anyu was speechless. Indeed, Her Majesty’s body was much better now.

“However, Emperor Ruiming might not have died of illness.” Xie Wan narrowed her eyes. “Thinking about it now, after Emperor Ruiming died that year, Chu Tang was the only bloodline left in the Chu imperial family.”

After Emperor Ruiming’s death, it went without saying who the Da Yue Empire ultimately belonged to.

Anyu didn’t know much about Xie Wan’s previous life experiences, and hearing this now left her completely confused. “Chu Tang killed his own imperial sister and seized the throne? But why would he come looking for me… Does he think I changed Your Majesty, turning you from an incompetent and foolish emperor into a wise and decisive ruler? Is that possible?”

Xie Wan thought to herself, Wise and decisive? Xiao Anyu really knew how to praise people.

“Although it sounds a bit absurd, it’s not impossible.” Xie Wan sighed softly. “You said earlier that he came to find you with a lot of grievance and anger. It’s likely he thought you were also reborn but didn’t help him, choosing instead to help Emperor Ruiming, and thus felt angry. In the previous life, Chu Tang was able to ascend the throne because I personally quelled the rebellions, resolved internal troubles, and personally helped him up.”

Xie Wan spoke frankly. “After Emperor Ruiming’s death, Da Yue faced internal strife and external threats. I also left the palace and donned armor to go into battle. Later, when the world was stable, I became the Regent King of Da Yue and supported Chu Tang in ascending the throne as the new emperor.”

Anyu tried hard to digest what she said. After thinking it through, she asked a question: “Chu Tang, did he like you?”

Xie Wan didn’t expect her to ask such a question and immediately paused, but soon, she gently nodded. “But I refused.”

Anyu: “Does Your Majesty not like him?”

Xie Wan felt this question was complicated to explain, but thinking that Anyu was essentially her, she asked Anyu in return, “Do you like Chu Tang?”

Anyu thought for a moment and shook her head.

She didn’t like Chu Tang. From their first meeting, Anyu had discovered that he deliberately hid his martial arts skills and put on a show in front of her. So after that, no matter what, she couldn’t bring herself to like this thirteen-year-old boy who was quite scheming.

“You don’t like him, so naturally I don’t like him either.” Xie Wan stroked her head.

“Your Majesty likes me.” Anyu’s eyes were bright, as if searching for an answer in her eyes.

“Yes, I like you.” This time, Xie Wan wasn’t drawn by those eyes, but instead focused her gaze on the lips that were opening and closing.

She herself was indeed quite good to kiss.

Anyu’s reactions always delighted her.

But then again.

In the previous life, Chu Tang liked her. Would the Chu Tang of this life… also like Anyu?

Xie Wan thought to herself, This won’t do.

Anyu’s thoughts were also in chaos at this moment.

Although Her Majesty liked her, if Chu Tang was truly from the previous life, then the two had known each other for a long time… and this Chu Tang even liked Her Majesty.

Anyu bit her lip. This wouldn’t do.

Quietly, she included Chu Tang in the category of ‘love rivals’.

Xie Wan saw this scene and touched her lips. “Don’t bite.”

Anyu blinked and suddenly whispered, “Your Majesty, am I good to kiss?”

Xie Wan chuckled, “Good to kiss.”

“Then kiss me again.”

Xie Wan’s fingertips trembled, and as she kissed her, a fleeting doubt flashed in her mind—

Where did little Anyu learn such seductive tricks?

Anyu was much more skilled this time.

Her whole body felt hot from being kissed by her.

Finally, she leaned on Xie Wan’s shoulder, panting, and the unwillingness in her heart also dissipated.

What if they had known each other for many years?

Hmph, it doesn’t matter!