After Rebirth, My Wife Turned Out to Be Myself - Chapter 7

The next day, after the morning court session, a carriage was waiting at the palace gate.

“This is far enough, I’ll go back myself,” Xie Anyu said, waving her hand. With her bundle on her back, she bid farewell to the palace attendants who had come to see her off.

Then, lifting her skirt, she nimbly climbed into the carriage.

Pulling back the curtain, a certain Emperor was already waiting inside.

Today, Emperor Ruiming wasn’t wearing imperial robes. Instead, she had chosen a dignified dress with green bamboo embroidered on the hem. Her hair was styled up in a bun, adorned with a simple jade hairpin.

…She had an air of refined elegance. But despite the elegant attire, the look of disdain in her eyes made it believable if someone were to say she was a princess or imperial daughter of Da Yue.

“Your Majesty, dressed like this, you don’t look like the Emperor, but rather like one of the imperial consorts leaving the palace,” Xie Anyu teased, tilting her head. Who doesn’t like a beauty? This female Emperor did have some charm. But if she had to say, it was that spirit and temperament that were most captivating.

Xie Wan raised an eyebrow slightly, “Thank you for the compliment, Consort Wan. Consort Wan’s attire today is also very beautiful.” Unexpectedly, she hadn’t worn simple clothes, but a slightly more elaborate palace dress.

Xie Anyu coughed, “Well, I am an imperial consort now, after all.”

A smile appeared in Xie Wan’s eyes, “Then this bundle of yours is…?”

Xie Anyu immediately tightened her grip on the small bundle slung over her shoulder, “Just some personal belongings…”

“Consort Wan didn’t take my unique copy out of the palace, did you?”

Xie Anyu:!

“No…” Xie Anyu lowered her head.

Xie Wan smiled without speaking.

Seeing her look as if she knew everything, Xie Anyu felt a bit discouraged—

“The bundle contains my notebook of excerpts. The unique copy is precious, I didn’t take it out of the palace.”

“Copied it in a rush? No wonder there are dark circles under your eyes.” Xie Wan frowned slightly, “I told you not to read at night. But Consort Wan, you copied books at night. I was wondering, who are you planning to share this notebook of excerpts with, having copied it in such a hurry?”

Logically, Xie Anyu should have been scared by Xie Wan’s stern questioning, but at this moment, she looked very surprised, “How are you so smart?” She even knew she planned to share it with someone.

“This subject is indeed going to share it with someone. That person is my eldest cousin. To be honest with Your Majesty, I’ve always thought my eldest cousin has the talent of a strategist,” Xie Anyu recommended, “My eldest cousin is different from me; he has actually been to the battlefield. I believe he will have many insights after reading this unique copy.”

Xie Wan was noncommittal, “Complimenting me on being smart means I won’t hold it against you?”

Xie Anyu’s little scheme was exposed. She shrank her neck and lowered her head.

If the Emperor didn’t allow something from the imperial family to be seen, then don’t even think about seeing it. If you insisted on seeing it, it was a matter of losing your head.

That’s why she had copied it… intending to pull a fast one.

Unexpectedly, it was spotted at a glance even hidden in her bundle.

It was over now.

“For copying at night, you are fined three days of vegetarian meals,” Xie Wan said sternly.

Xie Anyu:!?

“Just… just three days of vegetarian meals?” The punishment was so light? Xie Anyu felt a bit dazed, had she misheard? Copying a unique copy hidden in the palace and taking it out—wasn’t that a crime punishable by losing one’s head?

“If there’s a next time, Wanyi Palace will have no meat for half a year,” Xie Wan said with a smile.

Xie Anyu:!

Although half a year was really long.

But this punishment… it was really too light.

Xie Anyu muttered in her heart, the Emperor was so good to her, she really wanted to win her and the Xie family over.

“Tell me about that eldest cousin of yours,” Xie Wan suddenly said.

Xie Anyu immediately perked up: “Okay!” Her eldest cousin, though not skilled in martial arts, truly possessed astonishing talent!

General Xie’s Manor did not consist of just one branch of the family.

Great General Xie was not an only child; he was the second eldest, with an older brother and a younger sister above him. These were the eldest branch and the third branch of the Xie family, Xie Anyu’s uncle’s family and younger aunt’s family. Both her uncle and younger aunt held military ranks, proving that the Xie family was indeed a lineage of generals. Whether it was her uncle or younger aunt, both were excellent generals in the army.

Among Xie Anyu’s generation, her older and younger brothers were also capable, it was just that compared to her, the champion of the hunting competition, their reputations weren’t as widespread.

This was also why, although Xie Chengdong loved his daughter the most, he still couldn’t defy the imperial decree and ultimately had to send his daughter into the palace according to the imperial will.

He could bear the crime of defying the decree alone or be beheaded by the Emperor, but defying the decree would inevitably implicate the entire Xie Manor. To avoid dragging down his elder brother and younger sister’s families, the Xie family had no choice but to push Xie Anyu forward.

As for Xie Anyu’s eldest cousin, Xie Yunyu, he was indeed ‘different’ among this generation of Xie family descendants.

The Xie family were all military talents, but Xie Yunyu was different; he loved to read. Instead of how to lead troops in battle, he preferred to study military strategy.

But if one were to say her eldest cousin was a scholar, that wasn’t quite right either.

He wouldn’t speak like a pedantic scholar. Compared to theorizing on paper, he preferred to see the battlefield for himself.

Xie Wan knew everything Xie Anyu said. After all… that was her eldest cousin too.

In the capital, some people occasionally compared Xu Shengwen of the Xu family with Xie Yunyu, saying that Xu Shengwen was exceptional in both literature and medicine. But the truth was, compared to Xu Shengwen, Xie Yunyu was more resilient and more knowledgeable.

It was just that Xie Yunyu’s talent was like his name. No one knew that the Xie family also had such a treasure, hidden very deeply.

It was only later, when Da Yue erupted in war, that Xie Yunyu finally displayed his great talent.

Xie Wan could honestly say that without her eldest cousin’s help, she might not have been able to clean up the mess in Da Yue later.

Listening intently as Xie Anyu praised her cousin, Xie Wan showed a hint of a smile. She knew everything Anyu said. But she still wanted to ‘know’ it from Anyu’s mouth, because her purpose for this trip, besides borrowing someone, was to win over her eldest cousin.

Xie Yunyu was quick-witted, probably not easy to handle.

In fact, Xie Wan remembered that her eldest cousin had once said, “The imperial examination is pedantic, the Emperor is incompetent. Unless Da Yue is facing a life-or-death crisis, why bother suffering this indignity in the imperial court?”

Getting him to enter officialdom and become a helper would likely be difficult.

To get a talented person, one would have to visit the Xie cottage three times.

…

Before noon, the carriage had slowly arrived in front of the General’s Manor. The two stone lions were very imposing and majestic, and the guards at the gate stood tall and straight, their eyes scanning the surroundings back and forth.

At first glance, they were much stronger than Xie Wan’s five thousand Imperial Guards.

The carriage stopped in front of the General’s Manor.

The gatekeeper approached, and the carriage curtain was lifted at this moment. The gatekeeper’s pupils contracted when he saw the person in the carriage, “Miss…”

Xie Anyu lifted her skirt and jumped out of the carriage nimbly, “Mm.”

The gatekeeper was stunned, “Miss, you, you… why are you back?” And, and she was wearing a dress and a hairpin. He almost didn’t recognize her in this attire.

Xie Anyu smiled, “Came back to take a look!”

The gatekeeper’s first reaction was that his young lady had escaped from the palace.

But soon, the carriage curtain was lifted again.

Xie Wan, dressed in a green robe, appeared before the gatekeeper.

“Consort Wan, wait for me .”

Hearing this self-address, the gatekeeper had no time to think further and immediately wanted to kneel, but was stopped by Xie Wan’s wave, “I am accompanying Consort Wan for the returning home ceremony. No need to make a fuss.”

Gatekeeper: Huh?

What ceremony?

Returning home?

“…Yes.” The gatekeeper was confused but still retreated to the side.

He didn’t know what the Emperor was thinking, but the young lady was here, and the young lady couldn’t be fake.

Xie Wan used Xie Anyu’s help to jump down from the carriage.

“Thank you, Consort Wan.”

Xie Anyu snorted softly, “Your Majesty should eat more.” Her wrist was so thin…

Gatekeeper:?

The gatekeeper looked at the two standing facing each other, and a strange feeling exploded in his heart, but he didn’t dare to examine it closely.

Xie Wan clasped her hands behind her back, raised her eyes to look directly at the gate of the Xie Manor before her, a hint of nostalgia flashing in her eyes.

“Let’s go, let’s go in and see General Xie.”

Xie Anyu nodded, turned back and asked the gatekeeper, “Is my father in?”

The gatekeeper whispered, “Miss, yes, he is.”

Xie Anyu patted his arm, “Go, go and inform my father, just say Her Majesty has arrived. Tell him to come out and greet her even with his ailing body.” The words ‘ailing body’ were emphasized heavily by Consort Wan.

Gatekeeper: Huh?

“Go! Run faster!” Xie Anyu pushed the gatekeeper hard.

The gatekeeper could only nod heavily and hurried into the manor.

Xie Wan glanced at the beauty beside her, not exposing little Anyu’s intention.

Whether Great General Xie was feigning illness or truly ill, didn’t she know?

However…

“Consort Wan, your hand.”

Anyu looked at the hand extended in front of her, raising her head blankly: “?”

“Hold my hand and go in.”

Xie Anyu: “…”

“I have been providing you with good food and drink in the palace. Now it’s Consort Wan’s turn to say a few good words for me in front of the General.” Don’t mention it, thinking of her own father’s temper, Xie Wan was still afraid that she, now Emperor Ruiming, would get beaten.

Xie Anyu cursed inwardly but still took her hand.

Xie Wan chuckled, “It seems Consort Wan is no longer angry about that imperial decree of mine .”

Xie Anyu snorted coldly and remained silent.

She wasn’t not angry with the Emperor.

Holding the Emperor’s hand and entering the Xie Manor wasn’t to anger her own father either.

It was just because she somewhat believed what the Emperor said. Cultivating the Xie family to counter the Xu family. This was balance.

Compared to what her father told her, saying that the Emperor of Da Yue was incompetent.

She believed what she saw more.

She always felt that the Emperor Ruiming before her would not push Da Yue and its people into the abyss.

If Da Yue could get better and better, then the Xie family serving as a chess piece for the Emperor was fine.

The Xie family had been generals for generations. All they sought was an era of peace and prosperity.