After Rebirth, My Wife Turned Out to Be Myself - Chapter 87

A month later, Anyu led her army to break through the royal capital of West Jin.

It only took two months for the Da Yue Empire’s Western Expeditionary Army to capture the West Jin capital! This sounded incredibly unbelievable, but it was indeed accomplished.

After stationing troops in West Jin, Anyu immediately led a portion of her army to reinforce the Da Yue Empire’s Eastern Expeditionary Army, which was the army led by Xie Wan.

West Jin was already at the end of its tether after several civil wars, which was why it could be taken down within two months.

But East Ming was different. Although East Ming was not primarily a warring nation, its national military strength was considerable. Taking down its royal city was by no means a task that could be accomplished in a single day.

Finally…

After another month of stalemate, and after Da Yue captured eight border cities of East Ming,

East Ming surrendered.

Xie Wan’s idea of unifying the three nations was already widely known.

If East Ming did not surrender, it could only fight Xie Wan to the bitter end.

And clearly, given that the opponent could break their ten-thousand-strong border army with only seventy thousand troops, the final outcome of a bitter struggle was already evident.

Da Yue was stronger than East Ming in both weaponry and military strength.

Therefore, when ten cities were breached, East Ming proposed surrender.

The Emperor of East Ming was so similar to the former Emperor Ruiming.

They did not want to be the ruler of a fallen state, nor did they want to face their ancestors without shame after death. They also did not want to sacrifice more common people, nor did they want to be cursed and pointed at.

What was wrong with surrendering? The common people could live, everyone could live.

Cowardly and humiliating, yet also considering the overall situation.

Surrender was the only way.

East Ming surrendered, and the West Jin capital was broken. This meant that the war was over.

If someone had said in the past that Da Yue would one day unify the three nations, probably no one would have believed it.

But the fact was laid bare before them, making it impossible not to believe. This war, including the preparation time, lasted just over a year in total.

Signing the surrender document also meant that East Ming was officially removed from history, replaced by several vast northern prefectures added to Da Yue.

That’s right, West Jin and East Ming were divided into several prefectures, managed by officials dispatched from the Da Yue capital.

But those were matters for later.

Now that the Northern Campaign was over, everyone, including Xie Wan, the Emperor, had to return to the capital, except for the troops needed to garrison West Jin and East Ming.

The subsequent tasks she, as the ruler of the three nations, needed to handle were countless.

Thinking of this, Xie Wan couldn’t help but feel a bit depressed.

She didn’t want to be Emperor, but now she had to be the Emperor of three nations. The dream Chu Long sent her only showed the future prosperity of Da Yue, but it didn’t show how many white hairs Chu Tang, who became Emperor, would have on his head.

She thought, at least she didn’t want to have a head full of white hair at a young age.

Coming out of the East Ming palace, Anyu led her horse and followed closely behind the person riding ahead. The East Ming people on the road, seeing them, showed some fear and quickly avoided them.

This war was initiated by Da Yue, which might have been an undeserved disaster for the people of West Jin and East Ming.

Fear was not strange.

Anyu couldn’t help but recall the appearance of the East Ming Emperor when he was forced to hand over his golden crown and imperial seal after signing the surrender document.

“I beg Your Majesty… to treat East Ming well in the future… to treat the people of the northern prefectures well.” The East Ming Emperor, no longer an emperor, had a face full of vicissitudes, as if he had aged decades in an instant.

Treat them well?

In fact, no matter which city the Da Yue army broke through, they never burned, killed, or looted, and they did not use harsh methods against the common people.

Let them be afraid.

Anyu believed that in the future, under Her Majesty’s leadership, these northern people would only get better and better, just like the people in the northern regions of Da Yue.

Anyu pulled the reins and caught up with the horse ahead. Looking at Xie Wan, whose expression was still calm, she couldn’t help but feel a little heartache.

These things… Her Majesty must have experienced them once before.

In the eyes of the Da Yue people, Her Majesty was the Ziwei Star who could unify the world, but in the eyes of the people of other nations, she might be the evil spirit who ignited the flames of war.

She had probably experienced a lot of criticism and abuse in the past before finally securing her position as Regent King.

Anyu pursed her lips and couldn’t help but ask, “Your Majesty, the war is settled. We should be able to return to the capital soon, right?”

“Mm.” Xie Wan nodded.

“Before, Your Majesty said your wish was for peace under heaven. Now that peace is in sight, Your Majesty doesn’t seem very happy.”

“I’m not unhappy, I just get a headache thinking that in the future I won’t just be the Emperor of Da Yue, but also the Emperor of West Jin and East Ming.” Xie Wan lowered her eyes, looking quite resentful.

Anyu paused, then suddenly smiled again.

She truly didn’t care about the expressions on the faces of those common people.

At this moment, what she was thinking about was the prospect of being too busy in the future.

“What are you laughing at?”

“Nothing, I just think Your Majesty’s worries are very reasonable. Your Majesty has no successor, so it seems you won’t be able to step down anytime soon.”

Xie Wan stared at her for a while, “Then I’ll drag you to the Imperial Study to accompany me in reviewing memorials.”

Anyu: “…”

Xie Wan chuckled. She didn’t like being Emperor, so how much could Anyu like it?

“But you’re right, I should also consider the matter of having a child.” Xie Wan sighed, “I don’t want to sit on this position until I die.”

Anyu asked, “Does Your Majesty have any ideas?”

“There are many children in this world who have no parents. I’ll just choose a suitable one and bring them into the palace to raise…”

“Will you choose a boy or a girl?”

“It depends on fate,” Xie Wan said with a smile.

She smiled. Anyu felt a little dazed. So she had been mistaken just now.

With peace under heaven, Her Majesty was clearly happy.

Right, she remembered asking Her Majesty a few years ago what her birthday wish was.

Her Majesty had said then that she hoped for peace under heaven.

Now that the wish had been realized, how could there be any reason not to be happy?

“I will stay with Your Majesty,” Anyu suddenly said.

Xie Wan suddenly curved her lips, “Then come here.”

Anyu: ?

“Come onto my horse, or I’ll come onto yours.”

Anyu widened her eyes, “Your Majesty, this is on the official road of East Ming.” Although the situation was special at the moment and there were hardly any people on the roads of East Ming, two people riding the same horse was still too…

Xie Wan looked at her with a smile, “Coming?”

“…Coming.”

Xie Anyu wasn’t that squeamish. Although she was easily shy, there was hardly anyone around here, right?

Although she saw Her Majesty every day during the time they were fighting East Ming, they couldn’t do anything… even their camp tents were quite far apart.

She missed her.

Anyu held her hand, wanting to use the leverage to get onto the horse, but she was pulled forward and sat in front, settling into Xie Wan’s embrace.

Anyu leaned back slightly, relaxing, and suddenly thought of something. She said playfully, “Like this, it feels like being in the palace.”

She liked sitting in her embrace and reading. Although, now they were on a horse.

“However, if someone saw this, my prestige as a general of the Northern Campaign army would be gone.”

“You are also my Consort Wan.”

“That’s only something the people of Da Yue know!”

“In the future, the people of the whole world will know.”

Anyu fell silent, only feeling that the setting sun’s light was a bit dazzling.

“Your Majesty, I used to think that being a general was great. Being able to give orders, being the most powerful person on the battlefield. But now… I don’t think that way anymore.”

“Why?”

“Because the making of a famous general always requires countless battles.” Anyu lightly pursed her lips, “It’s better to have no war.”

“Mm.”

What Anyu experienced was what Xie Wan had experienced before. In fact, the latter’s experiences were even more brutal.

When they were young, they both had a dream of becoming a general.

Only after truly growing up did they realize that peace was the most precious thing.

“After returning to Da Yue, I will take off this battle robe. If possible, I hope there will never be a war that requires me to don armor and go into battle again.”

“You can. Peace has already arrived under heaven.” Xie Wan smiled, gently kissing the back of her head, “Anyu, I am very happy.”

“Huh?”

Xie Wan gazed into the distance at the dazzling evening glow.

Thinking, how could she not be happy?

The little eaglet she raised had grown up. This made her even happier than taking down East Ming and West Jin.

Lowering her head, she saw the red string on Anyu’s neck, “What are you wearing around your neck?”

“It’s the jade token Your Majesty gave me.” Anyu reached up and hooked the thin string around her neck, pulling out the token, “Does Your Majesty remember what you promised before the campaign? After returning to the palace, you would let me ‘turn over the token’.”

The jade token was probably warmed by her skin.

Xie Wan watched her gently stroke the raised name on the token, her heart stirring.

“Your Majesty? Could it be you want to go back on your word?”

“Of course not. I promised Consort Wan that after your triumphant return and becoming Empress, I would let you do as you please.”

Let her do as she pleased… Absurd images couldn’t help but pop into Anyu’s mind. Her eyelids lowered, and her eyes held an unknown impatience.

She also wanted to see Her Majesty look comfortable…

Xie Wan lowered her head slightly, restraining the urge to bite that tempting red earlobe, and whispered in her ear, “Anyu.”

“Mm?” She responded softly with a nasal sound.

“What are you thinking about?”

The heat by her ear made Anyu tremble all over, her face flushing red.

Xie Wan looked at the person leaning in her embrace, a faint smile slowly curving her lips, and her peach blossom eyes narrowed accordingly.

“Anyu, do you like me?”

“I like you,” the little general said as a matter of course.

Xie Wan couldn’t help but reach out and gently stroke the corner of Anyu’s eye.

This angle prevented her from seeing Anyu’s eyes.

But she knew what kind of gaze it was.

Steadfast, bright, fearless.

Just like back then, just like now. It seemed that no matter when, she would be attracted by Anyu’s appearance.

She had, after all, raised Anyu into someone different from ‘her current self’.

And she was even infatuated with it.

Xie Wan thought, she was truly hopeless.

“What about Your Majesty, do you like me?”

“I like you,” Xie Wan also said in a matter-of-fact tone.

A month later.

Except for the troops stationed in East Ming and West Jin, the Northern Campaign army collectively returned triumphantly to the capital.

On the day of their return, the Prime Minister led the hundred officials and ten thousand common people to welcome them.

Celebration—

The land is settled.

The world has one ruler.

The next morning, a banquet was held in the army camp to reward the three armies.

When it came to awarding merits to General Xie, one of the commanders of the Northern Campaign army—

Her Majesty asked her, “General Xie has repeatedly performed meritorious deeds during the Western Campaign. The Da Yue army was able to break through the West Jin capital in just two months, and General Xie’s contributions are indispensable. General Xie, is there anything you wish for me to bestow upon you?”

General Xie rose from beside Her Majesty, walked directly to the front, and knelt on one knee, asking, “Anything I want, will Your Majesty give it?”

As soon as these words were spoken, the officials sensed something was amiss.

Before they could think further, General Xie said with a smile, “Then I want Your Majesty’s position as Empress.”

The officials suddenly looked at Her Majesty.

But Her Majesty only smiled and said, “Good.”

Watching this, the officials could not bring themselves to say, “Your Majesty, please reconsider.”

Never mind…

What did it matter whether she was Empress or not?

Anyway, there could only be Consort Wan in the imperial harem.

The historian, also present at the banquet, stroked his beard and picked up his brush, writing a new page in the history of Da Yue—

In the eleventh year of Ruiming of Da Yue, the Emperor unified the world, crushing the two nations to the east and west within a year and establishing them as prefectures.

During the banquet, the General of the Northern Campaign was established as the new Empress, granted the title, Empress Rui’an.

End of Main Story