After Rebirth, My Wife Turned Out to Be Myself - Extra 1

Xie Anyu remembered that Her Majesty had told her in a letter that people with obsessions might see the ‘future’.

Just like Chu Tang, or for instance, Chu Long who appeared in Her Majesty’s dream.

Could she also have an obsession?

Anyu looked at the ‘self’ in front of her, who was clearly several years younger, and couldn’t help but fall into thought.

She looked up and around. The palace walls, the courtyard, every blade of grass and every tree were exceptionally familiar. This was Wanyi Palace, no doubt.

The person in front of her had the exact same features as her, wearing a Da Yue palace dress for consorts, but her demeanor and bearing were much more dignified than her own. At least Anyu was certain that at that age, she absolutely did not possess such a temperament.

“You…” The person in front of her spoke, but the uncertainty and surprise in her eyes seemed to confirm her existence. Yet, she remained composed, her pair of heroic eyes fixed steadily on herself, carrying a hint of wariness, as if waiting for her to speak first.

Anyu wanted to say something, opened her mouth, but stopped herself.

Too calm.

This girl in front of her, who looked just like her, was not her.

Although the image of her teenage self was a bit blurry in her mind, Anyu still remembered that at that time, it was no exaggeration to say she was showered with boundless affection.

After all, Her Majesty had always doted on her.

So, this girl in front of her… could it be…

The past Her Majesty?!

Anyu almost instantly guessed the identity of the person before her. It was no longer those familiar peach blossom eyes, nor would they always carry a smile. It was a face like her own, with deep contours, heroic yet slightly youthful.

The eyes looking at her at this moment held both wariness and surprise.

A thought suddenly popped into Anyu’s mind: Her Majesty at this time seemed still young, not yet having endured those hardships.

“Come in,” the other person suddenly said.

Anyu: ?

The ‘Xie Wan’ in front of her pushed open the door. Seeing her still standing stunned before the bedchamber, she lightly furrowed her brow. “Appearing in Wanyi Palace dressed like that, if someone sees you, you won’t live past tomorrow.”

Anyu was startled, then looked down. She was wearing a bright yellow palace dress, and what the gold-trimmed phoenix pattern on the hem represented was already self-evident.

This was the Empress’s palace dress.

Bright yellow was the representative color of the Da Yue imperial family, and the phoenix pattern was something only the most noble person in the inner palace could wear.

Although the outfit she was wearing wasn’t for a very formal occasion, the phoenix hairpin in her hair and this dress… had already completely exposed her identity.

Anyu followed her into the bedchamber of Wanyi Palace.

What year and month was it now?

‘She’ had entered the palace and become Consort Wan. Thinking about it, Her Majesty had indeed said that after entering the palace, she had stayed there for several years. Later, Emperor Ruiming died, and Da Yue fell into chaos, only then did she regain her freedom.

So, since Her Majesty was still in Wanyi Palace, it meant this period should be the few years before Emperor Ruiming died and Da Yue hadn’t yet descended into chaos.

“Xie Wan…?” Seeing her close the door, Anyu couldn’t help but call out softly.

Suddenly, the person walking in front of her abruptly reached out, directly striking towards Anyu’s neck.

Anyu’s gaze sharpened. The foot that was originally stepping forward abruptly changed direction in mid-air, retreating backward.

Xie Wan’s fingertips brushed past her neck.

They should have touched slightly.

But it was as if she had only grabbed air.

At this, both of them froze in place.

Anyu touched her neck; there was no pain at all.

So, this was indeed a dream.

Like Chu Tang, she also saw the ‘future’, but what she saw was not Her Majesty who had become the Regent King in the future, but Her Majesty who was still young and inexperienced, still in Wanyi Palace.

Was this her obsession?

This thought flashed through Anyu’s mind. But the expression on Xie Wan’s face in front of her had already changed from wariness to astonishment.

“Are you… a ghost?”

Anyu coughed heavily. “No!”

She tried to touch Xie Wan.

Sure enough, her hand passed right through.

This scene greatly shocked Xie Wan as well, even causing her pupils to constrict slightly.

“Really can’t touch,” Anyu said with a hint of regret.

She had ‘dreamed’ of the past Her Majesty, but couldn’t even touch her.

As verified, indeed no one could see her except Xie Wan. Anyu stood in the courtyard, still wearing that Empress’s palace dress, watching the palace servants come and go, she thought with a smile.

Meanwhile, the now calm Xie Wan invited her back into the bedchamber, dismissed the attending servants, poured a pot of tea, and invited her to sit down.

Anyu readily complied.

The two… looked at each other in silence.

Finally, it was Xie Wan who spoke first. “Are you… me?”

Anyu rubbed her nose. “Yes.”

She thought, Her Majesty was indeed Her Majesty. After learning she wasn’t a spy sent by someone else, she actually guessed her origin right away.

Sure enough, Xie Wan at this time had already been in the palace for a while. At least, she looked like two different people compared to ‘Xie Anyu’.

“You became the Empress.” Xie Wan furrowed her brow.

“Yes.” Anyu propped her chin with one hand, looking at her and smiling again. “Is that not allowed?”

The tea was already poured, and the tea leaves in the bowl weren’t particularly good. At least they couldn’t compare even slightly to what she had drunk before. Her Majesty always gave her the best, but looking at the expenses in Wanyi Palace here, they were significantly reduced.

Her Majesty’s situation at this time wasn’t very good.

It wasn’t surprising. Her Majesty had said that before Emperor Ruiming died, the Xie family and her own situation were not good.

Anyu watched Xie Wan’s brow furrow tighter and tighter, thinking that Her Majesty probably couldn’t imagine in her wildest dreams that her ‘future’ self would marry the Emperor.

Anyu laughed out loud. “Why are you frowning?”

Xie Wan: “…I don’t like Chu Long.”

“I don’t like her either.”

Xie Wan fell silent once more.

Anyu raised her hand and gently poked her between the brows. “Don’t frown.” Whether in the future or the past, she truly still didn’t like Her Majesty frowning.

Xie Wan raised her eyes, meeting her gaze. The two of them were probably a few years apart in age, but the way the person in front of her looked at herself was in no way like ‘oneself’ looking at ‘oneself’.

Xie Wan relaxed her brow. “How did you appear here?” She changed the question.

“Just an accident.”

“When will you leave?”

“I don’t know.”

Xie Wan lowered her eyes. “In the future… what will happen to the Xie family?”

Anyu was startled.

In her time, the Xie family was doing very well. But here… the Xie family…

“Since you can become the Empress, the Xie family is probably fine too.” Without waiting for Anyu to speak, Xie Wan answered her own question.

Anyu didn’t refute.

She couldn’t answer.

Just as she couldn’t touch the young Her Majesty before her, she couldn’t change the ‘past’.

She was just an observer. Being able to see Her Majesty’s past and talk to her was already the limit.

“Something happened to the Xie family,” Xie Wan suddenly said.

Anyu: ?

She hadn’t answered anything yet.

But looking back, Xie Wan had already put away all the curiosity in her eyes, calmly lowering her gaze.

She probably already knew that Anyu’s arrival, just like the inability to touch, couldn’t change anything.

Anyu thought this dream would end quickly, allowing her to quickly browse through Her Majesty’s past.

However, one day still seemed like one day.

Not every day involved the events Her Majesty had told her about. Almost every day was monotonous. Whether Xu Shengwen and Song Nanfeng were fighting tooth and nail outside, or whom Chu Long favored more, none of this seemed to have anything to do with Her Majesty in Wanyi Palace.

Only occasionally would she see secret guards sent by Chu Long lingering near Wanyi Palace.

Emperor Ruiming was full of suspicion towards the Xie family and strictly controlled any news leaving Wanyi Palace.

Therefore, Xie Wan rarely contacted her family outside the palace.

She was just like this, coming and going alone.

Whenever the secret guards reported on Consort Wan’s recent activities, it was always the same old story: either practicing martial arts or reading. Even the secret guards were secretly surprised that a person could be this solitary.

After all, in Wanyi Palace, besides Qingcui who attended to her personally, almost no one else exchanged more than a few words with her.

No one knew that Xie Wan actually had an unknown ‘ghost’ by her side.

Others couldn’t see Anyu, but Xie Wan could.

At night, Xie Wan sat at her desk, reading by lamplight, and saw that bright yellow figure standing beside her, staring intently.

“…What are you doing?”

“You’ve been reading all day, aren’t you tired? Reading at night is very bad for your eyes!” Anyu pointed to the dark night outside the window, trying to persuade her like an elder.

She was just short of being earnestly nagging.

Xie Wan sat upright at her desk. Hearing her words, she didn’t put down the book, only saying, “These rare books are very interesting.”

“I know they’re interesting!”

Xie Wan wanted to say you don’t know, but then she thought, the person in front of her was ‘herself’, so she had probably read these too. So she didn’t say it.

“Learning so many things during the day, and practicing martial arts, then reading rare books by lamplight at night, don’t you feel tired?” Only after seeing it with her own eyes did she realize that even when alone in the palace, Her Majesty never relaxed for a single day.

Her situation wasn’t good, but she had never given up. The moment Emperor Ruiming fell seriously ill and Da Yue descended into chaos, she would leave this cage and begin to spread her wings.

“I don’t feel tired.”

“I think you’re tired.”

“Didn’t you come through this way?” Xie Wan suddenly said. “Da Yue might fall into chaos in the future. I don’t like waiting for death.”

So she studied, she discarded her past innocence and simplicity. She wanted to save her own life and protect the Xie family. She had already lived like this for two years.

Anyu, who was about to continue persuading, froze.

She didn’t speak again, and the atmosphere suddenly quieted down.

After a while, a very soft murmur came from in front of her. “…But reading at night is really bad for your eyes. In the future, you still have to shoot arrows.”

Xie Wan raised her eyes.

The ‘Empress’, who looked a few years older than her, pursed her lips, her eyes filled with heartache for her.

Without even a hint of concealment.

Such pure and direct emotion made Xie Wan feel a moment of confusion and hesitation.

Xie Wan didn’t understand. They were the same person. What she was experiencing now, this person should have also experienced, so why feel heartache?

“How about you lie down, and I’ll read to you? I’ve read all these rare books.” Suddenly, Anyu proposed an idea. “I can read them to you, I guarantee it’ll be exactly the same as what’s written in the books!”

As if possessed, Xie Wan put down the book.

“…Okay.”

On the bed, Xie Wan lay flat.

Wanyi Palace was completely peaceful. The chirping of autumn cicadas was unheard.

The incessant voice reading the war plots from the rare books beside her ear was something only she could hear.

No one knew how lively it was beside her ear.