Swap Marriage in Ancient Times: Transmigrated to My Stepbrother's Wife

Wang Gege stood rigid the moment she heard Bai Ruoxi’s words.

"I know who you are... more than you know yourself..." Bai Ruoxi continued, her gaze shifting back toward Master Xie.

"Xie Zheng..."

Her voice was low and calm, but the next words made Master Xie’s expression change.

"I told you before... I never loved you..."

Master Xie’s expression stiffened.

He looked at Bai Ruoxi for a long moment, as though trying to understand why she would bring up those words after eighteen years.

"You said that to this one before," he finally replied, his voice low. "Yet you still came back."

Bai Ruoxi’s gaze lowered, "I did not come back because I changed my mind about you."

Master Xie’s brows furrowed. "Then why?"

Bai Ruoxi slowly lifted her eyes toward him. "Because there are things I could no longer leave behind."

Her gaze shifted toward Wang Gege.

Wang Gege’s body tensed.

"Taotao..." Bai Ruoxi’s voice softened. "I never left you. Something happened, and my mistake cost me eighteen years before I could finally pull you back to me..."

Her words once again left both Wang Gege and Xie Rong staring at her in confusion.

Xie Rong’s brows furrowed slightly. "Pull her back?"

Wang Gege repeated the words under her breath, still unable to understand. "Back... from where?"

Bai Ruoxi remained silent for a moment, her expression complicated.

She glanced at Xie Zheng, hesitated before gazing back at Wang Gege, "Can I talk to you alone?"

Xie Rong’s brows furrowed the moment he heard Bai Ruoxi’s request. His gaze immediately shifted toward Wang Gege, clearly unwilling to leave her alone after everything that had happened.

"No."

The answer came without hesitation.

Wang Gege blinked at him, while Bai Ruoxi remained silent, seemingly understanding his concern.

"Husband..." Wang Gege tugged lightly at his sleeve. "I think I should hear what she has to say."

Xie Rong’s expression remained firm. "If there is something she needs to tell Furen, this husband can hear it as well."

"But she asked to speak to me alone."

"That is precisely why this husband doesn’t agree."

Wang Gege stared at him for a moment before sighing softly. She understood why he was refusing. After everything they had discovered today, there was no way Xie Rong would willingly let her face someone who claimed to be her mother without him nearby.

"Then don’t leave," she said, gently pulling on his sleeve again. "Just stay nearby."

Xie Rong looked down at her hand before raising his gaze again.

"I’ll talk to her alone, but you can wait outside. Stay somewhere close enough that I can call you if I need you."

He remained silent.

Wang Gege tilted her head slightly and gave him a pleading look. "Please, Husband. I promise I won’t go anywhere."

Xie Rong’s brows remained knitted together, but after a moment, he finally let out a quiet sigh.

"Fine." His voice was reluctant as he added, "But this husband will stay nearby. If Furen calls for me, I will come in immediately."

Wang Gege nodded quickly. "Deal."

Xie Rong gave Bai Ruoxi one last guarded look before turning toward the door.

"Don’t make this husband regret agreeing," Xie Rong said as he walked toward his father, Xie Zheng.

He stopped beside him and gestured toward the door. "Let’s go, Father."

"No." Xie Zheng’s expression remained firm, clearly unwilling to leave.

"Now, Father." Xie Rong’s tone became more serious. "You are not welcome here."

Before Xie Zheng could argue, Xie Rong wrapped a hand around his father’s arm and began dragging him toward the door.

"Xie Rong!" Xie Zheng protested, but his son showed no intention of stopping.

Wang Gege couldn’t help but smile faintly as she watched the two men disappear through the doorway.

Only after taking a few steps into the outer chamber did Xie Rong finally leave, though he deliberately remained close enough that he could hear if anything went wrong.

Once the door closed behind him, the room fell quiet.

Wang Gege slowly turned back toward Bai Ruoxi.

"Now..." Her expression became serious as she stared at the woman who claimed to be her mother. "What exactly happened to me eighteen years ago?"

Bai Ruoxi looked at Wang Gege for a long moment before finally speaking. "You probably don’t remember everything from the four years you spent here when you were a child, right?"

Wang Gege’s expression shifted slightly. "The four years I spent here?"

Bai Ruoxi nodded slowly, her gaze filled with a trace of sadness.

Wang Gege frowned, trying to search through her memories. Yet no matter how hard she tried, nothing from those four years came to mind.

The only thing she could remember was a vague fragment of herself drowning, along with the fear and helplessness that came with it.

"Those four years..." Wang Gege murmured, her brows knitting together. "What do you mean? I don’t live here... Why would I have any memories about this place?"

Bai Ruoxi’s expression changed slightly. She looked at Wang Gege quietly for a moment before letting out a soft sigh.

"Because, Taotao... you did live here once."

Wang Gege froze.

"You were born here," Bai Ruoxi continued, her voice gentle. "You spent the first four years of your life in this world before I sent you away."

Wang Gege’s eyes widened. "Sent me away...?"

Bai Ruoxi nodded slowly. "That is why you cannot remember. Perhaps the stress, combined with how short a child’s memory can be at that age, caused those memories to fade..."

She paused, her gaze becoming distant. "Especially after everything that happened."

Wang Gege couldn’t be more confused. The more Bai Ruoxi spoke, the more questions seemed to pile up, and her patience was beginning to run thin.

"What do you mean?!" she asked impatiently. "Explain it properly! Don’t keep using words that make everything even more confusing!"

Bai Ruoxi looked at her for a moment before a faint, helpless smile appeared on her lips.

"You were born here... here in this world," she began slowly. "But when you were born... your father had already died on the battlefield."

Wang Gege’s expression stiffened.

Bai Ruoxi lowered her gaze, her voice becoming softer. "But because we... had not yet married, my family refused to acknowledge you as my daughter."

She paused, her fingers slowly tightening around the edge of her sleeve.

"They wanted me to leave you behind and return to my family. They said that without a father, you would only become a burden, and that bringing you with me would ruin my future."

Wang Gege’s brows furrowed.

"So... you left me with the Shen family?"

"I had no choice at the time." Bai Ruoxi’s voice carried a trace of bitterness. "I thought I could arrange for someone trustworthy to take care of you while I dealt with my family and found a way to bring you back."

She lowered her eyes, the regret in her expression becoming heavier.

"But sending you there was worse than letting you live with me... Even though you were only four years old, Shen Yurou kept harassing you. She bullied you, abused you, and made those years far more painful than I ever imagined."

Wang Gege’s fingers slowly curled into her sleeves.

"Shen Yurou..." she murmured, her expression changing as she finally connected the name to the woman she knew in this world.

Bai Ruoxi nodded, her expression filled with guilt.

"When it reached the point where you nearly lost your life... I snapped. I couldn’t do this anymore."

Her voice trembled slightly as she continued, "I couldn’t leave you there and pretend that everything would eventually get better. So I brought you back home..."

Wang Gege simply stared at her with a blank expression. None of the memories Bai Ruoxi was describing existed in her mind. To her, they sounded like someone else’s life.

"But I was wrong again." Bai Ruoxi lowered her gaze, her fingers tightening slightly.

"When my parents found out that I had brought you back, they brought a shaman to the house. They said they wanted to drive away the bad luck surrounding me, and at first, they even said bringing you home had been the right choice..."

She paused, her expression becoming bitter. "Because they believed that you were the source of my bad luck."

Bai Ruoxi’s expression became distant, as though she were looking back at something she had spent years trying to forget.

"When the shaman began the ritual, I thought it would be nothing more than that... a ritual to drive away the so-called bad luck."

She paused, her fingers slowly curling into her sleeves. "But when the ritual reached its final stage, something changed."

Wang Gege’s brows furrowed.

"The candles went out all at once. The room became unbearably cold, and before I could even understand what was happening..."

Bai Ruoxi’s gaze settled on her. "Something pulled us both away."

"Pulled us... away?"

"Yes." Her voice became quieter. "Not just you, Taotao. Both of us."