I Became The Stepmother of My Ex-husband

It was as she’d expected. Lin Wei Xi smiled when she heard this, playing with the glittering and translucent white jade chess pieces that radiated some warmth in her hands, and asked, “What is this game that I’ve never heard of before?”

Ning Fu, who was waiting on them at the side, responded, “This is a new game that our Shizi Fei invented herself. It’s relaxing and interesting, and is liked by all the young masters and mistresses in the Duke Ying Residence.”

Lin Wei Xi smiled silently. Seeing her focus on the chess piece, Gao Ran gently added, “This is part of my dowry. It’s called Warm Jade Chess and is made from warm jade; it will be radiant and warm whenever it’s taken out and is beneficial to one’s body after using it for a long time.”

Ning Fu thought Lin Wei Xi wasn’t aware of what warm jade was, so she quickly said, “Has Miss Lin not seen this kind of jade before? This is no ordinary jade. Even in the capital, it’s exorbitantly high price means that it can’t be found in stores, and each piece was difficult to find. However, it’s nothing more than an ordinary item in Shizi Fei’s dowry.”

“Ning Fu.” Gao Ran lightly reproached her, “I have many items in my dowry because my grandmother cherishes me. Why does it sound like boasting when it comes from your mouth?” After she finished speaking, Gao Ran looked at Lin Wei Xi and nodded in embarrassment, “please don’t laugh Miss Lin, I hope you don’t take offence. Even if it’s precious, it’s not practical and is nothing more than a worldly possession. Let’s just play chess.”

Lin Wei Xi looked at the chess pieces in her hand and smiled meaningfully, “Shizi Fei is really open-minded.”

Wasn’t she really open-minded? Not one year ago, this had belonged to Lin Wei Xi.

This had originally been a part of her dowry before, and Gao Ran’s maid hurriedly explained it to Lin Wei Xi just now. How ridiculous. It made her so angry that she wanted to laugh.

Lin Wei Xi knew that after her death, her dowry would’ve been redistributed by the Duke Ying Residence, and she even gave in to this possibility in her mind. But when the outcome presented itself in front of her, Lin Wei Xi found that she still couldn’t let it go.

And it wasn’t just the chess set in front of her. When Lin Wei Xi looked around at the gold and silver furnishings, the blue and white porcelains, and even the sandalwood furniture on display, all of it felt familiar.

Lin Wei Xi hurriedly lowered her gaze. If she continued looking she would be furious. Seeing Lin Wei Xi’s face go stiff, Gao Ran thought that the other girl was intimidated by her wealthy family background and felt inferior because of it. She smiled and said, “This Ning Fu doesn’t have a filter on her mouth and is often blunt. Please don’t mind it Miss Lin, she doesn’t have any bad intentions.”

“If she can’t control her own mouth, then she should be punished. If she still doesn’t know how to speak properly, then she should be sold to a slave trader.” Lin Wei Xi was already uncomfortable, so she immediately exploded when she heard those words. She looked at Gao Ran impatiently. Her voice was delicate from illness, but her words were unforgiving, “you can’t even discipline your own maid properly, but you’re asking other people to be magnanimous? Why should I tolerate it? Your dog has bitten someone, and you still refuse to tie her down?”

Wan Xing let out a “pfft”, but hurriedly shrank her shoulders and lowered her head after receiving the stares of other people. Even so, everyone could tell that her shoulders were shaking slightly.

Wan Xing had been bought from outside the residence, so it was inevitable that she would perform worse during such a big scene. Wan Yue had experience in a wealthy household, so she was much more composed than Wan Xing. Even if she really wanted to laugh, she continued to hold it in.

Ning Fu had been embarrassed by Lin Wei Xi, and with Wan Xing laughing from behind, she was overwhelmed with shame and anger, her eyes immediately turning red. She and the other dowry maids glared at Lin Wei Xi, as Gao Ran lost face when her maid was rebuked in front of her.

Granny Tao and a few others glowered. Gao Ran glanced back at them, her eyes moved slightly, and she maintained her temper, saying, “Ning Fu is frank and outspoken, and is only saying what’s on her mind, unlike those people with bad intentions. She is harmless, and I’m afraid Miss Lin may have misunderstood her.”

“What is the meaning of this, Shizi Fei? What do you mean when you say that because she’s outspoken, she’s harmless? I am also very frank and outspoken, but Shizi Fei doesn’t seem too happy? Furthermore, who is the person with bad intentions that Shizi Fei is alluding to?”

After she finished speaking, Lin Wei Xi didn’t wait for Gao Ran to respond. At that moment, the courtyard was blanketed in an abnormal silence. She  paused for a moment, immediately on alert.

Gao Ran, this sly fox, had tricked her again! Lin Wei Xi had always been like this in her past life. It was clearly the other party who initially said something easily misinterpreted, and after provoking her temper, Gao Ran would pretend to be wronged and ignorant. At this kind of timing, an elder or a brother would definitely happen to pass by!

Lin Wei Xi held in her anger and turned around. Sure enough, Gu Cheng Yao was standing not far away, but even worse was that Gu Hui Yan stood in front of him.

Gao Ran had already stood up, and meekly greeted Gu Hui Yan and Gu Cheng Yao, looking proper and well-mannered, while Lin Wei Xi looked overbearing and appeared unable to distinguish good from bad.

Lin Wei Xi stood up coldly and stiffly greeted them, angry enough to explode. Gu Cheng Yao knitted his eyebrows the entire time, only tolerating Lin Wei Xi because she was a guest.

Compared to the blatantly unhappy Gu Cheng Yao, Gu Hui Yan was much calmer, and nobody could tell what he was thinking at all. He led everyone closer, and the maids on both sides gave way after saluting. Lin Wei Xi and Gao Ran both bowed their heads and lightly greeted, “My Prince.”

Gu Hui Yan glanced at the chessboard and without showing any emotions seemed to ask offhandedly, “Are you playing chess?”

Gao Ran rushed to say, “Yes. This daughter-in-law often played a new type of chess with my brothers and sisters at home. I was just talking about this with Miss Lin, and didn’t notice the gracious presence of the Prince and Shizi. Please forgive me, My Prince.”

Lin Wei Xi snorted inwardly. She didn’t know how many times she’d seen scenarios like the one right now. With Gao Ran taking the initiative to cover it up with chess, as a result, it solidified Lin Wei Xi’s reputation of finding fault for no reason and being unable to distinguish good from bad.

Gu Hui Yan acted like he’d really heard them talk about chess. He smiled and asked, “Oh? I didn’t know that there are new ways of playing chess. How do you play it?”

Gao Ran repeated that it was called gomoku, and interest sparked in his eyes, “The first person to have five pieces lined up wins. This is indeed new.”

“Please don’t laugh at me Father.” Gao Ran chuckled lightly, and Granny Tao immediately added from the side, “reporting to the Prince, this gomoku game is something our lady invented.”

After hearing this, the meaning in Gu Hui Yan’s eyes deepened, “That’s rare. Since you two want to play, there’s no need to ruin the mood. You may continue.”

Gao Ran’s smile was slightly restrained as she tilted her head inquiringly at Lin Wei Xi. Lin Wei Xi bottled up her fiery anger, her eyes glowed, and even her voice sounded irritated, “Let’s start already. Are you afraid you won’t win?”

After hearing this, Gu Cheng Yao knitted his eyebrows deeper and Gao Ran nodded apologetically to Gu Hui Yan and Gu Cheng Yao, before motioning Lin Wei Xi to take a seat first with her hand.

Lin Wei Xi sat down with a cold expression. When Gu Hui Yan saw it, an imperceptible smile flashed across his eyes.

Gao Ran slowly sat opposite her, a lustrous black stone between her fingers, and said, “this is Miss Lin’s first time playing and I have an advantage. Why don’t I yield three moves to Miss Lin.”

“How annoying. If you really want to yield, why don’t you just give me the first four moves as well?” The expression on Lin Wei Xi’s face looked bad and she sounded as if she’d just eaten chilli. She looked at Gao Ran’s face and raised her eyebrows lightly, “what, you don’t want to? Then stop putting on an act and let’s play. Even if you’re not tired, I’m annoyed.”

“Miss Lin!” Gu Cheng Yao was unable to keep watching and couldn’t help but give a warning. These words of his incited big trouble. Lin Wei Xi turned around, her eyes almost spouting flames, “What are you shouting to me for? I wasn’t even talking to you!”

When Lin Wei Xi said this, her eyes were bright, like the final touch that brought to life her otherworldly beauty. It could only be said that a beauty was a beauty. Even if she shoved falsities down people’s throats, the other party couldn’t possibly get angry. Moreover, she had a weak body. Such a delicate beauty was glaring and acting unreasonable. To other people, she would simply look like she was throwing a tantrum.

Gu Cheng Yao was choked into speechlessness. Gu Hui Yan didn’t contain his smile and tilted his head while smiling, saying, “Chess is a noble game, pay attention to your conduct.”

Lin Wei Xi reluctantly held back her temper, and Gao Ran, who was sitting on the opposite side of the chessboard, subtly felt like she was being ignored. She was shocked and a little afraid. This wasn’t the outcome that she wanted. Gao Ran hurriedly spoke, forcing everyone’s attention back to herself, “Miss Lin, I will make the first move. Thank you for letting me win.”

Gao Ran was full of confidence. She was weak at chess, but when it came to gomoku and checkers, how could these people from ancient times compare to her? Gao Ran intended to show off her skills in front of her husband and Prince Yan, at the same time showing everyone who was the fair, rich and beautiful lady with essential qualities and accomplishments, and who was the empty-headed idiot with only beauty and no brains.

Gao Ran was still checking whether her chess posture was elegant, whether her thinking posture reflected the beauty of a woman in concentration, and fine-tuning her point of view, when she suddenly saw Lin Wei Xi put the chess piece between her fingers onto the chessboard.

Gao Ran froze. What had Lin Wei Xi done again? She was a little displeased, “What happened?”

Gu Cheng Yao knitted his eyebrows and didn’t speak. Instead, it was Gu Hui Yan, with a smile on his face, who gestured at the chessboard with his eyes, “She won.”

Lin Wei Xi had won? Gao Ran was shocked. Impossible! They were playing gomoku, so how could someone from ancient times win?

Gao Ran hurriedly looked at the chessboard and found that, as Prince Yan said, Lin Wei Xi had already lined up five stones in a row and Gao Ran, who had been immersed in her thoughts just now about whether her posture was beautiful enough, didn’t even notice.

Wan Xing and Wan Yue watched from behind. The two of them actually didn’t understand, but if Prince Yan said that their miss had won, then he couldn’t be wrong. Wan Xing immediately clapped her hands happily, “this is Miss’s first time playing, but she won against Shizi Fei, who invented this game? Miss is really amazing.”

In a flash, a flush rose on Gao Ran’s face. Ever since she “invented” Gomoku at the age of eight, she ought not to ever lose because she relied on the rules of the game. This time she’d really been careless and lost so much face. Gao Ran learned a painful lesson, put away any unnecessary thoughts, and devoted her attention to the second round.

However, Gao Ran didn’t hold on for long this time before she was easily taken down by Lin Wei Xi.

She was completely stunned, and she smiled awkwardly at the audience, stroking the hair at her shoulder, and said, “Miss Lin is indeed intelligent and quickly understood the game. I was distracted just now. Please don’t laugh.”

Gao Ran implied that she had purposely let Lin Wei Xi win. Lin Wei Xi snorted disdainfully. She thought no one had noticed, but was actually caught red-handed by Gu Hui Yan.

Gu Hui Yan tilted his head and coughed lightly, hiding the smile on his lips. Gu Cheng Yao actually also noticed Lin Wei Xi’s small movement, and he felt a little embarrassed, but when he saw Prince Yan actually smiling, Gu Cheng Yao was shocked beyond words.

For some reason, Gu Cheng Yao suddenly had a nagging feeling.

Gao Ran forcibly covered up her humiliation, straightened her expression, and said to Lin Wei Xi, “Three wins in five games. Miss Lin, please.”

Gao Ran subtly implied that she had let Lin Wei Xi win before, but now she was serious. Gao Ran summoned her focus for preparing for an exam from her previous life, and stared at the chessboard intently. Her reputation and face were on the line. She couldn’t lose again.

The third game was full of tension from the start. Gao Ran was eager to win, and Lin Wei Xi also changed her previous play style, becoming extremely aggressive, all offence and no defence. At first, Gao Ran wanted to take advantage of Lin Wei Xi’s impatient and chaotic moves to win, but she quickly discovered that the phrase “offence is the best defence” wasn’t incorrect. She was tired of containing Lin Wei Xi, the layout of her own black pieces were a mess, and just when she tired of being pushed all over the place, Lin Wei Xi won without saying a word.

Lin Wei Xi put the white chess piece between her fingers on the board, and smiled at Gao Ran with a somewhat unapologetically triumphed look, “Three wins in five rounds, you’re welcome.”

Gao Ran was dumbfounded before she realized that Lin Wei Xi’s “You’re welcome” was a response to her “Thank you for letting me win” at the start.

Gao Ran felt unprecedented shame… and frustration. She never expected that she, a transmigrated woman, would lose while playing a modern game with an ancient girl. Before, Gao Ran really thought that she would win and had talked big, but now… after living for so many years in both lives, it wasn’t an exaggeration to say that for the first time, she hated that she couldn’t find a hole in the ground to crawl into.

Especially with Gu Hui Yan and Gu Cheng Yao still watching, Gao Ran sat awkwardly at her seat, unable to stand up. Seeing this, her maid hurriedly said, “The early spring weather is chilly, and the wind is strong today. Was Shizi Fei affected by the cold weather?”

When Gao Ran heard this, she played along and held her forehead in her hand, “Maybe. Since I woke up this morning, I’ve been a little absent-minded and been remembering things wrong.”

Gu Cheng Yao saw this, and he could only walk over to support Gao Ran’s arm, saying considerately, “Since you aren’t feeling well, quickly go back. The garden is windy, so be careful not to catch a cold.”

Gao Ran looked at him gratefully, her expression tender. Lin Wei Xi got up slowly, watching as Gao Ran acted like she had caught a serious illness and was weakly being helped away. Gu Hui Yan still stood where he was, watching Lin Wei Xi’s expression, and asked in amusement, “What’s with you?”

“Nothing.” Lin Wei Xi said heavily, enunciating every word, “The wind is strong. I have a headache.”

Gu Cheng Yao hadn’t walked far before he heard this sentence and paused. Then he heard Gu Hui Yan’s melodious laugh from behind him. Even though it was very soft, there was true delight in it, “Since you’ve got a headache, hurry up and go back to rest.”