I Became The Stepmother of My Ex-husband

Lin Wei Xi tossed and turned the entire night, but Gu Hui Yan didn’t sleep well either. He’d spent most of his youth on the battlefield and the slightest oversight would lead to death, so he’d long since developed a habit of being alert while asleep and would open his eyes at the slightest movement. Now there was suddenly another person sleeping next to him, and she had a bad sleeping posture. As one could imagine, he didn’t get much sleep that night, and when he finally settled down after much difficulty, the eastern sky was slowly brightening. Before long, his biological clock that he’d developed over the years woke him up according to schedule.

Gu Hui Yan sighed in resignation. It seemed like there were many things they’d have to adjust. He sat up after lying down for a moment. Lin Wei Xi was having difficulties sleeping in a different bed, and when she groggily felt movement by her side, she was startled awake and immediately opened her eyes. She stared at the large red bed curtain, lost in thought for a long time. She was deep in thought when she suddenly felt a pat on her head, “since you’re awake, get up. Don’t space out.”

Lin Wei Xi forced herself up and stared blankly at the person in front of her before looking around at the layout of the room, her consciousness finally returning. That’s right, she’d gotten married to His Highness Prince Yan yesterday.

Lin Wei Xi couldn’t tell the difference between night and day and she hugged the embroidered quilt as she sat on the bed. Gu Hui Yan had already changed his clothes and when he turned around to find her still sitting there hugging her knees, he felt amused and helpless. He could only lift the bed curtain, stand on the step outside the arhet bed, and say to her, “still spacing out? They’re going to serve you tea in a while. Won’t you feel embarrassed if you let the juniors wait?”

Lin Wei Xi was used to living comfortably in her boudoir and didn’t feel like getting up on such a cold day. Especially after last night, her body felt quite uncomfortable. But after hearing Gu Hui Yan’s words, she cheered up. That’s right, from now on, she was Gu Cheng Yao’s and Gao Ran’s elder. Today, the two of them were going to kowtow to her. How could such a satisfyingly happy occasion be delayed by sleeping in?

Lin Wei Xi immediately became excited. When Gu Hui Yan saw that she finally decided to move, he smiled to himself, let down the curtain, and no longer intruded in her space while she changed.

Wan Xing and Wan Yue had long since been waiting outside the door with hot water, no one having been on the night watch the day before. Gu Hui Yan was very vigilant, and sleeping with another person by his side was his limit. If the maids were left on night watch, he wouldn’t be able to sleep at all. Since she was a child, Lin Wei Xi was used to leaving a maid on night duty on a small couch outside the room. But now she could only change her habits to fit Gu Hui Yan’s and remove the granny and servant girl on night duty.

After changing her clothes, Lin Wei Xi let her hair down and called for Wan Xing and Wan Yue, who opened the door and filed in. The whole morning seemed to brighten up with Lin Wei Xi’s voice. The maids came and went, seemingly chaotic, but there was an order to it. And at the heart of this vortex was Lin Wei Xi.

Gu Hui Yan didn’t really understand why so many people were required to help her get dressed and wash up. But separated by the numerous attendants, this delicate and seemingly otherworldly woman stood at the centre of everyone. She stretched out her hands like it was second nature, allowing the maids on both sides to fasten her gorgeous dresses and straighten out every fold on her skirt. Perhaps because her hair had gotten stuck in her collar, Lin Wei Xi pulled up her long hair as it fell like a black waterfall, the soft silky hair drawing an elegant arc in the morning light. She indifferently smoothened out her hair, a blank expression on her delicate face, but it was this kind of carelessness that deeply attracted the attention of men, who were unable to break out of it.

Gu Hui Yan watched her silently for a while, his Adam’s apple bobbing slightly, before finally forcing himself to look away. He’d spent half his life in the military. His world previously consisted entirely of armoured horses along frozen rivers on a Northern conquest, or an open desert with a lone smoke beacon next to the setting sun. His life was like the vastness of the moon, calm, composed, neat and orderly; only the sound of the wind could be heard. Until one day a red delicate flower suddenly pierced through the desolate sea of ​​sand. She was weak and delicate, but contrary to expectations, wanted to take root in the desert, trying in vain to change something with her own power.

There existed armoured horses as unbearably cold as the spring wind, and there were also green willows and red flowers that bloomed brightly. The former was him, the latter was Lin Wei Xi. He suddenly understood why there were so many types of jewellery, hairpins, precious stones and tortoise shells. If it were Lin Wei Xi, she was indeed befitting of all the treasures in the world.

Lin Wei Xi and Gu Hui Yan’s daily habits were probably worlds apart. He always did things by himself, silently and quickly, be it taking a bath, eating or changing. But she was different. Or rather, she was the complete opposite. She was a woman, and a rather beautiful woman at that. It was quite normal to put in more time and effort to dress herself and put on makeup.

By the time Lin Wei Xi was finally satisfied with her appearance, Gu Hui Yan had already half a book in the corner. She stood by the door, somewhat embarrassed, and softly called, “my Prince.”

Gu Hui Yan put down his book before Lin Wei Xi reached him. At that moment, he just so happened to get up and walk to her side. His expression was very calm, not at all like the upright general who previously punished those who were even a little bit late with twenty strokes of the cane. Today, she wore red makeup and a flower patterned cross-collared top with a skirt of the same colour underneath, large Moutan peonies blooming across it. It seemed like almost half the room lit up when she stood there. Gu Hui Yan’s gaze lingered on her without concealing the astonishment and smile in his eyes, “very good, let’s go.”

It took Lin Wei Xi a long time before she realized that “very good” was a compliment.

She spent a lot of time dressing and grooming herself because she liked to make herself beautiful, but it was certainly more enjoyable to receive the admiration of others, especially if that person was Prince Yan. Lin Wei Xi was in a good mood, and followed next to him as he walked to the main hall of the residence.

Unsurprisingly, Gu Cheng Yao and Gao Ran were already waiting in the main hall. Lin Wei Xi retracted the smile on her face, put on the air of an elder, and sat solemnly to the right of Gu Hui Yan.

As soon as Gu Hui Yan showed up, the faintly discernible sound of conversation in the hall faded and disappeared. Gao Ran and Gu Cheng Yao stood to the side with their heads bowed to respectfully greet their father. Behind Gu Hui Yan, a bright red skirt swept past everyone’s vision, following which Lin Wei Xi sat in a chair in the main hall with her chin slightly tucked, steadily looking at them.

Gu Cheng Yao and Gao Ran felt complicated seeing this. Yesterday had been Prince Yan and Lin Wei Xi’s imperial wedding and Gao Ran hadn’t left her room in order to avoid her future mother-in-law. Gu Cheng Yao, as a stepson, had no reason to hang around his young stepmother. This made it embarrassing to meet today. Back in the fifth month, he’d never thought that they’d be mother and child the next time they met.

Seeing that the Prince and the Princess Consort were already seated, the servant next to them calmly cleared his throat to remind the stunned Shizi and Shizi Fei to move. Gu Cheng Yao returned to his senses, lowered his gaze and lifted his robe before kowtowing to Lin Wei Xi, “may Father and Mother please receive this son’s respects. This son wishes you good health.”

Gao Ran followed him and kowtowed, “Father, Mother.”

Lin Wei Xi only needed to lower her gaze to see Gu Cheng Yao and Gao Ran kneeling in front of her with their hands on the ground and their foreheads firmly on the back of their hands. This was a very precise kowtow ceremony. She barely managed to control her laughter. She intended to pretend to be earnest and let them kneel longer, but Gu Hui Yan didn’t pay attention to her small wants and said in a deep voice, “you can get up.”

Lin Wei Xi felt very regretful, but she knew that there’d be ample time for that later. There were still plenty of days where these two had to kowtow to her and there was no need to pick at this particular instance. She smiled at the thought of this and said, “I’m not that much older than Shizi and Shizi Fei. I feel so ashamed to receive such a huge show of respect from you. Quickly, get up.”

Wan Xing couldn’t help but silently curse when she heard this, Miss, even though you say this, your seat is more secure than anyone else and it’s obvious that you’re not really ashamed. If even Wan Xing thought so, one could imagine how strange Gu Cheng Yao felt and how furious Gao Ran was.

Gu Hui Yan turned around and shot a glance at Lin Wei Xi, saying, “What do you mean you’re not much older than them? You were younger than them from the start.”

Lin Wei Xi was trying to act coy by posing as a model elder, but it was spoiled by Prince Yan in a blink of an eye. She glared at him with some resentment, “my Prince, we’re in front of the juniors.”

Alright, he wouldn’t argue with her. He merely turned around and said lightly, “it’s the truth.”

Naturally, Lin Wei Xi pretended not to hear. Gao Ran, who was kneeling on the ground, realized that the two of them were idly chatting like no one else was present, as if those around them didn’t exist. She was a little humiliated and embarrassed. At the thought that she’d have to pay her respects to Lin Wei Xi every day from then on, she immediately felt furious and desperate and  faintly felt like vomiting.

Gu Hui Yan and Lin Wei Xi had both told them to get up, but there was still one more etiquette that they hadn’t completed, and a junior could never get up without permission. Gu Cheng Yao still knelt and only straightened his upper body, taking a teacup from the maid beside him and raising it to his eyebrows. He fixed his gaze on the decorative design of the table and chair, refusing to look at Lin Wei Xi, “Mother, this son offers you tea.”

Previously, during Gu Cheng Yao and Gao Ran’s wedding, because Princess Consort Shen had passed away and Prince Yan wasn’t home, their tea ceremony was delayed to this point. When Prince Yan returned from the North later on, Gao Ran made up for the tea ceremony the day she met him. At that time, Gu Hui Yan had received the tea like this before putting it down. Although he was aloof, the tea was considered to be accepted. However, he was only the father. Gao Ran hadn’t settled the tea ceremony with her mother-in-law.

If the residence had no mistress, it was enough for Gao Ran to serve a cup of tea to Princess Consort Shen’s memorial tablet, which she did on a regular basis. Unfortunately, Prince Yan later married a new Princess Consort and Lin Wei Xi became Gao Ran’s new mother-in-law. Since things were like this, the half-finished tea ceremony couldn’t be disregarded.

Newly-wed couples served their parents tea to show that they’d serve their parents, from meals to tea, after marriage and dedicate themselves to fulfilling their filial piety. Gu Cheng Yao took the lead in raising the teacup over his eyebrows. Lin Wei Xi arrogantly snorted to herself and humbled herself to a lower position to take the teacup and say, “I’ll remember your filial piety. In the future, you must study diligently and carefully consider the way you treat others. Be sure that your words and deeds are consistent and always be self-aware.”

It was common for parents to admonish their children during the tea ceremony. This was, of course, for the good of the children, but these few sentences that Lin Wei Xi said made the people who heard it want to grit their teeth and fume with rage.

Gu Cheng Yao’s expression didn’t change and he indifferently agreed. Lin Wei Xi didn’t want to drink the tea that he’d offered, so she lifted the lid and put it down, refusing to pretend to even take a sip. Of course, Gu Hui Yan could see her unconcealed hostility towards Gu Cheng Yao, but he’d actually known about it since Shunde District. Perhaps some things no longer posed a threat once known. Gu Hui Yan watched the scene unfold in front of him and accepted it without much surprise.

Gu Cheng Yao had also obviously expected it and wasn’t surprised at all. Gao Ran watched from the sidelines and rejoiced to herself. Lin Wei Xi dared to not give Shizi face in public. An outsider like her deserved to die! Even though Prince Yan and Shizi seemed calm now, they’d certainly care about it, so Lin Wei Xi’s image was greatly affected without Gao Ran needing to do anything.

Gao Ran’s smile became more genuine. She took the teacup from the maid and gently handed it over to Lin Wei Xi, “Princess Consort, this daughter-in-law serves you tea.”

Gao Ran secretly gathered her strength in her hands, but Lin Wei Xi didn’t receive the teacup and instead asked, “What did you call me?”

Gao Ran smiled a little stiffly, “Princess Consort… “

Very good. Lin Wei Xi humphed lightly and turned to look at Gu Hui Yan, “my Prince, look at her!”

His expression didn’t change, but his eyes obviously softened and he was clearly holding back a smile. Gu Cheng Yao genuinely felt helpless towards Gao Ran, towards this childish stepmother, and towards his father.

At the same time, Gu Cheng Yao felt that Lin Wei Xi’s tactics were so obvious that no one could bear to look straight at her. He couldn’t stand Lin Wei Xi’s troublemaking tendencies nor his father letting her do as she pleased. Gu Hui Yan obviously sided with Lin Wei Xi. In fact, Gu Cheng Yao was this old but he’d never seen anyone aside from her dare to involve themselves with Gu Hui Yan.

Since his father was willing to indulge her, Gu Cheng Yao couldn’t really say anything about it. But the person Lin Wei Xi had targeted was his wife! The most important thing was that the family lived in harmony. Over time, the estrangement between Lin Wei Xi and Gao Ran would only get worse. Gu Cheng Yao had no choice but to stand up and say, “Mother, Gao Ran didn’t have bad intentions. She just thought you’d prefer this form of address.”

Lin Wei Xi snorted, “I don’t like it. Even the Prince doesn’t address me like that. Why should you?”

Gu Hui Yan raised his eyebrows and glanced meaningfully at Lin Wei Xi with a smile in his eyes. He  looked like he was watching a play. Gao Ran had no way to vent her anger and could only follow Gu Cheng Yao’s lead and say, “Shizi is right. I just thought that Mother would prefer to be addressed as Princess Consort. Since Mother dislikes it, then I’ll no longer use it.”

Lin Wei Xi was completely comforted after being called Mother. She was in a good mood, so she stopped making things difficult, “since you’re so filial, from my perspective, I’ll naturally teach you wholeheartedly… “

When Lin Wei Xi received Gao Ran’s tea, her hand suddenly shook, and an entire cup of hot tea was splashed on Gao Ran and Gu Cheng Yao.