I Became The Stepmother of My Ex-husband

Prince Yan had returned. Everyone from the Duke Ying Residence was too scared to continue sitting. Lin Wei Xi sent everyone out out of courtesy. She politely said in passing, “Senior Lady, are you leaving now? It wasn’t easy for you to visit the Prince’s Residence. Aren’t you going to meet Shizi Fei?”

There was no reason not to see their daughters when the maiden family visited. But the situation today was different from normal. The senior Duke Ying Lady and Prince Yan were meeting face to face and she just wanted to leave as soon as possible. She didn’t want to remain in the Residence any longer. The senior Lady said, “no need. The Duke Residence and Prince Residence have a good relationship. We will have many opportunities to meet in the future, so no need to rush. On the contrary, we’ve disturbed the Princess Consort too long. You still need to set up lunch. This old Lady won’t disturb you any longer.”

“Senior Lady, you’re too polite.” Lin Wei Xi smiled and asked out of the blue, “in your opinion, senior Lady, how should I deal with Shizi Fei, who hasn’t finished copying The Classics of Filial Piety? The New Year is just around the corner and she can’t continue to stay in the Buddhist sanctum. Should I just leave it at that?”

That was indeed what the senior Duke Ying Lady thought. Wasn’t this something everyone tacitly agreed to and then swept under the rug? However, when Lin Wei Xi openly talked about it in front of everyone like this, no matter how shameless they were, the Duke Ying Residence couldn’t say “let’s just leave it at that”. The senior Lady could only brace herself and say, “How is that acceptable! She’s made a mistake, so how can she stop halfway? Once the New Year has passed, have her go back and continue copying.”

Lin Wei Xi made an “Oh”. She thought to herself that one grew more experienced and knowledgeable as they grew older, but it was a pity that she saw through the senior Lady’s ploy. It was useless to play the trick on her. She smiled and asked sweetly and bluntly, “what date is considered after the New Years? It’s too vague. I’m afraid of making a mistake. Senior Lady, it would be good to clearly explain which day you’re referring to.”

The second Gao Madam’s jaw dropped and she looked up at Lin Wei Xi in amazement as if she’d grown two heads. The senior Duke Ying Lady was already gnashing her teeth a little, “The seventh day of the New Year. After the People’s Day, when the Kitchen God returns to the Heavens.”

“Alright.” Lin Wei Xi responded with a smile, “Then I’ll follow the senior Lady’s instructions and have Shizi Fei continue copying texts in the Buddhist sanctum on the eighth day of the New Year. I will inform Shizi Fei. Senior Lady, second Gao Madam, do you want to wait for her?”

“No need.” The corners of the senior Duke Ying Lady’s lips stiffly pulled down and she said, “We’re leaving now. No need to see us out, Princess Consort.”

Lin Wei Xi really stopped at the courtyard entrance, smiled politely, and had the maid send them out. Normally, she ought to have walked them out a little, but Prince Yan was inside. Even if she left him to send off the guests, no one from the Duke Ying Residence dared to accept it.

Lin Wei Xi stood around the entrance and returned to the room when it was time. Gu Hui Yan’s expression hadn’t looked right when he returned earlier. What was the problem?

She didn’t see him when she entered the room and asked the maid on standby, “Where is the Prince?”

The maid bowed and whispered, “the Prince is in the study.”

She headed to the side room. She stood at the door and saw Gu Hui Yan standing in front of the bookshelf organizing his library. The Eastern side room was now a study, but it was actually unused. Now that the Prince had moved the books he frequently used back to the inner courtyard and the Princess Consort had put her things in it, the side room was too cramped. Naturally the study needed to be expanded. The East side room now opened to the veranda at the back. New windows were installed with clear coloured glass. The entire study was spacious and neat.

Lin Wei Xi might’ve contributed to the spaciousness. After all, it’d been her idea to open all the windows from every direction, but the neatness was entirely because of Gu Hui Yan. Lin Wei Xi wasn’t a messy person. After all, her family background and education were good. She wasn’t one to leave her things lying around. But Gu Hui Yan’s OCD was severe. His books had to be of the same height, aligned in the same direction, separated based on their different categories. No matter which direction one looked from, the books were neatly arranged in a straight line.

When Lin Wei Xi walked through the door, she couldn’t help pausing. Prince Yan had laid out everything so neatly that it made it difficult for her to wade through. She really felt like a huge mess.

Gu Hui Yan had long since heard Lin Wei Xi’s footsteps. He waited for a while but found that it’d stopped. He turned around to see her leaning by the door with a strange expression on her face. He was amused by that wacky expression, and the solemn expression on his face livened up a little, “Why aren’t you coming in? What are you doing by the door?”

“My Prince, you’ve organized everything here into a clear order. Won’t I mess it up once I enter?”

“At worst I’ll just arrange it again. It’s not a problem.” Gu Hui Yan looked at her and smiled, reaching his hand out to her, “Come here.”

Lin Wei Xi actually leaned forward. She took the book in his hand, looked up at him, and smiled crookedly, “my Prince, although you say it’s not a hindrance, I’m still afraid that you’ll secretly blame me. I’ll give you a hand, so you definitely can’t do that.”

He smiled and acquiesced. He said, “Then I’ll have to thank you for the trouble.”

Lin Wei Xi and Gu Hui Yan stood side by side in front of the tall and solid red sandalwood bookshelf that faintly gave off a distinct woody fragrance. Gu Hui Yan held the book in one hand, quietly and calmly returning it to its proper place. The setting sun passed through the coloured windows and landed on him, lighting his profile with a layer of golden light. He looked more like a god descending to the mortal realm, handsome and refined. The orange sun shone on his hands, outlining his slender and well proportioned hands, while the light calluses on his fingers and palms quietly reflected his strength.

Lin Wei Xi became entranced as she watched. When he saw that she wasn’t responding, he repeated himself more seriously, “Questions and Replies between Tang Taizong and Li Weigong.”

She woke up from her trance. She quickly pulled the book from her arms and handed it over to him.

The atmosphere was harmonious between the two of them as one handed over the book while the other placed it on the shelf. Although Lin Wei Xi felt that she wasn’t being very helpful and suspected that she was slowing him down, she shamelessly gave herself credit for organizing the library with Gu Hui Yan. The atmosphere in the study was harmonious. Lin Wei Xi asked as she searched for a book, “my Prince, were you angry earlier?”

His hand paused imperceptibly and he turned to straighten the spine of the book while looking away, “No. Why do you ask?”

“It’s nothing. It just felt like you were in a bad mood.”

Gu Hui Yan glanced down at her and said lightly, “How old are you to know how to read a person?”

“What’s wrong with being young? Can I not be born naturally intelligent and talented?” Lin Wei Xi disliked that he always talked about how young she was and couldn’t help mumbling to herself, “isn’t it because I always see you that I have to ask. Otherwise, who will take care of you?”

Gu Hui Yan glanced lightly at her. After a while, he couldn’t hold back his smile.

He rarely actually revealed his emotions, especially emotions that exposed his true thoughts, like anger and displeasure. He actually hadn’t intended to bring this up, but who knew he’d be seen through by his delicate and bad-tempered little wife. He didn’t think it was because his many years of martial arts training had regressed. Perhaps, as Lin Wei Xi said, the two of them lived together and were intimate, so the small changes in his expression that even his political opponents couldn’t discern couldn’t be hidden from the person who shared his bed.

Lin Wei Xi saw Gu Hui Yan’s smile and the pressure around him eased. She felt encouraged and tried to sound him out, “Is it because of Gao Chen?”

No one knew where Gao Chen had learned that “good habit” of eavesdropping in other people’s homes. And he’d almost gotten away with it. If Gu Hui Yan hadn’t suddenly returned and wasn’t more vigilant than the average person, perhaps Lin Wei Xi still wouldn’t know that what she’d said had been heard word for word and could be instantly passed on to Han Shi and even Gao Ran.

Lin Wei Xi thought that Gu Hui Yan felt displeased about catching someone eavesdropping in his own residence. But he laughed and shook his head, “Of course not. Why do you think so?”

Even if eavesdropping was a vulgar and lowly thing to do, Gao Chen wasn’t even a speck of sand to Gu Hui Yan. Why would he be worried or displeased with someone so unremarkable? The number of people who could affect him could be counted on one hand. And now, another had been added.

Gu Hui Yan looked down at Lin Wei Xi. She was still ignorantly pondering about the culprit that had caused his mood to deteriorate. When she mentioned Gao Chen, she couldn’t help thinking of the Heavenly Book and how he’d inherit the Duke Residence in the future. Her heart pounded and she couldn’t help asking, “my Prince, what do you think of Gao Chen?”

“Him?” Gu Hui Yan hadn’t expected Lin Wei Xi to suddenly ask about him. He was just a seven to eight year old shu grandson from the Duke Ying Residence. Gu Hui Yan didn’t think much of that child. Hearing Lin Wei Xi’s question, he thought about it and said, “he flatters people too much and is unreliable.”

His verdict was completely different from the ending that Lin Wei Xi saw in the book. But Prince Yan’s judgment of people was never wrong. So why was there such a huge discrepancy? She was curious, so she asked, “my Prince, why do you think that? Is it because of his eavesdropping?”

“No, it’s not. Those who are successful don’t bother with such trivial matters. What does it matter if he justifies his tricks and eavesdrops on someone else’s conversation. But whether he truly has a noble or a deceitful character, all those who succeed have, without exception, perseverance and clear goals. But he’s too shallow and all he thinks about is how to ingratiate himself to the tastes of those around him. I don’t know this child’s whole story, but he’s most likely adept at pleasing the women of the inner courtyard and has only been exposed to those in his family.  He’ll be good to have in power struggles, but he’ll never be able to expand his influence.”

Lin Wei Xi suddenly saw the light when she heard this. It was no wonder that even though Gao Chen would indeed rely on the help of his sister and brother-in-law in the future to become the Duke despite being a shu son, the Duke Ying Residence didn’t stand out. He completely relied on the glory of his in-laws. It wasn’t inconsistent for Gao Chen to become the Duke despite being incompetent. Coming out as the winner of a family power struggle didn’t mean he could lead the family to prosperity. The saying “a person’s personality can be determined at three” didn’t pop out of thin air. With a single meeting, Gu Hui Yan’s assessment resolved her long-standing confusion.

Lin Wei Xi had been very uncomfortable that Gao Chen would inherit the Duke Ying Residence. After listening to Gu Hui Yan, she wanted the current timeline to follow the Heavenly Book even less.

If Gao Chen were really a talented person, then there was a limit to how much she could dislike him due to her personal grudges. But if he couldn’t bring prosperity to the Duke Ying Residence, maybe even leading the family to linger in the status quo and slip into the abyss of stagnation, then Lin Wei Xi had no reason to sit by and watch someone incompetent, someone she hated, become the head of the Duke Residence.

Lin Wei Xi looked down and couldn’t help thinking about her cousins from the branch families who were exemplary in virtue and academics. It didn’t matter to her whether the person who inherited the position of Shizi from her father was an adopted relative from a branch family who didn’t share the same parent as her, or her shu younger brother. After her rebirth, she’d vowed to draw a line with her past. Her identity, status, past glory, and even dowry had been buried together with Gao Xi’s death, and everyone in the Duke Ying Residence was no longer her maiden family. Even if she had approached Princess Royal Shou Kang out of selfishness, she had used another identity and she didn’t intend to divulge the secret that she was Gao Xi.

That’s why Lin Wei Xi really had nothing to do with her past life anymore. The Duke Ying Residence’s fate had nothing to do with her. But the Duke Ying Residence had once raised her after all. A generous lifestyle since childhood, an advanced education, and the pile of gold and jade spent on her had all been given to her by her family. It would be very low of her to enjoy the shelter of her family, and then curse them out the moment she got married. Although Lin Wei Xi had already died and was now reborn, and wasn’t involved, she still wanted to do her part for the family that had once birthed her and raised her. The least she could do was watch the Duke Ying Residence’s progression while she was alive.

Lin Wei Xi quickly went through the people from the branch families and tried to choose a child who was suitable in every aspect. But this kind of thing couldn’t be decided in a hurry. She raised her head and saw Gu Hui Yan looking down at her, his gaze deep, “What are you thinking about?”

Lin Wei Xi blinked. She reached out to hug his arm, smiled innocently, and refused to say anything. He couldn’t do anything about it so he let it slide.

If he really wanted to know, he didn’t need to ask her. He let her play dumb and act coquettishly because he didn’t feel like investigating it.

Lin Wei Xi had initially been properly helping and handing over the books. But she later didn’t feel like answering, so she simply clung onto Gu Hui Yan. She was so distracting that it was impossible to organize the bookshelves. Fortunately, the books were more or less tidied up and all he needed was one hand to finish the job. Gu Hui Yan unhurriedly organized the books, his other hand wrapped around Lin Wei Xi’s waist. He unwittingly asked, “The scenery outside is nice but you want to stay in the room with me to tidy up books. Isn’t it boring? “

“No, it’s not boring.” Lin Wei Xi couldn’t make heads or tails of his question, “why would you think I’m bored? It’s rare for you to have so much free time. To be able to do something together with you… although you did most of it, I’m actually having a good time.”

Gu Hui Yan lowered his head to see Lin Wei Xi resting her head against his shoulder, her fine chin slightly raised, proudly and wilfully confident in her conviction. He smiled slightly, his heart slowly relaxing. This wasn’t actually the answer he wanted to hear. Lin Wei Xi didn’t understand what it was he’d been trying to sound out. Sometimes she didn’t even realize he was probing her. But what did it matter? She was already his wife. Before thinking about the issue of providing for her in old age, she’d be spending much more time together with him. So there was no need to investigate the reason why she chose to marry him.

Gu Hui Yan could understand her reasoning at that time. Because Gao Ran had decided to promise her to someone else and said something that provoked her. Lin Wei Xi refused to be overpowered, just like an unmarried little miss refusing to be oppressed by her sister. Gao Ran had flaunted her status as Shizi Fei, so Lin Wei Xi married someone of a higher status out of spite. Gu Hui Yan knew that she’d been acting rashly from the start and he was merely a tool, a way out, to her. But it didn’t matter. He could be a way for her to climb the social ladder precisely because he was at the top of the social ladder. His achievements and glory were a part of him.

What’s done is done. They were already married, the marriage consummated, and the little miss really enjoyed playing the role of the Prince Yan Consort. It wasn’t impossible for him to provide her a long life where she lived proudly and happily.