I Became The Stepmother of My Ex-husband

Gao Xi dropped the curtain and instructed her personal servant with a few words. The servant looked at Gao Xi in surprise, but still obediently jumped out of the carriage to give the father and daughter twenty taels of silver. Gao Xi guessed that the man was trying to raise medical expenses for his daughter. Because of this, he was so anxious that he did not hesitate to beg for money. A man with no money is no man at all, and it wasn’t easy for anyone to live. Twenty taels of silver did not mean much to Gao Xi. If she could help them, then she would just regard it as her childhood longing for fatherly love.

Gao Xi didn’t know what happened afterwards. She didn’t show up to ask the father and daughter for their name, nor did she tell them who she was. If this was Gao Ran, she would definitely have revealed it by accident, particularly letting others know that she did a virtuous deed, but Gao Xi would not. What she did was her own business; this was her style of doing things. There was no need to use others’ hardships to boost her own reputation.

She had completely forgotten about this chance meeting after it happened. Later on, when Bu Guifei caused chaos and endangered everyone in the capital, she wasn’t in the mood to think about this matter. But who knew that the father and daughter she rescued that year had another stroke of good luck. The man was Lin Yong, and the sick girl was Lin Wei Xi. Lin Yong had used the twenty taels of silver to cure his daughter’s illness, managing to save his daughter’s life. It just so happened that, at that time, Prince Yan entered the capital to rescue the emperor. Lin Yong was born with extraordinary strength, and he became Prince Yan’s subordinate. He then sent his daughter back to his hometown and wholeheartedly followed Prince Yan in order to save a dowry for his daughter.

Emperor Mu Zong died in the thirteenth year of Jianzhao, and appointed Prince Yan as one of the three Regent Ministers while on his deathbed. Prince Yan could only stay in the capital to assist the deceased emperor’s eldest son succeed the throne. One year later, there was more trouble at the border. Prince Yan left the capital in the second month that year with his troops, travelling there to subdue the uprising.

It was inevitable that a lot of manpower was needed to suppress the rebellion, support the new emperor and kill enemies at the border. Lin Yong took this opportunity to establish himself under Prince Yan, gradually making some accomplishments, which fortunately earned Prince Yan’s recognition. Prince Yan felt that Lin Yong indeed had potential, so he ordered Lin Yong to follow him. This time, the Dughlat tribe^◇ from the northwestern border took the opportunity to make trouble. The terrain was complicated and the climate was bitterly cold. Prince Yan put in considerable work before he gradually gained the upper hand.

During a small-scale siege, Lin Yong died while saving Prince Yan during an ambush. Lin Yong had an unrelenting personality. Even when there were three arrows buried in his back, he still desperately escorted Prince Yan through. But it was a pity that Lin Yong’s injuries were too severe; he ran out of strength and was unable to push through. The Dughlat tribe lost in that instant. Humiliation turned into anger, so they let out all their anger onto Lin Yong, not letting him off even after he’d died. Two to three days later, Lin Yong’s head was chopped off and hung from the city gate as a demonstration to Prince Yan.

Prince Yan fought the Dughlat tribe for a year and they were almost exterminated. All the men and boys were killed, leaving only the elderly, the women and the children. The following year, Prince Yan supported a new regime, and took over the women and property of the fallen Dughlat tribe, consequently forming checks and balances with the other two tribes in the north. Once the situation in the north-west was cleaned up, Prince Yan took Lin Yong’s remains and returned to the capital with his troops.

Everyone in the capital rejoiced when they received news of Prince Yan’s victory. Following the instructions of Grand Secretary Zhang, the little emperor acted like a grown-up and wrote a letter to Prince Yan asking him what reward he wanted. Prince Yan already owned an estate that housed tens of thousands of families and he also had authority as Regent Minister. There was nothing he couldn’t have in this world. If one had to say, it was that his Wangfei died ten years ago, so perhaps what he lacked was a new wife.

However, the reward that Prince Yan asked for was beyond everyone’s expectations. He didn’t ask for money or an official position for his only son. Instead, he requested for the emperor to confer a noble title to Lin Yong as a martyr who died for his country. It was nothing more than an honorary title. But it was much easier than giving the Prince Yan Residence a reward, and doing this also boosted the reputation of the imperial court, so Grand Secretary Zhang agreed to Prince Yan’s request without hesitation. After the whole affair, the war hero Lin Yong was conferred the title of Marquis Zhongyong.

Lin Yong’s wife had died of illness many years ago and left behind only one daughter. The title of Marquis Zhongyong had reached its end and Lin Wei Xi could use nothing more than the reward and reputation that her father had exchanged his life for.

In the second year of the Yuanjia reign, Prince Yan sent word of Lin Yong’s tragic sacrifice to  the Lin household. It wasn’t until the tenth month of the fourth year of the Yuanjia reign, when Lin Wei Xi had almost finished observing three years of filial mourning to her father, that the imperial court conferred Lin Yong as Marquis Zhongyong. The original host had a weak body and her mother died from the difficult labour right after giving birth to her. Over the years, the father and daughter could only rely on each other. The only reason the original host held out until now was to wait for Prince Yan to send Lin Yong’s remains back to their hometown.

Thinking back to one month ago, the timid little original host had suddenly appeared in her dream with a smile and said that she was leaving to find her father. By then, Lin Yong’s soul had presumably already entered the afterlife.

From the perspective of the original host, the reputation of being Marquis Zhongyong’s orphan daughter and the large amount of land bestowed by the imperial court were not as important as her father’s remains. Hence, the original host waited for her father before leaving without a worry, and gave Gao Xi, who had a good relationship with the Lin family, another chance at life.

It was currently the first month of the fifth year of the Yuanjia reign; Gao Xi had passed away in the twelfth month the previous year. It had been a month since the original host left to follow Lin Yong.

Gao Xi was Lin Wei Xi’s past life. Following that, Lin Wei Xi sighed for a while, fetched some water, and clumsily tidied herself up.

This was almost unthinkable in Lin Wei Xi’s previous life. Even a second-class servant girl in the Duke Ying Residence didn’t have to do such rough work like sweeping the floor. Since Lin Wei Xi was born, even when washing her hands, all she needed to do was to spread her fingers and the servants would wipe it for her. Now, she had to learn how to wash her face, comb her hair, and even wash her clothes by herself.

In fact, Lin Yong had already been conferred as Marquis Zhongyong by the imperial court. Even if he couldn’t be compared to the wealthy families in the capital, but in a small countryside, it was enough for Lin Wei Xi to live comfortably without worrying about food or clothing. Lin Wei Xi now needed to do everything by herself, but she actually started doing this from the day the reward was given to her.

The emperor ascended the throne at the age of eight and was only twelve years old this year. How could a child who hadn’t even reached adolescence be expected to run the country. While it looked like the young emperor was in power, as a matter of fact, all of the country’s government affairs were handled by Grand Secretary Zhang Xiao Lian.

This Grand Secretary had no relationship with the current Lin Wei Xi. Zhang Xiao Lian contentedly built a reputation for cherishing talented people in the capital, and so he handed over the matter of the Honorary Deed Medallion^◇ to his subordinates. Although Marquis Zhongyong had a noble title and was a martyr, he had no brothers, no sons, and no clan. Only his daughter remained, and there was no successor to be found. If one thought about it, the reward conferred by the imperial court had already been emptied out after passing through layer upon layer of government official’s hands, before being sent to Lin Wei Xi’s place.

Lin Wei Xi was still furious at the thought of this. She had arrived late that day and didn’t know what happened when the imperial court’s envoy arrived. She only knew that after the imperial envoy read the imperial decree, she was supposed to receive the decree. She didn’t know how, but the imperial decree ended up being transferred to the county magistrate afterwards; even all of the rewards from the imperial court were carried to the prefecture office. Lin Wei Xi was both angry and anxious. Obviously, she had been swindled that day because she didn’t give enough money. Aunt Lin^◇ and the entire family were also short-sighted. What would they do with just the money? At least take the god damn imperial edict and Honorary Deed Medallion!

The bulk of the reward given by the imperial court had been seized by the county magistrate and village officials, and these so-called “magistrates” leaked off a small portion for Aunt Lin’s family to monopolize. In the end, the only thing that Lin Wei Xi, this sole daughter, actually received was only the title of ‘martyr’s daughter’.

In order to take back Lin Yong’s things, Lin Wei Xi had no choice but to spend money to seek help. If this had happened during her previous life, all she needed to do was say it offhandedly and it would be done. But now she was no longer the Shizi Fei of the Prince Yan Residence. If she wanted to get back Lin Yong’s things, she could only think of a solution herself.

Lin Wei Xi thought about the issue of taking back the imperial decree and Honorary Deed Medallion, stumbling while twisting the towel in her hand, and managed to tidy herself up into a presentable state. Speaking of, Lin Wei Xi’s appearance was truly stunning. In her previous life, she had seen so many official’s daughters and noble beauties, but none of them could compare to Lin Wei Xi in terms of facial features. She had a kind of extremely exquisite beauty, and because she was too beautiful, it would evoke a sense of contempt in others.

Lin Wei Xi only washed her face and wiped her arms, but she managed to wet most of the ground. She blushed with shame and hurriedly moved to find something to wipe the floor with.

Just as she placed her hand on the door, she suddenly heard voices outside.

Perhaps Aunt Lin thought that Lin Wei Xi hadn’t woken up yet, or that even if Lin Wei Xi had, she wasn’t afraid of being heard. Aunt Lin had spent her entire life eking out a living from the farms when suddenly, a group of officials arrived, bearing the imperial decree and many rewards. It would be weird if Aunt Lin didn’t covet any of it.

“This brother of mine had a short life, his wife passed away as soon as his daughter was born, and he died on the battlefield to save others. As his older sister, I feel so heartbroken! Six years ago, he sent his only daughter to our home. We already have many mouths to feed, and suddenly there’s a sick person who constantly needs medicine. Such a heavy burden, do I have to say more?”

Lin Wei Xi suddenly stopped pushing the door open. Blocked by only the door, she quietly listened to the unconcealed conversation going on outside.

“Sister Lin, I know that you have a kind heart and raised your younger brother’s daughter for six years. It’s just that, your younger brother is famous now, Xi’er is no longer a burden, she’s now a Marquis’s daughter! It’s a pity she isn’t a man, your brother’s Marquis title will only go to waste. Even if the title can’t be retained, money doesn’t deceive. Xi’er has so many dowries, she will be blessed when she marries in the future.”

Aunt Lin wasn’t too happy to hear this, “I am his only sister. Now that he’s gone, the money he earned still skipped me and is completely left to Xi’er? His daughter is an outsider, but we brother and sister share the same flesh and blood. Not to mention, Xi’er can’t inherit the title, but our family’s Li Da is a boy!”

Li Da was Aunt Lin’s son, 19 years old this year and not yet married . He idled all day long, and even now nobody knew where he was.

Matchmaker Wang^◇, who was a well-known matchmaker in the village, could only laugh at this. Although she looked polite on the surface, Matchmaker Wang couldn’t help thinking to herself; she’d heard of people leaving family property to their brothers or their daughters, but she’d never heard of someone’s nephew inheriting the title. What kind of reasoning was this?

But she came here to act as a matchmaker, there was no need to sour her relationship with Aunt Lin. Matchmaker Wang continued to laugh and said, “Sister Lin is right. You are Xi’er’s aunt, and her parents are dead, so naturally you are the one overseeing her marriage. Sister, the son of the Liu Yuan Wai family is very popular. If sister Xi marries over, she will live like a young madam; she won’t have to man the fields or do housework. There will even be a little maid waiting on her! Sister, don’t blame me for siding with the Liu Yuan Wai household as a matchmaker. Their family is indeed very good. Many girls in the village want to marry into their household, but now Liu Yuan Wei is willing to let Xi’er become part of the main family, what a blessing this is!”

What kind of blessing was this? Lin Wei Xi had a huge inheritance under her name, and she didn’t have any brothers or uncles to support her. Wouldn’t the person who married her win the lottery without having done anything? What’s more, he could also use Lin Yong’s Marquis Zhongyong title to make his descendants seem special. In the future, it would benefit them, whether they wanted to do business, to take the imperial exam, or more.

Lin Wei Xi clenched her fingers unconsciously. She hadn’t finished observing her filial mourning to her father, but these people were already forcing her to get married.

Author’s note:

Gao Xi is completely dead, so the ethical relationship between the female lead and the Prince Yan Residence because of marriage no longer exists. Lin Wei Xi is now completely free and unmarried.

The female lead’s character in this novel is different from the previous ones (t/n: the author’s other novels). If I have to sum it up, maybe it’s like a little chilli pepper? The body of a teddy bear with the temper of a Tibetan Mastiff…