I Became The Stepmother of My Ex-husband

For the imperial court, New Year’s Eve wasn’t the most important celebration. The first day of the New Year was.

Early in the morning on the first day of New Years, the entire capital was filled with an unusual energy. It was still dark in the east, but every residence had lit its lamps. Even earlier than that, officials in full dress stood waiting in front of chengtianmen^◇. The most stately affair of the year was congratulating the Emperor by bowing to him on the morning of the first day of New Years. On this day, hundreds of court officials performed the ceremony and every country attended court. This was the power of a great country.

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The congratulatory ceremony on New Year’s morning was conducted with extreme prudence. Normally, all titled wives, including the women in the imperial family as well as those outside the imperial family, also had to enter the palace to conduct the congratulatory ceremony with the Empress and the Empress Dowager. But the Empress’ palace was empty as the Emperor had yet to choose an Empress, so the rites for the women’s congratulatory ceremony were much simpler. Therefore, it was enough to suffer from dawn till afternoon.

Today, Lin Wei Xi got up before dawn, tormented as she got into the sophisticated court attire. She put on the Imperial Princess Consort’s ceremonial long sleeved garment. She wore a jiudi^◇ headdress lined with plain muslin. A dark green juyi^◇ was fastened over her garments, cloud and phoenix patterns embroidered with luxurious gold thread on the front and back. After hanging the jade pendant and ornaments on the juyi, she wore a voluminous, grand red silk long sleeved garment on top of everything else. Finally, she layered on a long xiapei^◇ with a gold pendant at the bottom to weigh it down. Her entire outfit had a total of five to six layers and there were even many jade pendants and colourful ribbons between each garment. The sleeves of the red long sleeved garment almost touched the floor and when she moved, the dark green juyi and jade pendants were partially visible. Not to mention, the jiudi headdress was decorated with real gold, silver, jade and precious stones. Wearing such glamorous clothes, Lin Wei Xi was too noble and awe-inspiring to look at , but the weight behind that privilege was heavy.

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Although heavy, the Central Plain^◇ was known as a nation of etiquette. These complicated details were the best kind of power. Every detail on the ceremonial dress, even a tiny embroidered flower, indicated status and order. It was precisely when Lin Wei Xi stood in the main hall for the congratulatory ceremony that the sum of these details made her look dignified and magnificent.

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Lin Wei Xi was a titled wife outside the imperial family. But since there was no Empress, and as the Prince Yan Consort, the other Princess Consorts did not dare stand in front of her even though she was the youngest. Lin Wei Xi tried to decline, but to no avail. So she stood at the head of the titled wives, elegantly and solemnly leading the crowd to perform the congratulatory ceremony, appearing a little like the powerful leader of the titled wives.

Actually, the ceremony had been simplified a lot. After all, compared to the Empress Dowager, the Empress was the true focus of the ceremony. Since the Emperor was young and had yet to marry an Empress, it was reasonable for the women’s congratulatory ceremony to be cancelled. However, Grand Secretary Zhang was very stubborn about these trivial and over-elaborate formalities. Not only did he nitpick the actions and behaviour of all the ministers, even the Emperor wasn’t spared. He would also impeach the scholars who came every ten days to teach the Emperor literature and history if they made the slightest mistake. If the men conducted themselves like this, then of course Lin Wei Xi and the women had to put up with it as well.

While welcoming the New Year the night before, everyone slept late. And today, they had to wake up at dawn to wear their ceremonial attire. After that, dressed from head to toe in 5 kg worth of clothes, they attended the long-winded and overly-complicated congratulatory ceremony. They stood and knelt over and over again who knows how many times. Lin Wei Xi and the other youth were still alright after completing the ceremony, but many of the elderly titled Ladies couldn’t take it anymore. When the ceremony ended, even Empress Dowager Qian breathed a sigh of relief and quickly had someone help her to the rear to rest.

When the Empress Dowager Qian left, all the other women could relax. Even though the congratulatory ceremony was over, they couldn’t leave the palace. They had to participate in the palace banquet and could only return once it was over. But the most troublesome ceremony was over and there wasn’t much to do in the remaining time. Grand Secretary Zhang was simply too demanding when it came to these trivial and over-elaborate formalities. Making a mistake would unfortunately cause trouble for the entire family.

Fortunately, the congratulatory ceremony ended smoothly. As the women couldn’t leave the palace yet, they used the remaining time to socialise. The congratulatory ceremony had strong symbolic meaning. In addition, everyone wore their grandest clothes today. No matter how much they normally bragged, with the strict hierarchical rules, their status was obvious at a glance. Therefore, many of the Ladies, together with their hardworking children and grandchildren, liked to socialise on the New Year’s Day banquet after the congratulatory ceremony.

Everyone dispersed from their positions in the congratulatory ceremony formation. Lin Wei Xi merely stood there, but was soon surrounded by the other Ladies who came to greet her, before she could step aside to rest for a moment.

All those eligible to participate in the congratulatory ceremony were respected titled Ladies. The next most honourable thing a man could do after distinguishing himself was to first confer a title to his mother, then to his wife. Thus, the Ladies who participated in the congratulatory ceremony were generally quite old. Being around forty was considered young, and it wasn’t uncommon for these old nobles to be seventy or eighty with white hair. Lin Wei Xi was only seventeen this year and especially stood out among them. On top of that, she was radiantly beautiful. The more splendid her clothes were, the more it set off how exquisite and splendid she was. She also looked exceptionally dazzling as she stood at the front throughout the entire ceremony.

Yesterday evening, it had spread throughout the capital that the Emperor had left the palace during the New Year’s. His first stop had been the Prince Yan Residence, where he’d stayed for half a meal (10-15 minutes). The remaining half was spent at Grand Secretary Zhang’s house. With this, it was clear how highly the Emperor thought of Prince Yan. Prince Yan had control of the army, and now it seemed like the new Emperor trusted him greatly. The Emperor even took the initiative to participate in his New Year’s Eve family banquet. His status could easily be inferred. The weight of three consecutive generations of Emperors relying heavily on Prince Yan was too scary.

Lin Wei Xi, the Prince Yan Consort, attracted attention as soon as she showed up today. If everyone had looked at her with curiosity and respect before, there was cautiousness and even fear today. Lin Wei Xi sighed to herself. The three regent ministers left by the previous Emperor initially held the same status, but when the Emperor did things like this, it forced the three of them into a hierarchy. But as the young Emperor grew up, his ambitions and schemes gradually grew. This wasn’t something that could be avoided even if one wanted to.

Before marriage, a woman was accompanied by her mother and aunt when socialising, and after marriage, she followed her mother-in-law. All anyone could see in the main hall were Ladies talking to each other, bringing along their daughter-in-law and even granddaughter-in-law. Daughter-in-laws supported their mother-in-law with a gentle smile. No matter how it was like in their family, they all looked like gentle mother-in-laws and filial daughter-in-laws here. But Lin Wei Xi and Gao Ran looked very strange.

Lin Wei Xi, the mother-in-law, stood in front, and was simply younger and more beautiful than her daughter-in-law. If everyone around her hadn’t seen the Imperial Princess Consort dress she wore, they wouldn’t believe it at all.

After seeing off several Ladies who had previously given their New Year’s greetings, Lin Wei Xi took the opportunity to walk towards a small room to the side. The weight of the jiudi headdress on top of her head was heavy and she felt that her neck would snap if she didn’t rest.

In such a situation, Gao Ran didn’t have the authority to freely move around. She could only follow her mother-in-law. Wherever Lin Wei Xi went and whoever she talked to, she had to follow. Even if she saw her maternal family, she couldn’t act without her mother-in-law’s permission.

The daughter-in-law would rise from her humble position to finally become a mother-in-law who takes charge of important matters. This wasn’t just a saying.

Princess Royal Shou Kang had also come to the palace today for the congratulatory ceremony. She was resting in the side room, and was pleasantly surprised when she saw Lin Wei Xi. Lin Wei Xi was just thinking about looking for her maternal grandmother, but she didn’t expect to coincidentally meet her in the room where she was resting. Lin Wei Xi hurriedly greeted her and moved to bow to her, “Greetings to Princess Royal. This junior wishes you Happy New Year.”

Lin Wei Xi was halfway through her bow when she was quickly assisted by the female official next to Shou Kang. Even though Lin Wei Xi was one hundred percent a junior, because of Prince Yan’s current standing, Princess Royal Shou Kang didn’t dare to accept her bow. Shou Kang had someone help Lin Wei Xi up and smiled as she held her hand. She glanced left and right, “I haven’t seen you for some time. You’re so heartless. Once you got yourself a husband, you stopped visiting this old woman.”

Lin Wei Xi chuckled and sat next to Princess Royal Shou Kang, leaning against her affectionately, “How could I forget you? I hate that I was unable to visit the Princess Residence every day. Fortunately, the Residence has many trivial matters to take care of at the end of the year, otherwise you would definitely be sick of seeing me now.”

Princess Royal Shou Kang laughed in amusement. In actuality, the two hadn’t seen each other for only a month. It wasn’t easy for women to leave the house and meeting once a month or every other month was quite frequent. Lin Wei Xi was a newlywed, and had just taken over such a large residence. It was normal for her to be unable to get away at the end of the year. But for Shou Kang, one month felt many times longer when she didn’t see her.

Shou Kang was quite old and these complicated and tedious ceremonies were too much for her. But when she saw Lin Wei Xi, her fatigue instantly swept away. Her whole body seemed to have limitless energy. Shou Kang took Lin Wei Xi’s hand and asked all sorts of questions extremely affectionately. However, she didn’t even spare a glance at Gao Ran, her granddaughter in name, who came with Lin Wei Xi.

Gao Ran stood to the side and couldn’t help feeling embarrassed, her expression ugly. Gao Ran comforted herself by telling herself that when the Heavens are about to bestow great responsibility on a person, it first makes them go through suffering to harden their will. These two villains had only gotten their way for now and she’d let them act as they pleased for the time being. In the future, she’d certainly repay them tenfold.

Princess Royal Shou Kang attentively inquired about Lin Wei Xi’s current situation and was relieved when she learned that no one in the residence dared to disrespect her, and that she’d smoothly taken over her duties as a wife. Although people in the capital had talked about how the newly-wed young Princess Consort of the Prince Yan Residence was very capable, taking full charge of the internal and external affairs of the residence within a month of entering the household, even personally handling the New Year gifts, Princess Royal Shou Kang was concerned. She only felt reassured after hearing from her directly.

Despite just entering the household and not knowing anyone there, she dared to take over authority of the Prince Yan Residence. It showed how capable and bold Lin Wei Xi was. In fact, it proved that she indeed had the prerogative to make this public. Princess Shou Kang felt emotional. She felt close to Lin Wei Xi when she saw her, and even her efficient and capable nature reminded her of Gao Xi. Perhaps this was fate at work.

Seeing that Lin Wei Xi hadn’t suffered hardship in the Prince Yan Residence, Shou Kang felt at ease and couldn’t help but turn her attention to another matter. Gu Hui Yan was also Princess Shou Kang’s nephew. Be it Lin Wei Xi or Prince Yan, Shou Kang was quite attentive to this newlywed couple she’d personally acted as matchmaker for. She took Lin Wei Xi’s hand, leaned in, and asked, “How are you and Prince Yan?”

Lin Wei Xi hesitated for a moment after being suddenly asked about her private married life. Without waiting for a response, Shou Kang saw her face and spoke for her, “Seeing your expression, it seems like it’s going well.”

Lin Wei Xi’s cheeks instantly turned red. They were both married women. Of course she understood exactly what Shou Kang was insinuating. She felt so embarrassed she didn’t know what to say. Shou Kang was comforted when she saw that the clever and eloquent Lin Wei Xi also had such a shy, girlish side. She patted Lin Wei Xi’s hand and said with great relief, “That’s good to hear. You are two of the few people I care about. Who would’ve thought that the two of you would end up together. Now that I’ve seen that you are doing well, I can be at ease.”

Lin Wei Xi’s smile froze, “Princess Royal… “

“It’s alright. I’m old and there’s no need to avoid these topics.” Shou Kang carefully looked at Lin Wei Xi’s face and her eyes couldn’t help but water, “Knowing that you and Prince Yan support each other and are in harmony, my wish has been fulfilled. There is really nothing else that I am worried about. You two must live well and give birth to a big chubby baby soon. If it’s a son he will definitely be like Prince Yan, smart and clever from a young age. If it’s a girl, she will be like you. Oh my, that would be a formidable combination, and I am afraid she won’t be easy to deal with.”

Lin Wei Xi laughed when she heard this. She entertained her elders’ imagination, but when she thought of what happened last night, she couldn’t help but feel down.

Prince Yan spoiled her now because of those superficial things between men and women. Only when it came to their son would she see his true attitude. What kind of feelings did Prince Yan have for her? What was her place in his heart?

Lin Wei Xi hadn’t dwelled on this question for too long before being interrupted. A palace attendant dressed in red stood at the entrance of the warm room, smiling broadly as he bowed to Lin Wei Xi and Shou Kang, “Prince Yan Residence, Princess Royal, the Empress Dowager requests your presence.”

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