I Became The Stepmother of My Ex-husband

Empress Qian almost burned incense in Kunning Palace. The Buddha was really watching over her. The long drawn struggle over the crown prince forcefully reached a conclusion. Bu Guifei went mad from the pain of losing her son and became increasingly unbridled in eliminating her opposition. For a time, the wicked eunuchs ran amok to the point where even Emperor Muzong couldn’t control them. He had no choice but to write a secret edict to summon Prince Yan into the capital to suppress the rebellion, punish the traitors and hold the reins of the Qing Dynasty. Whether or not Bu Guifei actually hung herself in the end, only Emperor Muzong and Prince Yan knew.

In the end, the second prince died of illness and Bu Guifei was executed. The eldest prince was the only remaining prince. Even if he was an idiot, the ministers had to assist him in becoming a wise monarch. Emperor Muzong received such a huge blow from this incident that he passed on soon after. Before his death, he appointed the eldest prince as crown prince and Gu Hui Yan, Zhang Xiao Lian, and Eunuch Feng as the regent ministers. Together, they’d assist the young emperor as he grew up until he was old enough to govern the country himself.

It was currently the fifth year of Yuanjia. The young Emperor had ascended the throne five years ago and was already twelve years old.

Empress Dowager Qian really didn’t care about the state of the imperial court. The harem wasn’t allowed to interfere with politics and she wasn’t interested. She already held the highest position and the most respected status in the land. No matter how the dynasty changed, would it involve the Empress Dowager? All the more reason for her to grow old with a peace of mind in the harem. If she wasn’t observing a vegetarian diet and praying to the Buddha, she’d summon her sister-in-law for a chat. The issue between the Second Qian Young Master and Lin Wei Xi was something that came from Madam Qian.

At that time, news of Prince Yan marrying a Consort had already spread. Of course, the Qian family didn’t dare fight with Prince Yan over a woman. Plus, he’d specifically passed on the news. When that happened, the Second Qian Young Master became too scared to leave the house. After a period of time, when the news died down, Madam Qian became a little uncomfortable. The Prince Yan Shizi Fei had clearly already given her word, but it was intercepted by Prince Yan no more than a few days later. Was the Prince Yan Residence going to step on the Qian family’s face like this?

The more Madam Qian thought about it, the more unresigned she became, so she entered the palace and raised the issue. Empress Dowager Qian only knew that Prince Yan was going to marry a new Consort. Only after hearing her sister-in-law’s version did she realize that the new Prince Yan Consort, Lin Shi, and her second nephew were connected in this manner. Of course, Empress Dowager Qian wouldn’t have any complaints about Prince Yan. The Emperor succeeded the throne back then thanks to his assistance. When he first ascended the throne, they were invaded by foreign forces, and it was Prince Yan who led the army to suppress the rebellion. Without Prince Yan’s military strength that acted as a deterrent, Empress Dowager Qian and the Emperor were nothing more than an orphan and widow. What could they do to suppress the court officials and generals of the previous dynasty? Empress Dowager Qian actually depended on Prince Yan a lot. How could she criticize him for marrying a Consort?

While she was too scared to blame Prince Yan, it didn’t prevent her from criticizing this troublesome new Princess Consort. Today, Lin Shi would enter the palace to kowtow. She intended to test her. She wanted to see for herself what kind of person could incite her nephew and Prince Yan to fight for her hand in marriage.

But it seemed like this Prince Yan Consort was not only very beautiful, but also very clever and lovable. When Emperor Muzong was still alive, Princess Royal Shou Kang was treated extremely respectfully, her face almost comparable to Qian Shi, who was the Empress. As a result, Empress Dowager Qian held a bit of a grudge. Now that the tables had turned, she n was not at all afraid to speculate the worst about Shou Kang. From her perspective, Shou Kang most likely chose Lin Shi for her beauty and recognized her as an adoptive granddaughter. After that, she thought of a way to have Lin Shi marry Prince Yan to stabilize the relationship between the Princess Shou Kang Residence and the Prince Yan Residence. After all, Shou Kang’s biological granddaughter had died. It made sense that she was anxious.

Empress Dowager Qian’s mood turned for the better when she thought this. She would never make an enemy out of Princess Royal Shou Kang. However, it gave her indescribable joy to see the once well-regarded princess inferior to herself. Which was why Lin Wei Xi looked more pleasing to her. However, when Empress Dowager Qian looked at Gao Ran, she thought to herself that one really couldn’t judge a book by it’s cover. A gentle, sweet, well-bred young lady like her could actually do something like block her mother-in-law from entering the household and promise her to another family. What was especially abominable was that she had plotted against her nephew!

At this point, Empress Dowager Qian had completely forgotten that it was Madam Qian who had proposed the marriage to Gao Ran first. Then, since the Qian family didn’t dare confront Prince Yan, the reason why they had lost face was because of other people!

Gao Ran unknowingly took the blame for Madam Qian, but unfortunately she wasn’t able to explain it. One could tell from Empress Dowager Qian that the Qian family was not an honest family. Gao Ran couldn’t say what she wanted to say and Lin Wei Xi didn’t give her a chance to speak.

Gao Ran spent the entire morning trying to get a word in and it was truly unspeakably upsetting. Just as she grew fretful, a voice chanted from outside, “The Emperor has arrived. Prince Yan has arrived.”

Cining Palace erupted into commotion. Lin Wei Xi stood up and bowed to the door in greeting.

“Long live the Emperor.”

The Emperor entered Cining Palace escorted by a group of people, Gu Hui Yan standing beside him. He looked around after entering, his eyes suddenly focusing on one person, “Uncle Yan, is this my new Aunt?”