A Newlywed Wife

[Transmigration and Rebirth] "

A Laid-Back

Stepmother Whose

Thoughts Were Read

" by Jiang Ciyu [Complete]

Book description:

1. Shen Lantang had been reborn into this world as a baby nineteen years ago. Now she had married Xie Jin, a son of the distinguished Xie Family, as his second wife—and acquired a fair, plump son into the bargain.

After the wedding,

Shen Lantang was virtuous and gentle, frugal and courteous, respectful to her elders and kind to the young. She loved life. In plain language:

She ate and drank when she pleased, never took up a conversation she ought to leave alone, and never meddled in anything that was none of her business.

She might not have accomplished much, but no one could fault her. Until one day:

Her uncle and aunt came to discuss a marriage arrangement for the family's youngest daughter with her mother-in-law.

Shen Lantang: "The fellow they want to betroth Fourth Miss to already has a concubine. He still frequents brothels and behaves without restraint. This won't do. I'd better think of a way to stop the engagement."

Her uncle, aunt, and mother-in-law: !!!

"And that third brother—if he keeps running around with those disreputable friends of his, the Xie Family's reputation will suffer too. Time to throw a sack over his head and knock some sense into him."

The next day, her sturdy third brother broke his leg after stepping out the door left foot first.

Shen Lantang: "..."

Shen Lantang considered herself a six-out-of-ten daughter-in-law at best—barely passable. So she never expected her mother-in-law to clasp her hands and say with heartfelt emotion:

"Lantang, it took three generations of good deeds for the Xie Family to be blessed with a daughter-in-law like you!"

Shen Lantang leaned back warily. Isn't that laying it on a bit thick?

2. Xie Jin knew by then that Shen Lantang's inner voice could be heard only when something truly mattered to her. One day, an oath made by his ancestors forced him to bring the daughter of someone from his past back to the estate. Though he settled her in a separate residence, he remained uneasy.

When he saw Shen Lantang approaching, his heart tightened, but expectation shone in his eyes.

Shen Lantang walked straight past without a sideways glance, her heartbeat steady, as unruffled as could be.

Xie Jin: "..."

At midmorning, daylight already filled the room. Half asleep, Shen Lantang languidly held out an arm while her two maids dressed her.

It was the sixth lunar month, when the heat seemed fierce enough to melt metal and stone. Even early in the morning, the sun offered no mercy.

Shen Lantang wore a lotus-pink silk bodice beneath a green, narrow-sleeved jacket, with a pale blue-green pleated skirt embroidered with orchids. A maid was slipping a matching short-sleeved outer garment over her arms.

The Jing Dynasty had no written rule on the matter, but women usually wore wide-sleeved robes for formal dress. Those sleeves were stifling in the heat, though. Two days earlier, Shen Lantang had noticed that her mother-in-law had changed into a lighter overcoat before seeing her. She had promptly abandoned the heavy, stuffy wide sleeves too, alternating between overcoats and short-sleeved garments.

After helping her mistress into the top, Baozhu crouched to straighten the green-gem-studded jade peacock ornament hanging from her waist. As she rose, her gaze landed on something, and she suddenly covered her mouth and laughed.

"What are you laughing at?"

"My lady... you're growing lovelier and fuller by the day!"

Speechless, Shen Lantang looked down at herself. She had been married for over three months. Xie Jin was in his prime and full of energy, while she had been curious and willing to meet him halfway. They had both found pleasure in their time together. As for her growing fuller...

"Stop teasing her," Lan Xin chided Baozhu. Then she turned to Shen Lantang and said gently:

"My lady, it's time to go."

"All right, let's go!"

Going out meant visiting her mother-in-law's courtyard next door to pay her respects—the customary morning and evening greetings. But the Great Jing Dynasty had little taste for keeping women under tight control, so only the morning half of the custom remained. All she had to do was greet her mother-in-law after daybreak and eat breakfast with everyone. As long as she rose before the sun was high, she was fine.

The path was lined with lush, pleasing scenery. A plum tree partly hid an artificial hill, and spring water trickled down its crevices before running through buried pipes to nourish the grounds. Perhaps it was the sound of the flowing water, but the heat inside Shen Lantang eased a little.

Shen Lantang had walked this path for three months and soon reached the courtyard. Before she entered, she heard laughter from the hall.

At her arrival, a woman in a pale purple cross-collared dress embroidered with birds turned slowly toward her. "Lantang, you're here."

Shen Lantang bowed in greeting. "Good morning, Mother. Good morning, Aunt."

The richly dressed middle-aged woman seated in the place of honor smiled. "Good morning to you too, Lantang. Come in. Your aunt brought vegetables freshly picked from her garden today. Have some with us."

"Gladly." Shen Lantang stepped forward.

The woman in the place of honor was Shen Lantang's mother-in-law, the duchess. The first to speak was the wife of the duke's second brother, making her Shen Lantang's aunt by marriage. And that brought them to the Xie Ducal Estate, where Shen Lantang had married.

Years ago, when Shen Lantang had resigned herself to having been reborn in ancient times—and into a family of civil officials at that—she had prepared to marry into an official's household and deal with a crowd of relatives. She had even trained her memory by painstakingly memorizing the main characters of Dream of the Red Chamber. As it turned out, the Xie Ducal Estate had strictly practiced monogamy since her husband's grandfather's generation. There were no concubines or secondary wives, and not many siblings either.

The Xie Family's great-grandfather had been one of the founding veterans who fought alongside Jing Gaozu on horseback. After the dynasty was established, he was made Duke of Ding. To show favor and strengthen their bond, Jing Gaozu married his daughter to the duke's youngest son—the grandfather of the present Xie Family line.

The grandfather and the princess had two sons and a daughter. The elder son was Shen Lantang's father-in-law, now the chief censor, a first-rank official responsible for supervision and impeachment.

Shen Lantang's father-in-law had only one son, Xie Jin. Her uncle and aunt had two sons and two daughters, one of whom had married and moved away. The youngest sibling, her aunt by marriage, had wed a descendant of her great-grandfather's old friend in Zhaojing and had a son and two daughters. That might sound like quite a few people, but in practice Shen Lantang regularly dealt with only three elders and their spouses, plus five or six cousins. It really was not many.

Her mother-in-law called for breakfast to be served. The ducal family was not given to extravagance, so the meal merely offered a little more variety than an ordinary household's: two plates of steamed buns, dumplings, and flower rolls, along with eggs and pancakes. The pancakes could be dipped in sugar or soy sauce, or wrapped around vegetables and meat.