The Laid-back Life of a Stepmother Novel

In her previous existence, Wen Ye climbed the corporate ladder to become a company director. A tragic car accident shattered that life, and she found herself reborn within an ancient aristocratic household—not as the main wife's daughter, but as the concubine's child.

Rather than fight for status and influence among the household's shifting allegiances, Wen Ye embraced a philosophy of calculated idleness. Power struggles held no appeal for someone content to recline and watch the world pass by.

This attitude of deliberate laziness left her unmarried at twenty, much to her concubine mother's distress. The main wife, displaying unexpected compassion, offered three paths forward:

1. A recently successful scholar
2. Her own cousin from the main family
3. A widower serving as Ministry of Justice official, already a father

After a full day of contemplation, Wen Ye selected the third path.

Her concubine mother's panic erupted immediately: "Becoming a stepmother is no simple matter! Why choose such hardship? Surely the young scholar would suffice?"

Wen Ye finished her mung bean pastry before responding, "That scholar has a cousin raised alongside him since childhood."

Her mother paused. "Then what of the main wife's cousin?"

"Too many relatives," Wen Ye replied, sipping her tea. "That household alone boasts two mothers-in-law. Each branch spawns countless concubines and secondary wives. The management alone exhausts me."

Her mother fell silent.

"The Ministry of Justice official is quite different," Wen Ye continued.

"Different how?" her mother asked.

"His parents have passed. He owns property. His elder brother and sister-in-law oversee the main house, while he has only a son to consider. I'll manage no household affairs, bear no children. As for the boy—my sister-in-law serves as his grandmother in all but name. Mrs. Lu can take that responsibility."

The concubine mother: "…"

Mrs. Lu, the sister-in-law of merely twenty-five: "…"