After a Substitute Marriage, the Easygoing Stepmother Lives a Laid-Back Life

Shen Lingmiao, an art student, transmigrates one day and becomes the eldest daughter born to a concubine in the Bianjing residence of the Earl of Wenchang. Her stunningly beautiful mother died, leaving behind two young siblings. Shen Lingmiao has no choice but to protect them by pretending she can’t read a room or understand what people really mean, and by having skin as thick as a city wall. In this way, she makes it to the age of twenty without a care in the world. She plans to keep mooching off the earl’s household and wait out her days, but out of nowhere, her legitimate younger sister’s marriage match suddenly falls to her instead??? The Pei clan of Hedong is one of Bianjing’s most prominent aristocratic families, with an illustrious lineage and generations of remarkable talent. Pei Heng is a paragon of excellence, accomplished in both letters and arms. He has won back the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun and earned countless military honors. His family boasts two marquises, and its glory is unmatched. He may be a widower, but he’s still a hot commodity. Under the watchful eyes of all Bianjing, Shen Lingmiao says: If you dare to provoke me, sorry, but congratulations, you’ve provoked a piece of cotton. I’ll just melt away like cream~ When her mother-in-law tries to impose rules, she turns into an octopus and piles food into her mother-in-law’s bowl until it’s a little mountain. Once she’s full, she won’t have the energy to make trouble anymore~ Her husband is cold and taciturn, so she turns into a little loudspeaker. When Pei Heng practices his sword, she claps and cheers. When he reads, she plays music to entertain him. La-di-da~ When Pei Heng bathes, she sings him a little song: “Once upon a time there was a gentleman, a little cold and a little repressed…” Her stepson is arrogant and overbearing, so she turns into a white lotus. When he misbehaves, she reports him. When he gets beaten, she sheds tears. When he’s punished, her heart aches!! When he acts arrogant, she’s even more arrogant. She hits someone, and her stepson takes the blame. She scolds someone, and her stepson worries, “Are you thirsty?” Shen Linglan has a dream. In it, the current emperor has no sons, so Zhao Zhan, an idle member of the imperial clan, inherits the throne, and her half-sister Shen Lingmiao unexpectedly becomes empress. Meanwhile, she marries into the Pei clan, where the marquis’s household is a deep and dangerous place. Her mother-in-law dislikes her, her husband is cold, and her stepson is domineering. Her life is unbearably bleak, like a stagnant pool. Heaven has shown her favor after all, granting her this chance to act first. She is determined to claim the empress’s throne! Shen Linglan goes to great lengths to marry Zhao Zhan, while her half-sister marries into the marquis’s household in her place. As the days go by, she never expects her half-sister Shen Lingling to enter the palace and give birth to a prince?! And the half-brother she never gave a second thought to rises rapidly through the ranks. Her half-sister thrives after marrying into the marquis’s household and even grows plumper by the day?? The mother-in-law who disliked her takes her half-sister to one banquet after another. The cold Pei Heng even asks the emperor to bestow honey-and-bean ice on her. The domineering stepson climbs a tree in front of everyone to pick flowers just to make her smile. A greedy, lecherous, easily tearful, lazy girl × a stern, reserved, refined gentleman Romance after marriage An everyday story full of food Please add my upcoming novel to your reading list! The Idle Crown Princess. Synopsis: Chai Baozhu is born into the Jingming era of the Great Zhou dynasty. Her mother is mighty and domineering, while her father takes on the entire court, arguing with everyone from the emperor to the ministers and submitting an impeachment against the crown prince every few days. Her eldest brother is a stickler for ancient etiquette, her second brother is obsessed with making money, her third brother loves bizarre clothes, and her little brother is her constant shadow~ Chai Baozhu’s life is a perfect dream. Her biggest worry each day is what to eat, which outfit will look best, and where to go have fun the next day~ She lives without a care until she comes of age. Now and then, she puts someone she dislikes in their place, and if she hears someone badmouthing her behind her back, she beats them up! As the only heir of the Chai clan, her mother promises that once she’s a little older, she’ll give her the title of commandery princess. Then she can find a husband of her own choosing, and her second brother promises to find her eight or ten handsome men~ Chai Baozhu happily waits for her eighteenth birthday, only for an imperial edict to arrive: she’s become the crown princess?! Her dream is shattered!!! Zhao Ye!!! You dog! I’ll never forgive you as long as I live!!! - Zhao Ye gets up before dawn every day to train in martial arts. In the morning, he listens to his tutor’s lectures in the Imperial Study. In the afternoon, he rides and shoots at the training grounds. From time to time, his father summons him to discuss statecraft and lets the ministers put him to the test. At night, he has to help his father review memorials. He goes to bed later than a dog and gets up earlier than a chicken, while his elder brother eyes his position as crown prince and his younger brothers are all eager to make their own plays, each with ambitions of his own! Every few days, he’s impeached for neglecting his studies, indulging in frivolous pursuits, or failing to attend to his proper duties. He just wants to relax a little, but a bunch of old censors won’t leave him alone! The most despicable of them is Censor Ji!!! He files a minor impeachment every three days and a major one every five!! The history books show that being crown prince has always been dangerous. Few crown princes live long enough to take the throne. Zhao Ye is fed up! Zhao Ye gives up! Zhao Ye comes up with a plan! Knowing the Ji family is fiercely protective of its own, Zhao Ye decides to make the first move! He obtains an imperial edict giving him the chance to become a Ji family son-in-law. Then, under the broad daylight, the crown prince is suddenly ambushed with a sack over his head in front of everyone!! A furious shriek comes with a flurry of punches and kicks: “Zhao, you dog! You bastard! I’ll never forgive you as long as I live!” Zhao Ye is dumbfounded. His uncle died long ago, sent to join the late emperor by his father, and no one told him that Miss Chai was a tigress in rouge!!! After their wedding, Zhao Ye comes to love it. With a tigress of a crown princess holding down the Eastern Palace, she argues with her imperial father-in-law and beats up the elder brother who’s always picking on him. Every few days, she also gives his third, fourth, and fifth brothers a scolding. His father-in-law and brothers-in-law have his back at court, and he can sleep until well past midmorning each day. The crown princess can’t bear to be without him and cuddles him every night as she falls asleep (though really, she just uses him as a body pillow). The crown princess gets cranky when she wakes up, too. Zhao Ye is reduced to tears as he plays the obedient dog, but life couldn’t be any sweeter! A short-tempered, lazy crown princess who fights whenever she’s unhappy × a clingy, scheming crown prince with a hidden agenda End of synopsis Coming soon: A Cousin Comes to the Duke’s Residence. Synopsis: Before her maternal grandmother passed away, she entrusted Xu Baoguang to her dear friend, the Old Madam of the Duke’s Pei household. Xu Baoguang travels from Jiangnan to the capital. On her first day at the residence, Xu Baoguang runs into Third Master Pei. The man wears a flying-fish uniform and a broadsword at his waist. He radiates a murderous aura, his profile is sharp, and his piercing gaze makes Baoguang shiver. As she passes him, Baoguang catches a strong smell of blood. She bravely looks up and notices a few drops of blood spattered on the man’s jaw. She shivers again in fright. Baoguang recalls the rumors about Third Master Pei that spread from the capital to Jiangnan. They say he kills without mercy and is so ruthless he can stop a child from crying at night. No one in the capital dares cross him. Baoguang thinks she must stay far away from Third Master Pei and never, ever provoke him! After she enters the residence, the Old Madam Pei treats her with great affection, cherishing her like a precious jewel. She even lets Baoguang choose a husband from among the Pei family’s eligible young men. Baoguang thinks that one cousin is a choice, but several would be no bad thing. Only by comparing them can she pick the very best husband. Beneath the hazy moon, she strolls with her eldest male cousin. Amid drifting blossoms and flowing water, she takes a boat ride on the lake with her second cousin. Deep in a bamboo grove, she plays music in harmony with her third cousin. Beneath the bewitching night sky, she confides her feelings to her fourth cousin… Baoguang thinks only Heaven, Earth, she, and her cousins know, but she never expects Third Master Pei to have seen it all!!! Also known as: Confessing to Four Men at Once, Only to Be Forcefully Claimed by a Fifth A sweet, scheming, timid, lazy girl × a strict, calculating older man with a possessive streak Theme: Sincerity is the only sure way to win