The First Spring in Jade Capital

[Mutual Devotion, Flirting, Marriage Before Love, The Whole Family’s Regret, Glamorous Seductive Empress Dowager × Black-Bellied Wheelchair-Bound Powerful Official, Unmasking Each Other’s Secret Identities] In the first half of my life, I was widowed in all but name for the sake of a marriage alliance. I helped my stepson become the new emperor, then retired as empress dowager after fulfilling my duty! In the second half, I kicked the royal family to the curb and chose a live-in husband: the wheelchair-bound richest man in Jiangnan! My stepson, the emperor, was reluctant to let me go. “I’m twenty-eight, and I’ve found myself a wealthy husband. I’m getting married soon!” My stepson pleaded with red-rimmed eyes for me to stay. I shoved the imperial seal into his arms. “Your Majesty, I’ve raised you for eighteen years. It’s time someone else took care of me.” The world laughed at me for marrying beneath me to a disabled merchant, but they didn’t know the truth. His wheelchair concealed secrets. At night, he caught my ankle and chuckled, “Madam, didn’t you want all of Xiao’s fortune? How come you can’t even open this box?” His lapel carried the scent of medicine. He turned his head to avoid my lips. “With this ruined body, how could I dare defile the empress dowager...” Later, during a confrontation in the imperial palace, my sickly husband, whom I had forced into marriage, stood up and walked. The dragon-patterned jade pendant swinging from his waist made the new emperor’s face change drastically. “Dear nephew, how about calling me Uncle?” He slipped an arm around my waist, his fingertips brushing my slightly rounded belly. “After all, there’s a little one in your aunt’s belly who’ll call you big brother.”