The Laid-back Life of a Stepmother

After a fatal car accident, Wen Ye, who had achieved success as a company director in her past life, is reborn into an ancient aristocratic family as the daughter of a concubine. Disillusioned with the drama of her new existence, Wen Ye abandons all ambition, desiring only a life of quiet indolence. Her desire for a laid-back existence leads to her remaining unmarried at twenty, causing great anxiety for her concubine mother. The stern main wife presents Wen Ye with three potential suitors: a promising young scholar, a cousin from the main wife’s family, or a widowed Ministry of Justice official with children. After careful consideration, Wen Ye selects the widowed official. Her mother protests, highlighting the difficulties of being a stepmother, but Wen Ye reveals her pragmatic reasons: the scholar has a complex family background, and the main wife’s cousin’s family is too large and intricate for her to manage. She finds the widowed official ideal because he has no parents, owns property, has supportive siblings, and a son. This arrangement means she can avoid managing a household or bearing children, as the son already has a capable guardian in his sister-in-law, Mrs. Lu.