Chapter 1

Chapter 1

I transmigrated into the lady of the Marquis’s Mansion.

The good news was that the Marquis’s Mansion was rich, with a vast fortune for me to squander however I pleased.

The bad news was that my stepson was the devoted second male lead in the book, and once he grew up, he would be even better at squandering money than I was.

Eighty percent of the Marquis’s Mansion’s wealth would be spent by him cleaning up messes for the female lead and spitefully competing with the male lead.

I looked at the nine-year-old Xie Lanting before me.

His skin was dark, his features were sweet and well-behaved, and his eyes were lowered, making it impossible to read his emotions.

But I knew he was only pretending to be obedient.

Inside that tiny body of his was an enormous amount of anger.

That anger had never faded. It stayed with him as he grew up, which was why, later on, he would bring about such a catastrophic disaster.

The steward gave a soft cough. “Madam, where should we settle the young master?”

In the book, the original owner had thrown Xie Lanting into a remote little courtyard and then ignored him completely.

He lived there alone for several years, taking care of himself, doing his best to reduce his presence, so quiet and obedient he was practically invisible.

It was only when he revealed an astonishing talent for studying, received praise from his teachers, and was hailed as a genius by his peers that he finally drew his father’s attention and became the true eldest young master of the Xie Family.

After that, he grew up, became involved in power struggles, forced his father to hand over authority, killed the original owner, took control of the Marquis’s Mansion, went head-to-head with the male lead, tried to possess the female lead by force, and ultimately ran the Marquis’s Mansion into the ground. Then he dusted off his hands, became a monk, and called it a day. The extra chapters even said that because he devoted himself to Buddhist cultivation and translated countless Buddhist classics, people far and wide praised him for it, while lamenting his tragic past.

He really was rather pitiful. I could imagine just how bleak it would be for a nine-year-old child to be thrown into the back courtyard and left to fend for himself.

But the innocent people in the Marquis’s Mansion who were dragged down by him were even more pitiful. After all, not every one of them had wronged him.

Now that I was here, I naturally couldn’t let things go that way.

I said gently, “Let him live in my courtyard for now. He can stay in the east wing. Lanting, what do you think?”

Xie Lanting looked up at me in surprise, his dark eyes full of confusion.

Only when he met my focused gaze did he seem to realize that I was speaking to him.

He lowered his head and said, a little embarrassed, “My name isn’t Lanting. My name is Goudan. Xie Goudan.”

In the book, he had appeared as Xie Lanting right from the start, so I’d thought that was his actual name.

So it turned out he had a dark past like this too.

I let out a small laugh, but then I couldn’t keep laughing.

“My name is Chunhua. Song Chunhua. I’m your stepmother.”

The corner of Xie Lanting’s mouth lifted almost imperceptibly, then he quickly lowered his head again, pretending nothing had happened.

Me: “…”

Goudan and Chunhua.

The kid and the kid’s mom.

What a down-to-earth combination!

Change them. We had to change them all.

I immediately ordered the steward to go to the government office and handle the matter.

“From now on, his name will be Xie Lanting-the lan from the gentlemanly orchid, and the ting from Jingting Mountain. May he one day be as noble and pure in character as a gentleman among flowers, and as steadfast and unyielding as a great mountain. While you’re at it, change my name too. Change it to Song Jiayi-the jia from auspicious occasions, and the yi from pleasant. May everything go smoothly for me from now on, and may every year be peaceful.”

Xie Lanting’s eyes shifted slightly, and his expressionless face seemed to soften by a fraction.