Chapter 7: Beauty

After dressing, Lu Man was assisted by Lu Ying into the dressing room, which was adjacent to the bedroom with a door conveniently connecting the two.

Upon entering, a faint, delicate fragrance greeted her. Next to the door stood a black lacquered wooden rack holding a brass basin, and on top of the rack, a wooden stand with several white porcelain jars adorned with plum patterns. These jars contained green round bath beads, white square soap, various colored dried flowers, and brown cake-like items. Lu Man recognized the first three, but Lu Ying explained that the latter, the pig liver cake, was specifically used for washing hair.

In the middle of the room, there was a large wooden barrel about half a person’s height, with several steps on its side. Beyond the barrel was a four-paneled privacy screen. On the other side of the screen was a commode surrounded by a circular bench with satin stretched over it.

Lu Man marveled at her newfound knowledge—luxurious, seated toilets existed in ancient times.

At the rear of the dressing room, another small door led to a small room, equipped with two large stoves and serving as the starting point for the courtyard’s heating system, as well as for emptying the commode and fetching water.

Lu Man rinsed her mouth with a toothbrush and salt, then washed her face with jasmine-scented soap.

She couldn’t help but express her amazement at the level of advancement at that time. Not only were there glass windows, but there were also various bathing supplies. Whether for washing, bathing, heating, or using the restroom, everything was incredibly convenient and sophisticated. The only regret was the absence of toothpaste.

Lu Ying continued her monologue, “This dressing room is splendid, even larger than Third Young Madam’s previous bedroom. The fragrant liver cakes are delightful and elegant, even the small jars that contain them are more refined than the teacups used in the Lu family. Third Young Madam, it’s wonderful to marry into such a wealthy family. I couldn’t even dream of it before. Please, don’t cause any more trouble…”

The young maid was as sincere as if she had seen Liu Laolao (some unknown character, not connected to this story). Along with her praises for the surroundings, she advised Lu Man not to do anything foolish again.

Lu Man sighed, “Dying once has made everything clear.”

Returning to her chamber, Lu Man sat in front of the dressing table, which had an intricately carved frame with a rectangular glass mirror. The reflection in the mirror was incredibly beautiful, with eyebrows like crescent moons, eyes like autumn water, skin like porcelain, and lips like vermillion. Even without makeup, she looked like a celestial being. The descriptions like “shy flowers and closed moon”, “sinking fish and fallen geese”, and “overturning countries and cities” were not an exaggeration when used to describe her face.

However, a curved purple mark on her neck disrupted the overall beauty, and her complexion was too pale. The mark was situated just above her neck, and in this era, there were no high-necked garments or scarves to cover it, no matter how one tried.

In her previous life, Lu Man’s appearance was just average, but she had a tall figure and exceptional temperament. Later, she had a double eyelid surgery to compensate for her facial shortcomings.

In this life, when her “soul” initially saw Lu Man’s original body, it hadn’t realized she would be this beautiful. Upon reflection, it became clear that her original body had been plump, lacked charm, and didn’t know how to dress. Even if she was considered attractive, she didn’t look as stunning as she did now. Later, due to her dislike of the arranged marriage and learning about the plot by Xiao Chen and Chen Fei, she quickly slimmed down. Combined with a change in demeanor, her appearance was completely transformed from what it used to be.

Lu Man thought to herself, if she had possessed even half of this beauty in her past life, she wouldn’t have reached the age of thirty-one without getting married. People would have lined up from the first floor to the fifth floor of the gynecology department and then descended from the fifteenth floor of the internal medicine department. When someone came at her with a knife, perhaps there would have been a brave soul rushing to her rescue. She wouldn’t have died wrongfully, transmigrating into this unfortunate body.

At that moment, Hong Ling returned with food, placing the meal on the side table before stepping into the chamber.

Hong Ling also just realized how beautiful her young miss was. She wondered why she hadn’t noticed it before. Additionally, she noticed the serene gaze and upright posture of Lu Man. Even when sitting, she exuded a graceful demeanor and elegant temperament, quite different from before.

Staring at the reflection in the mirror, Hong Ling exclaimed, “Oh my, Third Young Madam, you look so beautiful after losing weight!”

Meanwhile, Lu Ying, who was combing Lu Man’s long hair, proudly remarked, “I’ve always said that Third Young Madam has the most beautiful eyes and eyebrows, better than the other young ladies. It’s just that at that time, Third Young Madam was fuller, which concealed her beauty.”

In the mirror, Hong Ling swiftly took the comb from Lu Ying’s hand and pushed her aside. She then styled Lu Man’s hair into a “yuanbao” bun and, with an envious gaze, couldn’t contain her admiration.

Lu Man disliked this kind of gaze. Lu Ying’s admiration and curiosity were innocent, but Hong Ling’s gaze was blatantly covetous. The original Lu Man was truly foolish—such an open-hearted maid had her spinning around.

All the fine jewelry among these accessories were part of the Princess’s betrothal gift, while only a few mediocre gold and jade hairpins were part of the Lu family’s dowry. At the time, Mrs. Xiao Chen had hoped to secretly keep some of the fine jewelry for her daughter, but Old Madam Lu forbade it, causing Lu Yuan to cry several times out of anger.

In Lu Man’s memory, life in the Lu family was rather tight, and their living conditions weren’t very good. The three-in courtyard, with its numerous randomly arranged small rooms and added compartments, felt extremely cramped.

Hong Ling brought out a jade hair hoop for Lu Man and then found a long and a short gold hairpin, adorning her hair.

Then, she retrieved several porcelain boxes from a small drawer, and upon opening them, a delightful fragrance wafted out. Inside were scented ointment, makeup powder, rouge, lip balm, eyebrow pencil, hand cream—everything was complete.

Lu Man sighed once again, women in the upper echelons of ancient society led such refined lives.

Proudly, Lu Ying remarked, “All these rouge and powders were bought from Shufang Pavilion. The eldest Miss and the third Miss were so envious, but the Old Madam wouldn’t bear to give them any.”

It cost the Old Madam quite a bit to marry off this granddaughter, whom she had never liked.

Seeing Hong Ling picking up some scented ointment with a silver stick and then mixing it with more rouge to apply it to her face, Lu Man tilted her head. She didn’t like heavy makeup. Moreover, as a new bride who had made a serious mistake, she didn’t want to appear so flamboyant.

She picked up some scented ointment in her hand, rubbed it between her palms, and applied it to her face. There was a scent of peach blossoms, probably from the addition of petals or scented dew. Then, she selected a bit of rouge, rubbed it in her palm, and brushed it onto her cheeks, creating a slight rosy hue.

Hong Ling felt that the Second Miss (Lu Man) not only looked more beautiful after waking up but also seemed to have gained some determination. She didn’t dare to be presumptuous anymore and pushed the makeup box forward.

At first, Lu Man didn’t touch the makeup box, her skin looked fine without any powder. After some thought, she opened the porcelain box and used the powder cake to dab some white powder on the purple mark. Although it didn’t completely cover the mark, it wasn’t as prominent as before.

She then used eyebrow pencil to draw her eyebrows, applied some hand cream to her palms, and spread it on the back of her hands.

The reflection in the mirror was now even more beautiful. Even though she wasn’t going to meet any relatives today and knew there was an 80% chance that no one would come to see her, dressing up made her feel content.

The beautiful woman gently smiled, her lips parting slightly, more radiant than a delicate flower under the spring sun.

In the midst of her anxiety, Lu Man suddenly felt a hint of joy. Would anyone allow such a woman to suffer? Only if he cherished her, could she live well and speak her mind.