Chapter 86: Phoenix Man

Late into the night, as Mama Wang’s snoring grew louder, Lu Man tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep – seething with anger.

He Mingzhu was a typical pushover, while Lu Fangrong was the epitome of a Phoenix Man. The family thrived under lady He’s care, but once her luck turned, they ruthlessly drove her away without a shred of compassion. What was even more despicable was that they promised to treat little Lu Man well, yet they treated the original Lu Man so poorly.

In Lu Man’s impression, whenever Lady He was mentioned, the old lady Lu became visibly displeased, hurling insults at lady He. Old lady Lu’s resentment towards Lady He might stem from lady He’s excellence, generosity, and disregard for wealth, highlighting the boorish and grasping nature of the Lu family members, leading to Old lady Lu’s intense dislike.

Furthermore, Mrs. Xiao Chen and Bao Qin, driven by greed and desire for power, pushed the original Lu Man to despair, leading to her tragic act of revenge against the Lu family.

Then there was Lu Fangrong, who professed love for lady He, sweet-talking her into marriage. How could he treat Lady He and little Lu Man with such cruelty and indifference after receiving He Mingzhu’s wholehearted devotion?

Lu Man finally understood that the original Lu Man sought revenge against this family, even at the cost of her life, out of sheer helplessness and the family’s despicability. If she hadn’t come through, the Lu family wouldn’t have ended well. Now that she was here, she was determined to ensure that Mrs. Xiao Chen, as well as the Lu family, didn’t prosper.

Jiang Zhanwei had mentioned that Lu Fangrong would return to the Capital with Bao Qin and the illegitimate sons. With Bao Qin, Mama Wang, Manager Li, and the unwavering support of Princess Changting, they would undoubtedly reclaim Renhe Hall. With Hong Ling’s involvement, the truth about Xiao Chen’s plot against the original Lu Man and her mother would come to light, demanding retribution.

Additionally, the Lu family’s reputation needed to be tarnished. If the old lady wanted her sons to become officials, with her current character, she couldn’t raise virtuous sons. Immoral individuals couldn’t be competent officials.

However, the history of Renhe Hall being tied to He family and the implications of He Huang’s death related to the Empress made it necessary to handle the Renhe Hall matter discreetly to avoid unnecessary trouble…

As the night progressed, Lu Man drifted off into a fitful sleep.

In the early morning, Lu Man woke up to the chirping of birds outside the window. She took a deep breath and let out a sigh.

Hearing the commotion, Mama Wang approached and drew the curtains, softly chuckling, “Third Young Madam is up; allow me to assist you in dressing.” Her voice carried the same fondness as it did many years ago with little Lu Man, filled with affection.

A wave of warmth washed over Lu Man’s heart. She sat up, hugged Mama Wang around the waist, rested her head on her chest, and whispered, “It feels so good to have a motherly presence. From now on, I’ll call you ‘Mama’ not ‘Mama Wang’.”

Calling Mama Wang “Mother” felt unfamiliar. She only had one mother, the woman who gave birth to and raised her in her past life.

Though Mama Wang was kind, there needed to be a distinction from her birth mother.

Seeing Lu Man act as sweetly as she did in her childhood, Mama Wang couldn’t help but feel overjoyed. She chuckled, “My dear, you can call me whatever you like.”

Lu Man repeated, “Mama.”

“Alright.” Mama Wang replied with a smile.

After breakfast, Lu Man asked Liu Ya to go to the outer courtyard and inquire about Mama Wang’s daughter, Wang Xiaojuan. If she was doing well, there was no need to intervene. If not, they could offer some indirect assistance.

She then handed Liu Ya five taels of silver to buy some ingredients, mainly focusing on purchasing silk fabric and two silver hairpins to bring back, allowing Mama Wang to make herself some better clothes.

Now, it was easier for Orchid Pavilion’s people to leave the residence – they just needed to ask Young Madam Han for a token. Young Madam Han’s children had enjoyed many things from Orchid Pavilion, so when they heard about buying ingredients, they gladly provided the token.

Although Lu Man had many good materials in the storage room, the satin was not suitable for Mama Wang to wear. She also found a pair of carved gold bracelets in her makeup box and personally helped Mama Wang put them on her wrists.

“Oh, my goodness, how can I accept such fine things?” Mama Wang tried to take them off.

In the morning, Lu Man stopped Mama Wang, saying, “It’s for you, Mama, please keep it.”

Quietly, Mama Wang asked Lu Man, “Can I go out to see Manager Li? Thanks to his attention to us, he arranged the sale of Little Dou, otherwise, Little Dou might not have survived. I want to thank him personally.”

Lu Man smiled, “Let’s wait a bit, it’s not the right time to meet Manager Li.” Then she inquired, “Manager Li is around thirty years old, why haven’t we heard about his wife and children?”

Mama Wang hesitated before explaining, “I watched him grow up. He just turned thirty this year. He lost his parents and started living with his uncle, the previous Manager Li, when he was three. Manager Li often brought him to the clinic to play, and he got along well with the Second Madam He in their childhood. Perhaps he hasn’t found the right woman yet, so he hasn’t married.”

Only a few people knew about Mama Wang being Lu Man’s wet nurse – including Lu Ying, Liu Ya, Tao, Xing, and Qingqing. Lu Man cautioned them to keep it confidential for now.

Accompanied by Xing, Lu Man went to the Crane Hall, where the Princess was preparing to enter the palace. It seemed that the Emperor’s health was deteriorating, prompting her visit.

The Emperor, at fifty-three, was seven years younger than the Princess. Unlike Princess Changting’s bustling family, he had only two daughters and one son. The son, named Song Xi, was born to Empress and had recently been appointed as the Crown Prince at the age of fourteen.

However, from the conversations Lu Man overheard, it seemed that the Princess was somewhat dissatisfied with the Empress, and their relationship wasn’t particularly close.

The main source of contention was the Empress’s behavior and her maternal family’s influence, the Wang Family. The Empress was the niece of the former Empress Dowager, and her maternal family, the Cheng’en Marquis (title given to Marquis Wang) had become domineering and overbearing due to having both an Empress and an Empress Dowager in the family.

Moreover, the former Empress Dowager wasn’t the biological mother of the current Emperor and Princess Changting. During the previous Emperor’s reign, after the Empress Dowager’s biological son died, she helped the current Emperor ascend the throne. In gratitude, the Emperor appointed her as Empress Dowager and brought her niece into the palace as a concubine and was later crowned as Empress.

However, Madam Hong, Marquis Jiang’s wife, was related to the Empress, seemingly being the Empress’s cousin.

After bidding farewell to the Princess, Lu Man had a chat with the old Marquis. Although the old Marquis hadn’t regained consciousness yet, everyone believed he would eventually, as he had shown significant improvement compared to before Lu Man’s arrival. His complexion had improved, with a slight blush on his cheeks and some unexpected movements…

After conversing with the old Marquis for a while, Lu Man hurried back to Orchid Pavilion and joined Mama Wang in the kitchen to make double-skinned milk.

Lu Man taught Mama Wang how to make it and shared the recipes for a few other dairy products, encouraging her to practice quietly in the kitchen when she had free time. After all, it was Mama Wang who had taught Lu Man how to make these dishes initially, and she didn’t want to reveal any flaws.

^[1]Hello readers, I edited some previous chapters, regarding the “Empress & Empress Dowager”, I’m sorry I got confused between the two, in some of the previous chapter “He Huang (Lu Man’s … Continue reading