Volume 1: Phoenix Hidden in the Northern Domain Chapter 1: Tang Family's Nian Nian

  The air is crisp and clear, a vast expanse of rosy light spreads across the clouds in the east, and the sun is about to rise.

  The maids and servants in the Tang family's large compound got up early, boiled water and waited for their masters to wash. The personal maids were already waiting outside each master's door. The servants in the compound were busy taking care of the flowers and trees, sweeping the wide bluestone path, everything was neat and tidy, it seemed that the household rules were very strict.

  In the western wing of the mansion, with carved beams and painted pillars, the Second Mistress Liu sat in front of the mirror, having her hair combed by a maid. Under her willow eyebrows, a pair of phoenix eyes sparkled coquettishly, and her lips, lightly rouged with crimson lip gloss, curved upwards slightly, revealing that she was in a good mood.

  These two ladies, Liu, although already in their thirties, were born with a good appearance. They lived extravagantly every day and had many things go their way, so they looked much younger than their actual age, like a delicate woman of twenty-five or six, which was quite captivating. It's no wonder that they were favored in the Tang family, like the sun at noon.

  "Milady! Milady!" The maid Chunxue came running up, her face full of surprise and uncertainty.

  Liu's hand, which was holding the earrings, paused for a moment. With a rare good mood, she lightly scolded: "What a commotion! What's going on here?" After Chunxue apologized and paid her respects, Liu asked slowly: "Tell me, what happened?"

  Chunxue walked up to Madame Liu and said in a low voice, "Madame, I just heard from the north wing that Second Miss found out she was going to marry Snowy Mountain Manor in place of Third Miss, and she cried and made a fuss, refusing to go along with it. In a moment of desperation, she threw herself into the river!"

  Liu was shocked, "Dead?"

  Chunxue shook her head, "Not yet, rescued in time, now sleeping soundly in the yard."

  Liu's face sank, and she slapped the dresser, making a crisp sound. She coldly laughed: "You really don't know what's good for you. If this gets out, people will think that our Tang family is untrustworthy. It'll be even harder to explain to Snow Swallow Mountain Villa."

  "Madam is right, this second young lady really doesn't know what's good for her. With that weak and sickly body of hers, if not for Madam's kindness, she wouldn't have been able to marry into Snow Swallow Mountain Manor, the number one manor."

  Liu nodded in satisfaction, smoothed out his hair and stood up, "Let's go, take a look at the North Garden."

  Chunxue, Xiaomei and others followed closely behind.

  Liu walked halfway and met a woman in red dress running towards him.

  This woman is about 28 years old, with a double braid on her head, red hair ribbons woven and intertwined with black raven hair, her face is like peach blossom, with Liu's phoenix eyes that are both delicate and charming, heavenly fragrance and national beauty like a blooming peony.

  Liu saw her and immediately showed a loving smile on his face, calling out: "Zhi'er, what's the hurry?"

  Tang Qiao Zhi stopped in front of Liu's family and asked with dissatisfaction, "I heard Yun Hui say that Tang Nian Nian jumped into the river to kill herself?"

  Liu's gentle stroking of her hair, smiled and said: "Mother is going to the North Garden for this matter."

  "Tang Qiao Chi exclaimed: "Is she okay? If she's dead, who will marry me off?!?" She stomped her foot anxiously and angrily, her heart filled with shock and fear. "That Snow Swallow Mountain Villa... that Snow Swallow Mountain Villa! That monster that kills without blinking, I don't want to marry! Mother! I don't want to marry!"

  Liu comforted her repeatedly and coldly smiled: "Don't worry, Mother will not let you suffer injustice."

  As they chatted back and forth, several people had already walked to the front of the North Garden Gate.

  At the same time, in the Beiyuan cabinet, a woman lay quietly on a red sandalwood carved flower bed, her eyelashes trembling slightly. A little later, she slowly opened her eyes, and a flash of emerald green flowed deep within her shallow black pupils.

  "Umm..." A low, mournful sigh. The woman had just regained consciousness, only to be immediately overwhelmed by a wave of exhaustion that left her unable to move, with only her eyes able to take in the silk and satin canopy above her, the crystal beads on the bed curtains.

  This is...

  The girl's eyes opened wide, and then burst out with joyful surprise.

  I'm not dead, am I?

  Haha, old monster, heaven won't destroy me!

  The girl hooked her lips, revealing her joy.

  At this moment, the door was suddenly pushed open, and a woman's cold inquiry came: "How is the second lady? Has she woken up?"

  The woman on the bed had a smile on her face, but it was quickly extinguished. Her eyes rolled around in a circle before closing shut.

  Tang Nian's personal maid, Shu Lan, followed behind Madame Liu with her head bowed and eyes downcast, responding in a low voice: "Second Madame asked, but Miss is still not awake. Doctor Yan said that Second Miss was originally weak-bodied, and now it's the coldest month of the year. This time, she unfortunately encountered this great calamity, and cold air entered her body. She needs to recuperate well at home and mustn't overexert herself, or else...

  Before she could finish speaking, Liu suddenly stopped and slapped her, "Don't think I didn't catch the meaning behind your words. This matter of Tang's family is also something you can interfere with?"

  The humble servant didn't dare to wipe away the blood from her lips, knelt down and knocked her head on the ground, "I don't dare!"

  Liu led Tang Qiaoqi straight into the inner chamber, and at a glance, she saw Tang Nianian lying weakly on the bed. Tang Qiaoqi went forward to feel her pulse, then let go, with a look of disdain on her face, "Really useless, can't even do anything!" The more she thought about it, the more annoyed she became, and she complained to Liu in front of her, "Mother, tomorrow is the day of the wedding, and with her body only half alive, if she dies halfway through the wedding procession, Snow Swallow Manor will investigate again, what can I do then?"

  Liu's expression turned cold as he gazed at Tang Nian's sleeping form, his voice low and detached. "Zhi'er is right. Tomorrow, have someone give her the Soul Revival Dan. Once she marries into their family, she'll no longer be any concern of ours in the Tang Manor."

  "Rejuvenating Pellet?!" Tang Qiaozi was taken aback, then chuckled and smiled, her face radiant with joy, "Mother still has a way!"

  There's a way to resolve the matter, and Tang Qiaozi is naturally delighted. Turning back to look at Tang Nian on the bed, her gaze lingers especially on her face, with a flickering light of jealousy, she slaps two palms without thinking.

  "All right, Zhi'er, this man will eventually become a pile of dry bones at the Snow Swallow Mountain Villa, why bother to make yourself unhappy?" Madam Liu said with a smile.

  "Alright, Mother." Tang Qiao Xi happily replied and followed her out of the room.

  It wasn't until the sound of the door closing that Tang Nian woke up again, her eyes cold and sharp as frost and ice, the burning pain on her face and the sticky corners of her mouth telling her how much force the person who had just slapped her had used.

  At this time, Tang Nian's body on the bed was no longer the original Tang Nian from the moment she opened her eyes.

  She was raised by the old monster since she was a child, starting with just serving tea and water, later becoming a test subject for medicine and torture, suffering greatly and losing her freedom.

  The old monster is a cultivator in modern legend, or one of the few who practice alchemy. However, unlike the sacred medicine that saves people, the old monster loves evil poison more. This is how she became the pharmacist with the heavenly bone, and nominally, she is his only disciple. In reality, he has never taught her anything.

  During the drug trial, her body had long been ravaged, full of toxins and emitting a foul odor. Her face was also long rotten beyond recognition. From childhood to adulthood, she only looked in the mirror once, then smashed all the mirrors, and later wore a mask on her face that was never taken off.

  For fifty years she endured humiliation and hardship, finally discovering the old monster's long-hidden secret. Seizing an opportunity to make a desperate move, she stole the treasured jade that the old monster had always kept hidden, but was discovered by the old monster. In the final moment, without hesitation, she swallowed the jade whole, refusing to let the old monster have it even in death.

  She thought she would be in a desperate situation, but unexpectedly came back to life. Although everything before her eyes was obviously not the original world and she herself was no longer her original self, this result made her even happier.

  The original world had no nostalgia for her, and the original body was even more self-loathed by her. Now that she has a new body, although this body is weak and frail, it is obviously normal.

  She's not a magnanimous person, it would be strange if she could be magnanimous following the old monster. Due to past experiences, having a normal body now makes her extremely happy, especially this face is even more important.

  She was suddenly slapped twice, and a wave of anger surged up in her heart.

  Ordinary people can't understand her paranoia and sorrow. Her body, which has been experimented on for years, is eerie and disgusting, emitting a foul odor that makes anyone who sees her despise her. A face is the foundation of human recognition, but she doesn't even have that. She is also a person, with today's freedom, today's body, how can she not be concerned, how can she not be paranoid?

  Shu Lan walked in with a basin of steaming hot water, intending to help Tang Nian warm up her body. As she approached the bed, she found that Tang Nian's eyes were open, and was so startled that the basin almost slipped from her hands. "Miss, you're awake!?"

  Tang Nian saw a woman in a blue skirt, about 21 or 22 years old, standing in front of her. She noticed that the woman's right cheek still had a palm print on it. After thinking for a moment, she responded with an "en."

  Digression

  About the heroine being fifty years old, don't mind it too much, she's a medic, after all, just like a tool, age is just an illusion.

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