Strictly speaking, for Queen Waling, addressing Chen Tang as both "mother" and "daughter-in-law" is not mutually exclusive, because the twins Rong Qian'er and Rong Nan'er are not the biological daughters of the Waling Empress...
The three of them standing together would make anyone think they were close friends of the same age!
This was precisely because of the incident where Chen Tang accidentally intruded into the private chambers and unintentionally witnessed the Waling Empress in a rather intimate moment emerging from her bath.
At this moment, when Lan Mei'er inadvertently let slip something she shouldn't have, Chen Tang and the Waling Empress exchanged a subconscious glance, with Chen Tang feeling extremely awkward and the Empress's face blushing slightly, her heart beating like a drum.
This made the atmosphere even more awkward...
