The medical concubine is blessed with good fortune and her husband's life is prosperous. The mo

At the same time, Xie Qingzhi said something that made Chen Xingyao toss and turn all night: "Actually, what you said is very different from what the Queen said."

Chen Xingyao raised his head instantly, but immediately smiled again, as if to hide his excitement just now, and asked with a chuckle:

"Oh, what did the Queen say about me?"

Xie Qingzhi smiled playfully and mischievously, blinked and said, "Well, the queen said that you have a simple nature."

They say you are stupid, lazy, procrastinate and are smooth. You are also timid and cry louder than a little girl when you are hurt.

I'm not cunning, I'm just lucky and I make the right choice every time.

Of course, Xie Qingzhi couldn't tell these words to Chen Xingyao. How could she let him know that the Queen, who was so dignified and elegant, would also make fun of others in private.

Chen Xingyao was stunned, trying to think whether the phrase "faithful and simple" was a compliment or an insult? For men, being simple is the same as being stupid.

What he cared about more was that it turned out that the Queen Mother would talk about him with the ladies-in-waiting in private!

Just knowing this, he felt his heart skip a beat.

He resisted the urge to ask, "What else did the queen say about me?"

He was afraid that if he asked further, Xie Qingzhi would notice something.

No matter what, he had to dispel the emperor's suspicion as soon as possible and return to the court as soon as possible, so that he could serve the queen.

He chuckled and said, "Chen will wait for the good news from the young lady. No matter what the young lady's answer is in three days, it will be Chen's honor."

In other words, he wouldn't get angry even if you rejected him.

Xie Qingzhi couldn't help but look at him with higher regard again. Chen Xingyao in Youzhou and Lord Chen in Chang'an seemed to be two completely different people.

After Chen Xingyao left, he once again collected some precious medicinal materials and sent them to the Empress Dowager's palace.

He specially asked a royal physician to identify one of the century-old ginsengs with its roots intact. The doctor said that this ginseng was extremely nutritious and suitable for the elderly to eat.

After being cut into slices, it is extremely nourishing whether it is used to make tea or stew soup.

The Empress Dowager also heard from palace servants that such a ginseng would be worth at least two thousand taels of silver at the auction house.

Suddenly, she became even happier, and repeatedly praised Chen Xingyao for not forgetting his roots and being a filial child. She also wanted to marry the noble lady who taught her the palace rules to Chen Xingyao.

Chen Xingyao refused with a smile, saying that these noble ladies were prepared by the Empress Dowager for the Emperor's harem, so how could he get involved?

The Empress Dowager accepted this reason and planned to wait until the Emperor had picked one before promising it to Chen Xingyao.

She followed the advice of the imperial physician and stewed the high-end medicinal materials sent by Chen Xingyao, such as ginseng, cinnamon, snow clam, peach gum, and sea fish glue, into soup or tea. After drinking it for a few days, her complexion became rosy and even her hair became shiny.

She only felt much healthier. She was in a good mood when she thought that when the emperor came, she was not sick in bed, but was full of energy and received the emperor's gift.

Hearing that the Empress Dowager was in good health, she often praised Chen Xingyao for respecting her and sending her good food and medicinal herbs.

The powerful people in Chang'an wanted to curry favor with the Empress Dowager, and wanted to take advantage of the Emperor's visit to Chang'an to use the Empress Dowager's mouth to say a few good words for their family.

Naturally, they followed suit, searching everywhere for precious medicinal materials and high-end food ingredients to send to the Empress Dowager's palace.

There were also imperial physicians who, when checking the Empress Dowager's pulse, reminded her that those precious medicinal herbs should not be used frequently and should be taken as dietary supplements occasionally. Otherwise, the patient would be too weak to receive the supplements and over-supplementation would result in external strong body and internal heat, which would be even worse for the body.

Unfortunately, the Empress Dowager didn't listen. She only felt that her body was lighter and healthier than a few years ago.

Chen Xingyao also invited several female Taoist nuns to the palace to chat with the Empress Dowager and relieve her boredom. The Empress Dowager regarded the pills recommended by the female Taoist nuns as treasures.

She became less and less interested in the imperial physician's nagging and instead listened to the nun's words that she was blessed with great fortune and would live a long life. From then on, the imperial physician stopped giving her advice.

Xie Qingzhi knew nothing about these things. She was too busy. Not only did she have to manage the post office and other institutions under the Queen's command, but she also had to supervise the construction of the Chang'an Bank branch together with Mo Men.

The underground silver vault, safe, security counter, etc. were all learned from Youzhou Bank. She and the Momen manager looked at the blueprints together, striving to restore them perfectly.

Besides, she didn't pay any attention to the affairs of the Empress Dowager. She just couldn't help cursing in her heart when she heard that a noble lady was invited to the palace by the Empress Dowager to learn the palace rules. The old woman wanted to put beauties around His Majesty again.

Three days passed in a flash. Xie Qingzhi had time to think about the agreement with Chen Xingyao only when she settled the day's accounts under the bright fish oil lamp late at night and sorted out the things to do for the next day.

Just like Chen Xingyao said, children from aristocratic families like them must get married unless they are truly rebellious and break with their family.

Even if she could use her status as a female official to establish herself as a householder and delay getting married for a few years, Xie Qingzhi could not imagine not getting married for her entire life.

She learned from the Queen's way of dealing with things. She took out a piece of white paper, wrote the advantages and disadvantages on the left and right sides, and waited until the whole paper was filled.

She found that the column of advantages was longer, and she made the decision immediately to marry Chen Xingyao.

Just as the other party said, he would not marry a noble lady from Chang'an, and she also did not want to marry one of those aristocratic families with strict rules. The Chen family was indeed an aristocratic family, but Duke Chen had already retired to the mountains.

She will be able to be the head of the family after she gets married, and Chen Xingyao will also support her career as a female official. With the help of the Chen family's connections and resources, her career will only be more beneficial.

Chen Xingyao was not ugly, had no bad habits, and had a good temper. As for love, she didn't hate him anyway. He was indeed an excellent marriage partner.

Three days later, in the morning, when Xie Qingzhi arrived at the bank, she saw Chen Xingyao waiting at the door in formal attire.

What surprised Xie Qingzhi even more was that he was holding a bunch of dewy lotus flowers and chuckled:

"Ever since your majesty gave the queen half the city's worth of flowers, there has been a trend of young men and women in Youzhou giving flowers to each other."

"The lotus is noble and pure, and is a perfect match for Miss Xie. I hope you like it."

Xie Qingzhi took the flowers openly, without beating around the bush, and said directly: "I do."

Before Chen Xingyao could react, he replied, "But we need the Queen to witness and sign a marriage contract."

Chen Xingyao then nodded hurriedly: "Okay! Anything is fine."

"I also have a request, that is, we get married as soon as possible, and it would be best if the emperor and empress could attend our wedding when they are in Chang'an."

Xie Qingzhi calculated that this would mean she would have less than two months to prepare for the wedding, and she would also have to notify the Xie family.

But since she had decided to marry him, these things had to be discussed. She thought about it and asked:

"Time is too tight, unless you give me a reason to be so urgent."

Chen Xingyao was silent for a moment and then decided to tell the truth: "I want His Majesty to stop being suspicious of me and entrust me with important tasks instead of serving a crazy woman in Chang'an."

Xie Qingzhi understood what he meant instantly. Marrying her, a noble lady from a northern aristocratic family and a female official who was highly trusted by the Queen, implied that he wanted to completely cut off ties with the power of Chang'an in order to eliminate the Majesty's suspicion of him.

Xie Qingzhi nodded heavily: "Okay! You will arrange the wedding. The Xie family has elders in Chang'an, so you can discuss it with them yourself."