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

When they arrived in Luoyang, to Dong Su's surprise, Chen Xingyao actually came to welcome the emperor.

She asked Ling Moxiao in confusion: "When did you transfer him to Luoyang?"

Ling Moxiao was also speechless: "It seems that Master Chen is very anxious to get married!"

Given his current status, his marriage with Xie Qingzhi requires the Emperor's approval. In fact, it would be the same if he asked the Empress Dowager for approval.

But both of them wanted the emperor and empress to attend the wedding, and insisted on waiting until they arrived in Chang'an before getting married.

I don’t know if it’s because Chen Xingyao did a good job in his job in Chang’an, or because he was going to travel to the northern border after getting married, or because the journey to the south was going smoothly, but Ling Moxiao was in a good mood.

When Ling Moxiao talked about Chen Xingyao, his tone was no longer so cold.

At this time, Luoyang has begun to busy itself with the autumn harvest. The spring crops and cotton in the upper reaches are in good yield, and the early rice in the paddy fields downstream has also begun to be harvested.

In recent years, water conservancy management has been very effective. Many new canals have been dug, allowing people whose fields are close to the river to turn dry land into paddy fields.

Planting rice with higher yield. A few years ago, there was not a single field in Luoyang growing rice.

Since the Jiang family brought back rice seeds from the South Pacific islands, the Academy of Agricultural Sciences has improved and cultivated them several times in experimental fields, and high-yield rice can now be grown on a large scale in paddy fields in the north.

It happened to be the harvest season when I arrived in Luoyang. I had seen it thousands of times in memorials and heard it from ministers and officials thousands of times, but it was not as convincing as seeing it with my own eyes.

Coupled with the terrain of the central Henan Plain, one has the feeling that there are bumper crops as far as the eye can see.

Ling Moxiao has been in a very good mood since entering central Henan. He has seen endless grasslands and deserts, and also seen the vast ocean, but none of them can compare to this, where wherever he looks, there are scenes of fruitful results.

So when he saw Chen Xingyao, he rarely gave him a good look and did not pursue the blame for him leaving Chang'an without permission.

First ask him what he is doing here?

Chen Xingyao said in front of everyone that Luoyang had a bumper harvest this year, and he accidentally learned that a group of grain merchants were preparing to come to Luoyang to buy grain.

It would be fine if they simply hoarded and bought grain, but there were some cunning merchants among these merchants who planned to use tricks to lower the price of grain, so that the people who were unaware of the inside story would sell half of their grain at a low price, causing the low grain price to hurt farmers.

A few years ago, the Queen said that we must control food prices and never allow greedy businessmen to disrupt the food market.

He originally sent people to Luoyang to track down the grain merchants, but there was no progress, so he dared to come here himself.

He also had a witness, a female official from Luoyang, because the female official had also received intelligence that there were indeed local nobles colluding with grain merchants to prepare to hoard grain at a low price.

In this case, it would be even more difficult for Ling Moxiao to punish him, and at the same time he had to praise him, and then order his inspector to cooperate with the government to catch all those profiteers who intended to disrupt grain prices, and the nobles behind them.

After Ling Moxiao summoned Chen Xingyao alone, his face looked a little ugly when he returned to the palace.

Dong Su saw at a glance that he was up to something, so he sent the three children away and took Xiao Man to explore the palace.

"Your Majesty, what happened?"

Ling Moxiao looked at her guiltily and said, "My dear, I have to rush to Chang'an as soon as possible, so I can't accompany you and the children."

When he said "as quickly as possible", he naturally meant the speed of a forced march. Dong Su could still keep up alone, but that would definitely not be possible with three children.

She asked hurriedly: "What happened in Chang'an?"

Ling Moxiao said in a deep voice: "The Empress Dowager is in poor health. The imperial physician said she has at most ten days to live."

So Chen Xingyao hurried over to inform Ling Moxiao? But why didn't he send someone? And there was no news from Chang'an that the Empress Dowager was unwell.

Dong Su's heart moved. She must be suffering from a strange illness, so she had to hide the cause?

Ling Moxiao soon solved her puzzlement. The Empress Dowager's illness was indeed strange and she was suffering from a chronic poison.

What Chen Xingyao found out was that the Empress Dowager believed in Taoist nuns and learned to eat elixirs from the emperors of the previous dynasties. She also often ate tonic foods, and eating tonics after eating elixirs was like adding poison to poison.

The problem is that the elixir was made by a Taoist nun ordered by the Empress Dowager, and the tonic was given by the powerful people in Chang'an. If we continue to investigate, the truth will be revealed.

Not only would it damage the reputation of the Empress Dowager, but it would also cause Chang'an to become a river of blood again.

That's why Chen Xingyao kept the news secret for the time being and came to report it to the emperor in person, asking him to make the decision.

This case was thoroughly investigated, and the powerful people in Chang'an were involved. Of course, Chen Xingyao himself could not be separated from it, as he sent the most supplements to the Empress Dowager.

Or conceal the truth and let the Empress Dowager die of common causes? The old lady was almost eighty years old, so it was considered a happy funeral.

Dong Su used to have no political intuition. After all, after being the queen for so many years, if she didn't learn anything, she would be stupid.

I immediately understood Chen Xingyao's other meaning.

Your Majesty, are you satisfied with the current powerful people in Chang'an? If not, then use the Empress Dowager's illness as an excuse to launch another massive purge.

Of course, the first person to undergo surgery was Chen Xingyao.

His attitude also shows that he is willing to sacrifice his own life for the great cause of Your Majesty.

Dong Su remained silent, watching Ling Moxiao thinking quietly.

After she changed two rounds of tea, Ling Moxiao suddenly smiled.

When he smiled, Dong Su suddenly felt relieved and understood his choice.

As she expected, "I really overestimate Lord Chen. With his ideas, he is not even worthy of carrying Xiu Jin's shoes!"

"Why should I pay any attention to the nobles and dignitaries today?"

"If Chang'an is cleansed again, I'm afraid it will become a ghost town. Forget it, I still need to leave some people to guard the imperial mausoleum."

Dong Su asked softly, "What about the Empress Dowager's condition?"

A trace of memory flashed across Ling Moxiao's eyes, without a trace of tenderness.

It was probably because he thought of the Empress Dowager when he was young, who also had no affection for him. For the sake of the Lu family's rights and interests, she did not do as many evil things as Empress Chen.

But many people died directly or indirectly at her hands. As far as Ling Moxiao knew, she ordered the killing of many people in order to cover up the ugly deeds done by the Lu family.

"I will bury her with honor."

Dong Su nodded in agreement. It was better not to make the truth public. She and Ling Moxiao were working hard to eradicate the evil witches and the old lady died in Chang'an after taking the "magic pill".

Jiang also knew to worry about what she might do that would bring shame to the Shen family and hinder them.

This old lady is no longer just a drag on state affairs. If this matter were to get out, it would be a slap in Ling Moxiao's face.

"At the age of the Empress Dowager, it is a happy funeral and she should be buried with great ceremony."

"Don't worry, Your Majesty. I will take good care of the children and take the water route to Chang'an on the planned date."

"You and Master Chen should go and take care of business."

At dinner that day, Ling Moxiao told Dabao and Xiaobao that he would be leaving first. Dabao hurriedly asked, "Father, can you take me with you?"

Dong Su was the first to shake his head: "No, Father has something important to do this time."

Dabao immediately looked frustrated, but he didn't expect Ling Moxiao to pat him on the shoulder and said, "Father is not here, Dabao must protect mother and brothers and sisters."

I used this trick to coax the child again, but Dabao just fell for it.

The frustration on his little face instantly turned into excitement, and he raised his chest and said, "Don't worry, father. I will definitely protect you and live up to your trust!"

That night, the head of the female officials in Luoyang came to the palace to ask for an audience.

Dong Su was going to meet with the ladies and other officials tomorrow to hold a meeting on the situation in Luoyang. He would also meet with the people from the Chamber of Commerce separately to ensure that the price of grain was under control.

Unexpectedly, the female official came to ask for a meeting so late at night. She had already washed and dressed, put on a cloak and went to the flower hall to meet the visitor.

The female official who came was the one who had just come to Luoyang from Youzhou to take up her post last year. When she saw Dong Su, she bowed to him with tears in her eyes as if she had seen a relative.

Dong Su hurriedly helped her up and chatted about some family matters, especially her family in Youzhou.

Unexpectedly, this girl is similar to Chen Luoxue and Xie Qingzhi, and doesn't care much about her family. Instead, she is worried about her companions going to Lingnan and asks about the plague situation in Lingnan.

After chatting for a few sentences, she finally got to the point in a low voice. She came here tonight because Lord Chen had asked her to do so.

What he wanted to tell the Empress was that since last year, the Empress Dowager had been selecting noble ladies with good family background, good looks and good figures to live in the palace.

He said he was accompanying her, but in fact he was asking the nanny to teach her the palace rules in preparation for giving her to His Majesty as a concubine.

He knew that this time His Majesty would return to Chang'an with him first, and that the Queen would come later with the princes and princesses. He hoped that the Queen would send a trustworthy nanny to accompany them.

After all, it is not easy to send guards to the harem to prevent anyone daring enough to climb onto the emperor's bed during his stay in the palace.

What he was even more afraid of was that the Empress Dowager would ask the Emperor to marry a noble lady before she died. Normally, the Emperor could not refuse in such a situation.

If you refuse, the censor will accuse you of being unfilial.

Dong Su was touched by what she heard. She didn't expect that Chen Xingyao and the female officials would care so much about her.

With a chuckle, she said to the female official in front of her, "Tell Master Chen that it's hard for him to think of this. Don't worry, your majesty is not a person who is greedy for beauty."

When the female official left the palace and went to meet Chen Xingyao, Ling Moxiao received the news.

He had never asked about Dong Su's meeting with the female officials before, but the timing was too coincidental. As long as it was related to Chen Xingyao, he couldn't help but ask.

Many people found out the whole story. Ling Moxiao sneered in his heart. Chen Xingyao never told him that there was a group of noble ladies living in the palace.

He chose to use the female official to tell the Queen about this, obviously wanting the Queen to accept his favor!

Don't think I don't know what this kid is thinking!

Ling Moxiao immediately decided that even though the Empress Dowager's funeral would take place after he arrived at the Chang Palace, the rich and powerful would be forbidden from getting married during the period of national mourning.

He will also make a special decree to allow Chen Xingyao and Xie Qingzhi to get married during the national mourning period!

When he returned to the bedroom, he saw Dong Su still waiting for him under the lamp. Without waiting for Dong Su to say anything, he took the lead and said:

"Don't worry, my lady. As soon as we arrive in Chang'an, I will immediately issue an order to send all the noble ladies in the palace to the National Temple to pray for the Empress Dowager."

"Wait until the Empress Dowager passes away, and then let them guard the imperial mausoleum."