Qi Huan waved her hands in terror: "I'd rather stay in the palace and engage in intrigue... I heard that after Zhu Yan ate the food you cooked, he spent the entire night in the latrine."
After she finished speaking, Ximen Ye licked his back teeth.
And decided to cook for Zhu Yan for a few more days.
Qi Huan laughingly told this to Li Shuchen.
"Shu, don't worry."
"I exchanged gold for the antidote, there were no other conditions."
"Problems that can be solved with money are not real problems. The most important thing is that you're cured!"
Li Shuchen pulled her into his arms and whispered in her ear with a light laugh: "Thank you, Huan. I have no way to repay you, except to offer myself to you."
Qi Huan froze.
She thought Li Shuchen would say he'd reimburse her...
She never expected that he would truly "offer himself" to her.
...He served her in various ways.
Afterwards.
Qi Huan's face was flushed, her eyes sparkling, her soft voice slightly hoarse: "Where did you learn all this..."
Li Shuchen held her contentedly, his gaze deep.
"There's a place called Yuhua Pavilion in the imperial palace where the Emperor goes to learn before his wedding."
The pavilion houses a large number of special Buddha statues...
Besides that, he had also heard that the male courtesans at Nanfeng House were skilled at pleasing women, so he secretly borrowed a few illustrated manuals and studied them diligently, eager for knowledge.
.......
After being thoroughly satisfied, Qi Huan returned to Qinghuan Court with unsteady steps.
In the following days, she busied herself with wedding preparations while also finding time to store rice and flour in the warehouse, increasing her points by another ten thousand.
The system was especially generous for anything that benefited the entire world.
After the big increase in points, she initially wanted to open another batch of packages, but upon learning that Song Nian'en really liked the Fisher-Price hippo she had sent, she had a sudden inspiration and came up with a new idea.
"System, search for all the plush toys in the package library!"
"I want to buy them!"
Whoosh whoosh—
A pile of packages fell down.
All kinds of plush dolls - Minions, Pikachu, white rabbits, little dinosaurs...
There were also dog head pillows, emoji pillows.
And body pillows with the faces of XXX celebrities printed on them...
Qi Huan's eyelids twitched, and she returned most of them.
For the remaining plush toys, she asked Xiu Yuan to take them to the embroiderers at Huarong Pavilion to disassemble, study, and imitate.
"First make a series of the twelve zodiac animals, try to make them as cute as these dolls. Use softer cotton for the stuffing."
"To save costs, there's no need to open new shops, just sell them directly at Huarong Pavilion."
"Also embroider Huarong Pavilion's mark on the dolls. Although there will be many shops imitating us, Huarong Pavilion's reputation is already established, and many noble ladies will still choose to buy from us. For them, it symbolizes a kind of status, so let's satisfy this mentality of theirs. Embroider Huarong Pavilion's logo on all new products."
Hearing this, Xiu Yuan was stunned.
Miss Qi was about to marry the Emperor, yet she was still thinking about doing business and making money...
He couldn't fall behind!
After all, Miss Qi had promised to give him a 10% share of the profits, saying something about making him a shareholder...
The more Miss Qi earned, the more his share would be.
Xiu Yuan put all his efforts into expanding the shops, even gradually penetrating into two other countries, gradually rivaling the wealthy Li Yuanxiu...
*
In the blink of an eye, it was the second day of the second month in the first year of the Aiqi Era.
On that day, the sky was clear and the breeze was gentle.
Qi Huan was woken up early and sat in front of a bronze mirror as Lady Quanfu applied her makeup.
Recalling the scene of Yuemi's wedding, she lowered her head slightly and shook it... sure enough, a layer of powder fell off.
Lady Quanfu hurriedly applied another layer...
And gestured for the maids to fluff her dress.
Qi Huan finally couldn't help but ask: "Can I do my own makeup?"
"County Princess, this is how wedding makeup is done. Please bear with it. Besides, even the thickest makeup couldn't hide your beauty. You're the most beautiful bride I've ever seen."
"But I want to be even more beautiful."
If nothing unexpected happened, she would only get married once in this lifetime...
She wanted to look her most beautiful when marrying Li Shuchen.
Considering her status, Lady Quanfu finally nodded with difficulty.
When she finished her makeup and opened the door, Lady Quanfu finally understood why she had insisted on doing her own makeup.
The woman before her wore a red wedding dress, as lovely as a spring peach blossom, the lotus couldn't compare to half a point of the beauty's makeup.
Under her curved willow-leaf eyebrows, her eyes were like clear water, her long lashes curled and upturned, her eyes bright and her teeth white, her gaze captivating. One smile could topple a city, another could topple a nation. No wonder the Emperor changed the ancestral custom and came to welcome her personally...
Lady Quanfu respectfully handed her the phoenix feather fan, firstly to cover her face, secondly to ward off evil.
When the light of the setting sun shone through the small window, the auspicious time had arrived.
Marriage, like dusk.
Most weddings in Li Country were held at dusk.
Qi Huan walked out of the room, looked up at the warm colors of the sunset on the horizon, and slowly curved her lips.
As the daylight was fading, her ideal husband was coming towards her against the light.
After the grand welcoming procession entered the Song mansion, the envoy from the Ministry of Rites and the palace ladies first presided over the investiture ceremony, bestowing upon her the golden book and golden seal symbolizing her status as Empress.
Qi Huan secretly glanced at the exquisitely crafted golden seal, thinking to herself: I estimate it's worth at least 100 taels of gold...
Her gaze swept past the fan to look outside, where she saw Li Shuchen in a red robe, his handsome face smiling at the corners of his eyes and brows, his thin lips curved in a faint smile, staring intently at her. When he caught her gaze, the smile on his face grew even wider.
Beside him, the official from the Ministry of Rites wiped away his sweat.
This was the most willful Emperor he had ever seen, insisting on welcoming the bride personally, insisting on wearing red, and saying they were husband and wife first, Emperor and Empress second, and that they would change into ceremonial robes after returning to the palace.
Finally enduring until the Empress sat in the phoenix palanquin, seeing the Emperor look at her deeply several times, the official from the Ministry of Rites anxiously thought: Don't do anything rash! Don't think about sitting with her!
Fortunately, Li Shuchen stepped towards the stallion, swiftly mounting it, like the most ordinary groom, personally riding to welcome back his bride.
Along the way, the guards were on high alert.
But the common people still gathered on both sides, kneeling on the ground while their eyes involuntarily peeked out.
Since they dared not look directly at the imperial visage, they mostly tried to steal glances at the future Empress.
Although they could only see her profile, it was still stunningly beautiful.
Is this the rumored ugly Cloud Brocade County Princess?
They wished they could be this "ugly"...
Who on earth spread such a sour rumor?
The common people marveled secretly, then began to count the dowry.
One, two, three, four, five...
They couldn't finish counting even when it got dark.
The endless ten-mile procession of red dowry left a deep impression in the hearts of the common people.
Most importantly, the Empress had ordered the guards along the way to scatter silver coins, sharing joy with the people.
The common people were instantly delighted, sincerely wishing the Emperor and Empress a hundred years of good marriage and eternal harmony.
...May they have children soon, and hopefully when the prince gets married, he will also scatter some silver coins.
As the common people picked up the silver coins, Qi Huan also received notification after notification from the system.
"Good deed +1, Points +1."
"Good deed +1, Points +1."
.......
It also gave the host an extra 6666 points, wishing the host and Li Shuchen all the best.
These points were all it had previously squeezed out of the host's hands through its own abilities, coquettish acts, and cuteness. Now, they were returned to the host under another name.
Before they knew it, they had arrived at the palace, and the imperial music began to play.
The official from the Ministry of Rites was extremely helpless, as the Emperor still insisted on bowing to heaven and earth with the Empress...
After the ceremony was finally completed, the Emperor personally escorted the Empress to Yonghuan Palace, but he stayed for a long time without coming out.
After drinking the wedding wine and eating the offspring pastries, Li Shuchen removed the phoenix crown for Qi Huan, lifted her chin, and traced every inch of her eyebrows and eyes with his deep gaze.
His Adam's apple bobbed a few times, his voice particularly hoarse:
"Huan, wait for me, I'll be right back."
