Professional Ethics of a Concubine

half a month later.

Xue Yiliu took her younger brother Xue Feizhou, boarded the train, and followed Xie Niankang to the capital.

Xue Feizhou was very excited. After getting on the train, he became even more excited. He looked at the scenery outside and kept calling "brother-in-law" and asking questions all the way.

"Stop asking, it's annoying." Xue Yiliu told her brother to shut up and be quiet for a while. Her head was hurting from all the noise.

Even though the Duke doesn't say anything, he must be even more annoyed in his heart.

"It's okay, let him talk if he's happy." Xie Niankang said with a smile, "I was like this when I was a kid, too. When I was happy, I would stop talking."

Xue Yiliu smiled when she heard that and looked at him gratefully, but she said, "Just spoil him."

"Since you call me brother-in-law, I must spoil you." Xie Niankang said with a smile, and then leaned close to her ear and said,

"I've spoiled you, too."

Xue Yiliu's ears felt hot, she gently pushed him, and glared at him coquettishly, "You have a very sweet mouth."

-

After arriving in the capital, Xue Yilu was taken back to the Duke's Mansion.

"Oh, we haven't gotten married yet, so it's not good for me to move in right away. Feizhou and I will rent a house outside first." Xue Yiliu frowned.

"Okay, okay, you guys stay here tonight, and then you can stay in my other room."

Xie Niankang said,

"There are no elders in this mansion, except for me, the Duke, and from now on it will be you, the Duke's wife."

Xue Yiliu couldn't help but praise, "I married such a good person."

Xie Niankang was also happy when he heard this.

"I'll have someone teach you the etiquette of entering the palace. You practice first. Tomorrow I'll take you to the palace to meet your aunt. She's been looking forward to meeting you."

"...I have to go to the palace to see the queen so soon." Xue Yiliu suddenly became nervous, "I, I...what if she really hates me?"

"That's impossible!" Xie Niankang shook his head. "My aunt will like you very much. She is very easy to get along with. When you meet her, you will know. I have inherited most of my personality from her."

Although Xue Yiliu didn't quite believe it, she nodded because of his comfort, but asked in confusion,

"Why is the Imperial Concubine your aunt? Are your mother and the Empress sisters?"

She had this doubt a long time ago, but she just kept it to herself and didn't ask.

"This question is much more complicated. Well, you can assume that they are sisters for now. I will tell you later when we are too old to move."

Xie Niankang thought about it and said seriously.

Xue Yiliu,...

What an inappropriate answer this is.

-

The next day.

Xue Yiliu followed Xie Niankang into the palace and was so nervous that she wanted to go to the toilet all the way.

Xue Yiliu secretly despised herself for being useless and unable to handle a big occasion.

"It's normal to be nervous the first time. It doesn't matter if you make mistakes in the rules. Your aunt won't mind at all." Xie Niankang saw that the corners of her mouth were tightly tightened due to nervousness, so he spoke to comfort her.

Xue Yiliu nodded.

Seeing her like this, Xie Niankang smiled and comforted her without saying anything. Anyway, she would naturally relax after seeing her aunt.

However, before reaching Qiwu Palace, Xie Niankang saw a figure not far away and shouted in surprise,

"Dad!"

Xue Yiliu was startled by him and looked over quickly, only to see a handsome middle-aged man. Even though he was old, her handsomeness and charm were still palpable.

Dad?

What?

Is this her father-in-law?

Xue Yiliu felt a little confused. She looked at her own charcoal-looking Duke, and then at her handsome father-in-law, and really couldn't connect them.

"He is my adoptive father. My biological father became a monk and is chanting sutras in Xiangguo Temple." Xie Niankang said to Xue Yiliu.

"Why didn't you tell me earlier!" Xue Yiliu glared at him and wanted to step on him.

It's also her fault. She asked him at that time, and he said there was no elder to supervise him, so she didn't care. Who would have thought that the relationship was so complicated.

"My biological father is not important. Don't bother with him. My dad is always running around and I usually can't contact him. I didn't expect to meet him right now, so I thought I'd introduce him to you later."

While the two were talking, Feng Yuxi came up to them, looked at Xie Niankang with a smile and said,

"When I came back this time, I suddenly heard that you were getting married. It was such a big surprise."

"Hehe... Dad, this is Miss Xue. I brought her to meet my aunt." Xie Niankang introduced the two people.

"Hello, Uncle Feng." Xue Yiliu quickly saluted Feng Yuxi.

"Don't be polite." Feng Yuxi looked at Xue Yiliu and took out a bottle of pills from his sleeve.

"I'll give you a small welcome gift first, and I'll make it up to you later."

"Thank you, Uncle Feng." Xue Yiliu took it quickly, but was too embarrassed to ask what was inside.

"My father is a famous doctor. You must have heard of him. Don't worry about taking the pills he gives you. They are good for your health."

Xie Niankang said again.

Xue Yiliu's eyes suddenly widened, she looked at Xie Niankang, then at Feng Yuxi, her eyes were so shocked that she could hardly move.

The black-faced Duke she was going to marry was even more powerful than she thought!

"Thank you, thank you Doctor Feng." After Xue Yiliu came to her senses, she treated the small medicine bottle as a treasure, thinking that she must take the medicine well!

"You should go see your aunt first. I won't be leaving for the time being. I will leave after you get married. We can talk later."

Feng Yuxi spoke.

"Yeah." Xie Niankang nodded, "Dad, let's go to my place tonight for a drink. Miss Xue also brought her precious wine, which is very fragrant and mellow. You should like it."

Xue Yiliu,...

You sound like you're treating your buddies this way.

Later she would brew more wine and hide it to entertain the divine doctor.

-

Qiwu Palace.

"Finally, I've been waiting for you to come back." Ye Qingzhi greeted Xie Niankang and Xue Yiliu warmly when she saw them.

"We are all family, come on, stop kneeling and saluting, just sit down."

Xue Yiliu glanced at Ye Qingzhi and was sure that she didn't dislike him, and then heaved a sigh of relief.

"I heard Xiaokang say that he had found a girl he loved and wanted to get married. I was so happy. I thought she must be a very good girl. Now that I have met her, I find that she is even better and prettier than I thought. I am so satisfied."

Ye Qingzhi looked at her and praised Xue Yiliu with a smile.

Xue Yiliu's face turned red when she heard that. She thought to herself that she was not that good and she was still dizzy.

Especially when she discovered that Xie Niankang's family was much better than she had imagined and more attractive than he himself, she felt like she had fallen into a blessed nest.

After all, getting married is not just about marrying a man, but also about getting along with his family.

Xue Yiliu had previously thought that as a wealthy and powerful person, she might have to face a lot of filth, so she was ready to fight at any time and kept cheering herself up.

Anyway, she has seen a lot of this kind of filth over the years. There is no difference between the struggle for interests in the city and the countryside and the fight between the rich and powerful.

She felt that she could handle it, so in order not to appear too shallow, she did not ask any more questions.

However, the actual situation in the Duke's Mansion was completely different from what she imagined.

"How did you two know each other? Tell me about it." Ye Qingzhi asked again with great interest.

"I went to her tavern to drink, and I thought she was pretty, her wine was fragrant, and her temper was hot, so I fell in love with her and asked her if she would marry me."

Xie Niankang spoke up.

Ye Qingzhi,...

This is not romantic at all.

"Well, the Duke asked me if I wanted to marry him right away. I was stunned." Xue Yiliu smiled and nodded.

"Later, he talked about many advantages of marrying him, and I thought I wouldn't suffer any loss, so I agreed."

Ye Qingzhi,...

It turns out that I gave myself a kiss.

This is also good. After all, we are middle-aged people and we like to be straightforward and precise because we have passed the shy stage of first falling in love.

"Miss Xue, do you still want to continue running the tavern?" Ye Qingzhi asked her.

"I have this plan." Xue Yiliu nodded, "I just don't know if doing this will bring shame to the Duke's Mansion."

"That won't happen." Ye Qingzhi smiled and shook her head.

"However, you were able to open a small tavern before, and now you can open a big restaurant. I have a lot of shops here as a betrothal gift for you, and you can run them together in the future."

Xue Yiliu refused again and again. She didn't have the nerve to accept it.

"Take it if you give it to me. It's useless for me to keep it." Ye Qingzhi said with a smile.

"I treat Xiaokang as my son. You are my only daughter-in-law. Naturally, everything in my hand will be given to you."

Xue Yiliu,...

She didn't just fall into a blessed nest, she fell into a golden nest.

"Aunt, please chat with Miss Xue first. I'm going to the East Palace. I haven't seen the Crown Princess to report on my work since I came back."

Seeing that the two of them were already familiar with each other, Xie Niankang began to speak.

"Well, go ahead and get busy." Ye Qingzhi smiled and waved at him.

"Miss Xue, just follow me. I will take her on a one-day tour of the palace, so that she can get to know the people and the place first. Then she can enter the palace by herself in the future."

"Then I'll trouble you, aunt." Xie Niankang looked at Xue Yiliu again, "I'll get busy first. After I finish my business with the Crown Princess, I'll come here to have lunch with you at noon."

"...Oh." Xue Yiliu stood up and saw him off. She was still a little nervous when he left.

"Come, have some snacks, and I'll take you to see the queen later." Ye Qingzhi smiled and called her again.

"By the way, I'll ask the people from the Clothing Bureau to come and measure your size. We'll start making your wedding dress now, and then some clothes for the other four seasons, as well as jewelry..."

Ye Qingzhi said this and called Ruyi, asking her to go to the storeroom and take out some jewelry for Xue Yiliu to choose from.

"My lady, no, no, you..." Xue Yiliu said with some embarrassment and emotion.

"You, you are too kind to me. I, I told the Duke before that you were the one who asked me about this marriage first, I didn't ask for it. Although our social statuses are far different, I don't want to be inferior to you.

But now that I know my future father-in-law is a miraculous doctor, and that I have an imperial concubine who is so kind to me, I am beginning to feel that I have done nothing to deserve this."

"Hahaha... Don't feel any pressure. We are just ordinary people. We were just born into a good family."

Ye Qingzhi smiled and said,

"I've heard from Xiaokang's aunt that it's not easy for you to support your family and run a pub by yourself, and you're really amazing.

People who work hard to make a living are worthy of our respect. Since Xiaokang likes you, you deserve to be treated well by us even more.

We treat you well, and naturally we hope that you treat Xiaokang well, and hope that you two can live a good life. If there is anything, please discuss it with me. You two should communicate more. If there is anything, please talk about it. Don't keep it to yourself, and don't let any misunderstandings arise."

Xue Yiliu nodded vigorously, feeling her eyes wet and almost want to cry.