FTCU:
Actually in the drama, they blended those 2 parts. So instead of Jing waiting til she was done with her research before proposing in the novel. He ACTUALLY was about to propose & XY interrupted him by saying she’s happy he knows about her medical research(he doesn’t even know about this) and was wondering how she was going to tell him,so the wedding will have to wait. Jing just gave up,looking disappointed & went along with telling her, he’ll help with her research.
Blended?
TSJ proposed in chapter 38. Then, in that same chapter, the Yellow Emperor asked XY about when she wanted to set the wedding date. XY said she wanted to make progress on the medical texts first before setting a wedding date. The Yellow Emperor asked if she was sure given that such a project would take several years, and she confirmed that she was sure. The novel didn't show TSJ's reaction to XY's decision. It only showed that he had been eagerly planning to have the wedding happen as soon as possible before that.
XY completed the medical texts in chapter 41 (after working on them for 42 years) and in that chapter TSJ suggested they proceed with the wedding (as he had been eagerly looking forward to marrying XY since they got engaged in chapter 38) and XY agreed.
So it seems like it would still be possible for them to take the timing of the chapter 41 scene and turn that into a proposal scene?