I swept the harem by pretending to be weak

After Liu Zhirou understood her situation, she couldn't help but sigh that she was unlucky.

Overall, her identity was considered good. After all, she was the legitimate daughter of the wife and had passed the preliminary selection, so she had a high status in the family.

But the bad thing is this draft.

Although the original owner came from a merchant family, she was well-educated and was a proper lady from a noble family. She was proficient in all the arts of music, chess, calligraphy and painting, and her good name spread throughout the capital very early on.

This is an advantage for the original owner, but it is undoubtedly a big trouble for her as a time traveler.

Before she traveled through time, she had always followed a growth path of letting her nature run wild, and had never done any extracurricular quality development, so it can be said that she knew nothing about these things.

Liu Zhirou also hoped that after seeing those tools, she could rely on her body's memory to pick up these skills, but even if she could really pick them up, the gap between her and the original owner would probably be huge.

Although I am now much more refined than my previous self, and there is a hint of liveliness in my every move, it is still unknown whether I can survive in the palace with this.

Beauty pageants are subjective in nature. Who knows what the emperor thinks is beautiful? Besides, it is unlikely that anyone who can participate in the pageant is ugly.

Thinking of this, Liu Zhirou couldn't help but sigh.

Chun Tao heard her sigh and asked quickly: "Miss, why are you sighing? No matter how hard the Second Miss, Fourth Miss and Fifth Miss try to squeeze forward, they can't compare to your grace. The other ladies are still young and can't compare to you. When you become a concubine of the royal family, you will not be in the same league as them."

When Liu Zhirou heard Chuntao mention this, she couldn't help but rub her temples in pain.

She herself doesn't care much about these things. To her, those girls whom she has never even met are like strangers. She has neither good nor bad feelings towards them.

However, under the influence of her mother, the original owner seemed to have a very contemptuous attitude towards them. So when Chuntao saw her sigh, she immediately used these to comfort her.

However, those three concubine sisters were indeed much inferior to this legitimate daughter. Apart from anything else, the difference was obvious just by looking at their appearance.

But this does not mean that she has the courage to fight for a future in the palace.

According to general rules, a girl with a family background like Liu Zhirou, even if her family is wealthy, has no way of participating in the talent show.

The beauty pageant was designed for the daughters of officials and aristocratic families. A girl like her, born to a merchant, no matter how outstanding her appearance was, would have no way of entering the palace through this formal selection mechanism. At most, she could be offered as a singing and dancing prostitute.

However, the current emperor was already thirty years old, but he did not have even a child. The empress dowager was very anxious and kept pressing. It was said that in order to appease the empress dowager, the emperor chose to make an exception.

According to Chuntao, when Liu Zhirou's father Liu Ming learned the news, he was overjoyed. He used many connections to get a spot in the talent show and dressed up his most outstanding daughter and sent her in.

Liu Zhirou lived up to everyone's expectations and successfully defeated many women with better backgrounds than her and made it to the end.

Although the emperor was filial to the empress dowager and paid attention to the issue of offspring, he was a very wise emperor after all, so he did not make any major fuss. Most of the women he selected were from the vicinity of the capital, and only fifty or sixty women made it to the final step.

Not all of these people will be kept in the palace. Some will be married to princes, some will be used as companions for unmarried princesses, and the rest will actually enter the palace to serve the emperor.

The goal that Liu Zhirou's family set for her was undoubtedly the last one.

Thinking of this, Liu Zhirou couldn't help but have a headache, feeling that she had chosen a hell-level difficulty task.

If the emperor had not held this exceptional selection and she had not been chosen, she would most likely have remained at home for another three or four years.

She has just reached the age of marriage, which means she is an adult according to current regulations, but in modern terms, she is only 15 years old and not yet an adult.

But according to the customs of this dynasty, most noble families choose to get married relatively late, usually until the age of 18 or 19, or even after the age of 20.

However, the officials in charge of the talent show would not care about such trivial matters. Liu Zhirou can only stay at home for about half a month.

After half a month, she would need to take her personal maid and sit in a small sedan chair into the cold palace walls.

If all goes well, after a person has endured a few decades of hardship in the palace, she may be able to follow her son or daughter to the prince's or princess's palace and live out her days as an old noble; if not, perhaps after only a few years in the palace, she will be gone like a soul, and there will be no future.

Just when Liu Zhirou was in a rare state of sadness, a very bright-looking girl ran in.

That was Dongmei, also one of her personal maids.

As a legitimate daughter, she was very spoiled at home. She had four maids alone, named after the four seasons of the year and famous flowers - Spring Peach, Summer Lotus, Autumn Chrysanthemum, and Winter Plum.

Of course, she couldn't bring all four maids into the palace. She could only bring two at most.

Chuntao frowned and glared coldly at Dongmei who ran in: "What's going on? You're so flustered."

"The second young lady is here to visit." Dongmei was glared at by Chuntao, and she immediately showed her timid side. She lowered her head deeply, and the beautiful blush she had originally painted seemed to turn pale at that moment.

"Didn't you tell her that our young lady was ill and couldn't meet someone like her?" Chuntao continued to be aggressive.

"I told her, but she refused to leave and said she wanted to appeal to our young lady." Dongmei also looked very aggrieved.

Chuntao originally wanted to say something, but Liu Zhirou waved her hand to stop her.

"That's strange. If you have any grievances, why don't you go and tell the mistress or the master? But since she's here, I, as her younger sister, can't refuse to see her. Dongmei, please ask her to come in."

Only then did Chuntao shut her mouth angrily.

In just a short while, Liu Zhirou had a certain understanding of the two maids who served her closely. Chuntao was serious and attentive, but she often acted on impulse; Dongmei was cautious, but lacked responsibility. She was more willing to report things to her superiors than to take risks herself.

Dongmei was already feeling overwhelmed by Chuntao's aura, and with Liu Zhirou's permission, she quickly ran out.

After a while, Dongmei led the second young lady in. She was wearing a pink coat and a maroon cape, and she walked over slowly with small steps, holding the hand of a little maid beside her.

When Liu Zhirou saw her outfit, she almost couldn't help but burst out laughing, but she still understood the situation, so she tightly grasped the quilt covering her body and suppressed the urge to laugh.