I swept the harem by pretending to be weak

"Didn't they say that Concubine Zhang was sick?" When Ai Ziyi heard this, she immediately put aside the previous unpleasantness and asked curiously.

"She doesn't have a physical illness, it's clearly a mental illness. She was once pampered, but the emperor fell in love with another concubine and she became jealous. Her tricks to win favor were exposed, and the emperor immediately became disgusted with her. Not only did he deprive her of her title, he also demoted her to a concubine. What a confused and pitiful person she is." Concubine Xian rubbed her temples, looking like she had a headache.

"I'm warning you today largely because of her previous experience. I don't want you two to repeat the same mistakes and become two resentful women in the deep palace again. Life in this palace is already hard enough, and it's even harder to long for something you shouldn't long for." Liu Zhirou thought what Concubine Xian said was very good, but she was not worried about herself.

Ai Ziyi looked like she had learned a lesson.

When she was not favored, life in the palace was quite peaceful. To put it nicely, Concubine Xian was an old member of the palace, with a lot of experience and was trusted. To put it bluntly, she was old and ugly, and could not win the emperor's favor.

Of course, people living in her palace could not get any benefits from her. Instead, they would be implicated by her and would not be remembered by the emperor until very late.

Liu Zhirou didn't care about these things, but Ai Ziyi was a little conflicted, but she soon got over it.

How can being alive not count as being alive?

The emperor seemed to really like this beautiful lady and summoned her for five consecutive days. It was not until the empress advised him against it that his favor stopped.

The second person who was summoned was none other than Ai Ziyi.

Ai Ziyi spoke in a very heroic manner, saying that she would always have to eat in such a big palace. But when the time came, she became very nervous, and her palms were sweaty when she was dressing up.

Liu Zhirou didn't know how to comfort her. After all, only she could get through this difficult time.

Different from the previous dynasties where concubines were sent to the emperor's palace for the emperor's favor, the customs of this dynasty were more relaxed, and the relationship between the emperor and concubines could not be considered a complete superior-subordinate relationship, and there was a lot of love involved.

If the emperor was busy with government affairs, he would usually summon his concubine to Yong'an Palace. If he had more free time and was looking for romance, he would most likely go to the palace where the concubine lived, or even make an appointment with her to go to the same place and date like young men and women in the folk.

Now the court is in a state of corruption and the empress dowager is ill. The emperor has no interest in romance. Ai Ziyi needs to rush to Yong'an Palace accompanied by several palace maids and eunuchs and perform routine duties.

This also put a lot of psychological pressure on Ai Ziyi.

Before going to Yong'an Palace, Ai Ziyi kept pulling Liu Zhirou's sleeves and talking non-stop. Liu Zhirou also obeyed her and tried her best to comfort her.

Ai Ziyi went there with trepidation, but came back in high spirits.

In order to welcome her back, Concubine Xian deliberately supported her not-so-strong body, put on exquisite makeup, and put pearls and jade in her hair, and sat in the main hall.

But no matter how exquisite the makeup or how grand the headgear, it was difficult to cover up the traces of the passage of time on Concubine Xian's body. What's more, she was still ill and looked weak.

Liu Zhirou was busy for a long day yesterday, and she also practiced fitness techniques secretly at night, so she was really tired. This morning, she had no makeup on her face and her hair was simply tied up, but she exuded the vitality unique to a girl.

They are all waiting for the same person, but their feelings are probably different.

"Aibolin is here!"

As the eunuch's shrill voice sounded, a fairly standard smile appeared on Concubine Xian's face, but then she couldn't smile anymore.

Not long after Ai Ziyi came in, the emperor's personal eunuch Lu Jin came over. He came alone, he also brought three or four godsons with him, and carried two full boxes of rewards.

After putting down the reward, he immediately unfolded the imperial edict. Concubine Xian, Liu Zhirou and Ai Ziyi quickly stood up and respectfully accepted the imperial edict.

The emperor said that Ai Ziyi had made great contributions in serving him, so he conferred the title of Lan Cairen on her and gave her these rewards as a reward.

Ai Ziyi smiled so hard that her teeth were showing.

"I originally thought that the emperor would be difficult to get along with, but I didn't expect that the emperor is not only humorous, but also understands me very well."

"I told the emperor why I chose to live in Zi Lan Garden, and he immediately said that since fate is so wonderful, he would choose the word 'Lan' as my title!"

Ai Ziyi was still enthusiastically sharing her experience of accompanying the emperor for the first time, but Concubine Xian's face looked a little grim.

"Sister Shuang, what's wrong with you? Are you feeling unwell?" Liu Zhirou hinted to Ai Ziyi several times before she realized that Concubine Xian's complexion seemed a little abnormal.

"It's nothing, just an old problem. When I first started accompanying Your Majesty, I was also a fresh and delicate girl like you, but now... Alas, it's no use anymore!" The virtuous concubine said with a sigh.

Ai Ziyi finally showed her emotional intelligence and pulled Liu Zhirou back to her Zi Lan Garden, continuing to express her joy.

Liu Zhirou could only let it go.

The emperor summoned Ai Ziyi for three consecutive days, and then began to favor other women. Liu Zhirou was lucky, being the second to last to be summoned.

It was an evening with ambiguous light, and Liu Zhirou walked in front of the supreme ruler of the empire.

He was obviously only about thirty years old, but he looked a little haggard, somewhat similar to Concubine Xian. However, he was a very gentle person, and he still had a gentle smile on his face even when facing a little concubine.

"Selectwoman Liu? Sit down, don't be nervous."

Liu Zhirou listened to him say this, but still bowed respectfully before daring to sit down.

"It is a great honor for me to see your Majesty."

Liu Zhirou seemed to vaguely see a large moon-white fox passing by her eyes, but when she really looked closely, she could see nothing.

Liu Zhirou did not regard this as a temporary illusion. Ever since she started practicing fitness techniques, her physical fitness has improved significantly in all aspects, and her vision is of course also within this range.

She had a vague feeling that something unusual was happening.

However, the problem should not be with the emperor in front of him.

Not many polite words were exchanged, after all, the emperor was a very busy person, and then he just paid the public grain tax as a routine matter.

Liu Zhirou came for two nights and was completely forgotten by the emperor.

The matter of the Empress Dowager gradually passed, and Concubine Shu was somehow acquitted and released.

The Queen resumed her previous custom of paying respects.

However, these had nothing to do with Liu Zhirou. She was just a small concubine and was not qualified to participate in activities such as greetings.

Ai Ziyi was qualified and went there several times with great interest, but she was soon discouraged. After all, her talent was one of the best among the new ladies in the palace. However, there were many old ladies in the palace who had worked hard to get to the top. She was taught a lesson several times and suffered a lot of losses, so she lost her interest in gossip.