I swept the harem by pretending to be weak

Liu Zhirou deliberately pretended to be dull and did not try to get close to the empress dowager.

First, she was not in the mood, and second, she did not have the time. She did not expect the Queen Mother to be able to help her in any way, but only hoped that the Queen Mother would not hinder her and cause her trouble.

At the banquet, everyone was toasting and looking like they were having a great time. As to whether they were truly happy or just pretending to be happy for others to see, that is a matter of opinion.

After all, the wine was for the concubines in the harem, so most of the wine at the banquet was low-proof fruit wine. But even so, Liu Zhirou did not drink too much, and she kept observing the surroundings calmly and alertly.

When she saw Concubine Xian taking Ai Ziyi away, she was truly relieved.

She knew very well that Ai Ziyi was right in the middle of the storm, but she had no way to change it.

Take Ai Ziyi away from here like a hero? No, that's not helping her, it's harming her.

Ai Ziyi is different from Liu Zhirou, the visitor from another world. She has a father, a mother, a brother, relatives, friends, the glory she longs for, and even an emperor whom she cares about.

Liu Zhirou has always felt that the stupidest and most despicable thing in the world is to do something against the other person's wishes under the banner of "for your own good."

So she did not interfere with Ai Ziyi's favor from the emperor, nor did she interfere with the good relationship between Ai Ziyi and Concubine Xian, even though she knew that these two people who seemed to be reliable might very likely bring the deepest trauma to Ai Ziyi.

When Liu Zhirou saw Concubine Xian confess her crime to the Queen Mother and leave with Ai Ziyi, although she couldn't say that she was completely relieved, she was at least no longer so worried.

She went back and thought about it again, and felt that she might have demonized Concubine Xian. It was very rare for Concubine Xian to be favored by the Emperor now, and she was a woman in her prime, so it was normal for her to be unable to control her desires.

What Liu Zhirou could imagine Concubine Xian would do was just to kill the mother and keep the son, just to provide herself with an extra support.

Although some people have made the art of taking the pulse sound miraculous, whether the baby is a boy or a girl cannot be determined by just taking the pulse. The virtuous concubine probably wanted a prince so that the emperor would not take action against the Lin family.

It was difficult for Liu Zhirou to evaluate Concubine Xian's behavior, but she felt that the possibility of success was not very high. They were gentle in front of the emperor, but in fact they were cold and indifferent.

But Concubine Xian had no other choice.

After all, the emperor is in his prime and is not foolish. Although General Lin, the father of Concubine Xian, has great prestige in the army, the army also has its own constraints and the soldiers are not born out of thin air. They also have families to support and children to raise. In fact, it is the emperor who can provide them with strong logistical support.

It is impossible for them to follow General Lin in rebelling because of a trivial matter, even though General Lin has a high prestige.

As long as Concubine Xian is still trapped in the circle of harem struggles, Liu Zhirou is confident that she can return to the Emperor from the Empress Dowager's Renshou Palace before Concubine Xian takes any action and prevent all this from happening.

Liu Zhirou reviewed the information and felt that there was no problem, so she began to enjoy the banquet with peace of mind.

But just as she picked up a piece of food with chopsticks and before she could put it into her mouth, a chaos spread from the nearby imperial garden.

"What's going on? Why are you making so much noise? How disgraceful!" The Empress Dowager, who was sitting at the very top, frowned, and the old nanny beside her immediately stood up and scolded.

The eunuch in charge of the banquet could not hide the fear on his face: "Something happened to the Emperor and Lady Lan!"

The Empress Dowager widened her eyes, Concubine Xian dropped her handkerchief, and the food on Liu Zhirou's chopsticks had slipped silently, and everyone was shocked by the news.

"What's going on? Explain yourself clearly!" The Queen Mother no longer cared about maintaining her elegant and graceful temperament and shouted harshly.

In the absence of the Queen, she is the backbone here. Even if she doesn't want to be in charge, she has to take charge.

What's more, she knew very well that the stability of the dynasty and her current status were closely related to the emperor.

If something happens to the emperor and he doesn't leave behind a son, the one who will take the throne will be Prince Huai or Prince Rui.

The Queen Mother shuddered at the thought of the son born to that little bitch named Lu ascending the throne.

"Yes, yes, Queen Mother. On their way back to the palace, Concubine Xian and Lady Lan met the Emperor on Xiruo Bridge. Lady Lan was so excited that she ran to the bridge to greet the Emperor. Who could have thought that the bridge had fallen into disrepair after so many years that it collapsed at this time? The Emperor... The Emperor and Lady Nan fell into the lake together..."

The Queen Mother was shaking and almost fell to the ground. Concubine De quickly reached out to help her up and shouted at the eunuch: "Then what are you still doing here? Go and save people!"

At this time, the Queen Mother had almost recovered and grabbed Concubine De's hand: "Let's go together!"

The other concubines were also terrified. If something happened to the emperor, the best fate for these childless concubines would be to be sent to a temple to become nuns and pray for the country.

When it comes to that point, everyone can bully them. Forget wealth and glory, it's hard to even keep their lives.

If something goes wrong and someone with no conscience proposes that they be buried alive with the emperor, or if the new emperor is a little crueler, they will really have no way to survive.

A group of people rushed to the lake in a panic as if their butts were on fire.

Concubine De remained calm in the face of danger. While protecting the empress dowager, she instructed the eunuch consul beside her: "Go to the Imperial Hospital, find the imperial physician, and pick a few eunuchs who are good at swimming. Hurry, hurry!"

Liu Zhirou followed the large group to the destination.

If she were to say that she was nervous, she was not really that nervous. She often went out for fun and had fished in the lake with a fishing rod. She knew that the lake in the imperial garden was not deep. At most, it was only up to an adult's waist. It was almost impossible for someone to drown there.

The lake in the imperial garden is more like a man-made puddle than a lake. It is full of lotus flowers and looks pretty in the summer. But now, it is just a pile of dead branches and leaves. Why did Concubine Xian take that path?

That was not the only way back to Weiyang Palace. If you wanted to go back to Weiyang Palace through the Imperial Garden, you would have to take a detour. Ai Ziyi was obviously pregnant and was being stared at by countless pairs of malicious eyes. Why did Concubine Xian take the risk of taking her through the Imperial Garden?