I swept the harem by pretending to be weak

Liu Zhirou did not completely believe what the old lady said. After all, the level was there, and the real secrets were probably beyond the old lady's reach.

But she didn't just take it as a story. After all, the old lady had so many years of experience in getting along with everyone, and there might be some truth in what she said and the story she told.

Liu Zhirou had suffered losses in this regard before, so sometimes she paid special attention to respecting the opinions of the elderly.

The next few stories the old lady told were unremarkable. Most of them were about a woman of humble status, but who was beautiful, smart, or had various shining points. By chance, she was favored by the emperor and became his concubine. Finally, she gave birth to a prince, achieving a class transition. It was obvious that she was alluding to her granddaughter and flattering him subtly.

If Liu Zhirou was really a little girl from a merchant family, and was lucky enough to become an empress, she would have been lulled into indifference by the stories told by the old lady.

Unfortunately, she was not, and her goal was not to stay in the palace and compete with a bunch of concubines, to outlast all her competitors, to let her children ascend the throne, and to become a comfortable empress dowager.

Liu Zhirou did not directly say what she wanted to know, but instead tried indirectly, trying to extract something useful from what the old lady said.

However, apart from the rather conspicuous point of mentioning the white fox in the first story about Taizu, the old lady did not find anything eye-catching in the rest of the stories.

Things like Buddha statues that are obviously religious in nature almost never appear.

But she was not discouraged. She continued to listen, occasionally smiling and nodding, and giving the old lady some feedback.

Zhao saw that her eldest daughter was chatting happily with the old lady, while she, as a mother, was left out, and she couldn't help but feel a little impatient.

She hoped that her daughter would not forget her original intention and be close to her family after she held a high position, but she did not want her daughter to only be close to her husband's relatives and forget her.

Zhao has been calling the shots at home lately and has been living a very carefree life. Neither her husband's concubines nor her mother-in-law, who always makes things difficult for her, dare to show disrespect to her.

Aren’t all these changes due to her daughter’s promising future?

Even her relatives from her natal family, who usually looked down on her, came to her. Zhao had a cousin who vowed that since the queen was alone in the palace and had no help, it would be better to send his daughter to the palace, not to be introduced to the emperor, but just to be a maid.

Although Zhao was usually naive, she was not ignorant of the situation. She did not trust these relatives who were separated by generations.

She also knew that it was fine to show off her daughter's abilities, but it was absolutely unnecessary to ask her to agree to do what they wanted. If such a person was sent to the palace, he would not only not be a help, but would definitely cause trouble for her daughter.

How could it be as comfortable to have a queen in your own family as to have a queen in your own family?

If she is to be sent away, then we will have to wait a few years to see the situation. If the empress has no children, then her youngest daughter Liu Zhilan can be sent into the palace. One reason is to keep the empress company so that she won't be lonely, and the other is to keep the wealth within the family so that her family won't lose its support.

However, something even more worrying occurred to her. If her daughter became successful but was not close to her, then she, as her mother, would not be particularly important.

Zhao and her husband Liu Ming have different starting points. In Liu Ming's eyes, both legitimate and illegitimate daughters are his children and can become important helpers in his progress.

Liu Zhirou was originally sent to the palace to secure the emperor's favor, not only because she was a legitimate daughter, but more importantly because her talent and beauty surpassed those of other daughters, and she was also very healthy, making her more likely to be favored by the emperor.

But Zhao was different. She only regarded her two daughters as her own flesh and blood. Children born by other women were troubles, obstacles and competitors to her children.

She thought she understood the principle of closeness and distance very well, and hoped that her eldest daughter could understand this principle and stand with her. Only they would not betray each other, and no one else could be trusted.

Liu Zhirou could understand her thoughts, but she didn't intend to follow her script.

Sincerity is of course important, but what is the use of sincerity without ability?

What Liu Zhirou needs now is a fast intelligence system, just the right amount of assistance, and strong financial support, not a sincere heart or a pure and flawless friendship.

Liu Ming is taking advantage of her reputation to bully others, and isn't she also taking advantage of Liu Ming's strong financial strength to create a relatively safe environment for herself?

Liu Zhirou needs enough money. Only with this money can she bribe servants, obtain intelligence support, avoid being backstabbed by her subordinates, and maintain her dignity in the palace even though her family background is not prominent.

Liu Ming did not regard him as his daughter, so how could she regard Liu Ming as her father?

Liu Zhirou was a little evasive about the gaze from Zhao. In fact, compared to Zhao's passionate and almost pure feelings, she was better at dealing with people like Liu Ming.

After all, she was not the original owner, and she did not have the experience of truly being in the arms of a father.

Liu Zhirou still doesn’t know what happened to the original owner, but it’s definitely not a good thing.

When she first came here, the original owner's physical condition was quite bad.

Although her physical condition returned to normal not long after she woke up, the intense discomfort still remained in her heart.

She had also asked the servants indirectly, so she was very sure that this was not because of the pampered girl. In the past, the third daughter of the Liu family had a very good health. Otherwise, she would not have been chosen by the family of Duke Deng to give birth to a child for the emperor in the palace and then be raised by Concubine Shu.

Of course, the bones of the Concubine Shu are probably cold now, so this threat naturally no longer exists.