I swept the harem by pretending to be weak

"That's exactly what I'm saying, ma'am."

Xia He took a few deep breaths and tried to calm herself down. However, she couldn't completely suppress her excitement, and her whole body was shaking and she couldn't control herself.

Liu Zhirou noticed this, but acted as if she didn't notice it.

For Liu Zhirou, it doesn't matter whether she listens to Xia He or not, but if Xia He wants to gain her trust and get her help, just a few ambiguous words are not enough.

What she wanted to do was to find out everything about the Liu family, and even to find out the truth about why she traveled through time, instead of foolishly being a knife for others.

Fortunately, Xia He did not disappoint her, and she soon revealed a big secret.

"When the eldest young lady heard about the incident of Concubine Shu in the palace, she knew it was not good, but she was already the daughter-in-law of the Liu family at that time, so it was not good for her to have more contact with her family. In addition, the master kept a close eye on her and did not allow her to go out casually. Even the servants around her were replaced. She could not do anything she wanted to do."

"But suddenly one day, the supervision was relaxed, and Miss Sisi ran in."

"We were all very surprised at the time, because the master and the mistress had already discussed and wanted to send the fourth young lady out to avoid the limelight, so why did he suddenly return to the Liu family? But we servants didn't dare to ask him. He entered the eldest young lady's room and ordered all the servants to leave. Then the two of them seemed to discuss something, and the fourth young lady was very angry and smashed a lot of things. When I went in, the eldest young lady was crying silently inside."

"The eldest young lady called me in, and immediately grabbed my hand, saying that he might not survive, but there was something that must be passed on. The fourth young lady had already bewitched the master, asking him to raise military funds and help Guo Jieshu rebel, in order to gain the merit of following the dragon."

After hearing this, Tan Xiang couldn't stand it any longer. She stood up and angrily scolded, "Why are you talking nonsense like this? The orthodoxy of the country lies with Your Majesty, and Your Majesty is pregnant with Your Majesty's heir and has become the Concubine Pure. You will definitely have a bright future! What is wrong with the Yuanwailang to support a traitor, and a traitor who has a grudge against his family!"

Xia He was not to be outdone. She straightened her body and retorted, "Your Highness does have a promising future, but Master has not benefited from it. Master has poured countless gold, silver and treasures into the palace over the years, but his official position has not changed and he is still stuck at the position of Yuanwailang!"

"Of course, after the queen gives birth to a prince, the family will surely take off, but who can guarantee that the queen will give birth to a prince? Moreover, if the emperor finally decides to give the prince to other concubines for adoption, wouldn't it be a waste of effort?"

"The master is already quite old, and the eldest son is not doing well anymore. The family is in a difficult situation due to the lack of successors. The fourth young lady brought back very important news, and also received a promise from Guo Jieshu, so the master took the risk and made this choice!"

"My lady, you are in imminent danger and you don't even know it!"

Her originally pale face was now flushed with a light blush, like a ripe apple, giving people a delicate and charming feeling. This blush not only made her look less haggard, but also added a bit of charming charm.

Xia He clenched her fists tightly, trying to suppress the turmoil in her heart, but her fingers turned slightly white due to excessive force. Despite this, her eyes still flashed brightly.

Liu Zhirou's face suddenly darkened.

The little bit of familiarity from before immediately disappeared. She was not Xia He. It was the first time that Liu Zhirou realized this fact so clearly.

Xia He had indeed been carefully nurtured, but that careful nurturing was mostly focused on music, chess, calligraphy, painting, needlework, and some insignificant medical skills. The real Xia He was humble, timid, and kept her eyes down, not as high-spirited as she is now, able to speak enthusiastically in front of people of higher status than herself.

Liu Zhirou had only been with Xia He for a few days, but these few days were enough for her to have a relatively complete understanding of Xia He. Unless a person experiences a major change, his or her personality will not change significantly.

To put it bluntly, as a servant of the Liu family, Xia He had a very serious sense of slavery. She understood the hierarchy better than anyone else. Even if she had experienced great changes, it was impossible for her to suddenly change from a timid maid into a brave warrior who was not afraid of the imperial power.

Although this courage probably comes from her ignorance.

Liu Zhirou didn't think she was telling the truth, and she knew that everything she said was useless and full of stupid fallacies.

If we ignore the messy affairs of gods and ghosts in the palace, and only talk about government affairs, this emperor did a pretty good job. At least under this emperor's rule, there was mobility between classes, and there was no class solidification. A small official like Liu Ming, who came from a merchant family, also had the opportunity to climb up.

Moreover, whether in the original owner's memory, during those few days at the Liu family, or in the palace, Liu Zhirou did not find any particularly obvious and serious famine. Although the Yiting, which was in charge of the concubines' allowances, had a tendency to flatter the powerful and trample the weak, it did not cause any major trouble in the end, and the concubines and even the palace maids were not short of food and clothing.

None of the ministers in the previous dynasty held absolute power, and none of the concubines in the harem relied on their family background to bully other concubines or even threaten the emperor. It might be a bit of an exaggeration to say that the entire court was politically stable and harmonious, but there was definitely no sign of the country's demise.

When the emperor wanted to take action against Concubine Shu, even though her harem was extremely prestigious and had united a large number of lackeys, there was no way to change the fact. When the emperor wanted to destroy Duke Deng's mansion, even though Duke Deng had been operating in the court for many years and had deep roots, he could only wait to be killed.

To put it bluntly, if Guo Jieshu does not have the support of other forces behind him, he is nothing more than a stray dog. How can he be qualified to threaten the emperor's position?

Neither his father nor his elder brother had the power to fight against the emperor. As a young man in his 20s, even if he had been working hard since his teens, how many connections could he make or how many troops could he command?

The most important thing is that he had almost no achievements in military and politics. Before the fall of Duke Deng, he had always been an extremely inconspicuous bastard. The most noticeable thing about him was that he was very popular with women.

Isn't it ridiculous that such a person suddenly became a wise and holy ruler?