The Virtuous Concubine

Malu asked, "What do you mean, you sold me fake and inferior products?"

The system quickly explained: "How could that be? If I trick you, wouldn't I be tricking myself? We both have the same goal! This value can only indicate how much this person likes you, and it can only be used as a supplement. Different people may not necessarily do the same thing even if they have the same number of likes towards you."

Malu understood immediately that this might also depend on the person's personality or other factors? She asked the system: "In other words, everyone has a 50% favorable impression of me, but for other reasons, some people will harm me while others won't?"

The system thought Malu was really quick to understand: "Yes, yes, assuming that the target of your strategy is very self-centered, like Emperor Qianlong, then even if his favorability towards you reaches 90% and lasts until death, he may still sacrifice you to save himself or the throne."

Malu was shocked: "Not even 90?"

System: "It's just an example. The same goes for other people. People who are particularly kind, honest, or timid will not do anything to you even if their favorability towards you is 30. But..."

Malu was very angry at first, as she still had to spend time and effort to evaluate such an expensive item herself. But after thinking about it, she felt that this was actually very reasonable. After all, there are many factors that influence human behavior, and it cannot be determined by how much you like a person.

If someone poisoned her, she could tell by the labels on the medicines that had been marked at Wu Ya's house before, and then use the favorability analyzer to focus on analyzing those with low favorability.

And bad guys are definitely acting. If they look very friendly but their favorability is very low, then it's probably true!

Malu felt better when he thought of this, and happily prepared to take this thing around to travel in the next two days.

After taking a bath, Malu prepared to go to the imperial kitchen under the pretext of getting some snacks and ingredients, and find Madam Liu to tell her son-in-law that she had successfully slept with him.

As soon as she met Aunt Liu, the analyzer showed her that Aunt Liu's favorability towards her was 78 points.

Malu asked the system: "Is this high or low?"

System: "Not low, it's in a very friendly range."

Ma Lu was relieved and started chatting with Aunt Liu. She first asked Aunt Liu about her recent situation and gave her some bone strengthening plasters for her wrists, shoulders and neck.

She had been working on the chopping board, and her wrists and waist had been injured for years. This plaster was not easy to come by. Madam Liu thanked her quickly, "I am so grateful! I didn't expect that the young lady would still think of me even though she had already arrived at the Palace of Heavenly Purity."

Malu smiled softly, "Mammy, that's not right. You brought me here, how could I forget? This plaster was given to me by some of the aunts in the Palace of Heavenly Purity. I have a lot of extra, so I quickly brought it to you."

Aunt Liu was even happier after hearing this: "Oh, that is definitely a rare good thing. From what I heard, the young lady is also living well in the tea room."

At this time, the favorability detector updated the favorability level. Liu Ma's favorability level towards Malu increased by 1 point, probably because she was moved by her act of sending medicine to him, and reached 79 points.

Malu was more relieved, and did not respond to Madam Liu's words, but only asked if she could ask Madam Liu to help her pass on some words to Grandfather E-Chan. Madam Liu smiled and said, "It would be too distant for you to ask me for a favor. But why not tell Lord Wu Ya yourself? If I remember correctly, Lord Wu Ya will be here the day after tomorrow afternoon..."

Ma Lu certainly couldn't tell him directly that he wanted to recruit Aunt Liu, so he just shook his head and said, "I'm not free the day after tomorrow, and there are some things I don't know how to tell my grandfather."

Madam Liu was also a smart person, so she continued what Malu said, "We are a family, why can't we talk about it? What's going on? Don't think too much. If you can talk to me, I can help you with your advice."

Malu then said hesitantly, "Your Majesty... Your Majesty has summoned me."

When Matron Liu heard this, she was overjoyed: "Oh, oh, your servant pays homage to the queen!" and was about to kneel down.

Malu quickly supported her and shook her head: "I refused the emperor's promotion. It's really embarrassing for me to be called Madam."

When Aunt Liu heard this, she turned from overjoyed to shocked and quickly changed her words: "Miss, what are you doing?"

Ma Lu looked at her and said slowly, "Mammy, I know my origins. If I enter the harem, then I... I am just a servant girl. How can I compare with those noble ladies of the Manchu Banner? If I were put among a bunch of flowers, the emperor would definitely not remember who I am."

Although Madam Liu agreed with this, she also felt that something was wrong: "What the young lady said makes sense, but you can't give up your status and just follow me without knowing why..." As she spoke, she realized that what she said was inappropriate and quickly stopped talking.

Ma Lu didn't hear her disrespectful words and replied, "Now I can spend more time with the emperor, which is definitely more beneficial than harmful. But I think I still need to tell my family about this matter. Then I hope they can help me find some healthy herbs and food. Remember, only the materials are needed, not the finished products. Otherwise, it will be difficult for my family to do it if it violates the palace rules."

After hearing this, Mammy Liu knew that Malu must have a plan in mind. She also felt that since Malu entrusted such an important matter to her, it was obvious that she trusted and relied on her very much, so she couldn't help feeling warm in her heart.

This is hard to say, but she is the future imperial concubine!

What's more, she had given birth before, so she certainly knew what the word "health-preserving" meant to a woman, so she readily agreed, and even gave extra instructions for many things that needed attention. She also asked Malu to come to the imperial kitchen every two or three days, and she would prepare some health-preserving food for Malu and let Malu eat before leaving.

Ma Lu heard this and felt that Madam Liu was indeed a considerate person, so he took out another small bag of silver and gave it to Madam Liu. Madam Liu didn't want to accept it, but Ma Lu deliberately said with a stern face that if she didn't accept it, it meant that she didn't like the silver enough. Madam Liu stopped refusing and put the silver into her sleeve.

At this time, the system has prompted that Liu Ma's favorability has reached 81, just reaching the entry threshold of "loyalty". Malu decided to stop while he was ahead, and chatted with Liu Ma for a while before going back.

Madam Liu was so excited that she hurried to find E-chan. The emperor was a little unhappy when he saw that Ma-lu was not among the people serving tea.

This woman! She was so affectionate with me yesterday, saying she loved me to death, but today she is nowhere to be seen.

Feeling that he had been fooled, Kangxi dismissed the others and only left Shu Yu to order tea for him. Also in the room were some people like Liang Jiugong and Wei Zhu who already knew that Ma Lu had slept with him.

Shu Yu's tea-making skills are excellent, and her smooth movements in the steaming mist also have a sense of tranquility. Kangxi took a sip of tea, was silent for a while, and suddenly asked Shu Yu:

"Why didn't she come today?"

Everyone knew that Kangxi was asking about Malu. Shu Yu naturally understood what the emperor meant and quickly put down her tea to explain: "Miss Malu said today that she felt very uncomfortable and something was not right. I have seen her and she was just tired, so I asked her to rest for a day."

After hearing the reason, Kangxi felt a little worried but more proud - it had to be him! So he ordered Liang Jiugong to find a young imperial physician to secretly check on Malu, and then looked at Shuyu: "You did a good job. Take care of her more in the future and don't let her work too hard."

Shu Yu said quickly, "Yes, I'm just afraid that Miss Malu won't agree. I only rested today after persuading her. Otherwise, with Malu's stubborn personality, she would just say that she's fine and continue to work."

Kangxi felt a little sweet after hearing this, remembering that she said last night that she wanted to see him more often and that she didn't even want to give up her position. She could even give up her position, which was the most important thing for women in the harem, let alone a minor discomfort.

But is this discomfort really a big deal?