In the Height of the Emperor's Favor

Bandits ambush the magistrate’s residence, and the maid Li Le escapes with her life. She enters the palace under a false name, only to get caught up in a case involving a palace maid’s attempted assassination of the emperor. Once exposed, she finds herself facing the supposedly mad emperor, who turns her hand over in his grasp. “If you still don’t tell the truth, I can have your head cut off right now.”

As punishment, Li Le is assigned to serve the emperor, waiting on him and handling his daily tasks. To uncover the truth behind the attack on the magistrate’s residence, she willingly dances with the devil. The little palace maid who only wanted to save fifty taels of silver and leave in peace finds herself drawn deeper and deeper into the palace’s intrigues.

When everything is finally settled and she is about to leave the palace, Xiao Heng stops her. “I’ll give you a hundred taels of gold. You... won’t leave the palace, will you?”