Amid the shifting fortunes of the Yongzheng era of the Qing dynasty, Lin Wanxi, daughter of the Vice Minister of Rites, enters the Forbidden City and embarks on a tumultuous life in the imperial palace. At the selection, her talent and beauty win the emperor’s favor, but also draw her into the treacherous whirlpool of power struggles in the inner court.
Barely inside the palace walls, Lin Wanxi witnesses Consort Hua’s arrogance and the empress’s velvet-gloved scheming. As the palace women scheme and struggle against one another, she cautiously holds fast to her principles. She and Su Yao, daughter of the Minister of Revenue, go from testing one another to standing by each other, finding a trace of warmth within the cold palace walls. As the story unfolds, undercurrents at a night banquet in the Old Summer Palace and the intertwining of court politics with palace rivalries leave every step fraught with danger.
From the shadows of crabapple blossoms in the Chuxiu Palace to the flickering candlelight of the Qianqing Palace, Lin Wanxi struggles to survive amid favor and suspicion, sincerity and scheming. She refuses to become a pawn in the power struggle, yet has no choice but to plan for her own survival. Between experiencing the emperor’s passionate devotion and his fickleness, and witnessing the sincerity and betrayal of her fellow consorts, she gradually grows from an innocent young woman into a perceptive lady of the inner palace.
With delicate prose, this work sketches the love and hatred of the women in the imperial harem, deftly blending political intrigue with emotional entanglements. It paints a vivid and brutal portrait of palace life, inviting readers to discover the hidden rules of survival and moving stories of the imperial harem in a feudal dynasty.
