Two Beauties of the Palace

During the Qianlongqing era of the Great Zhou, imperial authority is unstable and war flares frequently along the northern frontier. To balance the court and win the support of the Marquis of Zhenbei, Emperor Zhou Jinchen decrees that he will marry the marquis's twin daughters, Shen Qingyi and Shen Qinglan, and make them both consorts, upsetting the balance of the imperial harem.

Once deeply devoted to each other, the sisters are swept up in the life behind the palace's red walls and set down entirely different paths. The elder sister, Shen Qingyi, is poised and clever. Though she has no desire to compete for favor, she has remarkable insight. Her bearing resembles that of the emperor's late Empress Chun Yuan, earning her both respect and envy. The younger sister, Shen Qinglan, is lively and passionate, longing for the emperor's undivided affection, but jealousy and ambition gradually drive her toward obsession.

In the harem, Noble Consort Su Yueyao secretly harbors malice and uses witchcraft, false accusations, and other schemes to sow discord between the sisters. At court, powerful ministers collude with the northern frontier to stage a palace coup, and danger lurks everywhere. From supporting one another to becoming enemies, from carefree innocence to careful maneuvering, the sisters struggle to grow amid the turmoil of family honor, personal love, and the fate of the empire. In the end, the chaos is quelled, and Noble Consort Su's plot is exposed. Shen Qinglan comes to her senses and leaves the palace to devote herself to spiritual cultivation, while Shen Qingyi puts aside romantic attachments and takes up the imperial seal, safeguarding the realm with great love and a sense of responsibility. She becomes a true empress, mother to all under Heaven, and transforms through her years in the palace from an orchid into a phoenix.