Frost and Splendor Behind the Phoenix Curtain: Empress Xiaohui

In the fifteenth year of the Kang-Yong era, Liu Qingyuan, daughter of a censor, enters the palace as a secondary consort from the prince’s household, stepping into the treacherous chess game of the imperial harem. With no powerful family to rely on, she uses only her graceful calligraphy and half a lifetime of knowledge of medicinal herbs to navigate suspicion and schemes, one careful step at a time. From Consort Li’s planted evidence to a dangerously cold herbal brew during her pregnancy, and the life-and-death crisis when her father is falsely accused, she overcomes every peril with patience and intelligence.

After giving birth to her eldest son, Hongyuan, she is promoted to Consort De; later, she takes charge of the Six Palaces and is elevated to Imperial Noble Consort, before finally being appointed empress. With her slender shoulders, Liu Qingyuan bears the burden of keeping the harem in order. Amid the undercurrents of court politics, she protects her children and safeguards her family. But an emperor’s favor is unpredictable. During the southern tour, she cuts her hair in defiance of his wishes and falls from the heights to the depths: confined to the central palace, given a simple funeral, and left with a lifetime of splendor that proves as fleeting as a reflection in water or a flower in the mirror.

Only after the new emperor ascends the throne and posthumously honors her as Empress Xiaohui, while compiling her calligraphy and writings on medicinal herbs, is the legend hidden within the palace walls finally vindicated. Her life is an epic of survival for a woman of the imperial harem, and a resilient yet desolate glimmer of frost in the chess game of power.