Qing Palace: A Heart at Play is a tale of court intrigue set in the Yongzheng era, chronicling the extraordinary journey of Li Shang, an orphan who rises from an ordinary consort to become the mother of the empire.
In the palace, where schemes and calculations lurk at every turn, Li Shang uses her bright, innocent charm as armor and her quick wits as a blade. She has gotten drunk beneath the moon and teased eunuchs, and she has boldly kissed the emperor beneath a wisteria trellis. She can be a passionate lover in the bedchamber, yet display exceptional intelligence at court. Faced with the empress's trap involving a supposed lover and the succession of deadly schemes laid by the consorts, she advances one careful step at a time, turning each crisis into an opportunity to rise.
From Noble Lady to Noble Consort, from helping oversee the Six Palaces to claiming the empress's throne, Li Shang walks a tightrope between the emperor's favor and suspicion. Yongzheng's wary, calculating nature meets her patience and intelligence in a series of tests. Amid the entanglement of love and power, she gives birth to the emperor's eldest son and ultimately ascends the phoenix throne, becoming the most exalted woman in the Great Qing.
Yet when she finally stands at the pinnacle of power and looks back on the road she has traveled, she realizes that the path to the phoenix throne, paved with countless schemes, has long since buried the person she once was. The phoenix crown weighs heavily, crushing a young girl's dreams; the splendid ceremonial robes conceal her living flesh and blood. Is this truly a victory, or a bargain paid for with her soul?
Qing Palace: A Heart at Play is not only a palace-intrigue drama that keeps readers on tenterhooks, but also a desolate elegy to the way power, love, and human nature are warped under extreme conditions. When sincerity becomes the most precious bargaining chip, who can emerge from this game of chess unscathed?
It's pretty good, the pacing is fast and the details are well written.