In the eighteenth year of the Shunzhi era of the Qing dynasty, smallpox, a deadly disease, strikes the imperial palace. The emperor's beloved consort dies, and Shunzhi is consumed by grief, resolved to renounce the world and become a monk. At the critical moment, Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang turns the tide. She orders that imperial rescripts be written in blue instead of vermilion, and places the eight-year-old Xuanye, who has just recovered from smallpox, on the throne as the Kangxi Emperor.
