Pei Yan, the son of a guilty minister, was reduced to a palace slave because of his father's conviction. His cold and arrogant character attracted the attention of the empress Huang Zhaoning, and he has since been involved in the whirlpool of power in the empress's court. In the prosperous Tang Dynasty, when women were in power and men were subordinate, Pei Yan struggled to survive in the court strife. From mutual suspicion to Huang Zhaoning, they developed secret feelings, but they were framed by an adulterer and had many misunderstandings. When the treason conspiracy surfaced and Tubo's foreign enemies pressed on, the two experienced life and death, suspicion of substitutes, and the crisis of poison in the intertwined love-hate relationship. While working together to put down the rebellion, they broke through the strict gender shackles. From sadomasochism in prison to sharing life and death on the battlefield, from the entanglement of substitutes to the deep love of life-for-life, in the end Huang Zhaoning pushed against all opinions and implemented the New Deal, abolished gender discrimination laws, and Pei Yan was crowned as the imperial concubine. The two broke the situation with love, and wrote a legendary story of an empress that overturned prejudice and determined the world through love.
Purpose: to explore gender equality, show the complexity of human nature, celebrate true love and courage, and emphasize growth and transformation.