Splendor of the Imperial Palace

When people grow old, they often find themselves looking back on the distant past. Lately, Shen Zhen keeps dreaming of what happened when she was thirteen: the faded, battered carriage in front of the grand vermilion gates of the imperial city; Lady Xiao’s immaculate red nails, renewed each day; the haughty glance from atop the phoenix palanquin beside Empress Minhui’s Fenghuan Palace; the sweet osmanthus tea brewed by Imperial Noble Consort Xiaozhen… The women who bloomed so vividly in Shen Zhen’s memories: she watched them rise, then saw them fall. In the end, they were all just people in this deep palace, desperately seeking true affection.