Palace Schemes: The Tale of Jin Hua

Su Jinhua, the second daughter of the Duke of Qi's household, is skilled in strategy and playing the zither. Beautiful enough to captivate a kingdom, she has been childhood friends with Song Zixian, the current Deputy Censor-in-Chief of the Left. He was soon to marry her, but then an imperial decree calling for a selection of consorts arrived from the inner court. The world is full of such twists of fate, and so she enters the palace by imperial command... Thus begins Su Jinhua's story.

There are no winners in palace intrigue, only losers. In the end, the splendor of the deep palace is just a fleeting dream...

(Palace intrigue in the early part, with political scheming later on)