The Emperor's Consort Across Four Lifetimes

During the Northern Song dynasty, porcelain flourished, with countless varieties vying for renown. Ru ware used agate in its glaze, Ge ware was famed for its ice-crackle patterns, Ding ware prized its smooth white finish, and Guan ware was admired for its elegance. The Wu family of Yangzhai used copper patina to fire Jun ware with kiln transformations, whose miraculous colors inspired the saying, “One color going into the kiln, ten thousand hues coming out.” It became the foremost of the five great wares. The Wu family’s daughter only wanted to clear her clan’s name over the unjust sealing of their kiln. By a twist of fate, she was swept into a court struggle that had lasted more than seventy years. Once she became an emperor’s woman, she began living for a man and fighting to survive. As her skirts fluttered through the palace, its feuds and vendettas grew ever fiercer. The victor would claim supreme glory, while the defeated would be ground to dust by power. How many schemes, intrigues, and tangled romances were hidden behind the red palace walls? Will-o’-the-wisps of white phosphorus, a secret cure for diarrhea, the poison of asbestos, a banquet of eight musical instruments, the burial goods of Wanyan Aguda, hair dye for the emperor, government officials who sifted sand for tomb robbers, beast tamers at Genyue Garden, and a fake Along the River During the Qingming Festival…