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Review: Legend of Zhen Huan (甄嬛傳) (2011)
I'm finally finished this drama! It was iconic in a lot of ways.
It didn't necessarily originate a lot of the harem Cdrama tropes, but the popularity of this drama definitely kickstarted the new wave of interest in the harem Cdrama genre.
The quality of this drama was excellent. The costumes and settings were terrific, but the acting was also amazing. We had a few big names in the main rules (Sun Li as Zhen Huan, Chen Jianbin as Yongzheng, and Ada Choi as the Empress), but most of the other actors/actresses were unknown to me and I still ended up appreciating their characters.
I did have some complaints about the story, but otherwise, the pacing was very good. This is a longass drama, but the time was well used. It didn't drag like you'd expect a lot of dramas in the recent years to drag.
I would recommend this drama as a must-see for most political historical Cdrama fans, particularly as an introduction to the harem subgenre of politics.
Spoilers.
Story
Our main character was Zhen Huan, a fictionalized version of the Empress Xiaoshengixan. The drama covered the time from when she entered the palace harem to when she solidified her position as Empress Dowager.
The first arc was about Zhen Huan entering the Imperial Harem to support her family, as her father had no sons. She fell in love with the Emperor and saw the world through her naive, rose-tinted glasses, and life was great.
In the second arc, Zhen Huan had to face the conflicts that arose because she had the Emperor's favour. Through those scuffles, she started to see just how fickle the Emperor's love was, and through this time, she learned that she needed to protect herself more carefully, and fell out of love with the Emperor.
In the third arc, Zhen Huan was sent to live at the nunnery. At this point, she was so tired of living in the Imperial Harem and just wanted to get away. She was treated poorly by a lot of the nuns, but she also found a new joy in life, with her friendship with other exiled consort (of the previous Emperor), as well as realizing her romance with the 17th Prince (Yunli). The third arc ended as Zhen Huan felt she needed to return to the palace to exact revenge for the presumed death of Yunli, as well as to protect her family. I felt that this arc was the weakest. The trope of our main character being mistreated was frankly a bit Mary Sue-like, and it didn't develop Zhen Huan's character. She didn't learn anything from this experience that came to help her later in her life. As well, I wasn't convinced by the romance between Zhen Huan and the 17th Prince, which became a problem because their love became a prominent theme in the later story arcs.
The fourth arc was Zhen Huan's rise to true power. In this arc, we saw Zhen Huan acting more boldly, to not only defend but to suppress those who were against her. I would say this fourth arc ended when Zhen Huan incapacitated the Empress.
The fifth and final very short arc was focused on Zhen Huan's relationship with the Emperor. It made sense that the Emperor was technically the big bad of this series, as the Imperial Harem revolved around him, and a lot of the concubine's woes arose because of him. However, I didn't love that the story used the romance angle to justify Zhen Huan's hate for the Emperor. I think the story should've focused on how his fickle nature was harmful to her and her loved ones, how he could ruin lives and families on a whim.
The drama ended with the 4th Prince, Hongli, having ascended to the throne (he would be whom we now know as the Qianlong Emperor). She finally gets rid of the Empress, who technically still had her position but was stripped of her powers. Zhen Huan confronted her one last time before the Empress died.
Pacing
The pacing in this drama was excellent. I'd only felt that it dragged in the third arc, when Zhen Huan was sent to the nunnery. I think that was because nothing of note happened to Zhen Huan. She was mistreated. So what? And I didn't sense any romantic chemistry between Zhen Huan and Yunli and so I kind of dreaded all of their interactions.
Harem dramas
The thing about harem dramas is that the main character will always have plot armour because a lot of the concubines' power comes from how much the Emperor liked them. Part of what made Zhen Huan so powerful was her similarity to Empress Chunyuan, which was something she'd lucked into. She also had a lot of lucky alliances that were extremely helpful, particularly Wen Shichu's deep devotion to her. If it weren't for him, Zhen Huan would not have been able to hide as much information about her pregnancies, which would ultimately be fundamental to her power. That being said, the way her advantages were used was still interesting. She still had to learn how to use them to her advantage.
There were several harem tropes in this drama, but they were not overused in an obvious way. Weaponizing weak pregnancies and miscarriages was a big one, especially towards the end of the drama. And falling in love with a prince was one that I didn't expect to be such a significant one in this drama.
Romance
As I mentioned before, I felt the romantic subplot was weak and I dreaded it whenever it became a big plot point. In the first half of the drama, I felt that Zhen Huan had already learned her lesson that there was no place for love in the Imperial Harem. She'd fallen in and out of love with the Emperor, and though she wasn't a concubine anymore, she still had firm ties within the palace.
When Zhen Huan and Yunli admitted their love for each other, I was actually shocked that it happened because Zhen Huan had never struck me as that kind of person. Perhaps she was too good at suppressing her feelings for Yunli, because I'd only ever considered them friendly acquaintances and never detected any romantic attraction. And while there are good forbidden love stories set in the palace (such as in the Rise of Phoenixes), this was not one of them. Yunli in particular was always extremely obvious about his love. Maybe it was because he was a prince and he was used to getting his way. I just never felt that he was responsible about his feelings. I felt that Zhen Huan would be content about her feelings for Yunli as long as Yunli lived out his days peacefully, but Yunli was not good at self-preservation. He little effort to make nice with his wives and he was so obvious about helping Zhen Huan at the drop of a hat. All of this is to say I found it very difficult to cheer for their relationship when Yunli was so irresponsible about it.
And so I didn't love that the relationship with Yunli was what pushed Zhen Huan to finally make her moves on the Emperor. It could be one of the things that made her hate him, but I felt that it shouldn't be the only thing.
Historical fiction
Though this drama was based on history, I mostly took this as fiction. There were a lot of events in this story that were probably written in so that the drama would match up with history. A big one was Zhen Huan being made part of the Niohuru clan, and Qianlong being made her birth son. These are all rather forced.
Production
There's not much to say here that isn't already obvious. The acting was terrific. Of course, the main leads were great, but I loved that the supporting actors and actresses were so convincing in their roles, even if I didn't know who many of them were.
The costumes of course were very beautiful. They were very glamorous.
Characters
For the concubines of the Emperor, I will use the term "Consort" to refer to most of them as many of them are promoted or demoted over the course of the show, and so it doesn't make sense to name their specific ranks. This is going to be a long section. I've already tried to cut away relatively inconsequential characters, but bear with me lol.
Zhen Huan
This drama covered Zhen Huan's transformation from a naive young girl to a powerful and shrewd Empress Dowager.
When Zhen Huan entered the palace, she was filial and responsible but naive, and I did think that she truly fell in love with the emperor. After she'd gained the Emperor's favour, she'd be on the attacking end of various jealous and powerful consorts. When the Emperor didn't do that much to help her, that's when Zhen Huan realized that the Emperor's love was hollow. This was the case for many men in the olden days, as men could have many wives but women could only have one husband. Like An Lingrong said when she was interrogated by the Emperor, the Emperor treated his consorts like pets rather than human beings.
You know the rest of the story, of how Zhen Huan leaves to go to the nunnery but returns. The drama created two reasons for Zhen Huan to return to the Imperial Harem (to avenge Yunli and to help her family). Zhen Huan's life was already so wrapped up in the Palace that the best way to protect them was to hold a position of power. Not only to avenge Yunli and to help her father, but also for the good of her daughter and friends within the Palace. Additionally, Zhen Huan has to have had some political ambition, and we can tell that she is good at what she does. As top dog in the Imperial Harem, we could see that Zhen Huan was thriving. It was tiring, but secretly I think it was a good place for her and her skillset.
Zhen Huan joined the Imperial Harem of course out of filial piety. As for her own children, she had different relationships with each of them, as well as different dreams for them.
The first child that Zhen Huan miscarried had a profound impact on her. Zhen Huan felt that the Emperor didn't punish Consort Hua enough, and that was when Zhen Huan realized that the Emperor didn't actually only have her in his heart.
Longyue was the first child that Zhen Huan delivered. However, she was immediately put in the care of Consort Jing. While at the nunnery, Zhen Huan did care for Longyue, but she could only do so much for her. When she returned to the Harem, of course Zhen Huan was disappointed and even angry that Longyue didn't want to be put in her care anymore. The Emperor had prohibited anybody from mentioning her, and so Longyue had grown up knowing Consort Jing as her one and only mother. Consort Jing was also dearly attached to Longyue as she had no children of her own. Thus, Zhen Huan saw an opportunity and gave Longyue to Consort Jing to raise until she was married off, which won Consort Jing onto Zhen Huan's side permanently. It even helped Zhen Huan's relationship with Longyue later on, as we saw that now Consort Jing wasn't so insecure about letting Longyue spend time with Zhen Huan and even calling her E'niang at times.
The 4th Prince, Hongli, was put under Zhen Huan's care to support her return to the Imperial Harem as Consort Xi. Zhen Huan had met Hongli in his early years. His birth mother had a poor reputation so he wasn't allowed the fortune of being raised within the Palace. Only Zhen Huan was kind to him, and he showed his loyalty to her even when she'd been forced out of the Palace. Thus, him being put under Zhen Huan's care was not seen as bad for him. There was some trouble about the ages, as Zhen Huan was only 7 years older than Hongli. Thus, the Emperor had Zhen Huan's age fudged (which added to why I don't take this drama seriously as history). Realistically, I think that Hongli saw Zhen Huan as more of an older sister figure than a mother, but he was very obedient to her. Anyway, I think that Zhen Huan preferred to prop him up for succession, because he'd already proved his tenacity and willingness to improve, and also for her personal selfish reasons.
Hongyan and Lingxi were born out of love between Zhen Huan and Yunli, and so she loved them very much. The Emperor loved Hongyan very much, but that was because he thought that he was his only blood son with Zhen Huan. Every time the Emperor suggested making Hongyan the Crown Prince, Zhen Huan would postpone or change the topic. Before the end of the drama, I felt that it was a good strategic option, as if he was Crown Prince, then there'd be challenges to his lineage. In addition, I could see that Zhen Huan didn't want her lovechild to have to be involved in the tough life of an Emperor. And at the end of the drama, Zhen Huan had Hongyan transferred to Yunli's family's lineage, which was probably what she'd hoped for all along. Unfortunately, people tended not to have dreams for their daughters other than to marry them off well, so Lingxi was not given the same attention as Hongyan.
Zhen Huan started off as a character that I wanted to cheer for because I saw that she was naive and well meaning. By the end of the drama, she was a character I wanted to cheer for because she was smart and cunning.
This was the first Sun Li drama that I watched completely, and she did a great job of portraying the range, from Zhen Huan as a young girl, to Zhen Huan as a veteran of the Imperial Harem.
Emperor/Yongzheng
Yongzheng was generally a well-respected Emperor in history, but like most Emperors in Harem Cdramas, we kind of grew to hate him. The Emperor was not dumb, but he chose to be blind to the things he didn't like, and he could afford to do that with the Imperial Harem because they were for his pleasure and entertainment.
This Emperor had one major weakness, which was his first love, Empress Chunyuan. All of the concubines used this, on purpose or not, to manipulate him. Particularly, the Empress used this a lot to protect herself.
While Zhen Huan did fall in love with the Emperor, she soon saw his flaws when she realized that he wouldn't (and couldn't) fight for their miscarried child by punishing Consort Hua more severely. Then she'd realized that what the Emperor said about being her husband was lies. Later in the drama, he admitted that he only ever had one wife, which was the Empress Chunyuan. And while the Empress (Yixiu) used this fact to protect herself a lot, it was obvious that she hated the fact that the Emperor never really cared for her.
Towards the end of the drama, we saw the ugliest parts of the Emperor. He was pretty angry at the relationship between Zhen Huan and Yunli, but I think a lot of that was that he saw it as a challenge to his power, rather than a threat to his love. He'd gotten angry that Yunli had the gall to take what was his, because he was the son of Heaven. Despite being known as a good Emperor, the Emperor was still raised as a person of power, and he didn't handle having his power challenged well. To anger the Emperor even more at his death, Zhen Huan brought up the fact that Shen Meizhuang's daughter was also not his. Basically Zhen Huan wanted the Emperor to know that nobody loved him like he thought they did.
Chen Jianbin was a great actor, as expected. He's definitely capable of acting as a competent ruler, but it was interesting to see him in a villanous role in this drama as limited as it was.
Empress/Ulanara Yixiu
For the first part of the drama, the Empress mostly stayed out of the action. She was content to let the others fight amongst themselves. As Empress, she already held authority over all the others, at least from a professional standpoint. And in this case, I think the Empress' only nemesis was whoever was the top consort (first Consort Hua, and then Zhen Huan).
The Empress seemed somewhat kindly, or at least civil, at first. That was because she didn't see Zhen Huan as an enemy. We started to see her behind-the-scenes work as An Lingrong cozied up to her more and more, but we only saw the full extent of her conniving nature when Zhen Huan established herself as the top consort with her return to the Imperial Harem.
I did see Zhen Huan's takedown of the Empress to be a little anticlimactic because there wasn't much buildup to it. However, I can see where the drama was going with it. Many top crime lords are in jail for small crimes such as tax evasion, and I think something along similar lines happened in the drama. Using her own weak pregnancy to frame the Empress for causing a miscarriage was just an excuse for the Empress to be challenged, an excuse to dig up her past history. While she was incapacitated, the Palace was finally able to pry valuable information from her servants about her past misdeeds, which was enough for the Emperor to never forgive her, even if he wasn't allowed to strip her of her title by his mother's demands.
Several times in the drama, people would comment on how the Empress seemed needlessly power hungry when she was already the Empress, the most powerful of the Imperial Harem. However, her true worries were more long-term. She wanted to be the one and only Empress Dowager as well. Thus, she was more concerned with the issue of inheritance, and it wasn't until she had a son of her own (from Consort Qi) that she started to get more personally invovled in the story. Of course, that didn't work out as Hongshi, the third and eldest prince, wasn't very bright and got himself disinherited.
The Empress also had insecurites about not being born of the main wife. This is a recurring theme in many Chinese historical dramas. Children born of the main wife are automatically advantaged and seen as better. The Emperor himself was also not born of the main wife, but the two of them handled their views differently. The Empror insisted that since he was not born of the main wife and knew that children of concubines were treated poorly, he would make an effort to treat all of his children fairly. On the other hand, the Empress felt that the solution to this problem would be to become a main wife herself, so that her own children would not suffer the disgrace that she had.
In the scene before the Emperor wanted to strip her of her title, we finally heard her grievances. Like Consort Hua, she had a chance to speak her mind before she was stripped of her powers. Some of her grievances were justified. She was a concubine of the Emperor when he was still a prince. He'd promised her that after she had a son, he'd make her his main wife. However, in the mean time, he'd fallen head over heels in love with her older sister and made her the main wife instead. She'd gotten little attention from the Emperor when she finally got pregnant, and it hurt her that her husband was fawning over somebody else.
In this scene we also saw how much she valued political power. She'd hated the fact that her sister's son would be the Crown Prince and not her own son. This probably comes from her insecuriteis as well.
I don't consider any of the women of the Imperial Harem inherently good or bad. I just think that all of them were pushed to act in extreme ways as a reaction to the cutthroat nature of the Imperial Harem. While Zhen Huan blamed the Empress for making her who she'd become by the end of the drama, I think the Empress had become who she was from a combination of interacting with the Emperor, Empress Chunyuan, and Consort Hua. The Emperor was fickle and didn't have her in his heart. And Consort Hua was always overstepping her political boundaries. I can see how a normal person could be pushed to be as paranoid as the Empress was.
Empress Dowager
Like the Empress, the Empress Dowager seemed kindly at the beginning of the drama when we didn't know much about her. But she was also hypocritical.
She was kindly because we saw her as a mother who just wanted the family to get along. Like the Emperor, she cared for all of the grandchildren regardless of who the mother was. And since Shen Meizhuang was under protection, I did come to see her as a safe figure.
I saw her as hypocritical because she excused violent behaviour when it benefited the Ulanara Clan. The Empress was also of the Ulanara Clan, and despite knowing she did many terrible things, including killing her own sister, the Empress Dowager excused it because she was the last chance of keeping the Ulanara Clan in power.
The Empress Dowager also had tensions with her son. We found out that she did have love for the Official Long Keduo. She'd loved him before she had to enter the Imperial Harem, and it's implied that he'd manipulated her into being chosen by the Emperor so that she would help Long Keduo's own sister who was in the Harem as well. Long Keduo was becoming a problem for the Emperor (Yongzheng) and he needed his mother to kill him, no matter how much she still liked him.
On her deathbed, the Empress Dowager also asked the Emperor about his 14th brother. Now, I only know about this story because my mom told me, but legend has it that this Emperor Yongzheng had fudged the Imperial Edict of his father (Kangxi) so that the throne was given to him (the 4th Prince) instead of the 14th Prince. The Emepror and Empress Dowager died arguing about the Emperor's cruelty to his brother. This again showed the Empress Dowager's hypocrisy. She didn't like that Yongzheng was being cruel to his brother to secure his own throne and yet she excused Yixiu for killing her own sister for the good of the Ulanara Clan.
Consort Hua/Nian Shilan
Consort Hua was the main villain for the first half of the drama. Consort Hua's blind spot was that she didn't realize how much of her power came from her brother's role as a powerful general and not from herself. On the other hand, Zhen Huan's father was not a particularly powerful official until Zhen Huan had gained rank from within the Harem. Most of Zhen Huan's own power came from her own person and not her background (even if it was something out of her control, like her looks).
Consort Hua was cruel and overreaching. She struck down whoever she deemed threatening, no matter how small the threat was. And the Emperor would be lenient on her because he needed Nian Gengyao's military prowess on his side.
In terms of her backstory, Consort Hua had had a baby but miscarried. She thinks Consort Duan was responsible for the miscarriage, and it was a sore spot for her that Consort Duan was still in the palace, with the rank of "fei."
Consort Hua's first major misstep was when she caused Zhen Huan's miscarriage. Her second major downfall was when the Emperor finally cracked down on Nian Gengyao. And the nail in her coffin was when Consort Cao revealed all of the dirt that she had on her.
When Consort Hua was ordered to commit suicide, Zhen Huan paid her a visit. Zhen Huan revealed that Consort Hua had never become pregnant again because the incense in her home, given to her by the Emperor, had an ingredient which would prevent pregnancy. The Emperor and the Empress Dowager couldn't have Consort Hua becoming pregnant and having a son because the Nian family would have too much influence over the royal family. Consort Hua didn't know this and this was what drove her to commit suicide.
What I liked about Consort Hua was that while she was evil as heck, like the Empress, she had her own fair share of grievances. In her soliloquy before she died, it's implied that she truly did love the Emperor. She said that she'd promised him that she'd have a son for him. I think she really did want to believe that she was in love with him and he with her. I can see how the average person would become as paranoid and active in suppressing any threats as she would be in somewhere as dangerous as the Imperial Harem. Consort Hua was hardly a special case of tyranny in the Harem. I think many people who might've risen to her level of power would've become as paranoid as she would have.
Consort Duan
Consort Duan was mostly seen as a kindly mentor figure. She was mostly out of action in the first part of the drama as she was very will (and continued to be so for the whole drama).
It's implied that Consort Duan wasn't heavily punished for causing Consor Hua's miscarriage because the Emperor hadn't wanted Consort Hua with child anyway.
Consort Duan later became the adoptive mother to Princess Wenyi, and she was mostly an advisor figure and an ally to Zhen Huan as she rose in power. Zhen Huan respected her so much that she'd requested that Consort Duan be given the rank of Huang Guifei, which was higher than her own rank of Guifei.
Consort Qi
Consort Qi was the mother to the third prince, Hongshi. She wasn't very bright, and she basically got to where she was because she was the mother of a prince.
She was very obvious in how she tried to take down her enemies, including Zhen Huan and Consort Ning. She also wasn't very good at charming the Emperor either.
The Empress had ordered her to "take care" of Consort Ning, and Consort Qi had very blatantly given her a concoction that would cause her to be sterile. It absolutely shocked Consort Qi when the Empress said she'd never told her to do such a thing, and now that Consort Qi had been so blatant, the Empress could do nothing to protect her. This was very probably the Empress' way of forcibly taking away her son so that the Empress would have her own son to ascend the throne.
Consort Qi was an example of a person who had power but wouldn't know what to do with it. She had her rank because of her son and nothing else.
Consort Jing
We first learned of Consort Jing when Zhen Huan and company first entered the Imperial Harem. Shen Meizhuang lived in the same manor as her and they'd struck up a good friendship. In one of the first few scenes that we saw Consort Jing, she mentioned that one could only survive in the Harem by biding her time. I thought that that was a sign that Consort Jing was going to turn on our protagonist(s) during the drama, but I think it was just meant to show that Consort Jing was very careful.
Consort Jing became very good friends to Zhen Huan and Shen Meizhuang. They trusted her so much that Zhen Huan had asked the Emperor to entrust Longyue to Consort Jing's care.
There was a potential for Zhen Huan and Consort Jing to become enemies when Zhen Huan returned to the Imperial Harem and wanted to have her daughter back. Consort Jing had told the Empress about the possible affair between Cui Jinxi and Su Peisheng. Instead of getting back at Consort Jing, Zhen Huan took this opportunity to smooth things over with her. She entrusted Longyue to Consort Jing's care until her marriage, which permanently won Consort Jing's allyship.
Later in the drama, when Longyue was older, we saw Consort Jing and Zhen Huan spending time with Longyue together amicably. Longyue even called Zhen Huan E'niang at times. So winning Consort Jing over was ultimately a great move for Zhen Huan, both for her personal and political life.
Shen Meizhuang/Consort Hui
Shen Meizhuang was Zhen Huan's best friend. She was among the first of the new batch of girls to gain the Emperor's favour (ahead of Zhen Huan and An Lingrong).
She fell out of favour when Consort Hua tricked her into thinking she was pregnant, and had her framed for appearing to have tricked the Emperor. Shen Meizhuang was only cleared of her crimes when Zhen Huan had helped find the bribed doctor.
After those events, Meizhuang didn't believe in the Emperor's love anymore. Instead, she spent her days with the Empress Dowager instead, which was technically a pretty good idea as the Empress Dowager granted her a fair bit of protection as well.
Later, we found out that Meizhuang was in love with Wen Shichu, the Imperial Doctor who was in love with Zhen Huan. I'm not sure if they were childhood friends as well. Anyway, Meizhuang had a one night stand with Wen Shichu and became pregnant. She died in childbirth, but this child was born of her love for Wen Shichu and for that, she had no regrets.
An Lingrong/Consort Li
An Lingrong had an interesting character journey. She started weak as she was meek and not confident, and her family background was not strong.
Initially, she relied on Zhen Huan and Shen Meizhuang a lot. She thought that Meizhuang had betrayed her by not helping her plead on her father's behalf. However, as the audience, we know that Meizhuang had attempted to do so, but was unsuccessful. That's what started An Lingrong's journey for power, as she felt that she couldn't really rely on her friends.
She started to ally herself with the Empress, but that came with caveats that she had to accept, such as the fact that she could never have children. She willingly gave herself up to be a pawn for power, which is ironic.
Over the course of the drama, An Lingrong grew more confident. Part of that may have been the Empress helping her orchestrate ways to grab the Emperor's attention. In addition, I found that her servant Baojuan had been pretty determind in spurring her on as well, particularly in the beginning when she hadn't even approached the Empress for protection. Baojuan was the one with all of the ideas and over time, I think Lingrong adopted those views as her own.
I think Lingrong was trying to survive in the Harem but in the end she just didn't have what it took. She was charming but not the most charming. She didn't have a family with a strong background. And she wasn't the smartest. And ultimately it was a combination of these that made her extremely vulnerable to the whims of others.
Consort Cao/Cao Qinmo
Consort Cao was smart, but she was under the thumb of Consort Hua, particularly when Consort Hua used her Princess Wenyi to threaten her into submission.
Zhen Huan would converse wtih Consort Cao to see what she knew, but it was clear that Consort Cao was loyal to Consort Hua.
When Consort Hua had fallen from grace, Consort Cao released all of the dirt she had on Consor tHua to knock her down permanently, and also to try to secure status for herself and Wenyi. She was successful in both, technically.
While the Emperor appreciated Consort Cao speaking up, she couldn't have somebody like Consort Cao in the Harem again. Consort Cao had enabled Consort Hua to commit all of the atrocities that she'd done. Consort Cao died, but I think it was implied that her death was orchestrated/ordered.
Consort Xin
Consort Xin was a background character but she intrigued me because of her background status. She never really had an opportunity to rise in status, and yet, funnily enough, it seemed like a pretty safe place for her. Since she wasn't too high in status, and never particularly caught the Emperor's eye, she was rarely involved in discourse.
She only sought out an alliance with Zhen Huan because she couldn't handle living in the same manor as Consort Qi, but even afterwards, she rarely played a big role, probably because she was not high in status.
Honestly, if I was in the Imperial Harem, I'd want to be like Consort Xin, laying low and just eking by.
Consort Fucha
Consort Fucha was a consort who was pregnant, but she'd lost her child in a cat attack at the Empress' manor that was orchestrated by the Empress and executed by Lingrong, all to blame Zhen Huan.
Consort Fucha was an altogether mean person, but she faded from the story in the second half.
Consort Qi (Gua'erjia Clan)
Consort Qi (a different character from the Consort Qi who was Hongshi's mother) was a Consort from a Manchurian family. She came from a powerful background. She automatically got some leeway from the Emperor and the Empress for her aggressive and outspoken manner. Basically, there was worry among the royal family that there were more and more Han blood infiltrating and so Manchurian blood was somewhat valued more.
Consort Qi also had a rivalry with An Lingrong, as both were working for the Empress. This made for very interesting inner-clique rivalries.
Consort Qi tried to take down Zhen Huan by accusing her of an affair with Wen Shichu, but was ultimately unsuccessful. It was probably obvious that she had backing from the Empress but she denied, probably hoping that the Empress would help her if she did so. Ultimately, Consort Qi died as she tried to plead for mercy and was beaten to death.
Consort Ning/Ye Daiying
Consort Ning was a horse trainer who was in love with Yunli, but she'd attracted the Emperor's attention and was forcibly recruited into the Imperial Harem. She was different from the other consorts in that she didn't hide her disdain for being in the Harem. After all, she was a free spirit.
She was curt with the other members of the Harem which made her extremely unpopular. However, she and Zhen Huan seemed to have bonded over their mutual love for Yunli.
Consort Ning was very blunt, but she could only afford to do so because the Emperor liked her. He probably thought she was refreshing.
In the end, she was an ally to Zhen Huan as they exacted revenge on the Emperor for killing Yunli. Consort Ning pretended to be a docile consort but was also slowly poisoning him. In the end, after the Emperor died, she committed suicide herself, as her work was done, and she wanted to be with Yunli.
Consort Chun
Consort Chun was a young girl. She was 14 years old when recruited into the Imperial Harem. Zhen Huan saw her like a youngre sister, and I think the Emperor saw her more like a daughter than a spouse.
She died because she saw Consort Hua carrying out her shady business.
Huanbi/Ulanara Yuyin
Huanbi was Zhen Huan's servant and half sister. I found Huanbi's story line quite interesting in the first part of the drama. She'd always seemed to dream of glamour, and Zhen Huan indulged her, maybe because of their close relationship, but also probably because her father asked her to take care of Huanbi as he was unable to do for her. Perhaps part of Huanbi's dreams of glamour also came up because she knew that she as the (illegitimate) daughter of an official.
However, Huanbi had no tact, and was not as graceful as Zhen Huan was in handling social etiquette. She'd show her intentions very obviously. When she noticed that Lingrong only came to visit when she was doing well, Huanbi pointed it out. Huanbi had also tried to get the Emperor's attention by dressing nicely, but he pointed out the fact that her shoes didn't match her outfit and she was very upset at this.
Huanbi was leaking information to Consort Hua via Consort Cao and Zhen Huan chastised her for this. After this event, Zhen Huan and Huanbi became very united in spirit.
In the latter half of the drama, her plot focused on her love for Yunli. She had no choice but to accept that Yunli loved Zhen Huan and obviously it was very painful for her. She took the blame when Yunli had a likeness of Zhen Huan in his possession, as Zhen Huan and Huanbi looked alike. This was also to her benefit because then the Emperor had her marry him (as the second daughter ot he Niohuru clan).
I was wondering whether Huanbi would turn her back on Zhen Huan again. Huanbi did briefly try to turn Yunli away from liking Zhen Huan when the Emperor had pretend to send Zhen Huan as a bride to Moge. Huanbi tried to portray Zhen Huan as somebody who forgot Yunli very quickly and returned to the Harem after she thought he was dead, but Huanbi was unsuccessful.
Huanbi was jealous of Yunli's other wife, Meng Jingxian, who'd gotten pregnant ahead of her. I'm not sure if Meng Jingxian had died from the poisoning attempt. In any case, Huanbi did ultimately bear Yunli a child. However, after Yunli died, Huanbi decided to commit suicide and join him.
Like Zhen Huan's romantic story line, I kind of wish that Huanbi's story line didn't revolve around Yunli so much. Huanbi already had so much potential as a character with ambition. I was really looking forward to seeing when her status as an illegitimate daughter would propel her to try to strive for greatness, but it never really came in the way that I thought it would. I just wish that she had more ambition than just romantic ambition. I thought it'd be cool to understand how she felt about her status as an illegitimate daughter to an offical.
Liuzhu
Liuzhu was Zhen Huan's other servant with whom she'd grown up. Unlike Huanbi, Liuzhu was much more content in her role as a servant. She didn't really have dreams of rising in the ranks.
Liuzhu gave up her life when Zhen Huan was very ill but wasn't allowed any external contact (including doctors). Liuzhu killed herself on a guard's blade, probably to cause a ruckus so that the guards would finally alert somebody that attention was required at Zhen Huan's manor.
Cui Jinxi
Cui Jinxi was the head female servant who was assigned to Zhen Huan when she first entered the palace. She was extremely loyal to Zhen Huan, to the point that she agreed to a romantic relationship with Su Peisheng to put in action Zhen Huan's plan to return to the palace.
Jinxi was generally very reliable, and also a good friend. When her relationship with Su Peisheng was found out by the Empress, Zhen Huan promised to rescue her.
Jinxi was basically the typical loyal servant, but I liked that she did have her own thoughts and experiences that helped Zhen Huan from time to time.
Xiao Yunzi
Xiao Yunzi was a eunuch whow as assigned to Zhen Huan when she entered the palace. Early on in the drama, Xiao Yunzi had a brother in another manor who was ill, and Zhen Huan had allowed him to visit his brother and take care of him. This was basically meant to show that Zhen Huan had earned Xiao Yunzi's loyalty. He was the only one of the eunuchs who'd stayed when Zhen Huan was still fairly weak and had no attention from the Emperor.
Su Peisheng
Su Peisheng was the Emperor's personal eunuch. Like most eunuchs to Emperors in Cdramas, he was portrayed as very loyal and generally well-meaning and kindly.
Interestingly enough, he wasn't also just a tool/extension of the Emperor. Jinxi brought up the fact that many eunuchs longed for a romantic companion and Su Peisheng was no different. They took advantage of Su Peisheng's feelings for Jinxi to try to get the Emperor to visit the nunnery where Zhen Huan was stationed.
Su Peisheng later said that he knew that Jinxi had only returned his feelings in order to get Zhen Huan back in the palace. However, when Jinxi and Su Peisheng had been found out by the Empress and sent for "questioning" (i.e. some sort of interrogation/torture), Su Peisheng had never said a bad word about Jinxi. Jinxi confided in Zhen Huan that she had felt moved by Su Peisheng's loyalty. And when Su Peisheng had said that he knew Jinxi was only with him for the political aspect, she dismissed his concerns, implying that she was perfectly happy being his companion.
Aisin Goro Yunli/Seventeenth Prince/Prince Guo
Zhen Huan met Yunli after she entered the Harem. His role in the story was mostly as a love interest for Zhen Huan. I've already explained that I didn't like Zhen Huan and Yunli's romance, but I'm suspecting that I also just don't like Yunli as a character.
In the first half of the drama, I felt that Zhen Huan and Yunli's interactions were more like that of an intellectual friendship. Perhaps Zhen Huan was very good at suppressing her romantic attraction for Yunli, as it was dangerous for her to have an affair as a concubine.
Yunli made his move on Zhen Huan when she was at the nunnery and technically no longer attached to the Emperor, though from the point of view of the audience member I was hesitant to say that she wasn't attached to the Emperor. Especially if Yunli knew how much his brother still cared for Zhen Huan, he'd know that their business was not over.
Zhen Huan only returned Yunli's affections after receiving some encouragement from Jinxi and they had a short honeymoon period before they had to go to battle. Zhen Huan even made nice with Yunli's mother, who was the Consort who was also at the nunnery.
Some miscommunication about Yunli's supposed death in battle was written in to give Zhen Huan a reason to go back to the Palace, but like I said, at this point I was so not invested in their relationship. And I know they had a spirited argument when Yunli came back too late, but the relationship still felt superficial to me.
After Zhen Huan returned to the palace, Yunli became somewhat closed off. He drank more and he was generally just disinterested in life. As mentioned, the Emperor had him marry Huanbi and Meng Jingxian, but it's clear that his heart still lay with Zhen Huan.
He became very hotheaded when he thought that the Emperor was actually going to send Zhen Huan to Moge on his demands. However, by leaving to save Zhen Huan, that was proof enough that Yunli was a threat to the Emperor and his power.
At that time, Huanbi had begged Yunli not to leave, trying to use every trick to get him to stay but he would not listen, and frankly I kind of found him insufferable at this point. He was so unmotivated by anything other than his love for Zhen Huan. I just didn't really see any hint of personality in him.
After he'd left, the Emperor blocked him from coming back, and when he did allow him to come back, he had Zhen Huan poison him to death. Zhen Huan had attempted to take the poison herself, but Yunli took the poison instead and died for her, leaving behind his wife (Huanbi) and son. As menioned, Huanbi decided to go with him, and their son was entrusted to the Eighteenth Prince, who was married to Yurao, Zhen Huan's younger sister.
Aisin Gioro Hongshi/Third Prince
Hongshi was the Emperor's eldest son, the son of Consort Qi, and later in the care of the Empress. It wasn't that the Empress liked him. She just needed a son to prop up onto the throne so that she would be the one and only Empress Dowager.
Hongshi wasn't very bright from the beginning. Apparently he was always falling behind in his studies and was yelled at by the Emperor for doing so.
Later on, he fell in love with Consort Ying, the Emperor's new favourite, and even composed a love letter to her. Unfortunately, Consort Ying had to die for it, even though the Emperor knew that all of the fault lay with Hongshi. But because he was his son, of the Aisin Gioro clan, the Emperor had to protect him. Still, the Emperor was already not happy with him.
Later on, Hongli had brought up sympathy for their uncles who were being punished by the Emperor. I don't know if Hongli had done this on purpose as a trap for Hongshi. In any case, Hongshi very dumbly brought up the idea of granting mercy for their uncles and the Emperor was so angry that he disinherited Hongshi and moved him to be the son of his uncle. And in doing so, the Empress lost her chance at being the one and only Empress Dowager.
Aisin Gioro Hongli/Fourth Prince
Hongli was neglected by the Emperor from a young age. I think his mother was disgraced in some way. We saw him time and time again try to get attention from his father, and only Zhen Huan was nice to him. Even when Zhen Huan was expelled to the nunnery Hongli had never forgotten her kindness.
Hongli was transferred to Zhen Huan's care to support her return to the palace. In fact, she was officially named as her birth mother even though that obviously isn't true. She had to fudge her age to be ten years older to make it credible, as she was only 7 years older than Hongli. As I mentioned, I think Hongli looked up to her more as an older sister figure than a mother figure, but nevertheless, he was very obedient, and he was very hardworking and humble.
As the oldest legitimate son of the Emperor, he was installed as the Emperor after Yongzheng's death, and it appears he continued to have a good relationship with Zhen Huan.
Nian Gengyao
Nian Gengyao was a formidable general that the Emperor relied on quite a bit for the first part of the drama. His younger sister was Consort Hua, Nian Shilan.
The Emperor was trying to get rid of him, but it took a while as he had to figure out which other Officials were loyal to him. And when he did come down, so did Consort Hua.
Wen Shichu
Wen Shichu was a doctor, and Zhen Huan's childhood friend. Before Zhen Huan was to enter the selection process for the Imperial Harem, he suggested that he could marry her to get out of the selection. However, at that point, she was already entered into the selection, and she had to do so as a duty to her family. In addition, she probably just didn't return his feelings and didn't want to marry him.
Nonetheless, Wen Shichu was extremely loyal to Zhen Huan, and lied many times on her behalf, as well as spied for her. I actually think that Wen Shichu's devotion to Zhen Huan was one of the most important alliances that helped her during the drama.
Shen Meizhuang liked Wen Shichu, and knowing that he liked Zhen Huan didn't invalidate her feelings in any way. She was so determined to have her baby born because the baby would be evidence of the love she had for Wen Shichu.
When Meizhuang died, it's implied that Wen Shichu liekd her back at least a little bit. He later admitted that at this point, loving Zhen Huan and protecting her was just kind of an instinct. He'd never taken a wife, and he even castrated himself after he was accused of having an affair with Zhen Huan and fathering her children.
After Meizhuang's death, he kind of fell out of it. We saw him getting drunk a lot more, but Zhen Huan had to talk some sense into him, so that he'd be there for his daughter, Princess Jinghe.
Themes
Family
Throughout Chinese history, marriage was seen as business between two families and not between two people. Marriage into the royal family was one of the biggest examples of this. Many girls married into the royal family to solidify political bonds and status for their families, and not necessarily for themselves.
For many commoner women, they became part of their husbands' families after marrying in, and were meant to minimize ties with their original families, but it's clear that that wasn't the case in the royal family. Most women who married in sought some sort of power or political advantage for their original families.
The Ulnara clan, the Nian clan, etc. All gained something from being close to the Emperor.
Concubinage
Most concubine and harem Cdramas further highlight how bad the concubine system was for women in historical China. Women suffered from emotional and physical neglect while men flitted from woman to woman, whomever he was in the mood for.
Even the Empress, in her moment of weakness, cried about how unfair it felt to see her husband dote over somebody else.
In fact, all of the concubines had to act okay with the fact that their husband was sleeping around with other women. They had to act as a team to keep him happy, and it really showed the inequality between men and women. All of the women in this drama were ruined by the concubine system. Sure, Zhen Huan thrived in the harem, but would you say was happy? I definitely would not.
Overall
This was a pretty good drama. Like I said, it had its flaws, but it was still a very solid drama in several regards where it mattered.
It didn't necessarily originate a lot of the harem Cdrama tropes, but the popularity of this drama definitely kickstarted the new wave of interest in the harem Cdrama genre.
The quality of this drama was excellent. The costumes and settings were terrific, but the acting was also amazing. We had a few big names in the main rules (Sun Li as Zhen Huan, Chen Jianbin as Yongzheng, and Ada Choi as the Empress), but most of the other actors/actresses were unknown to me and I still ended up appreciating their characters.
I did have some complaints about the story, but otherwise, the pacing was very good. This is a longass drama, but the time was well used. It didn't drag like you'd expect a lot of dramas in the recent years to drag.
I would recommend this drama as a must-see for most political historical Cdrama fans, particularly as an introduction to the harem subgenre of politics.
Spoilers.
Story
Our main character was Zhen Huan, a fictionalized version of the Empress Xiaoshengixan. The drama covered the time from when she entered the palace harem to when she solidified her position as Empress Dowager.
The first arc was about Zhen Huan entering the Imperial Harem to support her family, as her father had no sons. She fell in love with the Emperor and saw the world through her naive, rose-tinted glasses, and life was great.
In the second arc, Zhen Huan had to face the conflicts that arose because she had the Emperor's favour. Through those scuffles, she started to see just how fickle the Emperor's love was, and through this time, she learned that she needed to protect herself more carefully, and fell out of love with the Emperor.
In the third arc, Zhen Huan was sent to live at the nunnery. At this point, she was so tired of living in the Imperial Harem and just wanted to get away. She was treated poorly by a lot of the nuns, but she also found a new joy in life, with her friendship with other exiled consort (of the previous Emperor), as well as realizing her romance with the 17th Prince (Yunli). The third arc ended as Zhen Huan felt she needed to return to the palace to exact revenge for the presumed death of Yunli, as well as to protect her family. I felt that this arc was the weakest. The trope of our main character being mistreated was frankly a bit Mary Sue-like, and it didn't develop Zhen Huan's character. She didn't learn anything from this experience that came to help her later in her life. As well, I wasn't convinced by the romance between Zhen Huan and the 17th Prince, which became a problem because their love became a prominent theme in the later story arcs.
The fourth arc was Zhen Huan's rise to true power. In this arc, we saw Zhen Huan acting more boldly, to not only defend but to suppress those who were against her. I would say this fourth arc ended when Zhen Huan incapacitated the Empress.
The fifth and final very short arc was focused on Zhen Huan's relationship with the Emperor. It made sense that the Emperor was technically the big bad of this series, as the Imperial Harem revolved around him, and a lot of the concubine's woes arose because of him. However, I didn't love that the story used the romance angle to justify Zhen Huan's hate for the Emperor. I think the story should've focused on how his fickle nature was harmful to her and her loved ones, how he could ruin lives and families on a whim.
The drama ended with the 4th Prince, Hongli, having ascended to the throne (he would be whom we now know as the Qianlong Emperor). She finally gets rid of the Empress, who technically still had her position but was stripped of her powers. Zhen Huan confronted her one last time before the Empress died.
Pacing
The pacing in this drama was excellent. I'd only felt that it dragged in the third arc, when Zhen Huan was sent to the nunnery. I think that was because nothing of note happened to Zhen Huan. She was mistreated. So what? And I didn't sense any romantic chemistry between Zhen Huan and Yunli and so I kind of dreaded all of their interactions.
Harem dramas
The thing about harem dramas is that the main character will always have plot armour because a lot of the concubines' power comes from how much the Emperor liked them. Part of what made Zhen Huan so powerful was her similarity to Empress Chunyuan, which was something she'd lucked into. She also had a lot of lucky alliances that were extremely helpful, particularly Wen Shichu's deep devotion to her. If it weren't for him, Zhen Huan would not have been able to hide as much information about her pregnancies, which would ultimately be fundamental to her power. That being said, the way her advantages were used was still interesting. She still had to learn how to use them to her advantage.
There were several harem tropes in this drama, but they were not overused in an obvious way. Weaponizing weak pregnancies and miscarriages was a big one, especially towards the end of the drama. And falling in love with a prince was one that I didn't expect to be such a significant one in this drama.
Romance
As I mentioned before, I felt the romantic subplot was weak and I dreaded it whenever it became a big plot point. In the first half of the drama, I felt that Zhen Huan had already learned her lesson that there was no place for love in the Imperial Harem. She'd fallen in and out of love with the Emperor, and though she wasn't a concubine anymore, she still had firm ties within the palace.
When Zhen Huan and Yunli admitted their love for each other, I was actually shocked that it happened because Zhen Huan had never struck me as that kind of person. Perhaps she was too good at suppressing her feelings for Yunli, because I'd only ever considered them friendly acquaintances and never detected any romantic attraction. And while there are good forbidden love stories set in the palace (such as in the Rise of Phoenixes), this was not one of them. Yunli in particular was always extremely obvious about his love. Maybe it was because he was a prince and he was used to getting his way. I just never felt that he was responsible about his feelings. I felt that Zhen Huan would be content about her feelings for Yunli as long as Yunli lived out his days peacefully, but Yunli was not good at self-preservation. He little effort to make nice with his wives and he was so obvious about helping Zhen Huan at the drop of a hat. All of this is to say I found it very difficult to cheer for their relationship when Yunli was so irresponsible about it.
And so I didn't love that the relationship with Yunli was what pushed Zhen Huan to finally make her moves on the Emperor. It could be one of the things that made her hate him, but I felt that it shouldn't be the only thing.
Historical fiction
Though this drama was based on history, I mostly took this as fiction. There were a lot of events in this story that were probably written in so that the drama would match up with history. A big one was Zhen Huan being made part of the Niohuru clan, and Qianlong being made her birth son. These are all rather forced.
Production
There's not much to say here that isn't already obvious. The acting was terrific. Of course, the main leads were great, but I loved that the supporting actors and actresses were so convincing in their roles, even if I didn't know who many of them were.
The costumes of course were very beautiful. They were very glamorous.
Characters
For the concubines of the Emperor, I will use the term "Consort" to refer to most of them as many of them are promoted or demoted over the course of the show, and so it doesn't make sense to name their specific ranks. This is going to be a long section. I've already tried to cut away relatively inconsequential characters, but bear with me lol.
Zhen Huan
This drama covered Zhen Huan's transformation from a naive young girl to a powerful and shrewd Empress Dowager.
When Zhen Huan entered the palace, she was filial and responsible but naive, and I did think that she truly fell in love with the emperor. After she'd gained the Emperor's favour, she'd be on the attacking end of various jealous and powerful consorts. When the Emperor didn't do that much to help her, that's when Zhen Huan realized that the Emperor's love was hollow. This was the case for many men in the olden days, as men could have many wives but women could only have one husband. Like An Lingrong said when she was interrogated by the Emperor, the Emperor treated his consorts like pets rather than human beings.
You know the rest of the story, of how Zhen Huan leaves to go to the nunnery but returns. The drama created two reasons for Zhen Huan to return to the Imperial Harem (to avenge Yunli and to help her family). Zhen Huan's life was already so wrapped up in the Palace that the best way to protect them was to hold a position of power. Not only to avenge Yunli and to help her father, but also for the good of her daughter and friends within the Palace. Additionally, Zhen Huan has to have had some political ambition, and we can tell that she is good at what she does. As top dog in the Imperial Harem, we could see that Zhen Huan was thriving. It was tiring, but secretly I think it was a good place for her and her skillset.
Zhen Huan joined the Imperial Harem of course out of filial piety. As for her own children, she had different relationships with each of them, as well as different dreams for them.
The first child that Zhen Huan miscarried had a profound impact on her. Zhen Huan felt that the Emperor didn't punish Consort Hua enough, and that was when Zhen Huan realized that the Emperor didn't actually only have her in his heart.
Longyue was the first child that Zhen Huan delivered. However, she was immediately put in the care of Consort Jing. While at the nunnery, Zhen Huan did care for Longyue, but she could only do so much for her. When she returned to the Harem, of course Zhen Huan was disappointed and even angry that Longyue didn't want to be put in her care anymore. The Emperor had prohibited anybody from mentioning her, and so Longyue had grown up knowing Consort Jing as her one and only mother. Consort Jing was also dearly attached to Longyue as she had no children of her own. Thus, Zhen Huan saw an opportunity and gave Longyue to Consort Jing to raise until she was married off, which won Consort Jing onto Zhen Huan's side permanently. It even helped Zhen Huan's relationship with Longyue later on, as we saw that now Consort Jing wasn't so insecure about letting Longyue spend time with Zhen Huan and even calling her E'niang at times.
The 4th Prince, Hongli, was put under Zhen Huan's care to support her return to the Imperial Harem as Consort Xi. Zhen Huan had met Hongli in his early years. His birth mother had a poor reputation so he wasn't allowed the fortune of being raised within the Palace. Only Zhen Huan was kind to him, and he showed his loyalty to her even when she'd been forced out of the Palace. Thus, him being put under Zhen Huan's care was not seen as bad for him. There was some trouble about the ages, as Zhen Huan was only 7 years older than Hongli. Thus, the Emperor had Zhen Huan's age fudged (which added to why I don't take this drama seriously as history). Realistically, I think that Hongli saw Zhen Huan as more of an older sister figure than a mother, but he was very obedient to her. Anyway, I think that Zhen Huan preferred to prop him up for succession, because he'd already proved his tenacity and willingness to improve, and also for her personal selfish reasons.
Hongyan and Lingxi were born out of love between Zhen Huan and Yunli, and so she loved them very much. The Emperor loved Hongyan very much, but that was because he thought that he was his only blood son with Zhen Huan. Every time the Emperor suggested making Hongyan the Crown Prince, Zhen Huan would postpone or change the topic. Before the end of the drama, I felt that it was a good strategic option, as if he was Crown Prince, then there'd be challenges to his lineage. In addition, I could see that Zhen Huan didn't want her lovechild to have to be involved in the tough life of an Emperor. And at the end of the drama, Zhen Huan had Hongyan transferred to Yunli's family's lineage, which was probably what she'd hoped for all along. Unfortunately, people tended not to have dreams for their daughters other than to marry them off well, so Lingxi was not given the same attention as Hongyan.
Zhen Huan started off as a character that I wanted to cheer for because I saw that she was naive and well meaning. By the end of the drama, she was a character I wanted to cheer for because she was smart and cunning.
This was the first Sun Li drama that I watched completely, and she did a great job of portraying the range, from Zhen Huan as a young girl, to Zhen Huan as a veteran of the Imperial Harem.
Emperor/Yongzheng
Yongzheng was generally a well-respected Emperor in history, but like most Emperors in Harem Cdramas, we kind of grew to hate him. The Emperor was not dumb, but he chose to be blind to the things he didn't like, and he could afford to do that with the Imperial Harem because they were for his pleasure and entertainment.
This Emperor had one major weakness, which was his first love, Empress Chunyuan. All of the concubines used this, on purpose or not, to manipulate him. Particularly, the Empress used this a lot to protect herself.
While Zhen Huan did fall in love with the Emperor, she soon saw his flaws when she realized that he wouldn't (and couldn't) fight for their miscarried child by punishing Consort Hua more severely. Then she'd realized that what the Emperor said about being her husband was lies. Later in the drama, he admitted that he only ever had one wife, which was the Empress Chunyuan. And while the Empress (Yixiu) used this fact to protect herself a lot, it was obvious that she hated the fact that the Emperor never really cared for her.
Towards the end of the drama, we saw the ugliest parts of the Emperor. He was pretty angry at the relationship between Zhen Huan and Yunli, but I think a lot of that was that he saw it as a challenge to his power, rather than a threat to his love. He'd gotten angry that Yunli had the gall to take what was his, because he was the son of Heaven. Despite being known as a good Emperor, the Emperor was still raised as a person of power, and he didn't handle having his power challenged well. To anger the Emperor even more at his death, Zhen Huan brought up the fact that Shen Meizhuang's daughter was also not his. Basically Zhen Huan wanted the Emperor to know that nobody loved him like he thought they did.
Chen Jianbin was a great actor, as expected. He's definitely capable of acting as a competent ruler, but it was interesting to see him in a villanous role in this drama as limited as it was.
Empress/Ulanara Yixiu
For the first part of the drama, the Empress mostly stayed out of the action. She was content to let the others fight amongst themselves. As Empress, she already held authority over all the others, at least from a professional standpoint. And in this case, I think the Empress' only nemesis was whoever was the top consort (first Consort Hua, and then Zhen Huan).
The Empress seemed somewhat kindly, or at least civil, at first. That was because she didn't see Zhen Huan as an enemy. We started to see her behind-the-scenes work as An Lingrong cozied up to her more and more, but we only saw the full extent of her conniving nature when Zhen Huan established herself as the top consort with her return to the Imperial Harem.
I did see Zhen Huan's takedown of the Empress to be a little anticlimactic because there wasn't much buildup to it. However, I can see where the drama was going with it. Many top crime lords are in jail for small crimes such as tax evasion, and I think something along similar lines happened in the drama. Using her own weak pregnancy to frame the Empress for causing a miscarriage was just an excuse for the Empress to be challenged, an excuse to dig up her past history. While she was incapacitated, the Palace was finally able to pry valuable information from her servants about her past misdeeds, which was enough for the Emperor to never forgive her, even if he wasn't allowed to strip her of her title by his mother's demands.
Several times in the drama, people would comment on how the Empress seemed needlessly power hungry when she was already the Empress, the most powerful of the Imperial Harem. However, her true worries were more long-term. She wanted to be the one and only Empress Dowager as well. Thus, she was more concerned with the issue of inheritance, and it wasn't until she had a son of her own (from Consort Qi) that she started to get more personally invovled in the story. Of course, that didn't work out as Hongshi, the third and eldest prince, wasn't very bright and got himself disinherited.
The Empress also had insecurites about not being born of the main wife. This is a recurring theme in many Chinese historical dramas. Children born of the main wife are automatically advantaged and seen as better. The Emperor himself was also not born of the main wife, but the two of them handled their views differently. The Empror insisted that since he was not born of the main wife and knew that children of concubines were treated poorly, he would make an effort to treat all of his children fairly. On the other hand, the Empress felt that the solution to this problem would be to become a main wife herself, so that her own children would not suffer the disgrace that she had.
In the scene before the Emperor wanted to strip her of her title, we finally heard her grievances. Like Consort Hua, she had a chance to speak her mind before she was stripped of her powers. Some of her grievances were justified. She was a concubine of the Emperor when he was still a prince. He'd promised her that after she had a son, he'd make her his main wife. However, in the mean time, he'd fallen head over heels in love with her older sister and made her the main wife instead. She'd gotten little attention from the Emperor when she finally got pregnant, and it hurt her that her husband was fawning over somebody else.
In this scene we also saw how much she valued political power. She'd hated the fact that her sister's son would be the Crown Prince and not her own son. This probably comes from her insecuriteis as well.
I don't consider any of the women of the Imperial Harem inherently good or bad. I just think that all of them were pushed to act in extreme ways as a reaction to the cutthroat nature of the Imperial Harem. While Zhen Huan blamed the Empress for making her who she'd become by the end of the drama, I think the Empress had become who she was from a combination of interacting with the Emperor, Empress Chunyuan, and Consort Hua. The Emperor was fickle and didn't have her in his heart. And Consort Hua was always overstepping her political boundaries. I can see how a normal person could be pushed to be as paranoid as the Empress was.
Empress Dowager
Like the Empress, the Empress Dowager seemed kindly at the beginning of the drama when we didn't know much about her. But she was also hypocritical.
She was kindly because we saw her as a mother who just wanted the family to get along. Like the Emperor, she cared for all of the grandchildren regardless of who the mother was. And since Shen Meizhuang was under protection, I did come to see her as a safe figure.
I saw her as hypocritical because she excused violent behaviour when it benefited the Ulanara Clan. The Empress was also of the Ulanara Clan, and despite knowing she did many terrible things, including killing her own sister, the Empress Dowager excused it because she was the last chance of keeping the Ulanara Clan in power.
The Empress Dowager also had tensions with her son. We found out that she did have love for the Official Long Keduo. She'd loved him before she had to enter the Imperial Harem, and it's implied that he'd manipulated her into being chosen by the Emperor so that she would help Long Keduo's own sister who was in the Harem as well. Long Keduo was becoming a problem for the Emperor (Yongzheng) and he needed his mother to kill him, no matter how much she still liked him.
On her deathbed, the Empress Dowager also asked the Emperor about his 14th brother. Now, I only know about this story because my mom told me, but legend has it that this Emperor Yongzheng had fudged the Imperial Edict of his father (Kangxi) so that the throne was given to him (the 4th Prince) instead of the 14th Prince. The Emepror and Empress Dowager died arguing about the Emperor's cruelty to his brother. This again showed the Empress Dowager's hypocrisy. She didn't like that Yongzheng was being cruel to his brother to secure his own throne and yet she excused Yixiu for killing her own sister for the good of the Ulanara Clan.
Consort Hua/Nian Shilan
Consort Hua was the main villain for the first half of the drama. Consort Hua's blind spot was that she didn't realize how much of her power came from her brother's role as a powerful general and not from herself. On the other hand, Zhen Huan's father was not a particularly powerful official until Zhen Huan had gained rank from within the Harem. Most of Zhen Huan's own power came from her own person and not her background (even if it was something out of her control, like her looks).
Consort Hua was cruel and overreaching. She struck down whoever she deemed threatening, no matter how small the threat was. And the Emperor would be lenient on her because he needed Nian Gengyao's military prowess on his side.
In terms of her backstory, Consort Hua had had a baby but miscarried. She thinks Consort Duan was responsible for the miscarriage, and it was a sore spot for her that Consort Duan was still in the palace, with the rank of "fei."
Consort Hua's first major misstep was when she caused Zhen Huan's miscarriage. Her second major downfall was when the Emperor finally cracked down on Nian Gengyao. And the nail in her coffin was when Consort Cao revealed all of the dirt that she had on her.
When Consort Hua was ordered to commit suicide, Zhen Huan paid her a visit. Zhen Huan revealed that Consort Hua had never become pregnant again because the incense in her home, given to her by the Emperor, had an ingredient which would prevent pregnancy. The Emperor and the Empress Dowager couldn't have Consort Hua becoming pregnant and having a son because the Nian family would have too much influence over the royal family. Consort Hua didn't know this and this was what drove her to commit suicide.
What I liked about Consort Hua was that while she was evil as heck, like the Empress, she had her own fair share of grievances. In her soliloquy before she died, it's implied that she truly did love the Emperor. She said that she'd promised him that she'd have a son for him. I think she really did want to believe that she was in love with him and he with her. I can see how the average person would become as paranoid and active in suppressing any threats as she would be in somewhere as dangerous as the Imperial Harem. Consort Hua was hardly a special case of tyranny in the Harem. I think many people who might've risen to her level of power would've become as paranoid as she would have.
Consort Duan
Consort Duan was mostly seen as a kindly mentor figure. She was mostly out of action in the first part of the drama as she was very will (and continued to be so for the whole drama).
It's implied that Consort Duan wasn't heavily punished for causing Consor Hua's miscarriage because the Emperor hadn't wanted Consort Hua with child anyway.
Consort Duan later became the adoptive mother to Princess Wenyi, and she was mostly an advisor figure and an ally to Zhen Huan as she rose in power. Zhen Huan respected her so much that she'd requested that Consort Duan be given the rank of Huang Guifei, which was higher than her own rank of Guifei.
Consort Qi
Consort Qi was the mother to the third prince, Hongshi. She wasn't very bright, and she basically got to where she was because she was the mother of a prince.
She was very obvious in how she tried to take down her enemies, including Zhen Huan and Consort Ning. She also wasn't very good at charming the Emperor either.
The Empress had ordered her to "take care" of Consort Ning, and Consort Qi had very blatantly given her a concoction that would cause her to be sterile. It absolutely shocked Consort Qi when the Empress said she'd never told her to do such a thing, and now that Consort Qi had been so blatant, the Empress could do nothing to protect her. This was very probably the Empress' way of forcibly taking away her son so that the Empress would have her own son to ascend the throne.
Consort Qi was an example of a person who had power but wouldn't know what to do with it. She had her rank because of her son and nothing else.
Consort Jing
We first learned of Consort Jing when Zhen Huan and company first entered the Imperial Harem. Shen Meizhuang lived in the same manor as her and they'd struck up a good friendship. In one of the first few scenes that we saw Consort Jing, she mentioned that one could only survive in the Harem by biding her time. I thought that that was a sign that Consort Jing was going to turn on our protagonist(s) during the drama, but I think it was just meant to show that Consort Jing was very careful.
Consort Jing became very good friends to Zhen Huan and Shen Meizhuang. They trusted her so much that Zhen Huan had asked the Emperor to entrust Longyue to Consort Jing's care.
There was a potential for Zhen Huan and Consort Jing to become enemies when Zhen Huan returned to the Imperial Harem and wanted to have her daughter back. Consort Jing had told the Empress about the possible affair between Cui Jinxi and Su Peisheng. Instead of getting back at Consort Jing, Zhen Huan took this opportunity to smooth things over with her. She entrusted Longyue to Consort Jing's care until her marriage, which permanently won Consort Jing's allyship.
Later in the drama, when Longyue was older, we saw Consort Jing and Zhen Huan spending time with Longyue together amicably. Longyue even called Zhen Huan E'niang at times. So winning Consort Jing over was ultimately a great move for Zhen Huan, both for her personal and political life.
Shen Meizhuang/Consort Hui
Shen Meizhuang was Zhen Huan's best friend. She was among the first of the new batch of girls to gain the Emperor's favour (ahead of Zhen Huan and An Lingrong).
She fell out of favour when Consort Hua tricked her into thinking she was pregnant, and had her framed for appearing to have tricked the Emperor. Shen Meizhuang was only cleared of her crimes when Zhen Huan had helped find the bribed doctor.
After those events, Meizhuang didn't believe in the Emperor's love anymore. Instead, she spent her days with the Empress Dowager instead, which was technically a pretty good idea as the Empress Dowager granted her a fair bit of protection as well.
Later, we found out that Meizhuang was in love with Wen Shichu, the Imperial Doctor who was in love with Zhen Huan. I'm not sure if they were childhood friends as well. Anyway, Meizhuang had a one night stand with Wen Shichu and became pregnant. She died in childbirth, but this child was born of her love for Wen Shichu and for that, she had no regrets.
An Lingrong/Consort Li
An Lingrong had an interesting character journey. She started weak as she was meek and not confident, and her family background was not strong.
Initially, she relied on Zhen Huan and Shen Meizhuang a lot. She thought that Meizhuang had betrayed her by not helping her plead on her father's behalf. However, as the audience, we know that Meizhuang had attempted to do so, but was unsuccessful. That's what started An Lingrong's journey for power, as she felt that she couldn't really rely on her friends.
She started to ally herself with the Empress, but that came with caveats that she had to accept, such as the fact that she could never have children. She willingly gave herself up to be a pawn for power, which is ironic.
Over the course of the drama, An Lingrong grew more confident. Part of that may have been the Empress helping her orchestrate ways to grab the Emperor's attention. In addition, I found that her servant Baojuan had been pretty determind in spurring her on as well, particularly in the beginning when she hadn't even approached the Empress for protection. Baojuan was the one with all of the ideas and over time, I think Lingrong adopted those views as her own.
I think Lingrong was trying to survive in the Harem but in the end she just didn't have what it took. She was charming but not the most charming. She didn't have a family with a strong background. And she wasn't the smartest. And ultimately it was a combination of these that made her extremely vulnerable to the whims of others.
Consort Cao/Cao Qinmo
Consort Cao was smart, but she was under the thumb of Consort Hua, particularly when Consort Hua used her Princess Wenyi to threaten her into submission.
Zhen Huan would converse wtih Consort Cao to see what she knew, but it was clear that Consort Cao was loyal to Consort Hua.
When Consort Hua had fallen from grace, Consort Cao released all of the dirt she had on Consor tHua to knock her down permanently, and also to try to secure status for herself and Wenyi. She was successful in both, technically.
While the Emperor appreciated Consort Cao speaking up, she couldn't have somebody like Consort Cao in the Harem again. Consort Cao had enabled Consort Hua to commit all of the atrocities that she'd done. Consort Cao died, but I think it was implied that her death was orchestrated/ordered.
Consort Xin
Consort Xin was a background character but she intrigued me because of her background status. She never really had an opportunity to rise in status, and yet, funnily enough, it seemed like a pretty safe place for her. Since she wasn't too high in status, and never particularly caught the Emperor's eye, she was rarely involved in discourse.
She only sought out an alliance with Zhen Huan because she couldn't handle living in the same manor as Consort Qi, but even afterwards, she rarely played a big role, probably because she was not high in status.
Honestly, if I was in the Imperial Harem, I'd want to be like Consort Xin, laying low and just eking by.
Consort Fucha
Consort Fucha was a consort who was pregnant, but she'd lost her child in a cat attack at the Empress' manor that was orchestrated by the Empress and executed by Lingrong, all to blame Zhen Huan.
Consort Fucha was an altogether mean person, but she faded from the story in the second half.
Consort Qi (Gua'erjia Clan)
Consort Qi (a different character from the Consort Qi who was Hongshi's mother) was a Consort from a Manchurian family. She came from a powerful background. She automatically got some leeway from the Emperor and the Empress for her aggressive and outspoken manner. Basically, there was worry among the royal family that there were more and more Han blood infiltrating and so Manchurian blood was somewhat valued more.
Consort Qi also had a rivalry with An Lingrong, as both were working for the Empress. This made for very interesting inner-clique rivalries.
Consort Qi tried to take down Zhen Huan by accusing her of an affair with Wen Shichu, but was ultimately unsuccessful. It was probably obvious that she had backing from the Empress but she denied, probably hoping that the Empress would help her if she did so. Ultimately, Consort Qi died as she tried to plead for mercy and was beaten to death.
Consort Ning/Ye Daiying
Consort Ning was a horse trainer who was in love with Yunli, but she'd attracted the Emperor's attention and was forcibly recruited into the Imperial Harem. She was different from the other consorts in that she didn't hide her disdain for being in the Harem. After all, she was a free spirit.
She was curt with the other members of the Harem which made her extremely unpopular. However, she and Zhen Huan seemed to have bonded over their mutual love for Yunli.
Consort Ning was very blunt, but she could only afford to do so because the Emperor liked her. He probably thought she was refreshing.
In the end, she was an ally to Zhen Huan as they exacted revenge on the Emperor for killing Yunli. Consort Ning pretended to be a docile consort but was also slowly poisoning him. In the end, after the Emperor died, she committed suicide herself, as her work was done, and she wanted to be with Yunli.
Consort Chun
Consort Chun was a young girl. She was 14 years old when recruited into the Imperial Harem. Zhen Huan saw her like a youngre sister, and I think the Emperor saw her more like a daughter than a spouse.
She died because she saw Consort Hua carrying out her shady business.
Huanbi/Ulanara Yuyin
Huanbi was Zhen Huan's servant and half sister. I found Huanbi's story line quite interesting in the first part of the drama. She'd always seemed to dream of glamour, and Zhen Huan indulged her, maybe because of their close relationship, but also probably because her father asked her to take care of Huanbi as he was unable to do for her. Perhaps part of Huanbi's dreams of glamour also came up because she knew that she as the (illegitimate) daughter of an official.
However, Huanbi had no tact, and was not as graceful as Zhen Huan was in handling social etiquette. She'd show her intentions very obviously. When she noticed that Lingrong only came to visit when she was doing well, Huanbi pointed it out. Huanbi had also tried to get the Emperor's attention by dressing nicely, but he pointed out the fact that her shoes didn't match her outfit and she was very upset at this.
Huanbi was leaking information to Consort Hua via Consort Cao and Zhen Huan chastised her for this. After this event, Zhen Huan and Huanbi became very united in spirit.
In the latter half of the drama, her plot focused on her love for Yunli. She had no choice but to accept that Yunli loved Zhen Huan and obviously it was very painful for her. She took the blame when Yunli had a likeness of Zhen Huan in his possession, as Zhen Huan and Huanbi looked alike. This was also to her benefit because then the Emperor had her marry him (as the second daughter ot he Niohuru clan).
I was wondering whether Huanbi would turn her back on Zhen Huan again. Huanbi did briefly try to turn Yunli away from liking Zhen Huan when the Emperor had pretend to send Zhen Huan as a bride to Moge. Huanbi tried to portray Zhen Huan as somebody who forgot Yunli very quickly and returned to the Harem after she thought he was dead, but Huanbi was unsuccessful.
Huanbi was jealous of Yunli's other wife, Meng Jingxian, who'd gotten pregnant ahead of her. I'm not sure if Meng Jingxian had died from the poisoning attempt. In any case, Huanbi did ultimately bear Yunli a child. However, after Yunli died, Huanbi decided to commit suicide and join him.
Like Zhen Huan's romantic story line, I kind of wish that Huanbi's story line didn't revolve around Yunli so much. Huanbi already had so much potential as a character with ambition. I was really looking forward to seeing when her status as an illegitimate daughter would propel her to try to strive for greatness, but it never really came in the way that I thought it would. I just wish that she had more ambition than just romantic ambition. I thought it'd be cool to understand how she felt about her status as an illegitimate daughter to an offical.
Liuzhu
Liuzhu was Zhen Huan's other servant with whom she'd grown up. Unlike Huanbi, Liuzhu was much more content in her role as a servant. She didn't really have dreams of rising in the ranks.
Liuzhu gave up her life when Zhen Huan was very ill but wasn't allowed any external contact (including doctors). Liuzhu killed herself on a guard's blade, probably to cause a ruckus so that the guards would finally alert somebody that attention was required at Zhen Huan's manor.
Cui Jinxi
Cui Jinxi was the head female servant who was assigned to Zhen Huan when she first entered the palace. She was extremely loyal to Zhen Huan, to the point that she agreed to a romantic relationship with Su Peisheng to put in action Zhen Huan's plan to return to the palace.
Jinxi was generally very reliable, and also a good friend. When her relationship with Su Peisheng was found out by the Empress, Zhen Huan promised to rescue her.
Jinxi was basically the typical loyal servant, but I liked that she did have her own thoughts and experiences that helped Zhen Huan from time to time.
Xiao Yunzi
Xiao Yunzi was a eunuch whow as assigned to Zhen Huan when she entered the palace. Early on in the drama, Xiao Yunzi had a brother in another manor who was ill, and Zhen Huan had allowed him to visit his brother and take care of him. This was basically meant to show that Zhen Huan had earned Xiao Yunzi's loyalty. He was the only one of the eunuchs who'd stayed when Zhen Huan was still fairly weak and had no attention from the Emperor.
Su Peisheng
Su Peisheng was the Emperor's personal eunuch. Like most eunuchs to Emperors in Cdramas, he was portrayed as very loyal and generally well-meaning and kindly.
Interestingly enough, he wasn't also just a tool/extension of the Emperor. Jinxi brought up the fact that many eunuchs longed for a romantic companion and Su Peisheng was no different. They took advantage of Su Peisheng's feelings for Jinxi to try to get the Emperor to visit the nunnery where Zhen Huan was stationed.
Su Peisheng later said that he knew that Jinxi had only returned his feelings in order to get Zhen Huan back in the palace. However, when Jinxi and Su Peisheng had been found out by the Empress and sent for "questioning" (i.e. some sort of interrogation/torture), Su Peisheng had never said a bad word about Jinxi. Jinxi confided in Zhen Huan that she had felt moved by Su Peisheng's loyalty. And when Su Peisheng had said that he knew Jinxi was only with him for the political aspect, she dismissed his concerns, implying that she was perfectly happy being his companion.
Aisin Goro Yunli/Seventeenth Prince/Prince Guo
Zhen Huan met Yunli after she entered the Harem. His role in the story was mostly as a love interest for Zhen Huan. I've already explained that I didn't like Zhen Huan and Yunli's romance, but I'm suspecting that I also just don't like Yunli as a character.
In the first half of the drama, I felt that Zhen Huan and Yunli's interactions were more like that of an intellectual friendship. Perhaps Zhen Huan was very good at suppressing her romantic attraction for Yunli, as it was dangerous for her to have an affair as a concubine.
Yunli made his move on Zhen Huan when she was at the nunnery and technically no longer attached to the Emperor, though from the point of view of the audience member I was hesitant to say that she wasn't attached to the Emperor. Especially if Yunli knew how much his brother still cared for Zhen Huan, he'd know that their business was not over.
Zhen Huan only returned Yunli's affections after receiving some encouragement from Jinxi and they had a short honeymoon period before they had to go to battle. Zhen Huan even made nice with Yunli's mother, who was the Consort who was also at the nunnery.
Some miscommunication about Yunli's supposed death in battle was written in to give Zhen Huan a reason to go back to the Palace, but like I said, at this point I was so not invested in their relationship. And I know they had a spirited argument when Yunli came back too late, but the relationship still felt superficial to me.
After Zhen Huan returned to the palace, Yunli became somewhat closed off. He drank more and he was generally just disinterested in life. As mentioned, the Emperor had him marry Huanbi and Meng Jingxian, but it's clear that his heart still lay with Zhen Huan.
He became very hotheaded when he thought that the Emperor was actually going to send Zhen Huan to Moge on his demands. However, by leaving to save Zhen Huan, that was proof enough that Yunli was a threat to the Emperor and his power.
At that time, Huanbi had begged Yunli not to leave, trying to use every trick to get him to stay but he would not listen, and frankly I kind of found him insufferable at this point. He was so unmotivated by anything other than his love for Zhen Huan. I just didn't really see any hint of personality in him.
After he'd left, the Emperor blocked him from coming back, and when he did allow him to come back, he had Zhen Huan poison him to death. Zhen Huan had attempted to take the poison herself, but Yunli took the poison instead and died for her, leaving behind his wife (Huanbi) and son. As menioned, Huanbi decided to go with him, and their son was entrusted to the Eighteenth Prince, who was married to Yurao, Zhen Huan's younger sister.
Aisin Gioro Hongshi/Third Prince
Hongshi was the Emperor's eldest son, the son of Consort Qi, and later in the care of the Empress. It wasn't that the Empress liked him. She just needed a son to prop up onto the throne so that she would be the one and only Empress Dowager.
Hongshi wasn't very bright from the beginning. Apparently he was always falling behind in his studies and was yelled at by the Emperor for doing so.
Later on, he fell in love with Consort Ying, the Emperor's new favourite, and even composed a love letter to her. Unfortunately, Consort Ying had to die for it, even though the Emperor knew that all of the fault lay with Hongshi. But because he was his son, of the Aisin Gioro clan, the Emperor had to protect him. Still, the Emperor was already not happy with him.
Later on, Hongli had brought up sympathy for their uncles who were being punished by the Emperor. I don't know if Hongli had done this on purpose as a trap for Hongshi. In any case, Hongshi very dumbly brought up the idea of granting mercy for their uncles and the Emperor was so angry that he disinherited Hongshi and moved him to be the son of his uncle. And in doing so, the Empress lost her chance at being the one and only Empress Dowager.
Aisin Gioro Hongli/Fourth Prince
Hongli was neglected by the Emperor from a young age. I think his mother was disgraced in some way. We saw him time and time again try to get attention from his father, and only Zhen Huan was nice to him. Even when Zhen Huan was expelled to the nunnery Hongli had never forgotten her kindness.
Hongli was transferred to Zhen Huan's care to support her return to the palace. In fact, she was officially named as her birth mother even though that obviously isn't true. She had to fudge her age to be ten years older to make it credible, as she was only 7 years older than Hongli. As I mentioned, I think Hongli looked up to her more as an older sister figure than a mother figure, but nevertheless, he was very obedient, and he was very hardworking and humble.
As the oldest legitimate son of the Emperor, he was installed as the Emperor after Yongzheng's death, and it appears he continued to have a good relationship with Zhen Huan.
Nian Gengyao
Nian Gengyao was a formidable general that the Emperor relied on quite a bit for the first part of the drama. His younger sister was Consort Hua, Nian Shilan.
The Emperor was trying to get rid of him, but it took a while as he had to figure out which other Officials were loyal to him. And when he did come down, so did Consort Hua.
Wen Shichu
Wen Shichu was a doctor, and Zhen Huan's childhood friend. Before Zhen Huan was to enter the selection process for the Imperial Harem, he suggested that he could marry her to get out of the selection. However, at that point, she was already entered into the selection, and she had to do so as a duty to her family. In addition, she probably just didn't return his feelings and didn't want to marry him.
Nonetheless, Wen Shichu was extremely loyal to Zhen Huan, and lied many times on her behalf, as well as spied for her. I actually think that Wen Shichu's devotion to Zhen Huan was one of the most important alliances that helped her during the drama.
Shen Meizhuang liked Wen Shichu, and knowing that he liked Zhen Huan didn't invalidate her feelings in any way. She was so determined to have her baby born because the baby would be evidence of the love she had for Wen Shichu.
When Meizhuang died, it's implied that Wen Shichu liekd her back at least a little bit. He later admitted that at this point, loving Zhen Huan and protecting her was just kind of an instinct. He'd never taken a wife, and he even castrated himself after he was accused of having an affair with Zhen Huan and fathering her children.
After Meizhuang's death, he kind of fell out of it. We saw him getting drunk a lot more, but Zhen Huan had to talk some sense into him, so that he'd be there for his daughter, Princess Jinghe.
Themes
Family
Throughout Chinese history, marriage was seen as business between two families and not between two people. Marriage into the royal family was one of the biggest examples of this. Many girls married into the royal family to solidify political bonds and status for their families, and not necessarily for themselves.
For many commoner women, they became part of their husbands' families after marrying in, and were meant to minimize ties with their original families, but it's clear that that wasn't the case in the royal family. Most women who married in sought some sort of power or political advantage for their original families.
The Ulnara clan, the Nian clan, etc. All gained something from being close to the Emperor.
Concubinage
Most concubine and harem Cdramas further highlight how bad the concubine system was for women in historical China. Women suffered from emotional and physical neglect while men flitted from woman to woman, whomever he was in the mood for.
Even the Empress, in her moment of weakness, cried about how unfair it felt to see her husband dote over somebody else.
In fact, all of the concubines had to act okay with the fact that their husband was sleeping around with other women. They had to act as a team to keep him happy, and it really showed the inequality between men and women. All of the women in this drama were ruined by the concubine system. Sure, Zhen Huan thrived in the harem, but would you say was happy? I definitely would not.
Overall
This was a pretty good drama. Like I said, it had its flaws, but it was still a very solid drama in several regards where it mattered.