The empress and the three concubines – bully, villain, victor: The Story of Yanxi Palace explained
The Chinese TV show about the Qianlong emperor’s harem of concubines has viewers across Asia hooked; we look at four key players and their deadly game of one-upmanship
The intrigue. The plotting. The back-stabbing. The Story of Yanxi Palace has it all.
Viewers cannot get enough of the show currently on in China, Hong Kong and streaming across Southeast Asia and North America.
A fictionalised account of the 18th-century Qianlong emperor’s real-life harem of concubines, the 70-episode series charts the rise and fall of a number of women in the Qing court as they vie for the ruler’s attention and affection, hoping, one day, they will become the empress.
“If managed well, all threats can become stepping stones,” muses one of the concubines, Wei Yingluo, in the drama.
But who are these ambitious imperial climbers and how do they relate to one another in the race? Here are four key players whose wit and determination plays out in the harem power struggle. (Note: spoilers follow.)
