Zhen Huan continues to turn her attention to her biggest enemy in the Imperial Harem, the Empress. She needs to destroy the Empress's remaining power in the Palace, her adoptive son the 3rd Prince. Zhen Huan and her faction are forced to make sacrifices along the way as they devise plans against the Empress. Will they succeed?
The 3rd prince is following in his birth mother's footsteps in making decisions but not considering its consequences. He has fallen in love with one of his father's concubines, the beautiful Noble Lady Ying and is determined to make it work. Don't need to explain how that won't work. Meanwhile, there is drama brewing in the 17th prince's household as his two concubines fight for his attention
An Ling Rong's pregnancy comes to abrupt end with some help from Zhen Huan. That's just the beginning. An Ling Rong meets finally meets her downfall as Zhen Huan and her faction exposes her of her misdeeds in the past. The two former friends meet for one final conversation where An Ling Rong makes a shocking statement
The Empress Dowager passes away which means the Empress loses a crucial ally. She needs to find ways to secure her own faction. An Ling Rong becomes pregnant and the Empress wants to promote her to a Consort. However, the title An Ling Rong receives leaves her seething with anger. What is this title? Listen to find out!
The Emperor has his eyes set on Zhen Huan's youngest sister as she reminds him of his late wife. Unfortunately, she and the Emperor's 19th brother have already declared love for each other. Elsewhere, Zhen Huan's foes are starting to fall, leaving the Empress with fewer and fewer allies.
The Emperor has started setting his sights on other conquests and this time, he turned to Zhen Huan's sisters. In order to escape this attention, Huan Bi, Zhen Huan's maid/half-sister, may or may not have orchestrated an opportunity to align herself with the 17th prince. While she has loved him for many years, he still only has eyes for Zhen Huan. Unfortunately, in order to prevent any further suspicion between him and Zhen Huan, he accepts marrying Huan Bi and the daughter of a duke, Meng Jing ...
After a tumultuous day, Zhen Huan's heavily pregnant best friend, Shen Mei Zhuang, suffers a shock that forces her into labor. Though the doctors do their best to save both mother and daughter, Shen Mei Zhuang passes away with the two people she cares for most by her bedside. On a lighter note, after the events of the adultery accusation, Zhen Huan's younger sister gains the attention of both the Emperor and the 19th prince.
Zhen Huan is accused of adultery by the Empress's team in front of the entire Imperial Harem. The supposed lover though? The imperial doctor Wen Shi Chu. This is clearly a set up in an effort to destroy Zhen Huan. The Empress's team does everything in its power to prove Zhen Huan's infidelity while Zhen Huan's team work together to protect her. In an intense scene as the two sides battle it out in front of the Emperor, Zhen Huan must keep her nerve as she is accused that the Emperor is not the f...
An Ling Rong lost her voice in the last episode and needs to claw her way back into favor. She hatches a plan to perform a show on the ice. However, to do so, she must practice skating and lose a lot of weight to capture the attention of the Emperor. Zhen Huan is more than happy to assist her if it means that An Ling Rong will never be able bear children. This is the calm before the storm that will engulf Zhen Huan and her loved ones.
After successfully giving birth to twins, Zhen Huan enjoys a promotion and is now the second most powerful woman in the Imperial Harem, just behind the Empress. This of course, prompts the Empress to start further retaliation against Zhen Huan. As these two powerful factions emerge in the palace, the various ladies have to decide which team to be a part of.
Following the discovery of the forbidden relationship between Zhen Huan's head maid and the Emperor's head eunuch, Zhen Huan masterfully secures their release from hard labor and further corporal punishment after a carefully crafted conversation with the Emperor. Both maid and eunuch are returned to their posts with fines. Later on, Zhen Huan, heavily pregnant with twins, meets her former lover, the 17th prince. After a heartfelt encounter, she is attacked by a group of cats that causes her to g...
Shen Mei Zhuang is pregnant but who is the father? The doctor has his hands full to take care of two pregnancies. It's been smooth sailing for Zhen Huan for a while and the Empress needs to strike. She gets the perfect opportunity to do some from a tip from a former ally. What does Zhen Huan have to do to protect herself and her servants?
Zhen Huan, having found her footing back in the Imperial Harem, has started to retaliate against her enemies. She quickly confines Qi Pin, the woman who's father framed her own father for crimes that exiled him, and her former friend An Ling Rong. Both of these ladies were part of the Empress's group who is public enemy number 1. Meanwhile, the Emperor finally visits Zhen Huan's best friend, Shen Mei Zhuang. The two have an awkward dinner where the Empress Dowager even sends them some alcohol to...
[Spoilers!] We really wanted to enjoy this movie but unfortunately, this fell short of our expectations. Listen to our full recap of the movie with our thoughts and explanations of various easter eggs, nods or inaccuracies to Chinese culture and history. Our review of the film starts at around the 33min mark. Overall, we give this film a 5/10. Including a CGI dragon called Mushu voiced by Eddie Murphy may have saved some of this film.
[No Spoilers!] The new Mulan is out! In this spoiler free discussion of the movie, we provide an overview of the film, an introduction to the main actors and describe the historical background of Mulan. Listen to this episode to learn about the centuries old ballad that inspired this movie, the enemy that threatens the Mulan's home and the dynasty this story is set in. We further discuss make up and costumes seen in this film. Part 2 will be our full review of this film!
Zhen Huan is back at the palace and already fending off attacks to her life and her unborn child. She, being older and wiser now, is ready to face these challenges and starts gathering intel in the palace. She see there is conflict between two concubines, one of whom's father framed her own father several years ago and caused her family to be exiled. She does not provide any mercy before starting her retaliation, albeit in a cunning way, against those who have wronged her.
Zhen Huan finally returns to the Imperial Harem after three years. She is back with a vengeance! Look at that makeup, the hair, the clothes! How will the other ladies in the Imperial Harem react to her return? Some are happy but the majority are not. All we can say is Zhen Huan is BACK
In an effort to protect her grandkids, the Empress Dowager decides to allow Zhen Huan, now pregnant, to return to the palace. The Emperor, now with his mother's permission, is resolute in bringing Zhen Huan back. So much so that he gives Zhen Huan a new identity to make her path as smooth as possible, much to the surprise of the Empress. But as Zhen Huan is preparing to return to the palace, she receives a shocking surprise.
Zhen Huan "reveals" her pregnancy to the Emperor who is ecstatic at the news. Zhen Huan plots to return to the palace as a concubine but word reaches the Empress. She plots to prevent Zhen Huan's return to the Imperial Harem with the help of an Imperial Astronomer. Zhen huan needs to find another path to return. The Empress turns her attention towards the Emperor's remaining sons.
The Empress continues to wield her power in the Imperial Harem by manipulating a Consort into harming a new concubine. While the Empress Dowager sees through these horrible acts, there is no one in the Imperial Harem powerful enough to counter the Empress. Meanwhile, Zhen Huan, pregnant with the 17th prince's child, hears devastating news. She has to decide how to proceed given her precarious situation and the need to provide medical attention to her exiled father. Her only route is to seek atte...
The main character Zhen Huan is blissfully enjoying quality time with the 17th prince. He, wanting to cement their relationship, decides that the two sign a marriage contract. The two do so before he heads off on a trip assigned to him by the emperor. Elsewhere in the palace, the emperor fell ill due to stress from work but also because in his subconscious, he missed Zhen Huan. When he wakes up, he takes a liking a horse tamer maid named Ye Lan Yi and makes her into a concubine. Many of the wome...
These 2 episodes give the opportunity for the 17th Prince to fully showcase his love for Zhen Huan and be that knight in shining armor. He rescues her when she is sick and stays outside her residence in the evenings to make sure she is safe. Do his efforts pay off? Elsewhere, the Emperor has decided it's time to eliminate another threat so he instructs his mother, the Empress Dowager, to remove the minister Long Ke Duo. The love/hate relationship between the two is revealed and the Empress Dowag...
Zhen huan leaves behind her life as an Imperial Concubine after giving birth to her daughter to become a nun at a temple outside of the palace. Her life there is challenging but she does it in order to keep her daughter safe. Inside the palace, the Empress is gloating about finally removing the threat that is Zhen Huan. Once she confirms that Zhen Huan is now harmless, she is able to have full control of the palace with her minions, An Ling Rong and Qi Pin. It is evident, however, that the Emper...
Things continue to go downhill for the pregnant Zhen Huan. This time, her family is in trouble and her father is first imprisoned before the family is exiled to a cold and destitute location. All of this was done to hurt Zhen Huan by the Empress and her pawn, An Ling Rong. The two manipulative ladies, seeing that Zhen Huan is about to give birth, devise a way to cause her to miscarry in an effort to kill both mother and child. Despite this, the most devastating blow comes from none other than th...
This episode of Empresses in the Palace is full of unexpected surprises, and most of them are not good. The main character Zhen Huan is bedridden after falling from favor in the last episode. In an effort to get a doctor to see Zhen Huan, a huge sacrifice is made by one of Zhen Huan's loyal servants. When the doctor finally does arrive, it's revealed that Zhen Huan is pregnant! While this may be the only way Zhen Huan can keep her position in the palace, she is not overjoyed. Later on in the epi...
Having vanquished the famous Hua Fei, Zhen Huan thought she could have some peace in the Imperial Harem. Little does she know, other people have turned their attention towards her as the next target in the Imperial Harem. Zhen Huan unknowingly falls into a trap set by the scheming Empress. Zhen Huan learns of a heartbreaking secret that might break her spirit in the Imperial Harem.
In our longest episode yet, we close a chapter in Zhen huan's journey in the Imperial Harem with the death of one of our fan favorites. A new Noble Lady joins the ranks but is she an ally or an enemy? We also say farewell to one more woman who was perhaps doomed from the beginning by her own greed and circumstance.
Hua Fei tries desperately to cling onto power and is tricked into believing that her family is in the clear. Zhen Huan makes a scene at a banquet and is banished by the Emperor. Sensing that all is not right, the Empress orders An Ling Rong to join Zhen Huan as a sort of double agent to spy on Zhen Huan. However, the chess pieces are in place for the final checkmate to the Nian family. Huai Fei regains power and continues her lavish ways. Her brother, Nian Geng Yao, even openly mocks the Emperor...
The Emperor continues to set his trap for Hua Fei's family. Zhen Huan continues to strengthen alliances in the Imperial Harem as she also plots for Hua Fei's downfall. Hua Fei realizes she's in a precarious position and makes a heart-breaking decision to have one of her maids become a concubine. But is this enough for her?
The 10th Prince is still causing trouble for the Emperor. Zhen Huan again delivers a plan to satisfy all parties. However, she also recognizes that it's time for Consort Nian to be restored back to favor. The Empress Dowager warns Zhen Huan about the dangers in meddling in the affairs of court.
