Harem: Empresses in the Palace 1

Author: Liu Lianzi
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2007-02-01
Features: The highest anticipated winner of Tencent's "Writer's Cup." With more attention on Sina Blog than "The Rise and Fall of a Dynasty." The online hit sister series to "Golden Branch and Jade Flower." The struggle between women is always the most cruel struggle. And the imperial harem is a dense place of cruelty. In Liu Lianzi's imperial harem, those flower-like women may come from noble families, possess exquisite beauty, or have cunning wisdom. They fight for love, for wealth and status, for a man who may not deserve them. They scheme and deceive, wasting their youth and beauty in this endless struggle. Though they are like flowers, they hide dangers. But no matter how fierce their struggles, they still hold onto hope for beauty.
In Liu Lianzi's world, Zhen Huan is unparalleled, with a gentle heart like orchids and a radiant beauty. She believes in true love. She is not a perfect, otherworldly woman, unattached to the mortal world. She seeks extravagant love in the imperial harem but always worries too much. When the curtain falls, her loneliness becomes exceptionally cold and piercing.
Jade jade twists gold threads, fragrant deep, path winding.
A petal plucked, soul ensnared, heaven-born beauty.
Clear cup, wine, tears, sleep deep, bowing to orioles.
To grasp the drunkenness of Huaqing, heavens and earth in rapture.
Jade steps blush with color, eaves bathed in imperial light.
Playful with snow-white women, clouds and mandarin ducks in harmony.
Suddenly, the sky splits, chaos scatters dust.
Mortal affairs can be foreseen, life and death at the emperor's gate.
Shushan rises steep, fame shatters the earth, Zhen's name.
Waves roll, heaven trembles, rain mourns, clouds part.
Flowers fall, slopes grow cold, souls fade into oblivion.
Rain ceases, forest grows silent, wind still cries like bells.
Peach blossoms droop, humble as a maid's low status.
Lingering affection leaves ancient sorrow, tears wiping the handkerchief.
The struggle between women is always the most cruel struggle.
The imperial harem is a dense place of cruelty.
What I wanted to write was simply a story of love and struggle in the silent depths of the harem.
The day I first entered the palace was a very sunny day. The twenty-first day of the eighth lunar month in the twelfth year of the Qianyuan era, a lucky day according to the Yellow Calendar. Standing in the vast courtyard of the Zicheng Palace, I could see the sky as clear as a jade pond, blue and cloudless, with occasional flocks of wild geese flying overhead. High-flying wild geese were said to be a very auspicious sign. But
I couldn't help but shed tears, fearing this life, longing would be longer than dreams. I feared, perhaps, gazing through endless autumn waters, or that we would never see each other again in this lifetime.