In order to secure the emperor’s favor, the soon‑to‑be empress Bao’er takes “Essence‑Absorbing Pills”. On her wedding day, however, she sees the emperor bring back a woman from Miaojiang, and jealousy blazes within her. The empress dowager returns to the palace with Lingzhi Pills to visit her daughter‑in‑law, but Bao’er mistakes her for a seductress and publicly strips and humiliates her. At the critical moment, the emperor arrives and roars: “Whoever harms my mother shall be put to death without mercy!” Thus begins a bloody storm in the harem.