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Main Characters
Wei Yingluo
Wei Yingluo
Embroidery Maid → Maid at Changchun Palace → Maid at the workhouse → Maid at Changchun Palace → Maid at Yuanming Garden → Noble Lady Wei → Concubine Ling → Consort Ling → Noble Consort Ling → Imperial Noble Consort Ling → Empress Xiaoyichun (posthumously)
- Played by: Wu Jinyan
A daring little lady with a sharp tongue and mind, who entered the Forbidden City as an embroidery maid to investigate the cold case of her beloved sister’s death.
- Anti-Hero: One good way to describe Yingluo is having an exterior of cold and ice, but underneath warmth unlike Yuan Chunwang. While she is not selfless for others, she is a person who would do justice for people who were wronged.
- Berserk Button: Betrayal. Specifically, betraying someone who has been good for you but you taken it for granted.
- When Hupo tells her Erqing was the reason Rongyin committed suicide, her stoic mask breaks and she swears to kill Erqing for what she did to the first Empress because Erqing served her for years and then took her for granted.
- Crazy Jealous Guy: Subverted, unlike most women like Ningxin and Shusen who want the Emperor's love and attention to themselves, she does not give a flying crap when Hongli focuses his attention on other women. After all, She's not ignorant to the insides of the palace and being in the harem.
- Determinator: She's very determined. She never stops to investigate her older sister Yingning death even if she comes close to death. One example is that she literally spends 8 hours trying to practice with needles to beat a fun game.
- Establishing Character Moment: When entering the palace the first time, she doesn't look around in curiousity like the newcomers and has a stoic look. When Jixiang accidentally bumps into Uya, Yingluo doesn't go to immediately help her but when she sees her hurting Jixiang she goes to "help" Uya do better for the xiunv and quoting a book showcasing her crafty and silver-tongued side. But it goes to show how she's willing to help even when it seemingly has no benefits to her.
- First Love: Fuca Fuheng and vice versa. Even after becoming a concubine to the Emperor, it's obvious Yingluo still has Fuheng in her heart through some moments of her cold mask breaking a bit.
- Indifferent Beauty: Many characters have touched upon Yingluo's looks, such as Fuheng, Hongli, and even Hongzhou who says Yingluo is more beautiful than Yingning. Yingluo is indifferent to her beauty although aware of it and doesn't hesitate to use it when needed.
- Mama Bear: To Yongqi and her children.
- Not So Stoic:
- When she sees Mingyu dead on the bed, she cries out in sorrow.
- When she hears Fuheng dies, she drops her mask.
- Official Couple: Subverted with Fuheng as she becomes Hongli's concubine but she does still love him. As for Hongli, during the timeskip, Yingluo does show more affection towards him and he has become more relaxed with her like he was with Rongyin so it is somewhat implied she did end up developing some genuine feelings for him but not to the extent with Fuheng.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business:
- The normally stoic Yingluo gets actually mad at the gugu who tried to take her down, not because the gugu tries to destroy her, but because she knows something about her older sister's death and stole a pouch she made for her sister.
- When Fuheng tells her he's getting married to Erqing, her mask breaks and she takes the fragrant pouch she gave to Fuheng and dumps it in a water pot. Perhaps, more shockingly, we see her cry and that her face shows an actual expression of sorrow and sadness that he doesn't see. We had never see her cry from pain in working inside the overworked Workhouse but instead cries from the emotional pain Fuheng broke his promise. It really does show Yingluo was truly in love with Fuheng and would die for him (and still is).
- Single Woman Seeks Good Man: She falls in love with Fuheng, who is a caring guy. Sadly, she couldn't get with him as she unexpectedly became Hongli's woman.
- Smarter Than You Look: This is the defining part of Yingluo in the beginning to show she knows her stuff instead of being ignorant to it. One would not expect an illiterate and poor girl to be cunning and silver-tongued through stressful situations that would make normal people panic.
- The Stoic: How she normally looks, especially in the introduction. While she isn't expressionless most of the time, it's hard to make Yingluo show an expression except if it's people she is close with and loves.
- Undying Loyalty: To Rongyin and her older sister. Considering her sister Yingning raised her after her mother died during childbirth and her father considered her a jinx, it's no wonder why Yingluo willingly goes the palace to find out what happened to her. To the point, she never stopped to make Hongzhou truly pay for what he did.
- Rongyin was similar to her older sister so in a way she was a surrogate older sister to Yingluo. Even when she was exiled to the workhouse by Rongyin (but because she wanted to protect her), she does everything to care for the empress when she is comatosed.
- You Are Too Late: She is one day too late when she discovers Rongyin killed herself.
Hongli
Aisin-Gioro Hongli
Qianlong Emperor
- Played by:
- Age-Gap Romance: He's probably way older than several of his concubines. With Yingluo, we know he is sixteen years older than her.
- Chick Magnet: Well, he is the Emperor.
- Emotion Suppression: He is emotionally distant with people, as he is the Qianlong Emperor of the Qing Dynasty and has to be shown strong. Even with Rongyin, one of the two women he truly loved, he never really expressed himself with her and mostly called her Empress aside a rare few times of calling her name. The only person in the show to make Qianlong express himself was Yingluo, calling her by her name a lot, and it is because she treats him like an equal in which in that time, women were to be submissive and not talk back to their husband, especially if it's the Emperor of all China.
- Establishing Character Moment: In the beginning, we see him arrive, and all the ladies kneel to him, he raises Rongyin up not giving attention to Ningxin, showing his love towards his wife. Then, with the xiunv event, he makes fun of several of the women's appearance who entered in, showing his petty side, but when it comes to Uya Qingdai and he's able to see she made a lotus printing in her shoe (by Yingluo actually), he is able to cite and reference historical figures and laws, showcasing his great intelligence, before punishing her and her father to be made examples, showing his ruthlessness as the Emperor.
- Good Parents: Especially with his newborn children. While we don't see it much, he treats his children good and acts like a normal father to them. Although in the timeskip, he only has Yongqi, Yongji, and Yongyan that are likely candidates to be his heirs since his other sons are either fooling around with women and/or being hedonistic, etc. Chun's son is to be adopted out of the imperial lineage and Yongcheng has a bad temper so it's an also implied downplayed example. Then again, it's expected that the mother is the one trying to raise the child to be good and intelligent because he's too busy as the Emperor.
- Green-Eyed Monster: Whenever he sees Yingluo and Fuheng together, the stoic Emperor gets mad and jealous. It's to the point he forces Fuheng into a marriage to avoid the latter marrying Yingluo with the excuse she would marry him for wealth, when it was obvious he just really wanted Yingluo for himself. Eve after making Yingluo his concubine, he still gets jealous seeing them together, which some concubines take advantage of to sabotage Yingluo.
- Irony: How funny how he said Yingluo was a dirty and immoral gold-digger who would ruin Fuheng but who was really the gold-digger in the end was Erqing who showed her true colors after marrying into the prestigious Fuca family who kind of ruined the Fuca family by making Rongyin kill herself and committing infidelity with Fuheng's half-illegitimate brother.
- I Love You Because I Can't Control You: One of the main reasons why the Emperor falls in love with Yingluo. Every woman and the Empress in the harem is submissive to him and Hongli knows it but only Yingluo is the person who can openly bicker to the Emperor. Li Yu points out Yingluo treats Hongli like a commoner rather than the grand Son of Heaven.
- Lonely at the Top: He is the Emperor after all. More than a father and a husband, he's seen foremost as the Qianlong Emperor. The only person he felt he could talk to like a normal person was Rongyin, his wife. Even with Shusen, his second wife, and her love towards him, he's never felt that urge to talk normally with her. That's until Yingluo comes in, and she's able to converse with him on equal terms that most people would find impossible to do.
- Official Couple: While Hongli has lots of women as his lovers, the only women he truly loved were his first wife Rongyin and Yingluo. The two were the only ones to make him cry, Rongyin dying by suicide and Yingluo thought to be dying by the poisonous bugs.
- Rongyin was the only woman he always lifted up for her without asking her to rise most of the time, talked her like a confidant, and he was more sweet and soft with her. He was always excited when she turned out to be pregnant than most women who was pregnant with his child.
- Yingluo doesn't like him at first because she sees he's petty and mean while he finds her to be an annoying occasional rule-breaker. It takes a while through some turns and twists but in the span of the 10 year time-skip, he and Yingluo banter like an old married couple, even more than he is with Shusen, his second, legitimate wife.
- Secretly Selfish: He is a just and stern ruler, is never seen to hit any of his lovers aside a rare moment with the younger Jia who tried to sabotage Yingluo who was with Fuheng at Rongyin's monument, good parent towards his children, but this trope is mostly applied to how he wanted Yingluo as his woman. He forced Fuheng into a marriage just so he could have Yingluo for himself even he doesn't want to admit, at first. However, when he makes her change his clothes after Erqing purposely splashes water on him, he directly tells her he'll give her anything if she becomes his woman showing his interest in her. When she rejects him indirectly, he shows anger and kicks an item down, likely because as the Emperor, no one would reject him, but Yingluo did. The time when he finally does make Yingluo his concubine it was to know why she returned to the Palace and wanted to serve under Empress Dowager all suddenly, not for lustful reasons. Even then, whenever he sees Fuheng and Yingluo together, he either gives her cold treatment or takes away some items which forces her to try and placate his favor again.
- The Emperor: He's literally this trope, being the fifth Emperor of the Qing Dynasty.
- The Lost Lenore: He doesn't show it but it's implied he still misses Rongyin. He tells Yingluo to not leave him and die like Rongyin, showing that deep down her death affected him like Yingluo and Mingyu.
- Tranquil Fury: He reacts like this most of the time he sees Yingluo and Fuheng together, or he has to deal with problems happening in the palace.
- Tsundere: The most he is one is moments where it has Yingluo or concerns her. When he realizes Yingluo is hurt or given bad treatment, he's like this most of the time that even Li Yu realizes the Emperor is secretly worried for her.
- When he visits Ningxin to check on her, he sees Yingluo hurt. While he pretends to not notice and care, he excuses himself quickly from her to find Yingluo in the rain, he tells her to stop acting weak and that he hates women like her before chucking his umbrella at her. Later, he comes back to her and sees she did not take the umbrella. Li Yu tells him if she takes the umbrella it would start rumors. When Hongli asks about milk from Li Yu, he orders that milk will not be wasted and be given a fixed amount according to rank.
- One moment, when he saw how the cold was hurting her fingers when she was embroidering, he tells his men to give the heater in his room to her because he found it "too warm".
- Then, when Yingluo thought the Emperor really didn't care about her after the Chenbi events, he makes some bullshit excuses that he didn't care for her, he cared about the baby in her belly. And this is after he found out she was pregnant so his excuse was empty.
- He always tells Yingluo he would behead her, as a maid and even as his concubine, but he has never done it. Desheng and Li Yu point out if Qianlong had someone he hate, he would have immediately killed them (unless they served an importance to the empire) but with Yingluo he takes back his words even though he states he hates her. A clear sign he has feelings for her.
Hoifa-Nara Shushen
Hoifa-Nara Shushen
Consort Xian → Noble Consort Xian → Imperial Noble Consort Xian → Step Empress Nara
- Played by:
- Abusive Parents: Her mother was especially verbally and emotionally abusive to her. Slowly, she acts somewhat like her mother when she sees how her son is lacking in talent and intelligence.
- Crazy Jealous Guy: While she doesn't show it, she hates it when Hongli focuses his attention on other woman to the point of they are killed or ruined forever but she only does this when the evidence doesn't get put to her and has an opportunity.
- Daddy's Girl: Her father on the other hand was gentle and good with Shusen, him being the one to teach her to stick to her morals. He also protected her from her abusive mother when she was teaching Shusen etiquette of a noble lady. Knowing he was going to be executed for his incompetence with the disaster relief center, he asks to see her one last time. Seeing how she wouldn't see him because of the rules, he bows down and wishes his daughter a life of longevity.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Even after becoming the second empress and doing things behind the scenes where people wouldn't suspect her, she has her limits.
- Refusing to harm children unlike Consort Chun. But she did have a say to make Chun kill Yongcong without dirtying her hands but after that, she never tries to hurt children. Just like witnessing the moment where Yongqi doesn't want his mother to go, you could see her show some expression to the scene. Even after the time skip, she still refuses to hurt the older princes even though Yongji isn't as a prestigious like Yongqi, who was Hongli's primary choice for his heir.
- Fatal Flaw: Sticking to the rules and her love for the Qianlong Emperor and family.
- Pretty ironic for a woman who does things behind the rules, she's always telling people to follow the decorum of the Qing Dynasty and expects the royal children to know the rules. This comes in especially in the timeskip. If she stopped talking about it, she would have stopped annoying the Empress Dowager and Hongli.
- Her love for her family tends to make rash decisions, especially in the moment with her father Naerbu. She spents the whole time begging for Hongli to not execute her father because he's the last family member she has and that he's always been loyal to the Empire. Because of that, the Empress Dowager took the opportunity to kill her father in prison when it took Qianlong a while to make a decision.
- Her love for Hongli served to be her downfall. In the timeskip, he's still quite restricted with her instead of how he he typically is with Yingluo, this results in Shusen always being agitated and jealous. It doesn't help that love and understanding are different, she loved Hongli more than she understood him. Yingluo did not have that deep love Shusen carried but she was very good at using her charms and knowing what he liked and disliked which resulted in him doting on her and treating her like a normal, loving wife more than Shusen.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Taking in Yuan Chunwang is the sole reason she becomes deposed from the Empress seat. Everything she did was all fine and calculated, but when Yuan starts masterminding things from behind, it eventually lead to her fall from power. Then again, her fragile mentality in the timeskip also helped skew her judgement.
- Irony:
- Shusen wanted to preserve her beauty but in the end, when Yingluo gets poisoned and gets the antidote from Fuheng's sacrifice, it is said to help preserve eternal beauty where Shusen gets locked up in her palace to rot.
- She becomes similar to Noble Consort Gao, who is also a very ruthless woman who loves the Emperor except she's more dignified and formal (on the surface level).
- Laser-Guided Karma: All her manipulations and killings finally come back at her as Hongli deposes her from cutting her hair in front of him and the Empress Dowager. Funny enough, what propelled it was Yuan Chunwang manipulating from the background that led to her and Prince He's downfall.
- Love Makes You Crazy: While she does sketchy things behind the Emperor's back and tries to preserve power for herself, Shusen does truly love the Emperor. Sadly, she could never reach the level of the deep bond he had with Rongyin and Yingluo. While she did give him love that we see, she could never understand him as well as Rongyin and especially Yingluo. In the timeskip, he gives more attention and love to Yingluo and treats her more like a wife than her was making her go crazy to the point she's putting too much emphasis on her beauty and thinking if her beauty fades he won't love her anymore. Even when Hongzhou tells her to depose the Emperor so Yongji can become the next emperor, she immediately refuses to do that out of her love for Hongli and calls him crazy for suggesting such a thing.
- Her intense love reaches a tipping point when she discovers that Yingluo survived the boat fire because of a secret passage that Fuheng made and she was tipped off about by the Emperor. She screams at Hongli that despite the fact she loved him the most, he didn’t tip her off about the passage and instead told Yingulo who has never loved him as much as Shushen did, then cuts her hair in despair. She is confined to her palace, and Yingulo takes her place as manager of the harem.
- Parental Favoritism: While maybe not intentional, Shusen gave more attention to her biological children than Yongcheng as years pass by. She admits this too but she does love Yongcheng like her own child and he loves her too like she's his real mother despite being the one to kill his biological mother.
- Sanity Slippage: In the timeskip, she's slowly losing her mind over the thought of losing her beautiful complexion because she thinks the Emperor won't love her if she gets old. It doesn't help when Physician Zhang comes to diagnose her and tells her she's suffering from jealousy, it's obvious through her symptoms, she's actually experiencing menopause. If he told her she was experiencing menopause, not only will she not be able to produce children anymore, Hongli will likely not ask her to service him anymore. Plus, being Empress has taken a strain on her health too.
- Start of Darkness: Oh, boy. Originally, she was a kind-hearted woman, but after her brother is arrested and her mother commits suicide out of despair, being bullied by Noble Consort Gao and finding out her father broke the principles she was taught made her go from a gentle woman with principle of morals to an absolutely ruthless woman who will do anything to preserve power and make the Emperor focus on her.
- The Lost Lenore: Losing her brother, mother, and eventually her father caused her to change from a genuine nice woman to a ruthless woman, ironically enough like Noble Consort Gao who lost her mother and had a terrible step-mother.
- Tooka Level In Jerkass: She was like Consort Qing, never really trying to up herself in the rankings and being a nice woman overall with morals and principles but finding out her father broke the principles she was taught, losing her mother and brother with no one helping her made her decide to not be a nice consort anymore. She doesn't care about killing people who get in her way, a stark contrast to her nice self in the beginning. Also, as the time goes on, with her children, she's somewhat gotten more stern, telling her biological son Yongji to stop crying instead of comforting him like she did with Yongcheng as a child all because he was the legitimate heir to the throne.
Fuca Fuheng
Fuca Fuheng
- Played by:
- Above the Influence: There was two instances of him being seduced (Yingluo and Erqing)
- The former was so Fuheng would get away from her because she fears she'll damage his future instead of being worried for her own life. Fuheng sees this and gives her a kiss on the forehead and still wanting to marry her and waiting for her until she lets go of her burdens.
- The latter was so she could "apologize" to him for cheating on him. It doesn't work on him as the deed was already done and he doesn't see himself as her husband anymore.
- Break His Heart to Save Him: When the Emperor plans to execute Yingluo, Fuheng has no choice but to take the marriage between him and Erqing, bestowed towards him from the Emperor to save her life. Yingluo is visibly heartbroken when he tells her the news.
- Chick Magnet: He is an attractive, young man who attracts female servants' attention and even attracts noble ladies like Consort Chun, Erqing, Mingyu ( at first), Qinglian and eventually Yingluo.
- First Love: Yingluo. While antagonistic (on her side) at first, after revealing to her, he did not kill her sister, several times, and seeing her genuine kindness for others, Fuheng falls in love with her. It's to the point he requests to his sister if he can marry Yingluo and have her as his main wife instead of a concubine, which would be seen as crazy since Fuheng comes from a very well-defined family clan and Yingluo comes from a baiyi family. Yingluo also begins to loosen up and falls in love with him too because of his genuineness to her. Too bad, the Emperor at this time is starting to develop some feelings to the maid and with some unfortunate manipulation and being too late, Fuheng is unable to marry her or have her as his concubine.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Without realizing, he does have small roles contributing to people going evil or taking vengeance.
- When he didn't realize Chun loved him and he gave back the present she gave to him, it made her go off and decide to gain power in the palace resulting in several significant moments that affect otheres dramatically due to her actions.
- If he didn't save Chenbi, then Mingyu wouldn't have taken her life early and Yingluo wouldn't have been suffering in her locked-up palace.
- You Are Too Late: During the three year war, the moment he gets back to the Forbidden Palace, Yingluo is already a part of Hongli's harem. It doesn't help she would have likely waited for him but seeing what Mingyu was going through made her go back to the Palace and was unexpectedly turned into a concubine by Hongli. Fuheng admits to Qinglian he would have made her his concubine because he wanted her by his side and the Emperor would grant him any wish since he won a great battle (Although it's unknown if the Emperor really would've granted the wish of letting Fuheng be with Yingluo since the Emperor had feelings for Yingluo or it dissipated after the three year timeskip when she attended Rongyin's grave).
The Harem
Fuca Rongyin
Fuca Rongyin
Empress Xiaoxianchun (posthumous title)
- Played by:
- Driven to Suicide: Losing her second son and especially being told by Erqing that she slept with the Emperor made her decide she doesn't want be the Empress no more and be freed of her role, to be Fuca Rongyin again; she drops from a high point and kills herself before Yingluo (although she apologizes to her apologetically for not waiting for her) comes back.
- Establishing Character Moment: When introduced, she's in her palace taking care of her flowers and is casually chatting with her close servants. Erqing and Mingyu beg her to go to the xiunv so the Empress Dowager doesn't lecture her for not doing her duties as the Empress. Before Hongli arrives, Ningxin puts some jabs at her and she doesn't have anything to retort showcasing her passive nature. When the Uya woman is ordered by Hongli to be dragged than given a flower, she tries to convince Hongli that if he does that, she'll bring shame to her family showing her kindness.
- Excessive Mourning: In the beginning she's still mourning the death of her son, Yonglian, despite it being years, and keeps a charm that reminds her of him. Fuheng tries to make her snap out of it but could not persuade her.
- Goodbye, Cruel World!: Before she committed suicide, Rongyin leaves a note for Hongli to spare Yingluo and let her leave the palace. She wrote this likely because she knew Yingluo would commit suicide to follow Rongyin. Sadly, he sees how she only wrote about Yingluo, nothing about him but he does abide to her request (just as she was apologetic of not waiting for Yingluo.
- Nice Guy: She truly was one of the kindest, sincere woman in the harem. It's obvious to see why Yingluo pledges her loyalty to her, reminding her of Yingning's kindness and follows her example and lessons when she becomes the Imperial Noble Consort.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Unforunate, considering she isn't trying to:
- She accidentally became one of Shusen's targets because when Shusen came to visit, she eavesdropped hearing how Rongyin wanted to send a doctor to Shusen's brother but didn't want to show favoritism, so instead she gave her a bunch of money to help her brother. Unforunately, he still died, and if Rongyin sent the doctor then Shusen wouldn't have targeted her for revenge which lead to her second son's death and her eventual suicide.
- A small one, but her stating how Hongli likes Yingluo because he wouldn’t marry her off to Fuheng, which eventually leads to Hongli trying to make Yingluo his woman.
Gao Ningxin
Gao Ningxin
Noble Consort Gao → Imperial Noble Consort Huixian (posthumously)
- Played by:
- Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: Ningxin never accepted her step-mother and her two younger half-sisters since she thinks her father did not care about her mother's sacrifice for him. The amount of hate she has for him is to the point of openly calling him "an old man" and snarking to him on how he got power (in which later his position gets revoked by Hongli for being incompetent). Also, it doesn't help her step-mother was abusive towards her too leading to the power-hungry woman we see her as. Before her final moments, she begs the Emperor to make an honorable grave for her biological mother since she can't and wanted to when she became empress.
- Even Evil Can Be Loved: Her brother, Lord Gao, seems to be the only person who genuinely loves Ningxin since he did send her a dog that she doted on. He was the only family member who tried to see his sister one last time presumably because he heard she was dying from bacterial infection to the point he was on his knees to get inside. He only finally barged in when he heard his sister's maid cry out as she hung herself.
- Face Death with Dignity: Knowing she's dying from bacterial infection after the fireworks accident, she does one last dance before she hangs herself so she doesn't die miserably from the infection.
- Pet the Dog: Apparently, in a deleted scene, Gao actually liked Yingluo's sister and was the person who helped after her "accident" with a drunk Hongzhou. This was because she made the opera costumes Gao loves to wear. Imagine if Yingluo knew who made Gao's costumes...
- Literal example, as she actually treats the dog that her brother sent to her as a gift better than most of the servants who serve her.
Su Jinghao
Su Jinghao
Consort Chun → Noble Consort Chun → Second Attendant Su
- Played by:
- Death Glare: If looks could kill, Chun's would. This is what she gives towards people she dislikes, especially towards Yingluo after finding out Fuheng loves her and stealing the Emperor's attention. She gives one to Erqing when she finds out allegedly the Emperor intends to make Fuheng and Erqing marry.
- Faux Affably Evil: How she engages with Yingluo most of the time after she becomes Hongli's concubine.
- Irony: Years ago, she helped Shusen figure out Yongcheng's poisoning that gets his mother Jia detained in the Cold Palace. The irony is when she finally gets detained in her palace before proceeding to go to the Cold Palace was Yongqi getting poisoned and her crimes being exposed by Yuhu and Consort Yu.
- Start of Darkness: Being told Fuheng never payed attention to her, knew her affections, or looked at her in a romantic light made her finally decide to sleep with the Emperor and wanting to have power for herself. It's to the point she betrays Rongyin, one of the people she's closest with before entering the palace, simply because she gave birth to a legitimate prince which would lead to her son likely not gaining favor.
- Tooka Level In Jerkass: She loses her genuinely nice, kind side after being hit with the truth that Fuheng never looked at her direction. It's to the point one of the big moments is that she betrays Rongyin and kills her son which leads her to commit suicide out of greed for power. When she finds out Mingyu saw Yuhu with Wang Zhong, she tries to kill her through acupuncturing by having needles in her body. And she doesn't hesitate to threaten Consort Yu to what would happen if someone would hurt Yongqi.
- Unrequited Love Lasts Forever: This trope hits her hard. When she finds out Fuheng never loved her, she goes crazy and this is the point where she hits her start of darkness. Sadly, she never moves on from her crush on him despite knowing he'll never return her feelings. She shows her jealousy to him when she asks why he likes Yingluo so much despite being born poor in status and skills. Even when she's sent to the Cold Palace, she writes the Chinese writing for "Spring" which is the first time she met Fuheng.
- Would Hurt a Child: After her Start of Darkness, she does not hesitate to kill the Empress's baby son so that her own son would gain favor. Not to mention, she implicitly threatens Yongqi's life to Yu's face if she doesn't do well.
Keliyete Ayan
Keliyete Ayan
Noble Lady Yu → Concubine Yu → Consort Yu → Nun
- Played by:
- Good Parents: Consort Yu was one of the best parents shown in the show. Instead of treating her son like a tool or forcing him to work hard to succeed, she was one of the parents to raise their child like a normal, loving parent while giving him lessons in life. It's no wonder Yongqi still loves his mother even after she was forced to poison him to get rid of Chun.
- Mama Bear: When Yongqi was born and looked like a yellow monster (because of jaundice from Ayan's appetite), she still did everything to save him. Luckily, Yingluo and a few others came to save her and her unborn child from Gao. Later, when she allies herself with Consort Chun, it was for Yongqi's sake, and she knew she didn't have the capabilities to be smart and resourceful enough to keep him from being safe. She asks Yingluo to look after him because she knows she is more capable than her as she leaves to be a Buddhist nun.
- The Quiet One: She doesn't try to distinguinsh herself much to the point we see the Emperor not talking to her much like Consort Qing.
Nalan Chunxue
Nalan Chunxue
Noble Lady Shu → Concubine Shu → Consort Shu
- Played by:
- Brainless Beauty: Downplayed, she's good-looking and a bit dim-witted but she does have her smart moments such as realizing the attacks on the princes seems planned. Although she thought Shusen did it but it was really Yuan. Plus, how she points if the royal usurpation on the boat plan failed, the blame could be placed on Prince He alone without anyone suspecting the Empress.
- Bullying a Dragon: Even as she should know by now, over the years, Yingluo is a crafty, smart woman, she never stops to make fun of her or stomp over her to make herself the better one. Yingluo always has a counterattack because of how dumb Chunxue can be.
- Butt-Monkey: Aside Jia, Shu is mostly the female butt monkey in the show but it's played for laughs. Mostly, when she tries to either service the Emperor, spend time with him, and get high positioned people's favors, Yingluo or someone else always snatches the chance. One moment was her waiting for Hongli for a long time to service him, instead, he went to Rongyin's palace because he heard about the Goddess dance and was entranced by her. When an eunuch comes in to tell her time's up, she angrily throws a pillow at them.
- Death of a Child: She lost her son, the 10th prince, who died very young, in the timeskip. In real-life history, it was stated to be her only child.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: A small one but when the stealing accident happens, Shu doesn't actually say anything aside staring at younger Jia says how Chun is probably responsible for it. Whether she's shutting her mouth in front of the Empress Dowager or she doesn't know enough to say something to support Jia, this is a rare moment of her being silent.
Lu Wanwan
Lu Wanwan
First Attendant Qing → Noble Lady Qing → Concubine Qing → Consort Qing → Noble Consort Qing
- Played by:
- Beware the Quiet Ones: She did not take it lightly when she found out Yongyan was poisoned and when she thinks Consort Shu did it, she immediately threatens to take her to the Emperor, Yingluo stops her before she does that since Yingluo knows well enough Shu wouldn't do something like that.
- Grew a Spine: In the 10 year timeskip and adopting a son that she loves and cares for her finally allows her to grow a spine. Moments like when she finds out Yongyan was poisoned, she immediately threatens to bring Chunxue to the Emperor and when Shusen tries to persuade Hongli to switch out the prostitutes for the music group, she and Consort Shu help with Yingluo on making the Emperor feel better.
- Mama Bear: Even if Yongyan wasn't her biological son, she still loves him and is protective of him to the point when she receives gifts from Consort Shu, a person she's known for a long time, she barely uses them in fear she'll hurt him. And when she finds out he was poisoned...
- Nice Guy: Or girl. Out of all the ladies in the harem aside Consort Yu, she's the gentlest and nicest, never trying to do anything bad. It's likely to do with her trying to avoid danger to herself, but it still sticks. She even tries to help Yingluo with Empress Dowager's sickness with Yingluo 10x treating her better than Shu. Also, during the time where the Emperor discovers Yingluo taking contraceptives, when Shu stops hurting Mingyu because of Hailancha's intervention, she gently tells Mingyu to be careful since Yanxi servants are treated coldly.
- The Quiet One: She's always by the side of the loud, boisterous Shu and never talks back, likely fearing bringing danger to herself. She didn't speak up when Yingluo slapped Shu after all but then again, it was Shu's fault for talking bad about Yingluo. The reason she never tells Shu to back off is because her father is subordinate to Shu's father. She knows Yingluo is the type to do something right for others, but for Qing, she's too cowardly to speak up. She actually speaks up during the Empress Dowager's birthday to give Yingluo leniency and during the time where Hongli loses trust in the Empress Dowager about the truth of his biological mother.
Jia
Jia
- Played by:
- Abusive Parents: While she didn't want to hurt him, Jia has her son Yongcheng become sick so she could gain him back. Chun brutually tells her that she views her son as a chip for power instead of her child.
- Butt-Monkey: Jia usually had to take the blame for Gao's crimes but as long as they weren't too severe so she could have a helping hand from someone higher than her.
Lady Baarin
Lady Baarin
Noble Lady Ying → Concubine Ying → Consort Ying
- Played by:
Niohuru Chenbi
Niohuru Chenbi
Concubine Shun
- Played by:
- Alas, Poor Villain: Yes, she did many bad things in the Palace, making Yingluo suffer so Fuheng would suffer, and especially making Mingyu commit suicide but you feel some sympathy for her in the end on how she was forced to go to the Forbidden Palace as a prize, away from her son who died trying to save his mother. Not to mention, how her son was conceived.
- The Bad Guy Wins: Downplayed, but she manages to implicate her own clan and have the people who sent her away to the palace to be executed. Her Palace is now cold and it won't be long till she dies but all she did in the series was plan out how to take down Fuheng, Yingluo people who wronged her, and potentially Hongli if she's going down too possibly.
- Foil: To Yingluo
- Both wanted revenge on someone that wronged them. However, Yingluo never tries to hurt others that are innocent in her revenge while Chenbi is all willing to hurt others for revenge like causing Mingyu to die early and hurt Yingluo to hurt the person she wants to hurt the most, the one being Fuheng.
- Both are smart and cunning in using their charms to gain Hongli's favor and attention. It was to the point that when Yingluo was gone, Chenbi managed to get the Emperor's attention quickly and the harem was in a disarray from the sly woman and they wanted Yingluo's help to stop her.
- Good Parents: Implied to be a good parent to A'xia, her son not from the Emperor. While how he was conceived wasn't all great, Chenbi still loved her son a lot. When she hears he died trying to save her, she wanted to take her own life but Fuheng stopped her, resulting in her hating him from stopping her suicide.
- Pet the Dog: While probably not on accident, she does stop Fuheng's son despite hating Fuheng from hitting himself on a wall. This is probably because she had a son she loved too.
- Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: Heavily implied. When Yingluo asks how did Chenbi have a son if she didn't have a husband or lover, all she says is "Having a beautiful face might not be a good thing". Yingluo realizes this instantly.
The Imperial Family
Lady Niohuru
Empress Dowager
- Played by:
- Doting Grandparent: She loves her grandchildren. While we don't see it much, she does show her love towards Yongqi, Zhaohua, and Zhaoyu. For Yongqi, while she doesn't try to help at first, when she sees Yongqi’s devotion to Consort Yu, she decides to make Yu a nun than be detained forever in her palace. Zhaohua and Zhaoyu are the most doted princesses by having the best food and clothes because she's taking care of them and they are the reason why the Empress Dowager isn't cold to Yingluo anymore, after the Chenbi events. She doesn't take it lightly when Shusen says they are unruly and should know the palace rules, saying she makes the rules in her palace and dares anyone to tell her, children coming from her palace are unruly.
- Never Mess with Granny: Seriously, don't. She's the Empress Dowager for many reasons and even her old age doesn't slow her craftiness in the Palace. When the Emperor was indecisive for a while on whether to kill or not Shusen's father, she already took the intiative to kill him in prison. Also, she manages to whip up an excellent lie that makes Yuan Chunwang believe he's not the son of the last emperor.
Lady Geng
Lady Geng/Dowager Noble Consort Yu
- Played by:
- Abusive Parents: When she disciplines her son, she uses a whip or smacks him around. Seriously.
- Hate Sink: Just like her son, she's quite despicable considering she's the one who actually killed Yingluo's sister to save Hongzhou's skin and shows no remorse for it. For a pious, devout Buddhist she has no qualms badmouthing Yingluo and her sister. It was cathartic to see how she died from lightning and being seen as an evil woman when Yingluo shouts how god would punish her for bad deeds.
- Laser-Guided Karma: She got what was coming when lightning kills her as Yingluo shouts for the gods to help kill her for her bad deeds. Afterwards, the servants who saw it now think she is a person with sins considering she did get killed. Unforunately, Rongyin, knowing how Hongli will likely severely punish or kill Yingluo for what she did, sends her to the Workhouse to save her life.
Hongzhou
Aisin-Gioro Hongzhou
- Played by:
- Bitch Slap: Courtesy of Hongli, because he tried to assault Yingluo, who Hongli at this point has feelings for. This obviously shocks Hongzhou.
- Face Death with Dignity: He's given poison water by Hailancha, ordered by Hongli, his brother, to make him die under the surface circumstances he was ill in his manor. He sees this and calmly states how Hongli was playing with him the entire time and sees how Hongli was chosen to be the emperor because he has a very cold heart. At the same time, he has the maid who served his biological mother to serve Shusen while she's detained in her palace.
- Green-Eyed Monster: To Hongli. He always feels Hongli always excels him at something aside becoming the Emperor. Even Hongli knows it but can't do much about it to punish him because Hongzhou goes to the Empress Dowager to ask for "forgiveness" and it'll bring shame to the Aisin-Gioro Clan.
- Hate Sink: Despite his very few redeeming moments, the show wants us to have this guy dead. While he didn't kill Yingluo's sister, he sexually assaulted her while drunk and shows no remorse for what he did. He compensates what he did by giving Yingluo's father 100 gold taels and making her his concubine by name to save face which makes Yingluo even more determined to see him gone. Afterwards, he even wanted to make Yingluo his concubine because he found her beautiful and let's not talk about him disguising as an eunuch to get "closer" with her.
- Unrequited Love Lasts Forever: He falls in love with Shusen and shows more of his nice side to her. Shusen knows and takes advantage of his feelings to get her stuff that she normally wouldn't be able to do or get. Even after realizing he was being taken advantage of her, during the boat revolt, he still loves her.
Qianlong's children
Yonglian
Aisin-Gioro Yonglian
- Played by:
- Parental Favoritism: The Emperor seemed to really favor Yonglian and stated how he was really smart and how he could have been his heir. It's to the point he drinks on the day of Yonglian's anniversary acknowledging how he was cold and how he could not spend more time with his son.
Yongcheng
Aisin-Gioro Yongcheng
- Played by:
- Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: Very downplayed, he's not a bad guy and while he did destroy the gun Yongqi usually uses, he did not have the intention of killing him. This trope applies to how he does see Shusen as his real mother but she paid more attention to Yongji, her biological son, than him, making him jealous and feeling left aside wanting to do good to get her attention and love.
- Foil: To Yongqi.
- Both are adopted by women who aren't their biological mothers, but Yingluo loves and treats Yongqi just like her biological children who has shown care and love to Yingluo's children while Shusen has shown favoritism towards her biological children which makes Yongcheng jealous and hateful towards Yongji.
- Hair-Trigger Temper: He is short-tempered in the timeskip, shown by his constant lashing out towards servants.
- Missing Mom: He doesn't realize that Shusen was the one who killed his biological mother.
Yongqi
Aisin-Gioro Yongqi/Prince Rong of the First Rank
- Played by:
- The Ace: As said in real life history, he is the best among his brothers and was chosen by Hongli to be his heir. Too bad, Yuan decides to ruin his chances of running the throne by making him handicapped.
- Establishing Character Moment: When introduced as a child, he is shown to be smart, extremely polite to others, and talented. He's also shown to love his mother very much and vice versa. His smart side is shown after Chun and his mother are locked up, when he first tries to beg his father to give a chance to his mother and when that didn't succeed, he went to the Empress Dowager who was convinced by his filial devotion and love to his mother to let her become a nun.
- Momma's Boy: Downplayed, as he is devoted and loving to his mother, but isn't smothering much. It does help how Consort Yu raised Yongqi as a loving mother instead of a child who needed to do their best as a prince so we see why Yongqi loves his mother so much and wants to give her leniency. In the timeskip, while he considers Yingluo to be like his real mom, he still has never forgotten his biological mother and the life lessons she's given to him.
- Nice Guy: He's shown to be the nicest out of his brothers when grown up as an adult.
Yongcong
Aisin-Gioro Yongcong
- Played by:
- Death of a Child: Chun burns his nursery down, out of jealousy and to to eradicate the legitimate heir. The well used for fires is frozen, and none of the servants are brave enough to jump into his room and save him. Rongyin braves against the fire and takes him out of his bed, but by the time she is outside, he is already dead which breaks her.
Zhaohua
Aisin-Gioro Zhaohua
- Played by:
Yongji
Aisin-Gioro Yongji
- Played by:
Yongyan
Aisin-Gioro Yongyan
- Played by:
Male servants
Li Yu
Li Yu
- Played by:
- Butt-Monkey: Played for laughs, in the beginning of the series, the Emperor would constantly kick his butt whenever he did something incompetent or stupid.
Yuan Chunwang
Yuan Chunwang
- Played by:
- All Love Is Unrequited: It's very implied he has feelings for Yingluo. Considering he is an eunuch, he was fine being called older brother by her. He did seem a bit possessive of her but he did treat her good. While he managed to make Fuheng beg to the Emperor for Yingluo to be released from jail, he did with it with the intention of keeping her to himself since he was aware how much she loved Fuheng.
- Alas, Poor Villain: Yes, he caused so much chaos in the story because he wanted revenge against the royal family for what they did to him but because he was constantly betrayed by people who he was close with, it's no wonder he became cold and murderous to others. If he was never told he was a child of the Emperor, the Empress Dowager exclaims he would have had a normal life with a family and pities him. Plus, the lie she comes up to make him think he isn't the child of the last emperor but of a bandit really does make him lose his mind since it sums up everything he did was All for Nothing.
- Bastard Angst: He is an illegitimate child of the last Emperor with a peasant, farm girl. He hates how he should have had royal treatment because he was the Emperor's child but the former emperor never acknowledged him and his uncle castrated him. Even the actor portaying him says he really is the child of the last Emperor.
- Berserk Button: It's subtle but he hates betrayal more than Yingluo. Considering his past when he was betrayed a lot, it makes sense. It's also why he, ironically, betrays Yingluo because she left him when she told him she would stay with him in Yuanming Garden.
- Child by Rape: Empress Dowager misleads Yuan by saying he's a child of a bandit who raped his mom, when she really knows he is the child of the former emperor. It's just if the public find out an eunuch is of royal blood, it would definitely hit the imperial family's reptuation.
- Dark and Troubled Past: He's a son of the Yongzheng Emperor, making him Hongli's brother. Too bad, he never got acknowledged and at a young age, was castrated and became an eunuch as a child making him go through a lot of suffering. It's no wonder why he became so attached to Yingluo because she seemed like the only good thing he had and was devastated when she left him in the Yuanming Garden seeing it as betrayal.
- Even the Guys Want Him: Taken by a horrific degree, he catches the eye of a high-ranking eunuch and even tries to assault him when he eats drugged food. Thankfully, Yingluo saves him.
- Fate Worse than Death: Being told he was never the child of the Yongzheng Emperor but a bandit really hit him hard as he loses his mind from the mental shock, when in reality he was (clarified by the actor playing Yuan). He was just told a persuasive lie by the Empress Dowager. The reason the Empress Dowager never kills or allows Hongli to kill Yuan is because she follows the tradition of not allowing royal blood to be spilled which gives more reason to why she won't allow him to be killed. In the end, he is sent to work in the lowest workplace in the Palace with his mind broken as he delusionally thinks he's playing with his royal father.
- If I Can't Have You…: Towards Yingluo after she decides to go back to the Forbidden Palace instead of staying with Yuan in the Yuanming Garden forever. Even after all those years towards the end, it's very implied Yuan still had some feelings towards Yingluo but since she became the Emperor's woman, and he hates Hongli because they are siblings but he didn't get the privileges as a prince and was made an eunuch, it's a likely reason why he hates Yingluo for breaking their promise and decides if he's going to die, she'll die with him.
- Informed Attractiveness: It’s pointed out by plenty of characters more than necessary that he’s “beautiful” for a eunuch, to the point he catches the unwanted attention of a high-ranking eunuch who tries to rape him and attracted many women as well in which he used to his looks to make them do what he wants.
- No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: If Yingluo didn't save him from being executed from the Emperor, after he discovers he stopped giving Yingluo food, because she still remembers the bond they had as servants but mostly because she wanted to send a message to Shusen, then he wouldn't have hurt so many people in the timeskip.
- Rich Sibling, Poor Sibling: Born to a peasant on a farm, he never had the privileges to what his royal siblings had in the Forbidden Palace.
- The Cameo: His first appearance was in Episode 10. He officially becomes a reocurring character when Yingluo is sent to work in the Work House.
- We Used to Be Friends: With Yingluo because he sees her leaving the Yuanming Garden and especially becoming Hongli's woman as betrayal.
Desheng
Desheng
- Played by:
Hailancha
Hailancha
- Played by:
- Butt-Monkey: Played for laughs, as Hailancha is either kicked by Mingyu, was the victim by accident from Yingluo's mechanisms, etc.
- Did Not Get the Girl: Subverted as he did get with Mingyu and wanted to marry her but he didn't know about her condition from what Chun did to her that made her take her life before their wedding. Even after the ten year timeskip, he doesn't remarry anyone again.
- Good Is Not Soft: He really is a nice guy but when Hongli asks him if he would execute Naerbu in his place, he immediately says yes. Hongli is surprised, knowing Hailancha's Nice Guy personality.
- Nice Guy: One of the reasons why Mingyu falls in love with him and why Fuheng is friends with him despite his lower-born status.
Female servants
Mingyu
Mingyu
Second maid to Empress Fuca → First Maid to Empress Fuca → Maid to Noble Consort Chun → First maid to Consort Ling
- Played by: Creator/
- Driven to Suicide: She stabs herself with the scissors Chenbi gave her to end her life so she doesn't make Hailancha a widow. It's unknown if she would have died in a few months or a few years but Chenbi made her take her life early to hurt Yingluo.
- Face Death with Dignity: When she realizes the damage from Chun's acupuncturing is finally affecting her, she decides to end her life in her wedding dress before the marriage ceremony since she doesn't want to make Hailancha a widow.
- Second Love: With Hailancha. Spending time with him and seeing how Fuheng seemed to easily give up Yingluo made her fall in love with Hailancha since he's always so nice to her and sometimes makes time for her.
- Single Woman Seeks Good Man: She was infatuated with Fuheng just like any other maid but eventually she falls in love with his friend, Hailancha, who is undoubtedly a nice guy who cared for her.
- Undying Loyalty: To the First Empress and then Yingluo.
- We Used to Be Friends: The instant she heard Erqing was responsible for Rongyin's death, she wanted her dead too like Yingluo.
Zhenzhu
Zhenzhu
Maid to Empress → Maid to Consort Ling → Second Maid to Consort Ling → First Maid to Consort Ling
- Played by: Creator/
- Grew a Spine: In the Princess Adventure, being the first maid to Yingluo has allowed Zhenzhu to become more outspoken to people who defy Yingluo.
- Undying Loyalty: Eventually she becomes Yingluo's maid when she becomes a concubine but unlike Hupo she still likes Yingluo. Even after Yingluo gets the cold treatment from the Emperor because of him finding out she's taking contraceptives, she doesn't leave. She's still with her after the timeskip and becomes the First Maid to Yingluo after Mingyu's death.
Hitara Erqing
Hitara Erqing
First maid to Empress Fuca → Madam Fuca
- Played by: Creator/
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: While it's debatable in the beginning on how genuinely good she was, especially her bond with Mingyu, becoming Fuheng's wife shed her outer skin and made her a despicable woman.
- Crazy Jealous Guy: She really doesn't like it when Fuheng shows apparent interest or kindness towards other young women like Yingluo and Qinglian.
- Even Evil Can Be Loved: Fuheng's half-brother Fuqian loved Erqing, who she takes advantage of to get pregnant to get back at Fuheng despite it being obvious how evil she is. Erqing's son Fuk'anggan wanted revenge for her when his fourth uncle told him Yingluo killed her, until he realizes and was told his mother was an evil, unnfaithful woman who cheated on Fuheng with his half-brother. making this subverted.
- Fatal Flaw: Jealousy.
- She is increasingly jealous of Yingluo, feeling that Yingluo makes everyone love her and abandon Erqing for no reason and that Yingluo doesn’t deserve it.
- After she forces Fuheng to marry her, she becomes increasingly jealous of any women that interact with him (except his mother), including their maid Qinglian. When Erqing catches her cleaning Fuheng’s office, she beats her profusely and is unapologetic when Fuheng yells at her for it. And when Qinglian saves Fuk’anggan from drowning in a pond, Erqing mistakes it as her drowning her son and yells at her, then she goes as far as to send Qinglian to a prostitution inn, pretending she was marrying her off. Qinglian is found by Fuheng bleeding and beaten harshly by her “caretakers”, and she commits suicide by swallowing gold out of shame. When Erqing learns of it, she is, again, unapologetic and says it was natural she would go to a prostitution inn since she was a “natural-born whore”.
- Foreshadowing: When Hongli asks her who really is her son's father, she states he has Fuca blood unlike what she told Fuheng. Later, in Princess Adventure, it is Fuqian who is Fuk'anggan biological father. At least she was being truthful there.
- Gold Digger: There was an instance where she tried to seduce the Emperor by purposely spilling water on his clothes (of course it doesn't work and he requests Yingluo, who he has feelings for at that point, to change his clothes). She also worked with the Empress who is the top lady in the harem. As Madam Fuca, Mingyu hates how she easily changed by wearing lots of jewerly and ordering servants like a noble, and Yingluo says this was probably her real side if she changed so easily.
- Good Parents: Perhaps one of her redeeming traits is being a good mother to her son. We never see her treat him badly or be neglectful to him, if not a bit overprotective.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Her marriage to Fuheng. Since she liked Fuheng, she thought eventually being in a marriage with him would make him fall in love with her and change his mind from Yingluo. It backfires on her when she punishes Qinglian for being in Fuheng's office and thinks the gift he was going to give her was going to be for some other woman, causing Fuheng to be disgusted with her. It doesn't help Fuheng's continued disinterest in her causes her to lose her mind and go crazy from the lack of intimacy and love from him.
- Hypocrite: Always accuses Fuheng of wanting to cheat on her, but in the end Fuheng stayed loyal to her and she cheated on him with his half-brother and pretended it was Hongli’s son.
- Laughing Mad: Whenever Fuheng doesn't give her love and when she has like a crazy look, she does this and it's loud.
Zhen'er
Zhen'er
First maid of Consort Xian.
- Played by: Creator/Fang Anna
- Horrible Judge of Character: It was obvious how Yuan was manipulating her and the events around them. Unforunately, her feelings for him and her dim-wittedness made her oblivious until towards the end where she realizes Yuan's true colors.
- Undying Loyalty: Like with Zhenzhu, Mingyu, and Yingluo, Zhen'er is loyal to Shusen. It's unforunate in the end where Yuan takes advantage of her feelings for him that destroys Shusen and leads to Zhen'er realizing what Yuan's done and tries to kill him for making Shusen fall in disgrace. He manages to kill her first.
Jixiang
Jixiang
Embroidery Maid
- Played by: Creator/Yixi Zhang
Jinxiu
Jinxiu
Embroidery Maid
- Played by: Creator/
Zhilan
Zhilan
First maid of Noble Consort Gao.
- Played by: Creator/Shi Yufei
Yuhu
Yuhu
First maid of Consort Chun.
- Played by: Creator/Chen Mo
Fangcao
Fangcao
First maid of Noble Lady Yu.
- Played by: Creator/Ren Wanjing
Ah'shuang
Ah'shuang
First maid of the elder Concubine Jia.
- Played by: Creator/Qian Chenjie
Lan’er
Lan’er
First maid of the younger Noble Lady Jia
- Played by: Creator/Liu Shitong
Bailing
Bailing
First maid of Dowager Imperial Noble Consort Yu.
- Played by: Creator/Gao Rui
Yizhu
Yizhu
First maid of Concubine Shun.
- Played by: Creator/Zhang Jie
Liu
Gugu Liu
First maid to Empress Dowager Chongqing.
- Played by: Creator/Li Jiawei
Fuca Family
Fuca Fuk'anggan
Fuca Fuk'anggan
- Played by: Wang Yizhe
- Calling the Old Man Out: Both to Erqing and Fuqian. He finally sees the mother he loved as a child to be a fickle, unfaithful woman who cheated on Fuheng with her uncle, disgracing his father. He calls out his fourth uncle (who is really his biological father) because he lied to him, tried to use him to ruin Yingluo and her daughter Zhaohua, and control him, all for Erqing who really was a bad woman despite the claims of his fourth uncle.
- Like Father, Like Son: Despite not being Fuheng's biological son, he does share some traits with him:
- He falls in love with Yingluo's daughter, Zhaohua, and just like Fuheng, never gets with her because of her marriage with Lhawang Dorji and he was too late to get her in the end.
- Mysterious Parent: It was up to debate to who was Fuk'anggan's biological father was. It was defintely not Fuheng since he never consummated his marriage with Erqing and never would. To mix it up, she says the child was the Emperor's child so Fuheng would not kill her but then she tells the Emperor her son has Fuca blood. It turns out to be Fuheng's half-brother Fuqian.
- You're Not My Father: To his biological father, Fuqian, his fourth uncle as he discovers he is his father, not Fuheng or the Emperor's, never wanting to see him again or be told he is his son. While he doesn't dismiss Erqing as his mother, he now sees his mother and uncle as disgracing the Fuca Clan and especially putting the wrongful blame on Fuheng who did nothing to deserve it. He sees himself as Fuheng's son and is reaffirmed by Zhaohua that he is by the little nuances he shares with him.
Fuca Fuqian
Fuca Fuqian
- Played by: Creator/
- Foreshadowing: His care to Fuk'anggan is strange at first but attentive viewers would be able to guess he was Erqing's son's father, not Hongli. Confirmed in Princess Adventures.
- Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: He hated how Fuheng had everything he wanted and how Fuheng's mother ruined him that led to him having a sick body. While this rant does make Fuk'anggan listen, he still doesn't it find it excusable for putting the blame on Fuheng because he simply had resentment and allowed it to consume him and have an affair with Erqing leading to Fuk'anggan's birth. He proclaims to Fuqian that he will never see him again and never be his son.
- Luke, I Am Your Father: He is Fuk'anggan's biological father with Erqing, as it turns out in Princess's Adventure. Fuk'anggan doesn't take this well.
- Unrequited Love Lasts Forever: He fell in love with Erqing but she absolutely has no interest in him aside using him to get her pregnant. Even after giving birth to their son, she still doesn't have any interest to him since if she showed interest to him, she would get executed for infidelity. Despite that, he decides to get revenge for her in the Princess Adventure. He seems oblivious that she was obviously evil but considering she showed him some interest that no one would show, this attributed to why he liked her.
