THE IMPERIAL LADY

(Synapsis)

During the reign of Emperor Hsien Feng (Chao Lei) of the Ching Dynasty, a joint British-French army attacked the imperial capital of Peking, forcing the Emperor to flee to Jehol. Prince Yi Su (Lo Chi) stayed behind in the capital to seek a peaceful solution. In view of the poor health of the Emperor, a power struggle unfolded between Su Shun (Li Ying), an influential member of the imperial family, and Yi Kwei-fe (Li Mei) an imperial concubine who was later known as Empress Dowager. Outmaneuvering Su, Kwei-fei chose her own son to succeed the Emperor and proclaimed him as Emperor Tung Chih. When the young emperor was six years old, the old emperor died in Jehol and Su again sought to usurp power. It was again Kwei-fei, now as Empress Dowager, who emerged victorious. When Su and his followers returned to the capital, they were arrested by General Jung Lu (Chiao Hung), a right-hand man of the Empress Dowager, and were executed. By then the Empress Dowager had wielded power in her hands.

When the fragile Emperor Tung Chih died at the age of 19, Empress Dowager, acting contrary to the practice of imperial succession, chose her nephew, son of Prince Chun, and put him in the throne as Emperor Kuang Hsu (Lei Chen). She herself was still in firm control of the Imperial Court.

Emperor Kuang Hsu was dissatisfied with his wife, Empress Lung Yu (Mo Chou), who was chosen for him by the Empress Dowager. However, to console him, the Empress Dowager allowed him to take two beautiful concubines, Chen-fei (Chang Mei-yao) and Chih-fei (Yung Yung).

Confronted with the situation of weakening imperial power, Emperor Kuang Hsu issued an edict calling on the governors of all provinces to raise funds for building up a strong navy. However, the Empress Dowager, who saw no need for a strong navy, used the funds to build the magnificent Summer Palace.

After the Sino-Japanese War of 1894, the Ching Government was forced to pay indemnities and make territorial concessions to the foreign powers. Emperor Kuang Hsu, accepting the advice of Kang Yu-wei (Wang Hao), a Minister for Political Affairs and a noted scholar, introduced a new deal that aimed at reforming the political system of the country. The Empress Dowager was so infuriated that she wanted to dethrone Kuang Hsu.

When word of the attempted dethronement spread, the followers of the Emperor sought to protect him. At this time, General Yuan Shih-kai (Tang Ti) was recommended to the Emperor for an important position. Yuan was instructed to go to Tientsin to have General Jung Lu arrested and executed, and then lead ten thousand reinforcements into the capital to besiege Summer Palace and demand a promise from the Empress Dowager that she would henceforth refrain from interferring with the affairs of the State. But the treacherous Yuan betrayed Emperor and revealed the secrets to Jung Lu and the Empress Dowager. As a result, Kuang Hsu and Chen-fei were detained in the palace and deprived of their freedom.

At this time, the Boxer Rebellion broke out. The rebels proclaimed as the aim the support of the Ching Government and the expulsion of the foreign powers from the Chinese territory. They were encouraged by the Empress Dowager to burn down foreign embassies and slaughter foreign nationals. This resulted in the invasion by the eight-nation allied force. At this critical moment, Chen-fei persuaded Emperor Kuang Hsu not to follow the Empress Dowager in fleeing to west China but to stay in the capital to handle the situation. To force the Emperor to flee with her the Empress Dowager had Chen-fei thrown into a well. Left with no other choice and his heart broken by the death of his beloved, Kuang Hsu sadly left the palace with the Empress Dowager.