Names within the story are different in spelling but retain the same pronunciation - allowing the reader to identify each relevant character to his or her real life counterpart.

The official duty of an Imperial consort is to sleep with the Emperor and produce male heirs, but Orchid has yet to be summoned.

Knowing this, Orchid decides to bribe Chief Eunuch Shim in order to gain Emperor Hsien Feng's attention.

Foreign powers are beginning to invade China, demanding that the emperor grants them the right to establish trade and ports.

The weak emperor is unable to defend his empire from the combined strength of the intruding forces and the royal family flees the capital when the enemies approach Peking.

As Su Shun had previously expected to gain more power from the death of Hsien Feng without Orchid's interference, tensions between the two increase.

With the assistance of An-te-hai and Prince Kung Orchid manages to successfully arrest and punish Su Shun and his associates, on the grounds that they had tried to organise a coup d'état.

The novel ends with the official burial of Emperor Hsien Feng and the hint of a new relationship between Orchid and General Yung Lu.