Inside the Forbidden City

Inside the Forbidden City 1965

sòng gōng shǐ

It seems that Li Zhenfei was once an imperial concubine, who often found herself competing with her rival Madame Liu for the emperor's sole, undivided attention. When Li gives birth to the Emperor's child, the jealous Liu switches the boy with a cat and commands a servant named Kou Zhu to kill the baby. However, Kou Zhu ignores the order and gives the prince-to-be to the emperor's brother, a decision which eventually leads to the boy being adopted by the emperor himself! But as fate would have it, to go along with his new son, the emperor has a new wife as well - Madame Liu! As this strange new family unit is being constructed, poor Li Zhenfei has been confined to the forbidden palace, condemned to never see or speak to her son, the prince. But destiny reunites her with her son, but will this family reunion be a happy one? And will Madame Liu finally be punished for her treachery?

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6.59 Advanced

Vocabulary

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fēng to confer; to grant; to bestow a title; to seal; classifier for sealed objects, esp. letters HSK 2
jiāo gěi to give; to deliver; to hand over HSK 2
xíng won't do; be out of the question; be no good; not work; not be capable HSK 2
xiǎng way of thinking; opinion; notion; to think of a way (to do sth) HSK 2
zěn me bàn what's to be done HSK 2
xiǎo xīn to be careful; to take care HSK 2
suàn to plan; to intend; to calculate; plan; intention; calculation HSK 2
zěn me yàng how?; how about?; how was it?; how are things? HSK 2
biàn everywhere; all over; classifier for actions: one time HSK 2
biǎo exterior surface; family relationship via females; to show (one's opinion); a model; a table (listing information); a form; a meter (measuring sth) HSK 2
shí zài really; actually; indeed; true; real; honest; dependable; (philosophy) reality HSK 2
liú to flow; to disseminate; to circulate or spread; to move or drift; to degenerate; to banish or send into exile; stream of water or sth resembling one; class, rate or grade HSK 2
tīng shuō to hear (sth said); one hears (that); hearsay; listening and speaking HSK 2
tuī to push; to cut; to refuse; to reject; to decline; to shirk (responsibility); to put off; to delay; to push forward; to nominate; to elect; massage HSK 2
pen; pencil; writing brush; to write or compose; the strokes of Chinese characters; classifier for sums of money, deals HSK 2
tuǐ leg HSK 2
to take; to get; to choose; to fetch HSK 2
fish HSK 2
zhèng shì is precisely HSK 2
tōng to go through; to know well; (suffix) expert; to connect; to communicate; open; to clear; classifier for letters, telegrams, phone calls etc HSK 2
gāng cái just now; a moment ago HSK 2
huà to draw; to paint; picture; painting; to draw (a line) (variant of 划); stroke of a Chinese character (variant of 划); (calligraphy) horizontal stroke (variant of 划) HSK 2
shí fēn very; completely; utterly; extremely; absolutely; hundred percent; to divide into ten equal parts HSK 2
hǎi ocean; sea; great number of people or things; (dialect) numerous HSK 2
night HSK 2
jiù yào will; shall; to be going to HSK 2
hòu lái afterwards; later; newly arrived HSK 2
si idea; opinion; meaning; wish; desire; interest; fun; token of appreciation, affection etc; to give as a small token; to do sth as a gesture of goodwill etc HSK 2
shuō míng to explain; to illustrate; to indicate; to show; to prove; explanation; directions; caption HSK 2
滿 Mǎn Manchu ethnic group HSK 2
to pass; to spend (time); measure; limit; extent; degree of intensity; degree (angles, temperature etc); kilowatt-hour; classifier for events and occurrences HSK 2
to carry (hanging down from the hand); to lift; to put forward; to mention; to raise (an issue); upwards character stroke; lifting brush stroke (in painting); scoop for measuring liquid HSK 2
to be afraid; to fear; to dread; to be unable to endure; perhaps HSK 2
to cry; to weep HSK 2
jīng guò to pass; to go through; process; course HSK 2
shōu to receive; to accept; to collect; to put away; to restrain; to stop; in care of (used on address line after name) HSK 2
jìn near; close to; approximately HSK 2
yǎn jing eye HSK 2
yuán lái original; former; originally; formerly; at first; so, actually, as it turns out HSK 2
dǎo to fall; to collapse; to lie horizontally; to fail; to go bankrupt; to overthrow; to change (trains or buses); to move around; to resell at a profit HSK 2
gas; air; smell; weather; to make angry; to annoy; to get angry; vital energy; qi HSK 2
shì old practice HSK 2
zuò seat; base; stand; (archaic) suffix used in a respectful form of address, e.g. 师座; classifier for buildings, mountains and similar immovable objects HSK 2
xiǎng dào to think of; to call to mind; to anticipate HSK 2
jiāo to hand over; to deliver; to pay (money); to turn over; to make friends; to intersect (lines); variant of 跤 HSK 2
liú to leave (a message etc); to retain; to stay; to remain; to keep; to preserve HSK 2
bàn to do; to manage; to handle; to go about; to run; to set up; to deal with HSK 2
gǒu dog HSK 2
huàn to exchange; to change (clothes etc); to substitute; to switch; to convert (currency) HSK 2
fèn classifier for gifts, newspaper, magazine, papers, reports, contracts etc; variant of 分 HSK 2