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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jià to harness; to draw (a cart etc); to drive; to pilot; to sail; to ride; your good self; prefixed word denoting respect (polite 敬辞) HSK 7
jiàn inexpensive; lowly; despicable; (bound form) (humble) my HSK 7
chèn to avail oneself of; to take advantage of HSK 7
shí huà truth HSK 7
xiā blind; groundlessly; foolishly; to no purpose HSK 7
miǎn to excuse sb; to exempt; to remove or dismiss from office; to avoid; to avert; to escape; to be prohibited HSK 7
zhǔn not to allow; to forbid; to prohibit HSK 7
yào otherwise; or else; how about...?; either... (or...) HSK 7
shàng still; yet; to value; to esteem HSK 7
zéi thief; traitor; wily; deceitful; evil; extremely HSK 7
shěn pàn a trial; to try sb HSK 7
táng (main) hall; large room for a specific purpose; relationship between cousins etc on the paternal side of a family; of the same clan; classifier for classes, lectures etc; classifier for sets of furniture HSK 7
pāo to throw; to toss; to fling; to cast; to abandon HSK 7
ě used in 恶心 HSK 7
怀 huái yùn pregnant; to have conceived; gestation; pregnancy HSK 7
jìng unexpectedly; actually; to go so far as to; indeed HSK 7
wàng full moon; to hope; to expect; to visit; to gaze (into the distance); to look towards; towards HSK 7
gào to say; to tell; to announce; to report; to denounce; to file a lawsuit; to sue HSK 7
zhì to install; to place; to put; to buy HSK 7
to calculate; to compute; to count; to regard as important; to plan; ruse; meter; gauge HSK 7
láng wolf HSK 7
bìng fēi really isn't HSK 7
gōng to provide; to supply HSK 7
namely; that is; i.e.; prompt; at once; at present; even if; prompted (by the occasion); to approach; to come into contact; to assume (office); to draw near HSK 7
zhī not to know; unaware; unknowingly; fig. not to admit (defeat, hardships, tiredness etc) HSK 7
ér that's all; nothing more HSK 7
qíng feeling; emotion; passion; situation HSK 7
zhǔ owner; master; host; individual or party concerned; God; Lord; main; to indicate or signify; trump card (in card games) HSK 7
abbr. for Israel 列 HSK 7
zhī (possessive particle, literary equivalent of 的); him; her; it HSK 7
sàng jìn tiān liáng devoid of conscience (idiom); utterly heartless Idiom ∼HSK 6
wàn ten thousand deaths will not prevent me (idiom); ready to risk life and limb to help out Idiom ∼HSK 6
zhōng xīn gěng gěng loyal and devoted (idiom); faithful and true Idiom ∼HSK 6
huáng qīn guó the emperor relatives (idiom); person with powerful connections Idiom ∼HSK 6
zhí shān to maintain the law as firm as a mountain (idiom); to enforce the law strictly Idiom ∼HSK 6
Dōng Hǎi may your happiness be as immense as the East Sea (idiom) Idiom ∼HSK 6
shǒu zhī qíng brotherly affection Idiom ∼HSK 6
chuàn tōng to act in collusion (idiom) Idiom ∼HSK 6
sān tóu - liù lit. (having) three heads and six arms (idiom); fig. superhuman abilities; exceptional capability Idiom ∼HSK 6
gǎn jìn can't thank sb enough (idiom) Idiom ∼HSK 6
gǒu yán - cán chuǎn (idiom) to struggle on whilst at death's door Idiom ∼HSK 6
wén suǒ wèi wén unheard of; an extremely rare and unprecedented event Idiom ∼HSK 6
yán zhī záo záo (idiom) to speak with conviction Idiom ∼HSK 6
fēng zhuō yǐng lit. chasing the wind and clutching at shadows (idiom); fig. groundless accusations; to act on hearsay evidence Idiom ∼HSK 6
fēng làng lit. without wind there cannot be waves (idiom); there must be a reason; no smoke without fire Idiom ∼HSK 6
tāng dǎo huǒ lit. to jump into scalding water and plunge into raging fire (idiom); fig. to brave any danger; to go to any lengths (for a noble cause) Idiom ∼HSK 6
zài suǒ not to refuse to (idiom); not to hesitate to Idiom ∼HSK 6
qiǎng duó to twist words and force logic (idiom); sophistry; loud rhetoric making up for fallacious argument; shoving false arguments down people's throats Idiom ∼HSK 6
yǒu (idiom) to be so evil that even death would be insufficient punishment Idiom ∼HSK 6
tiān gāo huáng yuǎn lit. the sky is high and the emperor is far away (idiom); fig. remote places are beyond the reach of the central government Idiom ∼HSK 6