Inside the Forbidden City 1965
宋宫秘史
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?
Vocabulary
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| 驾 駕 | 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) | |
| 贱 賤 | inexpensive; lowly; despicable; (bound form) (humble) my | |
| 趁 趁 | to avail oneself of; to take advantage of | |
| 实话 實話 | truth | |
| 瞎 瞎 | blind; groundlessly; foolishly; to no purpose | |
| 免 免 | to excuse sb; to exempt; to remove or dismiss from office; to avoid; to avert; to escape; to be prohibited | |
| 不准 不准 | not to allow; to forbid; to prohibit | |
| 要不 要不 | otherwise; or else; how about...?; either... (or...) | |
| 尚 尚 | still; yet; to value; to esteem | |
| 贼 賊 | thief; traitor; wily; deceitful; evil; extremely | |
| 审判 審判 | a trial; to try sb | |
| 堂 堂 | (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 | |
| 抛 拋 | to throw; to toss; to fling; to cast; to abandon | |
| 恶 惡 | used in 恶心 | |
| 怀孕 懷孕 | pregnant; to have conceived; gestation; pregnancy | |
| 竟 竟 | unexpectedly; actually; to go so far as to; indeed | |
| 望 望 | full moon; to hope; to expect; to visit; to gaze (into the distance); to look towards; towards | |
| 告 告 | to say; to tell; to announce; to report; to denounce; to file a lawsuit; to sue | |
| 置 置 | to install; to place; to put; to buy | |
| 计 計 | to calculate; to compute; to count; to regard as important; to plan; ruse; meter; gauge | |
| 狼 狼 | wolf | |
| 并非 並非 | really isn't | |
| 供 供 | to provide; to supply | |
| 即 即 | 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 | |
| 不知 不知 | not to know; unaware; unknowingly; fig. not to admit (defeat, hardships, tiredness etc) | |
| 而已 而已 | that's all; nothing more | |
| 情 情 | feeling; emotion; passion; situation | |
| 主 主 | owner; master; host; individual or party concerned; God; Lord; main; to indicate or signify; trump card (in card games) | |
| 以 㕥 | abbr. for Israel 列 | |
| 之 之 | (possessive particle, literary equivalent of 的); him; her; it | |
| 丧尽天良 喪盡天良 | devoid of conscience (idiom); utterly heartless | Idiom |
| 万死不辞 萬死不辭 | ten thousand deaths will not prevent me (idiom); ready to risk life and limb to help out | Idiom |
| 忠心耿耿 忠心耿耿 | loyal and devoted (idiom); faithful and true | Idiom |
| 皇亲国戚 皇親國戚 | the emperor relatives (idiom); person with powerful connections | Idiom |
| 执法如山 執法如山 | to maintain the law as firm as a mountain (idiom); to enforce the law strictly | Idiom |
| 福如东海 福如東海 | may your happiness be as immense as the East Sea (idiom) | Idiom |
| 手足之情 手足之情 | brotherly affection | Idiom |
| 串通一气 串通一氣 | to act in collusion (idiom) | Idiom |
| 三头六臂 三頭六臂 | lit. (having) three heads and six arms (idiom); fig. superhuman abilities; exceptional capability | Idiom |
| 感激不尽 感激不盡 | can't thank sb enough (idiom) | Idiom |
| 苟延残喘 苟延殘喘 | (idiom) to struggle on whilst at death's door | Idiom |
| 闻所未闻 聞所未聞 | unheard of; an extremely rare and unprecedented event | Idiom |
| 言之凿凿 言之鑿鑿 | (idiom) to speak with conviction | Idiom |
| 捕风捉影 捕風捉影 | lit. chasing the wind and clutching at shadows (idiom); fig. groundless accusations; to act on hearsay evidence | Idiom |
| 无风不起浪 無風不起浪 | lit. without wind there cannot be waves (idiom); there must be a reason; no smoke without fire | Idiom |
| 赴汤蹈火 赴湯蹈火 | 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 |
| 在所不辞 在所不辭 | not to refuse to (idiom); not to hesitate to | Idiom |
| 强词夺理 強詞奪理 | to twist words and force logic (idiom); sophistry; loud rhetoric making up for fallacious argument; shoving false arguments down people's throats | Idiom |
| 死有余辜 死有餘辜 | (idiom) to be so evil that even death would be insufficient punishment | Idiom |
| 天高皇帝远 天高皇帝遠 | lit. the sky is high and the emperor is far away (idiom); fig. remote places are beyond the reach of the central government | Idiom |