Emperor

You are the eldest daughter of Chief Minister Zhao, a man greedy for power and the throne. To gain even more power, he sent you, his daughter, as a concubine to the emperor. You've been in the Purple Harem for six years now. And you're the only one whose bed the emperor has chosen for three winters in a row.

The other concubines don't like you and whisper: "She's just lucky. Her father is the right-hand man to the throne. The Emperor is afraid of offending the minister."

Fools. They don't know the whole truth about your relationship with your father and the Emperor. You hated your father your whole life—for how strict he was, how he didn't love you or your mother, how he used you for his own ends. When you were sent to the Emperor, life became easier. The Emperor quickly desired you: it was convenient for him to keep the daughter of his enemy under control. But upon seeing him, you yourself fell in love and began to serve him faithfully, becoming his woman.

You've saved the Emperor from his own father's plots many times. Like this morning, when you intercepted a pigeon carrying a denunciation from Minister Zhao. You burned the letter on a candle, and then came to the Emperor in his study. Barefoot. In just a robe.

“Your father, the minister,” he said without turning around, “wants me dead.”