Empress Wu Zetian of China

The Innocent ConcubineThe story begins during the second reign of the Tang Dynasty. A 14-year-old Wu Ruyi (Fan Bingbing) enters the imperial palace as an innocent Cairen (Talented Lady). Her striking beauty and sharp intellect quickly catch the eye of Emperor Taizong. However, her favor in the court earns her the dangerous jealousy of the Emperor’s senior consorts.

Despite surviving numerous assassination attempts and framing plots, Ruyi is kept at a distance by Taizong due to an ominous prophecy foretelling that a woman with the surname “Wu” will one day steal the Tang Dynasty. Exile and ReturnUpon Emperor Taizong’s death, custom dictates that his childless concubines be sent to a monastery to become nuns for the rest of their lives.

Wu Ruyi is banished to the Ganye Temple. However, her story doesn’t end there. Taizong’s youngest son, Li Zhi (who becomes Emperor Gaozong), has harbored a deep, secret love for her since childhood. Defying tradition and his advisors, Gaozong visits the temple, reignites their romance, and brings her back to the treacherous imperial palace as his own concubine. A Ruthless AscentNo longer the naive girl she once was, Wu Meiniang (the name gifted to her by Taizong) realizes that to survive the palace, she must conquer it. She finds herself locked in a vicious power struggle against Gaozong’s current wives, Empress Wang and Consort Xiao. Using the political strategies she observed from the late Emperor Taizong, Meiniang outmaneuvers her rivals.

The series depicts her making agonizing and controversial sacrifices—including the tragic death of her infant daughter, which she uses to frame Empress Wang—eventually clearing her path to become the new Empress Consort. The Ultimate PowerAs Emperor Gaozong’s health begins to fail, Meiniang increasingly takes on the responsibilities of ruling the empire. She proves to be a brilliant, albeit ruthless, political strategist, suppressing rebellions and purging the court of her enemies. She co-rules alongside Gaozong until his death. Refusing to let the empire fall into the hands of her incompetent sons or ambitious ministers, she ultimately shatters centuries of patriarchal tradition.

She declares the establishment of her own empire, the Zhou Dynasty, ascending the throne to become Wu Zetian—the first and only female Emperor in Chinese history. Behind the Scenes: The 75-episode series took an estimated 300 million Yuan (nearly $50 million USD) to produce, featuring thousands of historically recreated props and unimaginably elaborate Tang Dynasty costumes. While criticized by some historians for romanticizing her famously brutal tactics, it remains a landmark piece of television