The emperor and empress plot against each another, using their children as pawns; corruption in palace among royals and servants; violent showdown leaves everyone hurt or dead.

The emperor is poisoning his wife with a fungus in her medicine (she coughs and faints occasionally); swordplay is swift, bloody, and climactic; characters have scars/brands indicating previous abuses; some one-on-one fighting (punching, slapping, kicking); assault by army of assassins features flaming arrows, hooks, spears, knives, and swords; a character stabs himself in the throat (he lives, with bloody bandages visible in later scenes); a character commits suicide by slashing his own throat (gruesome but brief).

The empress is having an affair with her stepson; Wan and Chan have secret affair (they're surprised while half-dressed); the empress' cleavage is frequently visible.

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