San Hao Follows Her Mother, Entering the Palace as a Slave
In the late Tang Dynasty, after Emperor Xianzong passed away, Consort Guo (played by Xie Xuexin), with the help of the powerful eunuch Ma Yuanzhi, enthroned her son Li You as the new emperor, known as Emperor Muzong. Liu Sanhao's (played by Charmaine Sheh) father supported Xianzong’s second son, Li Yun, to be the crown prince. As a result, he was punished by Emperor Muzong and exiled to the frontier. His wife, Jiang Caiqiong (played by Tian Ruini), along with their seven-year-old daughter Sanhao and their maid Yao Jinling (played by Yang Yi), were sent to the palace as slaves.
The Jiang family had been famous for generations in making jewelry. Caiqiong, having received training since childhood, possessed very skillful hands. She was assigned to the Zhen Department (in charge of jewelry), responsible for the final touches on Empress Dowager Guo's phoenix hairpin adorned with pearls used as phoenix eyes. One early spring day, while enjoying flowers, Empress Dowager Guo used a brazier to keep warm when suddenly, one of the palace maids noticed red wax dripping from the phoenix eyes, crying out that it was the phoenix weeping blood. As a result, Caiqiong was beaten with sticks, and the head of the Zhen Department was dismissed. Caiqiong suffered severe injuries and caught a cold, falling critically ill. On her deathbed, she longed to smell the flowers of her hometown once more. To fulfill her wish, Sanhao went to the garden under the Qionghua tree, where a flower coincidentally fell. Sanhao picked it up, but Aunt Xu passed by and accused her of私自 picking palace flowers, slapping her. Li Yi (played by Christopher Gor), the thirteenth younger brother of Emperor Muzong, saw this and, understanding Sanhao's intentions and her filial piety, took the initiative to pick another flower for her. When Sanhao returned and offered the flower to her mother, Caiqiong felt comforted. In her dying moments, she reminded Sanhao to adhere to the principles of life: "Do good deeds, speak good words, and have good thoughts."