This book is more than a series of tales about the intrigues, illicit love affairs and murders committed by the various women who populated the harems of China's many emperors. It is a unipue retelling of major events in China's more than 3000-Year-old history as seen through the eyes of these courtesans of the rear palace. Each emperor had thousands of beauties at his beck and call. Most of them, separated at a young age from their families, livesd in the rear palace in loneliness and seclusion

Introduction
Leizu Teaches People to Spin Silk
King Shun's Two Wives, Ehuang and Nuying
Nujiao Encourages Her Husband To Tame Floods
Wu Jiang, a Partial Mother
Li Ji Murders the Crown Prince
Xi Shi, the Beauty Who Topples a Nation
Despotic Empress Lu
Wang Zhi Becomes Empress by Her Secoind Marriage
The Vicissitudes of Ahjiao
The “Fist Lady”Loses Her life
Empress Ma Declines to Elevate External Relatives
Deng Sui, a learned ,Kindly Empress
Jia Nanfeng, and Ugly and Vicious Empress
Lady Lou Makes Room for and Alien Prince
Lady Dugu, a Virtuous Yes Jealous Empress
Empress Zhangsun Admonishes Her Imperial Husband
Empress Wu Zetian
The Plum Consort
Honored Consort Lady Yang
The Greedy Empress Liu
Empress Liu and Her Luckless Maid
Empress Ma, a Paragon of Benevolence
Lady Wang's Assassiation Attempt Against the Emperor
Empress Dowager Cixi