Originally, the emperor was not allowed to have any concubines, because it was a constitutional monarchy, not truly ancient times. Monogamy was still the main theme.
However, when the emperor was young, he accidentally slept with a palace maid. This maid, named Li Duoli, privately gave birth to a child after becoming pregnant and planned to announce the child, hoping to become the empress. However, the emperor had long been betrothed to marry Gu Hefeng, played by Zhou Yijing, so at that time, everyone said, since it was just a reckless moment in youth, it would be better to let the child grow up in the palace, and Concubine Li became part of the emperor's harem.
Gu Hefeng had no choice and agreed.
Although Concubine Li didn't succeed in her plan, she became a special force in the palace as she had borne the emperor's first son, which gave her qualifications for power struggles.
