A swarm of bats ruin a palace banquet. The Empress falls unconscious after Noble Consort Gao pushes her amidst the chaos. Wei Ying Luo refuses to see the unconscious Empress, stunning Ming Yu and Fu Heng. She gets bullied the Noble Consort Gao and falls ill. Consort Xian takes over the reigns of the palace and, after an unsteady start, wins over the crowd at a porridge shelter with the help of the Prince Hong Zhou and the eunuch Yuan Chun Wang. Consort Xian is slowly consolidating power within the Imperial Palace.