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Director Yimou Zhang's lavish epic follows the romantic intrigue and political machinations in the house of the Emperor Ping and his ailing wife.. A Chinese emperor (Chow Yun-Fat) returns to his palace to discover his wife (Gong Li) is having an affair with her stepson, the Crown Prince (Ye Liu), who is himself actually in love with the Imperial doctor's daughter. In the lead up to the Chong Yang festival, an army of golden-plated warriors lay siege to the palace.

The lavish and opulent film tells of an imperial Chinese family rapidly losing internal strength due to a power struggle between the emperor (martial arts superstar Chow Yun-Fat), the empress (Yimou mainstay Gong Li), and the couple's three sons. The family members' constant need to vie with one another for control and authority ultimately tears the nepotistic structure to pieces.. The plot concerns the volatile balance of power between the King (Chow Yun Fat) and the Queen (Gong Li) and his three sons, which entails betrayal, deceit an.