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A quick note about our show.

We do a lot of research for our stories, but we also aren't your boring high school history class,

so some details and scenes are dramatized.

And keep in mind today, we're talking about women's rights and women's wrongs.

So this episode does feature some violence.

Please be advised.

It's a summer morning in 1900, and a warm breeze moves through a courtyard in the forbidden city.

Empress Dowager Tsashi stands at one end wearing a yellow robe inlaid with shiny pearls.

She eyes the doors at the other end of the courtyard.

She's so tired, but she knows that today of all days, she cannot show any signs of weakness. Suddenly, the doors to the courtyard are thrown

open, and Sashie sees eunuchs come out, dragging a young woman behind them. The woman kicks and

screams as they carry her towards a well at the center of the courtyard. She looks over and notices

the Empress Dowager. She stops screaming and begs Sashi to spare her life.

The young woman swears that she thought she was doing the right thing for China. For a moment,

Sashi can relate. Like this woman, Pearl, she also risked her life for power. But Sashi has come

too far to let anyone get in her way. She turns to the

eunuchs and tells them to throw Pearl down the well. Wow. Okay. So not women supporting women.

Got it. Yeah, yeah. At first, no one moves. So she starts to sweat. She knows this looks bad.

But she has no choice.

There's only one way to stop this ambitious woman from undermining her authority.

...