Scarlet Heart (2011)

After being hit by a taxi and electrocuted, Zhang Xiao wakes up in 1704 China, during the reign of Emperor Kangxi, in the body of 16-year-old Maertai Ruoxi. At first confused and disoriented, Zhang Xiao eventually decides she doesn’t want to try returning to a present where she might have died: she thus begins to adapt to her new life as Ruoxi, astonishing the girl’s acquaintances with behavior that goes against the grain of the era, as a guest at the residence of the Eighth Prince, husband of her older sister Ruolan. Before long, Ruoxi enters the Forbidden City for the concubine selection; however, thanks to the friendships she has formed in the meantime with some of the other princes, she is instead chosen as a maid who prepares tea for the Emperor, whose trust and paternal affection she wins. But life in the Forbidden City is not easy, and danger lurks around every corner, while the Eighth Prince and the Fourth Prince clash not only over the throne but also over the girl’s heart. Ruoxi knows that a despotic and ruthless reign awaits China when the Fourth Prince becomes Emperor, and, using her knowledge, she tries to limit the damage, but history is a cruel tyrant that accepts no change, and every single detail can mean the difference between life and death.