Reborn Rivals, Swapped Lives!

At a palace banquet, Lady Clara Harris performs a melody praised by the emperor. Her elder sister Emily Harris suddenly attacks her with a blade, accusing Clara of stealing her rightful fortune and cursing her. As Clara falls, she vows to reclaim everything in her next life.

Clara Harris awakens after her assassination to find herself reborn to the day the Carlton family sends a marriage proposal. Her parents pressure her to marry Julian Carlton in Emily's place, and Clara feigns agreement. But Emily suddenly insists on marrying him herself, making Clara realize her sister has also been reborn.

Emily Harris declares she wants only a devoted husband and gives the palace selection opportunity to Clara. When Clara's ailing mother is callously dismissed by their father, Clara resolves to pursue power. She agrees to enter the selection, setting both sisters on their reborn courses.

To qualify Clara for the selection, Shen Maoxue registers her under his wife's name as a legitimate daughter. Clara asks for funds to manage palace connections, and Shen Maoxue gives her Emily's valuable jewelry. Emily protests, insisting she will become the prime minister's wife.

Before Clara leaves for the palace selection, Emily tells her the emperor favors green dresses, hinting she will stand out if she wears one. Clara thanks her despite her suspicions. Meanwhile, the Harris family's wedding procession is shabby, and the mother scolds the Carltons in the street for failing to provide even a bridal sedan.

Emily assures her parents that Julian will top the imperial exam, while secretly plotting to make Clara wear a green dress to the selection. On the way, Clara is publicly humiliated by Jiang Wanning's maid for wearing the same color. Emily recalls her own past beating by Jiang Wanning and resolves to make Clara suffer the same fate.

Clara learns that Julian arrived in an oxcart, humiliating Emily. Emily sends a green dress, but Clara refuses it. That night, all her other dresses are slashed, leaving only the green one intact. Clara decides to wear it anyway.

Clara arrives at the selection in the green dress and is spotted by Jiang Wanning. Taking it as a deliberate provocation, Jiang orders her maid Baoyue to drag Clara out and humiliates her in public.

Sensing the green dress is a trap, Clara swaps clothes with her maid Fuqun. Jiang Wanning's maid Baoyue drags out Fuqun by mistake. Clara steps forward to clarify, but her plain attire and striking looks make Jiang see her as a potential threat.

Fuqun is relieved she swapped clothes with Clara, and mentions the empress's infertility and the elusive heir of Medicine King Valley. Jiang Wanning's maid offers tea as an apology, but Clara detects an aphrodisiac hidden in the drink and, under pressure, drinks it anyway.

As the selection nears its end, the empress begs the emperor to watch the last group. Clara steps forward in blue, and the empress recommends Jiang Wanning in green. The emperor dismisses virtue, declares he favors beauty, and selects Clara to stay.

Show woman Zhao Yungui suddenly collapses in the hall, claiming she was poisoned. She accuses Clara Harris of giving her tea, and Jiang Wanning corroborates the claim. Clara protests her innocence, stating the tea was brought by Jiang Wanning's maid. The emperor summons an imperial physician.

The imperial physician reports that Clara Harris and Zhao Yungui were given the same aphrodisiac, which is agonizing to endure. Clara fought to stay lucid. The emperor, impressed by her fortitude, breaks precedent and names her Consort Clara on the spot. When the empress objects, he accuses her of shielding the culprit and asks Clara if Jiang Wanning ever harmed her.

Clara Harris returns to the Shen household as a consort. Emily Harris and their father Shen Maoxue accuse her of impersonating a consort, and Emily tries to have her slapped. Clara insists the imperial edict is on its way. Just as the confrontation escalates, an envoy arrives with the decree.

The envoy reads the imperial edict, confirming Clara Harris as a consort. Shen Maoxue and the household pay their respects. Emily Harris still refuses to submit, and her father slaps her. Clara asks whether marrying the emperor is inferior to marrying Julian Carlton.

Emily Harris vents to her maid, resenting her parents for favoring Clara Harris after she is named a consort. She mocks Clara's ambition, insisting she will never win the emperor's favor. Meanwhile, the emperor is asked to choose a consort for the night and selects Clara.

A eunuch relays the Empress Dowager's reminder to honor the Duke of Zhen's family, prompting the emperor to select Jiang Wanning for the night. Jiang Wanning flaunts her family status before Clara Harris, mocking her humble origins. Clara remains outwardly deferential but privately resolves to fight for the emperor's favor.

Clara Harris uses fireflies in the imperial garden to catch the emperor's attention. He calls the ploy clichéd but is still moved by her appearance and helps her up. Jiang Wanning mocks her, while the emperor hints that Clara could please him in a simpler way.

Clara Harris teases the emperor and is promoted to Consort Rou. After receiving the decree, her maid complains that the emperor's rewards lack real consideration, and remarks on the Carlton family's poverty, hinting that Emily Harris will gain nothing from her marriage.

Emily Harris is scolded by her mother-in-law, who demands she fund Julian Carlton's upkeep. She privately regrets marrying a poor, spineless man. In the palace, Clara Harris, now Consort Rou, meets Consort Liu for the first time at the empress's gathering.

Consort Rou, Clara Harris, is accused by Jiang Wanning and others of cursing the ailing empress by wearing a white gardenia. Consort Liu defends her, referencing the rescue at Cuiping Mountain. The crowd demands harsh punishment, even suggesting the cold palace.

A frontline report reveals that the Duke of Zhen defied the retreat order and recklessly pursued the enemy. The emperor is enraged and learns that Jiang Wanning is stirring trouble in Kunning Palace, demanding Consort Rou be beaten. He arrives just in time to stop the punishment.

The emperor arrives at Kunning Palace and hears Consort Rou explain that her treasured gardenia, a gift from him, inadvertently offended the empress, leading to her beating. Furious, he demotes her to Attendant, cuts her stipend, and confines her, then rebukes the empress for allowing her sister Jiang Wanning's misconduct.

Blaming himself for the gardenia incident, the emperor grants Consort Rou a phoenix hairpin normally reserved for consorts of the highest rank. At Kunning Palace, Jiang Wanning learns the emperor has been summoning Consort Rou nightly and furiously begs the empress for help. The empress hints at a way to eliminate her rival, leaving the choice to Jiang Wanning.

The empress summons Clara Harris to Jiang Wanning's quarters, where Jiang's face has been ravaged by a toxic herb. The physician warns that even with treatment, scars are likely. Jiang accuses Consort Rou of poisoning her, and a maid claims she saw Fuqun leaving the kitchen. Fuqun is dragged away for torture as Clara insists she can prove the poison's origin.

Clara Harris proposes using the sap of the xialuo herb to test who handled the toxic plant, as contact turns skin blue. She tests herself first without effect, then demands Jiang Wanning do the same. Jiang Wanning panics and resists, revealing she poisoned herself to frame Consort Rou.

The Emperor rules that Jiang Wanning's plot against Consort Rou is proven and orders her sent to the cold palace. Empress Jiang pleads for mercy, citing their father the Duke of Zhen's battlefield victories. The Emperor commutes the sentence to six months' confinement. Later, Consort Rou visits the Empress and declares she has come to deliver a pledge of loyalty.

Consort Rou confesses to Empress Jiang that a miscarriage left her barren, which is why she brought her sister to the palace. She presents a salve to heal Jiang Wanning's scarred face and a fertility pill from the Divine Doctor's Valley, revealing herself as Divine Doctor Xue's disciple to secure the Empress's protection.

Consort Rou reveals to her maid that the salve she gave Jiang Wanning is actually a death sentence, confident the Empress will not harm her before giving birth. Meanwhile, the Emperor learns of Jiang Wanning's sudden death and, on the Imperial Preceptor's advice, promotes Clara's father Shen Maoxue to a high military post to counterbalance the Duke of Zhen.

The Emperor and Empress learn of Jiang Wanning's sudden death. The imperial physician determines she died from a toxic remedy. The Empress confronts Consort Rou, who admits she gave the Empress two medicines: one for fertility and one for Jiang Wanning's face.

Consort Rou insists she warned of the medicine's risks, but the Empress accuses her of poisoning Jiang Wanning. Guards find the same poison in Consort Rou's palace, and the Emperor orders her execution.

Fuqun suddenly confesses, claiming she alone poisoned Jiang Wanning out of hatred and swapped the medicine. The Emperor orders Fuqun executed and strips Consort Rou of her title, sending her to the cold palace for failing to control her servant.

Consort Liu admits to Clara Harris that her help was aimed at the Empress, and demands the fertility elixir as her price. Despite Clara's warnings about her health, Consort Liu insists on bearing the Emperor an heir. Soon after, the Empress is also found to be pregnant, only to learn that Consort Liu is expecting as well.

The Emperor plans a three-day celebration for the Empress and Consort Liu, both pregnant. Consort Liu suggests a general amnesty to include Clara Harris in the cold palace, but the Empress objects, citing her sister's death and her own pregnancy. The Emperor grants the amnesty but excludes Clara. In the cold palace, Clara is mocked yet insists she will escape on her own, just as news arrives that the Empress Dowager is critically ill.

The Empress Dowager is critically ill with a contagious disease. Consort Liu suggests summoning Clara Harris, citing her medical skills, but the Empress objects. The Emperor overrules her and orders Clara brought in, leaving everyone anxious for her safety.

After Clara Harris administers medicine, the Empress Dowager's fever subsides and she is out of danger. The Empress points out the illness was suspicious from the start, and Clara's immediate success suggests she knew the antidote in advance, urging the Emperor to investigate.

Imperial Physician Hu reports the Empress Dowager's fever has subsided. Consort Liu insists the prescription was a cover and that Clara Harris secretly fed the real antidote. Eunuch Li Changde confirms Clara was searched and carried nothing. Clara reveals she bled herself daily, dissolving the antidote in her blood to pass inspection. Moved by her devotion, the Emperor lifts her confinement and restores her rank.

The Empress confronts Clara Harris about the Empress Dowager's illness. Clara counters by implying the Empress secretly used her fertility medicine. The Empress Dowager, now recovered, tells the Emperor to treasure Clara. The Empress then suffers a sudden health crisis, and her pregnancy appears endangered.

The Empress Dowager publicly scolds the Empress for failing to attend her during her illness and for punishing Clara Harris, who saved her. The Emperor, also disappointed, orders the Empress to reflect in her palace. Li Changde reveals that Clara has been using her blood as medicine, moving the Emperor to stay by her side.

The Emperor orders Shen Maoxue to search Cuiping Mountain for his savior. Late at night, he summons the Imperial Preceptor and demands to know whether Consort Liu truly saved him three years ago. Noticing that Clara Harris's handwriting resembles that on the old medicine packet, the Emperor grows suspicious.

Under pressure, the Imperial Preceptor claims the life-saving prescription came from Clara Harris, not Consort Liu. The Emperor visits Clara late at night and asks if she ever saved someone special on Cuiping Mountain. She claims not to remember, deepening his suspicion.

The Empress suddenly miscarries, and the physician declares the fetus lost. She orders the stillborn hidden inside a wall and sends word to Consort Liu, intending to use the miscarriage to implicate the consort.

Consort Liu is pushed and falls outside Yikun Palace, triggering a pregnancy crisis. Clara Harris testifies that a maid from the Empress's palace did it, while the maid denies any contact. Consort Liu openly accuses the Empress of faking her pregnancy, and the Emperor orders an imperial physician to investigate.

The physician confirms the Empress was never pregnant, only suffering from a blood disorder. Imperial Physician Hu's body is found in a well, and a dagger is discovered on her maid. The Emperor strips her title and banishes her to the cold palace.

Clara Harris visits the deposed Empress Jiang in the cold palace and reveals she was never pregnant. The fertility drug she took was actually a remedy for a blood disorder. Empress Jiang realizes she was trapped from the start and her downfall is entirely her own fault.

Clara Harris is promoted to Consort Rou, and the Empress Dowager posthumously grants her late mother the title of first-rank noble consort. Emily Harris rages at the news as her illness worsens. Fuqun brings medicine and reveals she too was reborn, urging Emily to cherish her new life.

The Xiongnu invade, and the Duke of Zhen refuses to lead troops due to grief over his daughters. The furious emperor replaces him with Clara Harris's father, Shen Maoxue, promoting him to commander-in-chief. Clara sees the promotion as vital family backing for her ambition.

Consort Liu worries that Clara Harris's daily favor with the emperor will lead to a pregnancy and threaten her own position. She schemes to use a woman who resembles Clara to impersonate the emperor's savior, aiming to eliminate Clara and secure the empress's throne for herself.

Consort Liu shoves Clara Harris to the ground during a confrontation. Clara immediately suffers severe abdominal pain and cries that her unborn child is harmed. The emperor rushes in, and Clara begs him to save their baby, prompting him to urgently summon an imperial physician.

The imperial physician diagnoses Clara Harris as one and a half months pregnant, her pregnancy slightly disturbed by the shock. The emperor is overjoyed, and Clara explains she had wanted to wait until the pregnancy was stable. When a maid reports Consort Liu is in early labor with bleeding, Clara notes that Consort Liu's belly had already appeared full-term, raising doubts about the child's paternity.

Consort Liu gives birth to a healthy prince, but resents the emperor's absence as he stays with Clara. The Imperial Preceptor arrives to hang prayer banners, and Consort Liu hints the banners are a signal for their secret meetings.

Clara eats little at dinner, claiming she feels stifled indoors. The Emperor accompanies her on a walk, where they encounter a captured intruder. When the Emperor's interrogation yields nothing, Clara proposes a method to uncover the real adulterer.

Clara says she saw the Imperial Preceptor acting suspiciously in the garden and dusted him with pollen only dogs can smell. A dog tracks the scent to Consort Liu, who claims she brushed against him earlier. Clara then cites the preceptor's plum-blossom birthmark and asks the Emperor to summon another person with the same mark.

The plum-blossom birthmark on Consort Liu's wrist is confirmed, and the Emperor accuses her of betrayal. To save herself, she admits that she was not the one who saved the Emperor at Cuiping Mountain; the Imperial Preceptor forced her to impersonate the real rescuer. The Emperor demands the true savior's name, promising to spare her life.

Consort Liu identifies Clara Harris as the Emperor's true rescuer at Cuiping Mountain. Clara has no memory due to a high fever. The Emperor admits he already guessed the truth and declares his love for her regardless. He then issues an edict to crown Clara as Empress.

The Duke of Zhen returns victorious but is ordered to dismount and disarm at the city gate. Learning the Emperor is absent due to Clara Harris's coronation, he storms into the palace. Elsewhere, Emily Harris declares herself the heroine and vows to eliminate obstacles.